drought

December 2024: Closing the Year in Celebration and Hope

/ Chris Thaiss / Leave a comment

A small flock of Canada Geese swim past the west bank gazebo on our lake in a gentle snowfall, December 20

In this month’s entry:

Rains Return and So Do the Birds
Our Holiday Season Kitchen
More Holiday Celebrating with Family
Climate Log: Good News and a Dilemma
The December 2024 Photo/Video Gallery

A driving rain begins to attack the drought: looking north across our lake, December 11

A “Sort of” Winter: Rain, Cold, Ice, Warm Temps, and Yes, More Birds!

In last month’s entry, we lamented the ongoing drought and the disappearance of most of our late autumn  birds. Just at the end of November, we began to get some rain, and we’ve now had about two inches this month–a hopeful start to impacting the drought. It’s even been cold enough in the past two weeks–high teens to low 30s–to bring us a bit of snow and ice, though nothing sticks for more than a few hours, and warming is in the forecasts.

Panorama of the fountain and the sleet-covered lake from the southeast bank, Christmas Eve, morning

The even better news is that our mallards have returned, along with some songbirds we’d not seen for a while. Here’s hoping that the moisture keeps coming and, with it, even more birds. A warming trend is predicted by the end of the month, plus more rain, so we’ll see how much winter is still in store. Fingers crossed.

Seven Mallards on the frozen lake in the early morning cold, December 23

Our first sighting here of a Golden-crowned Kinglet, in the Willow Oak on the southeast bank, December 12

Look for more of our December birds in this month’s Photo/Video Gallery, later in this entry.

Our faithful flock of Rock Doves stop at the north end shore in the early morning cold, December 23

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More to Celebrate: Our Holiday Season Kitchen

Jean’s Pulled Pork Chili, with tomato, cheese, romaine salad garnish, December 9

Jean: Like many others, we have had patches of cold, rainy, snowy and icy weather already this winter, and more is probably yet to come. During these times, I like to make big pots of hot, hearty food that can be enjoyed for days without going out shopping or seeking food elsewhere from day to day. It also needs to be something we can change up to prevent monotony. To these ends, I got a 6-pound pork butt/shoulder to put in the Crockpot with broth, onions and garlic. I simmered it for most of a day to get it tender enough to cut down after it cooled. I didn’t weigh the big bone that I cut out, but I probably ended up with three pounds of meat.

Once I had the bone out and chunks cut, I made four dishes with the meat. Each required some more cooking with the vegetables and other additions appropriate for that dish.

  • First was a simple stew, softening the meat some further with potatoes and carrots.
  • Then my favorite, a Mexican posole, made by adding green peppers, jalapeños, green salsa, and hominy.
  • The next was a chili, simply adding chipotle and other spices, some different kinds of beans, canned tomatoes, and corn.
  • Fourth was barbecue, cooking sweet potatoes with the meat and topping with our favorite BBQ sauces: Kansas City BBQ for me (go Chiefs!) and a mustard-vinegar (Carolina) sauce for Chris. All yummy, stick-to-the-ribs food. I think I may go out and get another pork butt.

Chris’s Three Sisters Stew bubbles, as Christmas jazz plays, Dec. 21

Chris: For an alternative pre-Christmas celebration, we chose my vegan “Three Sisters Stew” (pictured above), based on the  traditional, Indigenous-named “three sisters”: beans, corn, and squash. These make complete protein, which I first wrote about in this blog in December 2022 in describing examples of “Blue Zones” cookery. Each time I make this hearty dish I vary somewhat the other ingredients I add, so I get new flavors, level of spice, color, etc. For example, this time I used 12 ounces of Beyond Meat (with avocado oil), which I sauteed with yellow onion, then added in cannellini and black beans (instead of kidney and pinto), then sliced fresh zucchini, canned sweet corn, and two cans of diced tomatoes with oregano and basil. A quarter cup of red wine and a dash of red pepper flakes completed the mixture. Once again, the dish was plentiful (enough for several days) and full of flavors.

In addition, Jean made a casserole of wild rice, mushrooms, celery, and white onions, to accompany the stew. The flavors of the two dishes were very different, but totally compatible, demonstrating once again the vitality and beautifully-varied characters of vegan recipes.

Split bowl of 3 Sisters Stew (L) and Mushroom/Wild Rice Casserole (R), with grape tomato and green olive garnish, December 23

And For Dessert…

Jean’s Tiramisu with Milano Cookies on top, Dec. 26

Jean: I love tiramisu.  We’ve seen it prepared in many ways, and I’ve tried different ways to prepare it myself, with varying degrees of success.  It should be pretty easy, right, layering cookies and cream?  What could go wrong?  See https://whatsgabycooking.com/classic-italian-tiramisu/.  The trick is to get the right amount of flavor and liquid from the coffee and any liqueur you want to use.  It’s easy to overdo it and get a soggy mess, or maybe taste nothing but whipped cream, although that’s not the worst that can happen, from my point of view!

