I’m Living in A DustBowl

or I may as well be. There was a duststorm on campus today. Really. I was coming from behind our planetarium and watched as several very clean, preppy kids, were hit with waves of dust that must be common out west. But shouldn’t be here. This drought is slowly changing the landscape of where I live. Trees that are hundred of years old are dying out, being lost. The Lake has sunk to a level we weren’t aware was optional. It’s like living in Sahara Africa. Crazy how dry this place is. And, unbelievably, people are having to be told not to drop their cigarettes in the woods or fling them out of car windows. Because they will inevitably catch something on fire. I feel like I’m living in a time bomb. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen this place disappointed that a tropical storm didn’t hit.

What’s most significant about all of this, of course, is the Global Warming that’s obviously affecting it. I hate when people say “How can we be sure?” Just LOOK around. Open your eyes and really look around. If you do, you’ll see it everywhere. Last night as I lay in bed, I was listening to a cricket. Suddenly I realized I was only listening to one. And I was afraid. Afraid that the disappearance of these creatures- the lightning bugs, crickets, frogs- is the precursor to disaster. They have survived 20 million years, but with our impact, they are disappearing as quickly as they can breed. People can say what they want. It’s a bad sign. Worse, we’re still contributing.

At a happy hour event I went to on Friday, I was speaking with a friend of mine about her experience living in Los Angeles. She told me the weirdest part was when she went running she would notice these staircases going into the ground, but leading to nowhere. Then someone told her that originally Los Angeles had a subway! I couldn’t believe it. Why would a subway go bad somewhere like L.A.? Because the major car companies at the time- this was in the 30s/40s, were afraid it would affect sales, so the city agreed to end the train system. And now L.A. is horribly clogged, and yet you can’t use public transportation. I was horrified, but think it speaks to a lot of America’s problems. That our choices are dictated by certain lobby groups, and our lives are affected forevermore by the decisions that are made during those lobbies.

Is there anything that can be done? I’m curious to see. I have to say I’ve become cynical of the one person makes a difference. But it won’t stop me from trying.