Remembering my move to the appartment in 2015

Original  Post: Oct. 7, 2015

 There were a hide-a-bed couch, and huge dresser moved in constant drizzle or even harder rain.  Special people are dedicated to their friends enough to come through for this! (I gave away the heavier pieces of furniture!)

I can't name them here, because they really need a break and don't EVER want to do this again!  But hopefully they'll read this and know how much I appreciated them.  Especially "T"...oh, and the other "T"...and of course "C".

Joaquin (Hurricane) helped also, by continuing a deluge in Black Mountain which started the night of Sept. 24, a Thursday...and he didn't arrive until Saturday.  It's still raining or foggy as I write this Sun. Oct. 4 in the evening.

Things just lying where they may in new apt.

We're both working on our gadgets while drying off and resting (son, Tai pictured here).

So everything I've moved got damp or wet, or was tucked into blankets to help keep it dry.  We didn't even bother with pickup trucks, which several people offered.  We fortunately had station wagon and van as dry transport...and we loaded them both up for several days, several trips each day.

So

wet maple trees as seen from my tiny pocket balcony.

Yep that's it.  Probably won't sit outside, because I have plants that I want to get sunshine...they are waiting to come to the apartment tomorrow (as I write this).  It will be nice to have sun shining in the big new windows in the apartment! 

*Note in 2023: the leaves on those maples mean no sun shines in the windows except after leaf fall, and before spring buds!

And it's been refurbished completely, so this is the new kitchen...before I move all my stuff in.

Yes this outhouse has a five-holer...though I am pretty sure none of them are functional. All the appliances were replaced, and many showers (except mine).

The apartments where I just moved have been under rennovation for months now.  A few have been finished, and mine almost is.  At least the plumbing is complete!

Oct. 8 2015 Post: The Village:

• Cathy loaned me a hand truck which saved my back (for a while).

• Several people helped by taking things that were too big to keep...Jessie and her daughters have the 30 gallon fish tank, Tim has the hide-a-bed couch.

• Patti didn't even know me but volunteered to pack after church one day.

• Pat took my shift as a volunteer at the BMCA studio so I could keep on packing.

• Teresa came for coffee and ended up packing pottery, several weeks before the move, continuing weekly afterward to unpack.

• Helen packed once, then loaded her car full and carried the boxes inside the new apartment.  She then packed again, and offered me a love seat (yet to be moved until I find two able bodied volunteers.)

• Pam packed and packed and packed the kitchen things.  Just get one more little thing into this corner of this box! (And these boxes have not all been unpacked by 2023)

The mascot of the move...a slug which came inside on the tarp, which never got dry enough to use!

• Susan cleaned out and swept the shed area which would have been hard for me to breathe sweeping...and then she carried the trash around the house.

• Tim did much more than remove shelving...carrying things...getting soaked.

• Molly packed pottery for me, then came back on one of the short hours when it wasn't pouring rain and carried all my clothes over to the apartment, as well as the boxes!

• Chuck was so wet moving things he said the water had seeped inside his waterproof boots down the legs of his trousers so his socks were soaked.

• Jim offered to help late in the day after a meeting he was scheduled to attend, and called to see if I still needed him, during the deluge from Joaquin, but after all but the very last boxes had been moved.

• Charles and Chuck lugged the big old mattress and box spring out to the curb.

• Tai, well you've probably read my prior post of great appreciation for a guy who traveled 800 miles to schlep his mom's old stuff a mile each way in pouring rain.  (In a vehicle of course!)

• Gail offered me a twin bed frame and dresser which would fit in my new apartment, from her home in Marion..which were carried downstairs and then into the apartment by my dear special friends and relations!

For this old lady...I have a heart so full of gratitude.  And lots of unpacking to do!
If I forgot anyone, it's my poor brain, not that you didn't give me wonderful help!


More posts:

 No longer will I have a studio space at home.  I'll be working at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts CLAY STUDIO entirely.

New apartment has lots of built-in shelves for pottery display!

NOTES from 2023:

Living together for just a few weeks before Muffin crossed the rainbow bridge. It was hard for all of us to adjust to the new apartment, single bed for 3 after the queen had to go. Bed that is.

I got pneumonia myself after Muffin had died. What a wild ride the first few months were as I acclimated to living in a hive of apartments.