This time, for our pre-New Year’s Eve party on the 28th, I was inspired by Chobani’s coffee flavored yogurt, and they even have a tiramisu flavor in their “Chobani Creations” line.  Not only do I love these, but I found a recipe for tiramisu that says you can substitute Greek yogurt for mascarpone (expensive!) and egg yolk in the traditional recipes.  https://pyskitchen.com/pyskitchen-recipe/tiramisu-without-mascarpone

I was having a little trouble getting my whipping cream to whip, so I did not whip or fold the whipped cream and yogurt (both flavors) together, but merely layered them over the lady fingers.  (Those were hard to find, but I finally scored some real Italian ones at Wegman’s.)   The result?  A soggy mess, and a little too sour for my taste with all the yogurt speaking louder than the whipped cream.  But Chris loves the “notes of sourness” (as he says) and so did our guests! You try it out, and adjust the recipe as you like. 

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Christmas: More Celebrating with Family

As described in last month’s entry, we had family from Georgia, from New York, and from across Virginia visiting for Thanksgiving. For Christmas, our get-togethers were of the local family members, but were no less festive, focusing on outstanding food (including the dishes described in the Holiday Kitchen section above), catching up on what everyone has been doing, and the exchange of presents.

Needless to say, many of the gifts were for the youngest members of the crew, who made the most of the occasion by spreading wrapping paper through the house and starting to get into the toys, books, and games. Again, three generations of revelers took part, including one precocious pup, who popped up in surprising places! For those who couldn’t be there in person, they were still with us through their cards, calls, and FaceTime.

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Climate Log: Good News for FEMA, but a Dilemma for the Incoming Regime

ABC News : “Driest Fall on Record,” Oct. 24, 2024

Warmest Year on Record in the DC region (National Weather Service) (Washington Post, Dec. 30): but Republicans still won’t acknowledge climate change or global warming, though they will appropriate hundred of billions for disasters

Just before Christmas, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill that I never thought we’d see: $110 billion (yes, billion) that “Provides much-needed relief to Americans struggling to recover from natural disasters” (https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-passes-critical-disaster-relief-americans). The terms “climate change” and “global warming” are never used in this massive relief bill, because Republicans are way too intimidated by their leaders and by the fossil-fuel cartel to admit these obvious truths. Nevertheless, the bill is the first of more and more that will be needed to address the effects (not the real causes, of course) of what the bill erroneously calls “natural disasters.”

Warming oceans, more intense storms, and coastal sea level rise combine to make unprecedented coastal damage more frequent, as this week in Santa Cruz, CA, as reported by Grace Toohey in the LA Times, December 28

Particularly noteworthy is that the two largest items in the bill are

  • $31 billion for “disaster and economic assistance to agriculture producers” and
  • $29 billion for “FEMA’s response, recovery, and mitigation activities related to Presidentially declared major disasters, including Hurricanes Milton and Helene.”

These open-ended statements leave ample room for further appropriations to address future disasters caused by extreme heat, drought, extreme storms, wildfires, sea level rise, etc. That the two main emphases here are “agricultural producers” and “major disasters” reveals Congress’s tacit, but unspoken, understanding that climate change will continue to devastate farmland, and will continue to produce hurricanes of unprecedented size, spread, and sudden emergence, like October’s Helene and Milton, which suddenly developed in the Gulf of Mexico very late in the hurricane season.

Burned out farm field we visited, New Market, VA, Aug. 2, in the midst of the 2-year drought in the Shenandoah Valley

Trump’s Response?

It is further noteworthy that the once-and-about-to-be President, Donald Trump, tried to force Congress to scuttle this bill, even at the cost of shutting down the government. Why would he do such a thing? Does he want to be known as a President who won’t provide disaster relief (as he failed to do in his first term in his callous lack of response in 2017 to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico)? Does he not want to meet the needs of the farmers in states like Texas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, who are suffering massive crop losses because of extreme heat and drought? Farmers in these states and others overwhelmingly supported him in his run to the Presidency, because he promised to help long-suffering rural America, and they believed him. But, his promises aside, he might be more concerned that passing such a bill will draw attention to the vast scope of a problem that he’s always claiming doesn’t exist, but which will continue to dog him throughout his final term and just get more painful, tragic, and costly to Americans.

Close-captioned TV weather forecast from CBS-affiliate in Central Texas, summer 2023 (clip from YouTube video)

Fortunately, enough of the Republican House members, aided by the votes of almost all Democrats, defied Trump’s effort to kill the aid, and so the money will flow, because the Senate and still-president Biden moved it forward immediately.  As the majority of the House realized, something bold had to be done, and even the President-to-be, despite his fearful wishes, had to give in. Remember, House members will be up for re-election in just 2 years, so they know, unlike their leader, that they can’t afford to ignore the needs of their constituents now.

