Eye of the Storm

Preparations

“The preparations are what they are. We are here. The storm is coming. We are as best prepared as we can be as the eye of the storm approaches.”

Russel Honore

There is eerie silence as the sun rises this morning. The storm is coming and the birds know it. The wind is picking up. Irma is headed our way. We are used to storms here in Alabama, but this one may be a whole other order of business. I confess that I usually don't pay much attention to dire warnings, but this time, something feels different.

It troubles me a lot that our leadership professes not to believe the science behind climate change. That, I think, is convenient, short-sighted and just plain ignorant. Change is happening as we speak. I hark back to Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy a lot these days. In that modern myth, a post-apocalyptic country is divided into sectors based on product production. The residents of the sectors are kept poor in order to be easily controlled by the Capital. The people in power, who possess all the wealth, are heavy-handed and maintain a harsh police state. They are mercilessly out of touch and unconcerned with the wants and needs of the people in the sectors and, in fact, feel entitled to use them for gladiator-style entertainment. Each sector must contribute two of its young people each year to participate in the spectacle of the hunger games, which involves fighting to the death. The sector whose avatar wins the game gets extra food for the next year. I wonder if any of this sounds vaguely familiar to you.

As out-of-control fires, and devastating storms become bigger and more destructive, we will see the proven science in action—we see it already. I'm don't know why climate-change deniers hold such archaic notions in spite of the evidence, except that I'm pretty sure money is involved. Some of our leaders have sold their souls, and despite all the money lining their silk pockets, that is true poverty. In The Hunger Games, the people rise up, organize and prevail. This too is happening. Of the people, by the people and for the people is not an empty ideal. It is a way of life that will not go down without a fight.

Let us hold the people of Florida in our hearts today. And beyond that, let's roll up our sleeves and get to work to help them, as well as the people of Texas and Oregon, to recover. Our souls are still intact, and we don't plan to sell them to the highest bidder.

                                                                 In the Spirit,

                                                                    Jane