Panther was with me another year and now I'm without cat. It's good for my breathing not to have to deal with litter, but I do miss a Purrbaby.

Today's quote:

Life is full of buried treasures. Chances are, you’re sitting on some right now.

Is Trump a Fascist?

 Robert Reich's newsletter on Aug. 14, 2023 gives an informative video...

The biggest story about Trump’s indictments (including the one expected this week from Georgia) is that Trump is centering his entire presidential campaign on them — and along the way is seeking to meld his identity with those of his supporters, so they feel personally attacked by the prosecutions.

"For Trump supporters, this is not rallying-around-the-flag. It’s not even rallying-around-a-former-president. It’s rallying-around-themselves — aligning their personal identities with Trump.

The philosopher Hannah Arendt has pointed out that the fascist leader fuses his identity with his followers, so that followers lose their capacities for independent thought.

As the fascist leader takes over the factual, psychological, and moral premises of the world his followers inhabit, the followers relinquish their freedoms. They suspend critical judgment. They become automatons.

Be warned. What Trump and much of the Republican Party have embarked upon is as dangerous to the future of our democracy, and to the rest of the world that looks to America for leadership, as was Trump’s attempted coup leading up to January 6, 2021.

We need to get the word out.

I recently shared with you what I consider the five core elements of fascism, and why fascism is different from authoritarianism. I argued that Trump and the Republican Party are moving rapidly toward fascism, and I urged the media to use the term “fascist” rather than “authoritarian” to describe what Trump and his GOP are up to."

lunch sort of, last Friday

 More of my lunch items... 

It proved my point that I'm only firing on one cylinder these days...though who knows how many I'm supposed to be running on!

I'd like a toasted cheese sandwich and tomato soup, myself said as lunchtime approached. OK, we've got stale bread, grated cheese and a clean skillet.

I then proceded to spray the bread with the Olive Oil spray rather than I Can't Believe it's Not Butter spray. But I put the 2 pieces of bread in the pan to start toasting. I started spooning the grated cheese into piles on each piece of bread.

But some of the cheese was nice cheddar color, and some looked a bit pink. Oh Oh! the dreaded pink mold had intruded there. So I sloppily picked each bread up and turned it on it side over a plate to discharge the bad cheese. With little bits of moldy cheese falling everywhere.

I had some unopened swiss cheese, which would do just fine. Sliced it, and noticed I had some ham slices still good in the fridge, so put one of those on the sandwich.

As it finished I wanted mayo but remembered the last jar had been pretty empty so I tossed it. Yet there was ranch dressing there, which was pretty drippy, so carefully I applied it to one slice as it came out of the pan. And then ever so gently I capped it with the other slice.

These simple things make me so happy. And then there are the fingers all oily from the sandwich...

...here's a ham and toasted swiss cheese with ranch dressing

Don't even mention soup.

Today's quote:

People often say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder.

SALMA HAYEK

Sad photos of Maui

 Reality hits us over our heads sometimes. COVID did that.

 Climate chaos is another.

Wildfires in Hawaii seem far away from my North Carolina life. But wait, a new acquaintence I met working for Climate Change is from Maui. 

When  I tried to post on FB some articles from BBC they didn't get posted.  I made a comment about it, and a friend said she could see them. So there was just a lag time of about 15 minutes. Strange.

So here is a NPR link for some amazing before and after photos. Satellite images before and after.

And here's the link to the relevant article from BBC, interviews with visitors from Kansas who had to spend 4 hours in the ocean, and a local resident of Lahaina. Survivors describe.

My new friend's FB post did go out, listing places where shelters are open, where gasoline is available. Even a list of names accounted for and still missing. That really brings it home to me. Real people's addresses, which have probably been destroyed. Somehow this is more touching than the war in Ukraine. At least to me.

Sorry, I'm stuck with just links, and the short clips shown on the broadcast news.

This is Climate Chaos....in my humble opinion. So sad to read about the loss and suffering. But talking about it is the way I accept the shock, and acknowledge my feelings.

Today's quote:

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.

JOSEPH ADDISON

Lunch this week

 

The greens with cran-raisins, Mandarine oranges and sunflower seeds had a dressing, which I poured on after the photo. That's chicken salad too. And a nice ripe tomato with a bit of sea salt.