But passing such an open-ended bill leaves President-elect Trump and all his fellow climate-change deniers in a dangerous spot.  Hundreds of billions in relief can pretty quickly turn into trillions, as the climate sins of the fossil-fuelers exact more and more sacrifices and pain. As lack of farm production destroys farms and ranches, and causes prices to rise for all of us, and as more and more of the country becomes harder to live in, people will blame the party in power, as they always do. At some point the people will demand answers as to why those leaders failed to admit that the hurricanes, warming oceans, wildfires, and burned-out fields could have been–and future ones still could be–avoided.

US Drought Monitor, Christmas Day 2024 (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap.aspx)

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The December 2024 Photo/Video Gallery

All photos and videos this month come from in and around our lake, all celebrating the increased precipitation and the return of some of our citizens, plus visits by a few welcome guests.

Our year-round residents: Song Sparrow munches grass in the field west of our lake, cold morning, December 23

Savannah Sparrow sips from the rainy north shore of our lake in the rain, Dec. 9

White-throated Sparrow poses for the camera, southeast cove, December 6

Male Cardinal munches seeds in an east bank tree, amid flurries, morning, December 20

Panorama toward downtown, partly frozen lake, early morning, December 23

Rare sighting of Red-shouldered Hawk not in a tree, but on the ground, eyeing bird in the brush, north end path, cold morning, December 19

Pair of Red-shouldered Hawks in Tulip Tree and Virginia Pine, southeast side woods, December 19

Sleet-covered inlet stream under bridge, early morning, Christmas Eve

Our fountain in the frozen lake, view toward downtown, December 23

Our resident flock of Rock Doves takes off from north shore, December 23

European Starling, brightly lit by the sunrise, scans from the dead Oak, east bank, December 23

Carolina Wren alights on a branch above me, calls friends, and feels the flurries on a snowy morning, December 20

Robins in late December! Wow! These cavort in a sugarberry tree in the north end woods, December 23

This Robin calls in the Sugarberry that same cold morning, December 23

American Crow, amid flurries, perches atop a Bradford Pear and Blackberry canes below the north end dam, December 20

Four Canada Geese swim mid-lake in the December 20 morning snowshower

Tufted Titmouse perches along the southeast path on a cloudy December 1

Red Fox, not often seen, watches me from the brush beside the north shore rocks, December 8

Mallard pair along the northeast shore in the rain, December 9

Rare visitor, male Hooded Merganser, swims in mid-lake, cold, windy December 6

Three Hooded Mergansers, 2 female and young male, along the east lake bank late afternoon, December 6

The Red Fox, ill with mange, explores the north shore rocks, then drinks from the lake, December 8

Blue Heron flies from north shore to west bank and through community, December 17

And so, weakened as we are, may we take wing and fly into 2025 in hope of a more just and thoughtful world.

November 2024: In a Sad Month, So Much To Be Thankful For

/ Chris Thaiss / 1 Comment

Mockingbird on dry Pokeberry bush, north shore of lake, Nov. 17

In this month’s entry:

Thanksgiving Gifts from Our Family
Wildlife Around Our Lake Disappear in the Ongoing Drought
Election Gives Narrow, But Still Decisive Win to Climate Change Deniers
Keeping Up the Good Fight: Visiting the Virginia State Arboretum
The November 2024 Photo Gallery: Pretty Landscapes, Growing Silence

At nearby Lake Newport, we walk on crispy, fallen leaves amid skyscraping trees and brilliant autumn colors.

Thanksgiving Gifts from Our Family

How fortunate and thankful we are to be able to share our joys with family who have come to join us from New York, Virginia, and Georgia. Our Thanksgiving embraces a week of holiday outings, imaginative meals, and raucous, witty (of course!) conversations among three generations from age 4 to 80. Even those family members we can’t be with in person, we will be with via phone, text, and FaceTime.

What did we do to be so blessed? And, wouldn’t you know it, we’ve even gotten an inch of rain this week to begin, we hope, to make a dent in the drought.

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Green algae thick in the inlet stream into our lake, Nov. 18, as significant rain has not fallen since September

Ongoing Drought and the Fast Spread of Bird Flu: Birds Disappear Here, While Wildfires Plague the Northeast

Exactly one year ago (see November 2023 entry), this blog celebrated in story, video, and photos a profusion of wildlife around our small lake. The stars of the entry were several pairs of amorous mallards happily building their relationships, while the videos featured a varied soundtrack of the many songbirds and waterfowl calling to their fellows in an often rainy setting.

The only ducks we’ve seen in our lake since the spring are these four Buffleheads, who visited last week for one day, and then flew off. Even our frequent cormorants have not visited. Only our resident flock of Canada geese visit this water, and even their visits have declined.

Oh, what a difference a year makes! The drought brought on by record high average temperatures across the country (and much of the entire world) this year has been intensifying in our multi-state region since early in 2024. The drought has continued through this November (October was completely rainless), and this November is the hottest on record in our area (as reported in the Washington Post, Dec. 3). Last month’s entry focused on how quickly the lakeshore’s plants were drying out and leaves were beginning to fall. The music of the birds had almost ceased as birds migrated toward wherever they might find fresh water.

