January 12th, 2007
a line is drawn
Yesterday, we had a mixed bag of weather, but by mid-afternoon the sky was relatively clear, except for a thick bank of clouds on the north horizon. Glancing up from my work, I noticed an odd pair of lines running through the clouds (click on the above image far a larger view). I walked outside for a better view. The lines extended from east to west horizon. Very strange. Was it caused by a jet slicing through the cloud banks? Was it some natural phenomenon caused by clouds piling up as they hit an air mass?
I found myself thinking that the line looked as though it was drawn. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been giving quite a lot of thought to lines lately – ones that are being over-stepped in so many arenas. How far can you push before someone draws a line and says, “Okay, you’ve gone far enough. Don’t step over this line!”
That’s how I feel about the environment these days. This morning, as I look out the window and see the rain pelting down, rapidly melting away the few centimeters of snow that fell a couple of days ago – and hear the sump pump running like mad in the basement in a way that rivals its most active phase during the spring rains, I wonder if we’ve over-stepped the line. Can there much doubt that things are not as they were? Yesterday, in the comments to my post on freeze-dried laundry, Duncan from Ben Cruachan blog wrote of the weather “Minus 12 with a north-westerly, how about 46.3 [115 F] with a north-westerly reported from 100 K east of here yesterday Bev, that would have thawed out the washing smartly!”
For those of you who haven’t been following the situation in Australia, wild fires have been raging in the Victoria region for a great many weeks. The situation is dire after a drought that has now extended for 12 years. Duncan informs us that over a million hectares have burnt now and it could be double that by the time it’s over. To understand the devastation that such fires can bring, I would encourage you to read Duncan’s update on one of the areas in his region. While doing a little background reading of my own, I found a note that might be of interest to Canadians. On the Australia Network website, in an entry from January 7, I found mention that 52 Canadian firefighters were due to arrive that day. An official commented, “They’re experienced. They come from British Columbia. Amongst the 52 there are nine rapellers, people who jump out of helicopters and into the more remote areas, so their experience is certainly going to assist us.”
Aside from the environment, I’m thinking of other lines. This week, robin and roger from Dharma Bums wrote about violence in the media and how that extends into our lives. Their post received many thoughtful comments that are well worth reading. Last week, in my review of the movie Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, I commented that it did contain some scenes of violence. I’ve been giving that some more thought since reading the above-mentioned DB post on violence. I guess the thing that sets Atanarjuat apart from the standard fare of television and hollywood is that, with a couple of small exceptions, the violence was left to our imaginations instead of catering to the schlock-shock crowd looking for their fix of gratuitous violence. There’s much more that could be said about the movie, but in short, I suppose what I mean to say is that there are ways of “doing violence” that give it context within a story rather than celebrating it by going over the top.
Okay, that’s it for the serious stuff. I have some lighter stuff to post, but that may have to wait until tomorrow.
Tags: unusual clouds, weather
January 13th, 2007 at 3:14 am
Hi Bev. Thanks for stopping by to see my drawings. Good to know that you found drawings you liked.
“Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner” is one of the best films I have ever seen. I remember coming out of the local independent movie theater into a warm, sunlit, Northwest Washington late afternoon and feeling completely disoriented because I had come to feel I, too, was existing in the frozen landscape where the Inuit live. I’ll be back to visit Burning Silo.
January 13th, 2007 at 3:42 am
A thoughtful comment about the line being crossed. For years my friends in the environmental movement have despaired because the media would give little notice to matters that affect life on Earth. In every poll, the public votes for the environment, but governments and the media seems not to listen.
Sometime, over recent months, something has changed. The key feature is that folks now seem to understand that global warming is happening — it is not a matter of debate, and may be of some urgency.
I hope that in the rising tide of concern, people will come to understand that the climate is not the only issue. We will need to ensure the biodiversity through protected spaces and habitats, and stem the loss of species.
And resolve to take care of each other too.
January 13th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Yes, the line is being drawn. I wonder if it hasn’t already been crossed. The environment has suffered for so long, and I’m so afraid the damage may not be undone. I’m glad you wrote about the violence too, Bev. Interestingly, it didn’t occur to me until now that what we do to the environment is a violence to a living planet. I’ve seen whole forests cut to the bone in Oregon. It’s hard to forget.
January 13th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
am – Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog. I very much enjoyed seeing your drawings and hope that a few people will wander over to take a look too. Good to hear that you liked the movie, Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner. I felt the same after watching the movie – it felt like I’d been there. On the movie’s website, it mentions how use of the smaller digital camcorders made it possible to shoot in a way that brought the viewer very close to everything. I’m thinking of scenes such as the one where one of the women was cutting up a bird with an ulu – as I recall, it was shot from ground level almost next to the bird. I found the creativity of the shooting very refreshing.
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Robert – I do think you’re right about a change in taking place – people are talking about the environment more than ever before. I think that, as you say, aside from the GW aspect, people are also noticing that habitat is being destroyed (irreplaceably), and the repercussions of what that means are beginning to sink in.
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robin – Yes, I wonder if it hasn’t been crossed and is too late to be undone. Speaking from the POV of someone in Canada, I keep old road maps from past years and am shocked by how each new road map shows less and less “green” on it… and that is in a country with one of the lowest populations per square mile in the world. When I travel into the U.S., I’m almost always shocked by how a place I visited 5 years or even 2 years before, has been transformed into suburbia and shopping malls in a flash (relatively speaking). It’s very scary.