The greatest concern of our times is happening on a daily basis and affecting every one of us.
Weather volatility is real and happening and the Ostriches in power appear impotent against the great forces of Nature.
The gabbling media assault our senses with celebrity highs and lows, sport and highly edited titbits of what is happening internationally…all the while keeping away from any real conversation about the chaos that is the weather all around us and those dreaded words: Climate Change.
However it is not Climate Change any more…the media have completely missed out on that conversation!
It has evolved rapidly into Climate Chaos!
I would like to offer words of comfort and reassurance, but that’s not possible, for I live in the real world and events are happening too fast for me to be able to offer predictions that will reassure!
Last night I slept with both windows open in my bedroom, bathed in warmth from the wind that blew all night from the south.
The wind chimes on the veranda played ceaselessly…something that has never happened before.
I use all my senses to try to build a picture of what the media refuses to inform me about.
The big news is that the Jet Stream is out of control!
Imagine a Spinning Top, rotating smoothly at first…well that is how the Jet Stream SHOULD be!
Now picture the same Spinning Top as it slows, rotating wildly…that is what is happening to the Jet Stream and causing the wild fluctuations in weather across the globe.
All the information about this is out there on the internet…make Google your friend and inform yourself…that’s if you can bear it!
I have gone past the need to research, for I witness the changes, log them, keep a record of temperatures and rainfall patterns…and have done so for all the time I have worked on the Bealtaine project.
So, what is the point in telling you this bad news?
I have nothing to gain.
In fact, there is a strong possibility that I will lose subscribers.
The old adage of “shoot the messenger”pertains to what I have written here…so be it!
So, let me tell you about the people I hope to reach with this news…
People who care for the future.
Those who have awakened to what it means to live a compassionate life.
Especially those who are unafraid of change and to implement change in their own lives.
If there is a Universal Consciousness…give it the name Goddess, God, Divine, Mother Earth…whatever you know it by…then that consciousness must surely want us to care as deeply for our planet as we care for ourselves.
Adapting is the way forward and should be at the top of all political agendas and policies.
Here in Ireland we are headed into a general election.
Farmers appear to be ill-informed in relation to Climate Change and as they hold much power in the outcome of elections, there will not be much informed debate on the doorstep!
Meat production is now at an all-time high in Ireland and there are few, if any, politicians who are prepared to risk the fury of farmers in regards to changing that!
The relationship between meat production, consumption and climate change is there for all to Google and Youtube.
The complacency regarding our habitat and climate change disturbs me.
I shall be quizzing each and every politician who knocks on my door…but as for intelligent, informed answers, well, I won’t be holding my breath!
Feel free to share this post…
And…I had to add this wonderful interview with Jane Goodall…
We’re just getting over a snow and ice storm here in Charlotte NC but prior to that we were having summer like weather-in the 70s in December. Plus, there are SO many people with cancer and rare auto-immune diseases now. I am a previous breast cancer patient but when I was a child I can only think of maybe 2 or 3 people who had it. It is so common now everyone I know either has a family member who has had it or they have it. And YOUNG people-children-with all kinds of what USED to be rare cancers! Just about everyone you know is either getting chemo, getting ready to start or just finishing it or has a family member who is! This used to RARE-now it is as common as the common cold! It has GOT to be related to our environment and how we have polluted it!
The last comment says it all. If we stop purchasing they will stop producing. It’s a slow process Will we do it in time? I have to hope.
Colette, we have just changed back to our summer duvet because it is unbearably hot with the winter duvet. We here in Connemara are fighting many issues, not least the “depopulate rural Ireland” scheme dreamed up by civil servants. WE are in danger of losing our local doctors. We are in danger of losing schools and post offices and one young person I know who is unemployed during the winter, (out of season) was advised to move to the city in the strongest of terms. Politicians don’t care about us and won’t be knocking on our doors. WE have one resident TD who is FF. All our other representatives are in Galway city. How can they represent us when they know nothing about rural life? Unfortunately, with old loyalties still going strong (FF/FG) it is difficult to get support for any one else. So, we won’t wait for politicians to come knocking, we will just try to be the change that is needed.