The Next Pandemic? Perhaps Bird Flu.  A secondary cause of the bird decline is the H5N1 bird flu, which has spread rapidly across the country, causing the decimation of many millions of chickens in commercial flocks, and now also infecting some 685 cattle herds in 15 states, as reported in the Los Angeles Times (“Business as Usual Despite H5N1,” Nov. 30) and in National Geographic (Fred Guteri, Dec. 18). Unfortunately, like the widespread drought, scant attention is being paid to the spread of this disease in our environmentally-oblivious U.S. of 2024.

Photo: NatGeo/Reuters

No one wants to hear this, because there is clearly no appetite in this country for even thinking about  precautions for a new health crisis. But, as Zeynep Tufekci writes in the Dec. 9 New York Times, more and more human cases of H5N1 are arising, and the time is now to take the threat seriously (“A Bird Flu Pandemic Would Be One of the Most Foreseeable Catastrophes in History”). In 2019, there were health experts in the first Trump administration who could push back strongly on the President’s fantasies about COVID-19 (remember the bleach cure and hydroxychloroquine?). But now he has surrounded himself with vaccine deniers like Robert F.Kennedy, Jr., and there will be no medical leaders like Anthony Fauci, Deborah Birx, and Francis Collins to mobilize an effective national/international response, so wishful thinking, studied ignorance, and quack remedies will abound, more like the Middle Ages than the 21st century.

At nearby Lake Newport, the bone-dry inlet stream from surrounding hills and neighborhoods, as the drought goes on, Nov. 20

Wildfires in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts

5000-acre Jennings Creek Fire on New York-New Jersey border (USA Today photo, Nov. 18)

Last month’s blog also displayed the map of the U.S. (created by Drought Monitor), which showed almost the entire nation (except for hurricane-pounded Florida and western North Carolina) in a moderate to severe drought. Wildfires were in lethal bloom in many Western states. Weather Service maps showed “red flag warnings” across much of the central and eastern states, including New York State and even New England.

Well, sure enough, in November as many as 500 fires of various sizes have transformed the usually wet and cooling Northeast states into a California-like wildfire season–experiencing such change for the first time in memory. The largest of these blazes so far has been the Jennings Creek fire (shown above): 5000 acres and growing along the New York-New Jersey border, with smoke from all these fires fouling the air in East Coast cities. Meanwhile, in many other states, such as Oklahoma and Texas, drought has caused the massive loss of crops, which this blog catalogued in August as having occurred here in Virginia’s usually lush Shenandoah Valley. Neighboring West Virginia’s governor–a staunch climate-change denier–declared a statewide drought emergency across its 55 counties:

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Election Gives Narrow, But Still Decisive Win to Climate Change Deniers

To make matters even worse, this November’s closely-contested elections gave a thin, but nevertheless sufficient victory to former President Donald Trump and to just enough climate-change denying Republican candidates to give that party razor-thin majority control in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Trump, who is a strident spokesperson for the fossil-fuel cartel, made “Drill, baby drill!” for gas and oil one of the emphatic slogans of his campaign.

As if that weren’t destructive enough, the rival candidate, Democrat Kamala Harris, never during the campaign spoke out in favor of renewable energy sources, and indeed promised voters in the closely-contested state of Pennsylvania that she supported the destructive, water-wasting practice of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) for natural gas, which has become in recent years a favored process of gas extraction in that state and many others. Why she and her party turned their backs on climate is not clear, but surely indicates that they did not trust voters to understand the dangers and their importance. This is puzzling, because, as this blog detailed in July, polls show that a healthy majority of Americans see climate change as a solvable major problem. But at this point, possible solutions don’t even get on the ballot.

So, with no candidates in either party having the courage to speak the truth about climate destruction, the results were inevitable. As the world and our nation become steadily hotter, more polluted, drier, less fertile, and with more extreme storms, we humans are getting what none of us want, but what too many of us prefer to ignore, or deny, or feel powerless to prevent.  Too bad that our fellow creatures don’t have a say about our actions, but just suffer–and disappear–through our cowardice.

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Panorama of the Virginia State Arboretum: Cedar of Lebanon foreground, and Bald Cypress grove and famous yellow Ginkgo grove in distance, Nov. 8

Fighting the Good Fight: Visiting the Virginia State Arboretum

The magnificent Dawn Redwood, native to China, 80 feet tall, part of the international display at the Arboretum, Nov. 8

We had read about the Virginia State Arboretum, part of the Blandy Experimental Farm operated by the University of Virginia. We finally visited on November 8, a warm, sunny day just perfect for walking and viewing. Located 80 miles west of us, north of Shenandoah National Park, and just beyond the Shenandoah River near the village of Boyce, the Arboretum is an out-of-the-way miracle that is one of Virginia’s best kept secrets. With trees from around the world and across the U.S., as well as representative trees from throughout the state, the Arboretum’s several miles of trails offer stunning sights, good exercise, and a pleasant education in arboreal beauty.