I thought I couldn't possibly eat it all.  A week ago tomorrow when those fevers started, my appetite was gone. But today I'm feeling much better, no fevers. Just have to pace myself. I do one thing, then rest. Both need to take about the same amount of time for it to balance so I don't feel overwhelmed.

Wheee...things are moving along. That refers to getting my dear gut back to normal...whatever that is. Hope all these meds will be the answer...but you know how hopes for meds are...that and $2 will get you a cup of coffee. Just kidding. I don't like having lots of new chemicals in my body at once. Where's the balance in that?

I hope everyone has a good lunch today!

Today's quote:

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead. 

-Ernest Hemingway, author and journalist, Nobel laureate (1899-1961)

Joyful Abundance

 It is so nice to plan an evening with friends, sharing the bounties of our lives. This is a repost of a lovely evening from 2012. Such fun to prepare to hostess a visit and good food.

My kitchen is offering the baked garlic chicken breasts.  The aroma is taking over the neighborhood, because windows are wide open.  Air outside is sun sweetened, but a brisk wind is cool against my neck as I sit here typing by one window.

Others will bring salad, rice, vegie and desert.

I've already set the table...which is situated in the middle of the living room now.  I pull it out when more folks need to sit around it.  We may be a bit cozy eating.  Need to watch out for elbows!

What is wonderous to me is that most everything in the picture is either a gift or I made it.  The table and chairs were given to me by a generous friend when I first moved to NC.  The table itself has a new set of place mats and napkins which were a birthday gift from my youngest son and his girlfriend.  The pottery of course was all made by yours truly.

The silverware was wedding presents from back when I was first married...in the dark ages of the 60s.  I'm glad I use it daily now, but I still don't polish it.  There are two serving spoons that belonged to my father's father's mother, who died when he was 2 or 3.**  Bette Rogers at least had monogrammed silver.  Mine isn't.  I think I prefer just letting it belong to whoever uses mine.  I enjoy the feel of sterling in my hand and mouth.  (Much like the sensuous feelings from smooth pottery).

I did purchase the bookcase, used, from a friend who was lightening up his furnishings so he could hike a trail for about a month or so.  He got sick after a short while and returned home, but hasn't ever asked back for his bookcases.  The pottery is really happy on them (the other one is out in the studio.)

I was thinking as I set the table, that everyone who gave us this silverware is no longer alive now.  So we have lots of ghosts who are going to be in my mind and maybe even present for the dinner.

I do know I'm having a  good time tonight!  Wish you could be here too!

Update for 2023:

Most of the chairs were sold when I moved in 2015 to this apartment. And most of those plates are gone too...wonder if I sold them or gave them away. Ah the awful memory of a potter. I wish I had had my friends in a photo for remembering who they were...as well as the food itself. 

** It was his father who died early, his mother lived on for a long time, even to having photos with her frist grandchild in 1906 or so.

Sharing with Thankful Thursday.

Today's quote:

On my darkest days, gratitude is my light.

ALEX ELLE

Ongoing cough = bronchiectasis

 Say bronk ee ek ta sis.  My constant cough is due to that condition. 

But this fever stuff has also been going on for the entire time I've lived in this apartment. Here's my post from 2016.

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 Monday, January 18, 2016

Where I have been...

It would be fun to say Japan.  Or perhaps Australia.  Or even to some favorite shops here in Black Mountain or Asheville, NC.  Sigh.  I've been to the doctor's office again.

Last Thursday I patiently awaited the medical records of our hospital to be sent from my visit THREE WEEKS prior to my doctor's appointment.  They never arrived.

So my doctor again took blood and got a pee-test.  I'd also had blood drawn by his office the day I went to the emergency room.  He apparently didn't like his own results.  Of course there were more things done to my blood at the hospital.

But for 2 months I've been experiencing extreme tiredness and fevers and chills, and some lung-related chest pains. (I did spend 3 days hospitalized with Pneumonia in early November.)

I'd even been asked by the ER doctor to keep a journal of the fevers and other symptoms.  So I read off the 3 weeks of results to my own doctor last Thursday, and he entered them into his chart.  But he didn't know what I had.  Since twice in that 3 weeks I'd actually felt good, almost normal, he said I'm getting better.

