Welcome home

 If you lived in Black Mountain, like I do.

And enjoyed silly laser cut party cards to share with family members on their special days.

-----------------------------

Katharine Hayhoe and Talking Climate Change (free newsletter about climate change issues)

Katharine Hayhoe gave this grim reality to consider.

The problem we have is this: we’ve been planning for our future based on the past. We continue to design and build our cities and our infrastructure based on the assumption of a stable climate, but that assumption no longer holds. As the planet warms, our infrastructure is becoming more vulnerable: and new research confirms this.
 
In particular, climate stress is making bridges age faster. Extreme temperatures are causing their pavement to buckle and steel structures to fail. “We have a bridge crisis that is specifically tied to extreme weather events,” says Paul Chinowsky, a professor of civil engineering. “It’s getting so hot that the pieces that hold the concrete and steel, those bridges can literally fall apart like Tinkertoys.”
 
Nearly a billion dollars of the U.S. bipartisan infrastructure law is being used to help strengthen roads, bridges, and transportation networks. But more will be needed as heat waves increase in duration and frequency and the number of billion-dollar weather disasters ticks up year after year. And this is only the U.S.; around the world, climate extremes are putting billions of people and trillions of dollars of infrastructure at risk. As I explain here, “We have entire cities and transportation hubs that were all built for climate that no longer exists. That’s why we’re seeing terrible things happen.”

She also spoke of pollinator plants integrated with solar farms.

Then she mentioned forest camps.

A few years ago, a not-for-profit called Parry Sound Forest School started up near our cottage in Muskoka, Ontario. Kids spend their days in the woods, learning about nature – catching frogs, climbing trees, whittling wood, and learning about edible plants. 

Many of my little nieces and nephews have attended and I’ve heard so much about the amazing things they’ve learned that I wish it had been around when I was young! But I didn’t realize I already had a personal connection to the camp until this summer, when I met Diana, the founder.

Though I’d never met her, Diana recognized me right away. She shared that she had heard me speak at a church in southern Ontario a few years ago, where I said, “The most important thing we can do about climate change is talk about it.” Inspired by that message, she started the camp to do just that! Isn’t that amazing?

Outdoor programs like this are so important for helping kids to fall in love with nature, and care about climate change. You can learn more about this school on their Instagram. If you’re interested in outdoor programs for kids, there’s a directory of outdoor schools for North America here and a U.K. forest school list here—or search for one near you!

Thank you so much Katharine Hayhoe! Yes to talking about climate change...rather difficult subject among my senior peers. But I keep trying.

----------------------

And also in Black Mountain, the gazebo is being built at Lake Tomahawk!

Today's quote:

Dreams heed no borders, the eyes need no visas. With eyes shut I walk across the line in time. All the time. 

-Gulzar, poet, lyricist, and film director (b. 18 Aug 1934)