Visitors to the Arboretum walk the Alley of Cedars of Lebanon toward the Ginkgo Grove, Nov. 8

Our visit came during the Arboretum’s Ginkgo Festival, so about a hundred visitors of all ages had come especially to see the famous grove of Asian Ginkgos (pictured above). Our leisurely two-hour visit also included a walk along the Cedars of Lebanon Alley,  a stroll among the many labelled and fragrant plants in the garden of herbs from around the world, and a talk with one of the helpful members of the staff–who answered our questions about the effects of the drought on the trees. She told us that often drought effects on trees are not seen until two years or so into the event, because of the trees’ resilience and stores of nutrients. However, she said, one evident effect already had been the drying up of the ponds and lakes on the property, as well as the decline in the bird population. Nevertheless, the broad lawns were still remarkably green and the trees glowed with fall colors, so the sights were lush and I even was able to get one bird photo, of the Brown Thrasher (below).

Brown Thrasher silhouetted in a berry-covered Buckthorn tree between the Cedars of Lebanon Alley and the Ginkgo Grove, Nov. 8

Greenhouse and outdoor international herb garden, State Arboretum of Virginia, Nov. 8. Ah, the fragrances!

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Sunrise panorama toward colorful north end woods, with west side dock in middle distance, Nov. 15

November 2024 Photo Gallery: Finding Beauty in the Drought

This month’s Gallery features scenic photos from around our little Lake Cameron, from nearby Lake Newport, and from other local sites. The birds are much fewer in number, so the music of their calls has all but disappeared, though the number of species is still considerable, as the photos here demonstrate.  Happily, some still make their presence known visually, and we highlight them here. We give them thanks for sharing their delicate beauty.

Eighteen Canada Geese adorn our lake before the north end, Nov, 23. They’re visiting frequently now, but no longer daily.

 

White-throated Sparrow, first sighting here of this species after two years of listening to the call, north end path, morning after rain, Nov. 28

 

Inlet stream to our lake, water clear after night of rain and colder temps, Nov. 28

 

Flock of Rock Doves on stanchion west of lake, morning after rain, Nov. 28

 

Burning Bush and gazebo, west shore of our lake, with view toward downtown, morning after rain, Nov. 28

 

American Crow atop Tulip Tree, north end woods, Nov. 28

 

Three Turkey Vultures glide above the east bank of our lake, the most we’ve seen here at one time, Nov. 18

 

Chipping Sparrow in dried Cutleaf Teazel, at the northeast corner of our lake, on a warm, dry morning, Nov. 8

 

Great Blue Heron, our regular visitor, beside the inlet culvert on the southwest shore, warm Nov. 18

 

At nearby Lake Newport, homes and fall colors are reflected as we look from the dam on a cold morning, Nov. 20

 

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, holiday light show, trees and gazebo illuminated across lake, Nov. 25

 

Male Cardinal, amid Asters, Boneset, and Blackberry Canes, northeast corner of our lake, Nov. 7

This male House Finch lands atop a Tulip Tree in the north end woods by our lake, on a cool morning, Nov. 18

 

Bluejay near feeder, east side, Nov. 8

 

A newly arrived Yellow Warbler perches in the Willow Oak on the east bank of our lake, Nov. 8

 

Carolina Wren on branch, southeast shore of our lake, windy morning, Nov. 11

 

Just after sunrise on a cold Nov. 24, Cherry Laurel, red Oakleaf Hydrangea, and the northern panorama of our lake

 

Panorama toward the south end of our lake and downtown, with contrails, early morning,Nov. 17

 

One of our Red-bellied Cooter Turtles, on log at the southeast shore, warm morning, Nov. 15

European Starling scans from atop the dead Oak on the east bank of our lake, on a cold dry morning, Nov. 23

 

Yellow Warbler feeds on dry Cutleaf Teazel in field west of our lake, Nov. 23

 

Song Sparrow, amid dry blackberry canes, northeast shore of our lake; warm, windy morning, Nov. 17

 

In our new garden plot in the public gardens in our town, tiny heads emerge in two of our cauliflower plants, warm morning, Nov. 24

A Grey Squirrel pauses on a branch near the west side path along our lake, on a cold morning, Nov. 24

 Mist rising at sunrise, beside the north end outlet stream below dam, Nov. 17

 

Fall colors, including Scarlet Oak along the west side path, warm morning, Nov. 18

Here’s to a happy, fruitful December, which is bound to be interesting!

July 2024: Feeling the Heat

/ Chris Thaiss / Leave a comment

If you’re new to this blog, start with the About page, then come to Home. Otherwise, you may feel a bit lost.