I contradicted him.  I'd just concluded that I was getting worse before I'd get better.

Since I've spent most of my time horizontal, I have no stamina for standing, walking or even sitting.  I haven't done any housework.  There's a pile of bedding on the floor waiting till I have energy to haul it to the laundry across the parking lot from my building. 

I was so grateful last week to have a friend from church volunteer when I asked for a ride to the doctor's office over 20 miles away.  I didn't think I would have the stamina to drive there and back.

I've run out of silverware and dishes because standing over the sink is so overwhelming to me.  As a potter, I've got more kinds of dishes on shelves, so I'll probably never run out of them.  And for some reason (am I a hoarder?) I have a small collection of plastic-ware forks and spoons.  (I've just about used them all up however!)

Today's early morning doctor's visit finally had the ER blood work results.  The doctor said I had negative results from his test for Mono. There was only a small possibility of a Urinary Tract Infection, which I've had no symptoms for, so we're not treating that.

He didn't have the results back yet for the test of Lyme Disease...but will call me if that is positive.  When I asked about the treatment for it, he said it's the same antibiotic which I just took for 10 days...which his Nurse Practitioner prescribed on the day she sent me first for a chest X-ray and then to ER.

I also have had some nausea, and lack of appetite.  Cooking has not been something I felt like doing, so I've been eating pretty light, except when I go pick up a meal and spread it over several meals.

The doctor said I have a "Mysterious Virus." 
I just about jumped on him.  "What do you mean, 'Mysterious Virus?'"

He said, "There are a lot of viruses in a cluster similar to Mono, and it looks like this is one of those.  There are so many they haven't got names, or have been studied yet. Of course we'll see if the Lyme test is positive.  In the meantime, you're doing the right things to get better.  Rest, do as much as you feel like. Let me know if anything suddenly changes. I'll call you with the results of the Lyme test."

So I posted on Facebook that I've got my very own Mysterious Virus.  I even named it after myself. 
"Mysterious Barbara's Virus, MBV." Why not?

Results were negative for Lyme Disease.

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Published again 8/15/21 at 8:43 pm

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I could have written the same today, Aug. 7, 2023. Again this fever comes. Lethargy, shortness of breath when just taking a bag of bread out of the refrigerator, some muscle aches, some shooting headaches, but they disappear quickly, and cough that continues whenever I go in my bedroom. (That doesn't mean I don't cough anywhere I go)

For 4 days I have awakened with chills from a fever. I stagger into bathroom and take 2 tylenol.  Then back in bed and I take my temp. Usually just 100 point something. Yesterday 101.4. That was a surprise. I had had really vivid dreams while experiencing that and not being quite awake. It took an hour to get the temp down to normal. And it stayed down the rest of the day, while I forced myself to eat a little of this or that.

I canceled my going to a women's program that I was really looking forward to attending.

I'm coughing a lot, and have to make myself do the vibrating vest, which I lean back against hopefully for 20 minutes, but I couldn't keep comfortable that long. Then I baby my lungs with a saline nebulizer which is to help pull the mucous out. It does. Productive coughs.

And being 2023, of course I've done a COVID test. Negative. I'll do another one tomorrow. 

I have had my whole life affected for 7 years with this! So major changes are going to happen.

I wake up with chills...when does the fever start each night? Probably by the time I first see light outside and can go back to sleep. So I planned to get up at that point, swaddle myself in whatever warm things I can, and start my day. I couldn't remember why I was supposed to get up, but the chills started with daybreak. Last night I left the window open till my bathroom visit around 4. Closed it then.  No trouble sleeping. Woke with first light, wondered if I had a fever, but stayed with C-PAP on and didn't get up till 7:30...when I wrapped a towel around my shoulders to help me feel warm enough.

Yesterday My friend said, are you going to go to a doctor? Today I really want to.

I wanted to go to the doctor's office with the fever. If I took Tylenol then within an hour, it would be gone, and this continual suffering would be less obvious. I called for an appointment and left a message at 8. At 8:30 I tried calling my Care Coordinator, and left at message.  I had finally pulled out a nice warm shawl to replace the towel, and took my 2 tylenol. I called the nurse next, and she said you need an appointment, (and didn't know why I'd been sent to her) and she sent me to the scheduler. Dr. will be in next town today. Somehow (later addition) I missed that she made my appointment for that next town, and I showed up at the local office. It worked out, because I had a tele-conference visit with the doc, telling him I've had this happen for 6 years (I've since researched it and it was 8 years.)