In a way I think we are each called upon to become our own little Ark, doing what we can to nurture Life and provide centres of stability (including emotional and spiritual stability) – exactly how you are doing Colette. The energy from that spreads out and out in great ripples. Look at what you have achieved – one woman on a seemingly barren piece of land! Change at the government level is very slow. Too slow to reverse the metamorphosis Earth has embarked upon. My greatest concern is climate variability because when climate is no longer regular and dependable, and becomes stop start, stop start, it affects food production. Only the most resilient plants (and people) can flourish under such circumstances. I’m thinking that just as we have to learn to take full responsibility for our own health (which includes being very conscious of what we eat) we each need to take responsibility for the production of the food we eat. If one can’t grow food oneself then support those local farmers who use sustainable ways of producing food. There are growing numbers of urban farming initiatives too. But success is increasingly going to depend on working closely with Nature – and perhaps that is the point of this great metamorphosis? From a gardening perspective, creating multiple microclimates and continuing to maximise diversity helps to protect against climate extremes. But whatever your situation, there is something positive and energising you can embark on.
I live in still beautiful Northern California. Forests are clear cut, shrub and chaparral ripped out, not for cattle, but for vineyards. Selling wine to China is motivating a booming business here. Deforestation and habitat loss are not just happening in the Amazon—-it’s happening in our own backyards.
You have hit on the key issue…this problem is on our doorsteps and in many cases we are complicit in the causes!
I have a question. While I have not eaten beef in several years , I LOVE butter and every now again I buy some. I have been buying KerryGold brand from Ireland -the package says they are grass fed cows. Do you know anything about this company and its farming practices? Do they REALLY farm in what I consider the “natural way” the cows are free range during the day,etc.?
Most of the cattle here in Ireland are fed supplements. Supplements are made using corn etc imported from US. US corn is GMO. Dairy cows are subject to enormous stress and cruelty…google it! No dairy here at Bealtaine Cottage regardless of how good it tastes!
Thanks. Butter is the only dairy I use anymore and even with that -maybe 3 times a year I will buy a package of Kerry
Gold. I had visions of cows in small farms living a natural lifestyle-like they USED to frequently have here in US- but I wondered if this was just hyped up packaging and apparently it is!
I don’t remember who said it but I want to repeat it here: “We each need to be the change we want to see in the world”. If people don’t purchase an item it will soon disappear from the market. In a capitalistic system things are pursued because they generate wealth. Corporations do not do things out of the goodness of their hearts, they do things because they know that in doing so they will increase their market share and profits.
If one small nation found away to provide energy for it’s citizens without harming the earth and was willing to share that technology with other nations of the world what do you think would happen? Now imagine this same nation was a major exporter of fossil fuels and because of concerns for climate change it made a decision to no longer extract and sell them. It made a decision to end the use and sale of fossil fuels, fuels other nations of the world had come to depend on, fuels that corporations depended on to generate profits, fuels if no longer available would cause their industry to collapse. If this nation decided to stop selling the fossil fuels, or any other resource, needed by other nations of the world I predict it would result in war. The fact that they are willing to share their technology with the world is irrelevant. What is relevant is that billions of dollars in corporate profits would be lost. The continued existence of Corporations whose business model depends on the availability of fossil fuels would be placed in jeopardy.
We cannot rely on governments to be the change we want to see. We must make the changes and business and governments will follow. I can only speak from my own experience. I have seen people, towns, even states in my own nation sacrificed so that corporations can continue to profit.
I’m not perfect, I don’t have all the answers, but I can make choices that will reduce the footprint I leave on this earth. I feel fortunate in that I was able stop driving 70 miles each way to get to work. I now have a job 2 miles from my home. I garden without the need to buy anything but plants or seed. The fertility comes from recycling food and yard waste, leaves, and organic material that would have found it’s way into the waste stream. Each year more of what we eat comes from our own gardens. Our 2 lots are a haven for bees, birds, and other wildlife. We live in an urban environment. We do what we can and I for one try every day to be the change I want to see in the world. To offer an alternative. To provide a ray of hope.
Colette I know you do the same.