Great Blue Heron soars over the lake toward the south end just after sunrise, July 15

In the blog this month:

Feeling and Dealing with the Heat
Someone Loves It: Pollinators Galore in the Humid Heat
Did Someone Say “Drought”? In Virginia?
Climate Log: The Truth That Dares Not Speak Its Name
July 2024 Photo/Video Gallery

Yellow Tiger Swallowtail, Bumblebees, and Honeybees Swarm in Cutleaf Teazel and Porcelain Berry in the north end below the dam on a hot afternoon, July 23

Feeling and Dealing with the Heat

“The less you use it, the easier it is to live without it.” (Stan Cox, author of Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths about Our Air-Conditioned World)

In early July, the extreme heat that has smothered the U.S. hit Northern Virginia with a vengeance, as air temps for most of a week exceeded 100–and the heat index (the combo of heat and humidity) reached 110–before the air temp simmered back to the high 80s/low 90s. From mid-month on, clouds, bits of rain, and the forecast of more rain have tantalized us with a promise of normal summer weather in this part of the country.

Still, what separates this summer from 2022 and 2023 so far has been the humidity, the overall heaviness of the water-vapor-loaded air, which makes breathing slightly more difficult and sweating more intense. Fatigue hits us more quickly.

Those of us who can luckily spend most of our time indoors in chemically-cooled air can combat these effects. But most people in the world, including millions in this country, are not so fortunate. And even those of us with the luxury of cooled air pay the environmental price of further pollution of the air by the very machines we use to cool the air. In addition, all that hot air spewed outside by the air con just makes the outside hotter! So there’s really no escaping the costs of extreme heat brought on by our fossil-fuel addiction. Not to mention the big hit our utility bills take by all that air con!

With all that negativity in mind, even the fortunate can take a few simple steps to minimize their reliance on chemical/mechanical cooling; and you’ll save $$$, too!

  • Learn to live with higher temps than you’d prefer: when it’s 100 outside, set your air conditioner at 80 or higher (I set mine at 78, but by following the suggestions below, the aircon rarely comes on)
  • Keep shades or blinds closed to keep out sunlight–live with a little bit of darkness
  • Strip down to your preferred level of modesty
  • When coming in out of the muggy heat, wipe face and neck (and any other area you feel needs it) with a wet washcloth
  • Stay hydrated–keep drinking water handy
  • Avoid using heat-producing machinery to the extent possible in the kitchen or workroom

Anything you can do to stay cooler without the air-conditioning running is a plus for everyone.

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Butterflies, Moths, Bees, and Dragonflies–Pollinators Galore in the Humid Heat

Silver-Spotted Skipper Butterfly feeds on the ubiquitous Cutleaf Teazel by the outlet stream below the dam, hot afternoon, July 23

Taking a daily stroll around the lake this month in the humid air may not be the most pleasant experience, especially from 11 AM on, when the air is at its hottest. But if you do, you’ll be treated to a festival of pollinators gorging on the lush July wildflowers, from Queen Anne’s Lace and Swamp Milkweed to Cutleaf Teazel, Porcelain Berry, and Purple Thistle–and even the last remaining Allegheny Blackberries. In my two summers here so far, I’ve not seen such profusion of Butterfly, Moth, and Dragonfly species, as well as the numbers of Bumblebees, Honeybees, and smaller bees flitting from flower to flower.

The difference is the level of heat and humidity. What makes life uncomfortable for us fragile humans seems to bring out the best in the small pollinators, at least to this point in the month. So I’ll enjoy the photographic cornucopia while I can, and keep track over the coming weeks. Here are some of the results, with more in this month’s Photo/Video Gallery later in the entry.

Black Dragonfly amid Cattails and Reeds by the outlet stream below the dam, July 23

Orange Sulphur Butterfly, with Bees, and Beetles, on Cutleaf Teazel on a breezy July 13

Bumblebee and two Honeybees feed on Cutleaf Teazel at the northwest corner of the lake, at sunrise, July 15

Closeup of a Common Buckeye Moth on the path below the north end dam, July 23

Pipevine Swallowtail–first sighting–feeding on Cutleaf Teazel on the northwest corner of the lake, on a hot afternoon, July 23

Three Bumblebees feast on Swamp Milkweed, east bank of the lake, July 23

If you are interested in identifying Butterfly and Moth species, may I suggest the website Butterflies and Moths of North America.

If you are interested in identification of insects of all kinds, go to insectidentification. org.

If you want to get kids involved in the looking and enjoying, try the Children’s Butterfly Site, with quizzes and games to add to the fun.

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“Drought,” Did Someone Say? In Northern Virginia?

Severe (orange) and extreme (red) drought conditions in Virginia, July 23 (source: Fairfax County Government)

Update, July 31: According to the Washington Post  (July 30), the Washington-area Council of Governments has issued a “drought watch” to the region, and has urged residents to “voluntarily” conserve water by such actions as taking 5-minute showers, turning off water while brushing teeth, and only using dishwashers for full loads. At the same time, they are assuring residents that the area reservoirs are full and the region is well-prepared for drought. Commenters to the article disagree with this rosy assessment.