So when do I have time to live? I said this to the pulmonologist when he asked me to use this vest 30 min. twice a day. Adding another hour of treatments, which may help...so I'll try. But I honestly only do 15 min.

During a great summer thunderstorm, later that day I went to pick up the antibiotics with steriods, which I'll start in the morning. I will follow everything suggested. My worry is that I may outlive the ability of these darn animals that I put in my gut for their effectiveness. I'm pretty confident at this point though.

This is a woman who will not be waking up more and more mornings with fevers, then the nice sweats...which used to come in the night. Should I be grateful for that?

Today's quote:

There would be no society if living together depended upon understanding each other. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (25 Jul 1902-1983)

The Roving Toad- brief overview

 About my big camping trip.

I guess I could sharpen this pic up a bit maybe.  But it's delightful when I remember the Kodak Instamatic tiny 110 mm camera I used to take it.  Then would take the cartridge into a drug store whenever we got home from the trip. And of course, when I tried to edit the photo the computer said "what program should I use?" Silly computer. 

This trip is worthy of a whole story line, and I'll just hint about it today.  10,000 miles in 3 months, and covered most of the Midwest and western states, having started in Florida. The Van behind my son was The Roving Toad.

That's because it was an Open Road conversion, and of course a Roving Toad rhymed nicely.  Didn't look like a toad, but it kind of cornered like one.  And heaven help having crosswinds on a highway.  No less problems than many other campers of course.

The typewriter?  That's how I memorialized our journey, supposedly. But I also journaled other things too.  I'll have to look for those documents.  I already Xeroxed them and gave them to my older sons a while back, since they shared this journey with me when they were 7 and 11, or so.

Not as many photos of that trip as I'd like.  But I dare say there are already some of the National Parks available.  We camped in them, or State Parks, usually.  An occasional KOA was fun for the boys to go in swimming pools, or play pool while I washed our clothes, and enjoyed hot showers.

In 1974 we were a trusting civilization.  I never felt fearful as a single woman traveling with two boys.  It was a great adventure.  We certainly made many mistakes...and were blessed somehow to get through them all.  Our summertime trip took us from Tampa around the US returning to Tallahassee where we settled for a while.  I must have been the real Roving Toad myself.

Here's a better picture of the Roving Toad earlier when we visited my parents in Framingham, MA. 

My ceramic sculpture model looks a bit different.  But it is nice to have as a reminder of a faithful servant.

 

I sculpted it a couple of years ago, maybe 2012.  And as you can see, I drove it from 1972 to 1984.  I am sad to say my own negligence was it's demise.  I had lived in FL for so long, I didn't think of antifreeze at all.  I would just top off the radiator with water.  Ah, did it have a lovely engine too, a Chevy-Van 20, with a V-8, 356 engine (I think, not the 402) with a double barrel carburetor.  The camping equipment could run off a separate battery that was also charged when the engine was going.  So many mechanics had trouble figuring that out.  The design was far from perfect, but having been built in 1971 it was pretty spiffy.

So the story of the death of the Roving Toad is that I'd parked it in the parking lot in student housing at U of FL in Gainesville, and since there was a Christmas break, didn't drive it for maybe a week.  During that time there were 3 solid days below freezing...which was rare.  And when I went to drive it, it kind of sputtered.  So I checked oil and water, and the oil was gummy and full of water.  I'd cracked his little engine block from the ice in the system apparently.

So I was able to eventually sell it. I could get to classes still, on my trusty bike, which was the only way to move around campus. It didn't take too long to sell it because I had no way to get to a grocery store...I advertised it somewhere and sold it for a song.  The guy that bought it taught me something interesting about driving a vehicle with a cracked block.  He poured a big can of black peppercorns, not ground pepper, into the radiator.  And he said that might clog up the crack enough for them to drive it away.