July 28: Since moving here from California two years ago, I’ve occasionally written in this blog about how shocked, but not surprised, I’ve been by how ignorant and complacent this region is about water or the lack of it. Whereas Californians obsess about water, because they have always been forced by drought to be aware of every drop, what happens to it, and how to conserve, Northern Virginians take water for granted. In California, most people know whether local water comes from the aquifer, from a far-away reservoir, or from annual river runoff from the Sierra snowpack. Here, it’s just assumed that rain will provide–and in the past it did. But no longer.

Water-hungry toilets, multi-acre-sized carpets of pollinator-empty grass, and thirsty beds of annual flowers are everywhere in the DC suburbs and exurbs. Mowers are out weekly to make sure that lawns look like artificial turf–rather than like actual plantings, which if allowed to grow would have roots that can reach the water table. Local governments never ask residents to conserve water. (Note: See the July 31 update, above.)

Last year’s drought conditions in Central Virginia (see the map above) and even a few brief wildfires near us in August drew hardly a mention here. Equally critical, the lack of snowfall in the disappearing winter (see my January 2024 entry) is only considered significant because of lack of a nostalgic White Christmas, not because it portends trouble to come. Indeed, most Northern Virginians are happy not to have the snow, because it just clogs traffic–everyone’s number one preoccupation. (I’m trying not to be too cynical!)

A rare rain shower wets the burned-out blackberry canes along the north end of the lake, July 11

Finally, the Washington Post published an article by Ian Livingston on July 11 that proclaimed the “severe drought” plaguing the DC region. It noted the 4.5 inch deficit in average rainfall, and showed a picture of browned-out grass in one neighborhood. But the overall message was that a few nice rainstorms and maybe even a helpful hurricane would come by to bring us all back to our usual contentment.

Typical rain-dependent, regularly mowed “lawn” space in suburban Northern Virginia, not hospitable to pollinators, July 26

However, one of the many commenters to the bland article emotionally described an actual consequence of what the “severe drought” is doing to the region:

I live in the Valley and let me tell you it is really bad. I realize that many sit inside in A/C and never even think about what is happening. The farmers are selling their cows because they cannot feed them. Normally the fields are lush and green now with plenty of grass. There is no hay. We normally get three crops of hay. There was one very small crop this year. So there is no hay to feed animals this winter. Even if we got a lot of rain now, there will be no more hay. I don’t know what the farmers will do. The trees are dying. Wells are running dry.

We had a similar scenario last year but the drought started last year in late August so at least there was a decent hay crop.

If this is the new normal and I am starting to think that it is, then it will be impossible to raise cows for beef and for milk at least here in VA. Prices are going to go way up in any event (please don’t blame this on Biden, he cannot control the weather).

And I have never seen it so hot for so long. Weeks on end of mid 80’s to upper 90’s temperatures. And I fear now for forest fires. One lightning strike is all it will take.

Note, however, that this impassioned commenter “lives in the Valley” (presumably the Shenandoah Valley 90 miles west of here), so it’s unlikely that the average DC area urbanite/suburbanite will pay any attention to “hay” and “cows,” when they have much more pressing concerns–like this morning’s (or any days’) traffic on the beltway (“I know! Isn’t it a nightmare?!”)

Update, August 3: Photos from the Drought-Stricken Shenandoah Valley

To see for ourselves what commentators to the Post articles were writing about the extreme drought conditions in Western Central Virginia, we spent August 2 and 3 in the Shenandoah Valley. Once we crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and drove down into the Valley in the high 90s heat, the fields were much browner than east of the mountains, and corn fields were stunted and sometimes bare. The South Fork of the Shenandoah River was very low, though the river still flowed. The forecast on the 2nd was for thunderstorms, but, as usual, storm clouds did appear, but no more than a few drops fell.

Dried out field, stunted corn crop, at farm in Shenandoah, VA, August 3

Burned out farm field, New Market, VA, Aug. 2

Families are still out tubing on the shallow, much-narrowed South Fork of the Shenandoah River, Elkton, VA, August 2

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Climate Log: The Truth That Dares Not Speak Its Name

What now looks like desert was not long ago a thriving pasture in Leonforte, Sicily (photo by Gianni Cipriano, June 24). See Postcards from “A World on Fire” for more such examples of drought around the world.

In the intense political atmosphere of this critical election year, I am again dismayed, but not surprised, by the lack of any mention of climate change by U.S. candidates, particularly in relation to the daily, dramatic heat extremes of this most unique of summers. This last week of July is feeling Earth’s hottest day on record in 88 years of recording–or really a succession of hottest days ever–not to mention report after report of heat-related deaths, crop burnout, and devastating effects of drought. The Washington Post article by Sarah Kaplan, July 23, reviews the research and statistics from the European Union’s Copernicus Project. The  shocking photo from Sicily (above) is just one of many examples of climate degradation around the world in just the most recent year, and far from the most terrible in terms of human cost in lives and livelihoods.

Here in the U.S., research by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reveals the intensity and spread of one climate change consequence–extreme drought–as illustrated by this map of Texas south through Mexico to Guatemala (June 2024), as part of its Global Drought Narrative for the current year:

But for one of our two U.S. political parties, climate-change denial is perhaps its most important commandment. Why? Because the Party is deeply committed to the fossil-fuel cartel. The Party’s Presidential nominee openly promised the cartel special favors in exchange for a one-billion dollar donation to his campaign.

Even though a solid majority of Americans continue to say to pollsters that climate change is an important issue that needs to be addressed (78%), the cartel and its supporting politicians have so far managed to convince many Americans that climate change may not be primarily human-caused (46% of respondents to the polls sponsored by the EPIC project at the University of Chicago). This viewpoint translates into a clear majority of respondents to the same polls who would not be willing to pay even 1 dollar more in taxes to reduce fossil fuel emissions! However, if, as the pollsters asked, corporations could be induced to pay for the transformation of the energy system to renewable energy, the popular opinion becomes strongly positive (65%). 

So most Americans do think that something needs to be done to combat climate change–as long as someone else pays for it.

As might be expected, people who align themselves Republican (the party of denial) are way more skeptical of the need to address climate change. But even many of them (42%) would support regulations to limit emissions from power plants and vehicles. Support by Democrats (the party for positive action on climate change) is, understandably, higher, with 78% favoring regulation of emissions.

What about people who have suffered first-hand from extreme effects? The brightest number in the EPIC stats for those favoring action comes from respondents–across party lines–who say that they had suffered the extreme effects of climate change in their own lives. 68% of these sufferers consider it an important issue in this election year, and 53% want the newly-elected President to take action. Even more telling is that up to 22% of sufferers in four states who are among the most affected (Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas) would consider moving out of those states–becoming migrants themselves–if conditions don’t improve (see map below).

Percentages of those already affected by extreme heat and storms willing to move (EPIC Project, U. of Chicago, 2024)

Since the extreme effects of heat, drought, floods, sea level rise, etc., will only intensify, the deteriorating climate itself promises to keep moving the public-opinion dial toward government action and corporate change. But how many more tragedies must occur in the meantime?

For the present, even the Democrats, nervously looking at the ambiguous numbers, are afraid to come out too strongly for positive action on climate change. Listen to and read their speeches, their policy statements, their incessant funding pleas. Do they even mention how people and places are suffering from a changing climate? Or will the extreme effects of heat, drought, floods, wildfires, and eroding shorelines remain a terrible truth that dares not speak its name? How many more places across the world, including the U.S., must become virtually unlivable before politicians have the courage to speak out with bold plans to save lives, livelihoods, and our fellow creatures?

Park Fire, now the 6th largest in California history. Sacramento Bee article by Rosalio Ahumada, July 29

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The July 2024 Photo/Video Gallery

This month’s gallery features more scenes of the variety of pollinators (birds, butterflies, bees, dragonflies) around the lake, including species not seen here before, as well as the flowering plants with which they collaborate. That our fragile little ecosystem remains so wildlife friendly is a tribute to all, including humans, who care for it by not polluting, by letting plants grow, and by not scaring the wildlife away.

Red-winged Blackbird male perches on a Persimmon Tree at the northwest corner on a hot afternoon, July 21

Orange Skimmer dragonfly rests on a branch on the southwest shore, July 31

Green Heron listens to Cicadas on a branch under the bridge on the southeast cove on a humid afternoon, July 23

Ripe Elderberries along the path by the southeast bridge, July 15

Some of the last Allegheny Blackberries at the north end, before the canes burned out in the heat, July 5. We harvested some for snacks and baking, but left almost all for the birds!

Silver Spotted Skipper Butterfly–a first sighting here–amid Cutleaf Teazel below the dam, hot July 23

Red-winged Blackbird female in Porcelain Berry at the north end below the dam on July 23

Chipmunk eyes me from the grass beside the southeast cove bridge on the hot, humid July 23

Our ubiquitous Red-bellied Cooters don’t like coming above water on really hot days, but this one showed up on the log in the southeast cove in the heat of the afternoon, July 23

Another July regular, Pokeberry, appears in graceful glory on the north end shore, July 4

I surprise an unfazed Mockingbird on the north end path, on a drizzly morning, July 22

Cottontails are plentiful this July, like this one, munching calmly on the grass beside the northwest path on a hot afternoon, July 23

Tiny Summer Azure Butterfly on Porcelain Berry leaf below the north end dam in heavy rain, July 11

Two Goldfinches amid Purple Thistle on a drizzly morning in the northwest corner, July 22

Blue Widow Skimmer Dragonfly on Porcelain Berry below the north end just after sunrise, July 7

Brown Thrasher, first sighting here, in Bradford Pear by the northeast corner path, July 23

Sachem and Fritillary Butterflies feed on a Cutleaf Teazel bloom in the northwest corner, July 13

As the abnormally high heat and humidity continue, we hope the resilience of our pollinators and of our human Virginia neighbors continue to set an example for all of us. On to August!