He also got the 2 double beds, a flip over seat that was in front of the lower bed, a cabinet that included a small clothes closet, a full gas stove with oven and 2 burners, stainless sink, a working gas furnace, a portable toilet, a closet (where the toilet was located) and I don't remember what else.  I'd made curtains for the windows, and the upholstry on the seats and foam bed pads was kind of shot...but most of the equipment still worked.  I wonder how it all ended up.  Hopefully someone else got to enjoy it along the road as much as we did.  I think I had about 250,000 miles on it.  At least one transmission, lots of other bits and bobs.  

I bought a relatively little car next, also as advertised in one of those fliers, from a student.  It certainly wasn't worth sculpting to remember though.  Just a car.  There will never be another Roving Toad.

What you can do

 From Talking Climate with Katharine Hayhoe.

"But here’s the kicker – by themselves, all these climate risks still aren’t enough to get people going. If all we hear is doom and gloom, we just freeze up like deer in headlights. That’s why it’s more important than ever to balance out the scary stuff with some hopeful news, 50-50. We've got real solutions, and you know how to get things started: talk about it!

I'll skip ahead to the What we Can Do part...you're welcome to look at her review of good news/bad news with the link above.

What we Can Do...

"As environmentalist Bill McKibben wisely puts it, "One of the most effective things an individual can do is not be such an individual." He means that when we join forces with others, our voices can become louder and our impact stronger. Just how strong can we be? Well, as anthropologist Margaret Mead famously said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has."

"So this week, look for an organization that aligns with your values on climate action. Start by following them on social media or subscribing to their updates and sharing what you learn with people you know. Look into how you can contribute to their work. By teaming up, you can amplify your impact and make a real difference.

For example, are you a …

Parent? Check out Science Moms, Mothers Out Front, Moms Clean Air Force, Australian Parents for Climate Action, and Our Kids Climate

Older Adult? See Third Act (that’s Bill’s organization!) and Elder’s Climate Action

Christian? There’s A Rocha, the Evangelical Environmental Network, Catholic Climate Covenant, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action and more

Other faiths? Start with Interfaith Power and Light or Green Muslims

Nature-Lover? How about The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, or WWF

And if you’re a citizen in nearly any country who just wants to tell politicians what they should be doing better? Citizen’s Climate Lobby is all about that!
 
There are climate action groups for young people and schools, healthcare professionals and athletes. For more ideas, see this handy quiz I helped create with Science Moms. Do you have a favourite organization I didn’t mention? Let us know!

Copyright © 2022 KATHARINE HAYHOE, All rights reserved.
Talking Climate Newsletter

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THanks for sharing this info among friends too! Talking about the Climate Crisis is how we can get more people involved in the action groups pushing back against the worst users of fossil fuels etc.

Climate Change Communication

 From the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication YPCCC

Dear Friends,

In March and April 2022, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) conducted an international survey in collaboration with Data for Good at Meta to examine public climate change knowledge, attitudes, policy preferences, and behavior among Facebook users in nearly 200 countries and territories worldwide.

Prior research by YPCCC and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication has found that people in the United States can be categorized into six distinct groups – Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, and Dismissive – based on their beliefs and attitudes about climate change (Global Warming’s Six Americas).

The Alarmed are convinced climate change is happening, human-caused, and an urgent threat, and strongly support climate policies. The Concerned think human-caused climate change is happening and is a serious threat, and support climate policies. However, they tend to believe that climate impacts are still distant in time and space, thus the issue remains a lower priority. The Cautious have not yet made up their minds: Is climate change happening? Is it human-caused? Is it serious? The Disengaged know little to nothing about climate change and rarely if ever hear about it. The Doubtful do not think climate change is happening or believe it is just a natural cycle. And the Dismissive are convinced climate change is not happening, human-caused, or a threat, and oppose most climate policies.

The international survey conducted by YPCCC and Data for Good at Meta included the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY), a tool that categorizes respondents into this six audiences framework with just 4 questions. Ideally, one would conduct an in-depth study to develop a tailored segmentation of climate change audiences within each country. However, the Six-Audiences framework and SASSY tool can be used as a first-order approximation and a means of cross-national comparison using an identical set of questions that are relevant in all national contexts.

We find that the Alarmed are the largest group in about three-fourths (80 of the 110) of the countries and territories surveyed. In fact, half or more respondents in twenty-nine countries and territories are Alarmed: the five countries with the largest percentage of Alarmed are Chile (65%), Mexico (64%), Malawi (63%), Bolivia (62%), and Sri Lanka (61%). Czechia and Yemen have the smallest percentages of Alarmed (both 9%). In the United States, about one-third of respondents are Alarmed (34%).

By contrast, relatively few respondents in any country or territory are Doubtful or Dismissive. Among major emitters, the United States has the largest proportion of Doubtful and Dismissive, more than one in five (22%).The United States is also less Alarmed about global warming than most other top carbon-emitting countries.

There are substantial differences among the 15 nations responsible for the largest annual shares of global carbon emissions (this study did not include China, Russia, or Iran). Among these countries, the largest proportion of Alarmed are in Mexico (64%), followed by Brazil (59%), and India (55%).

The United States is the second largest annual producer of the carbon emissions that cause global warming. Yet, relatively few people in the United States are Alarmed about global warming, compared to other top emitters. The U.S. and Germany have the fourth-smallest percentage of Alarmed (34%), after the United Kingdom (31%), Saudi Arabia (29%), and Indonesia (27%). On the other end of the Six Audiences spectrum, the countries with the largest percentages of Doubtful or Dismissive respondents are the United States (22%), Saudi Arabia (17%), and Australia (16%). 

The data in this report are based on a survey of 108,946 Facebook monthly active users, aged 18 and older. The survey was conducted from March 25 – April 14, 2022.

Vacation time

 Here are some of the photos fresh from family sharing as their skin was still peeling when they got home!

So happy the family of 3 girls and parents (my son and his wife) got to spend this time in a paradise.

The Turks and Caicos Islands.

They went to an island called Iguana Island and this shows how it got its name

I heard about scuba diving, and a boat that had a sliding board.

A lovely beach was 2 minutes from their B&B.

They said it was the most beautiful beach they'd ever seen.

Today's quote:

We are on the cusp of this time where I can say, "I speak as a citizen of the world" without others saying, "God, what a nut." 

-Lawrence Lessig, professor and activist (b. 3 Jun 1961)

A wee bit of gambling

 So for the first time ever, I bought 6 lottery tickets on Tuesday...for the billion dollar jackpot, and hopefully some smaller ones that will help me break even.

I don't usually stay up until the drawing at 11 pm. So I've set an alarm for 10:50. In case I fall asleep.

I'm enjoying streaming a series that I just found out about - Dark Wind. Which is an adaptation of the Tony Hillerman mysteries of the Navaho police and all their various murders, rituals, supersitions, and attempts to be scientifically valid as well!  I'm on season one still, and still have season two which has just come available. I'm watching through You Tube TV. It also provides me with live TV channels of my local stations, including the one which pulls the numbers for the lottery.

The question is, will I tell you if I win? 

Probably not. I've heard lots of stories where anonymous old folks are inundated by many nefarious attempts to steal their winnings. Of course that doesn't mean any of you. You're not nefarious are you?

A grandmother's pride

 My granddaughter who lives in Columbus OH is a student in that university as well, going into her senior year in Early Childhood Education.

This spring she and 3 other young women traveled abroad for 10 days. They had some family friends in 2 places, so they started in Ireland, then went to Italy where my neice (astranged from me) lives, and then Nice France before coming home.

I finally got some of the photos that she took, my granddaughter! I think I'll share the ones without her in them...lots of scenery! I'll keep the ones of her pretty smile in my family album.

The three above are from their Ireland visit.

The next two are from Positano Italy.

Then they went to Florence.

And then to Nice France...

I've only been to Portugal in Europe, so it's wonderful to tease my granddaughter that she's now my internationally traveling grand!

Next I'll start posting some Black Mountain NC pictures...like the auto show last Sat.

Yes, I will share photos soon of Ohio family's vacation I didn't know about until I called my son as they were about to fly home (waiting in the Atlanta Airport) from the Turks and Caicos Islands. Same family! So wonderful they all enjoyed that trip together! I actually called my son on Thurs. because a fellow blogger told me it was Creme Broulee day...and my son loves it! He didn't know about that!

Today's quote:

Try not to take everything personally, things that people say and do don't always have anything to do with you.