2021 Life Logs, Day 29: COLD
Date: Friday, January 29, 2021
Weather: Sunny, Windy, and COLD; High 20, Low 11 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The high temperature for today was at midnight and it got progressively colder from there. It did get up to 16 degrees during the afternoon, but with the 18-20 mile per hour winds, it felt much colder. The high for tomorrow is forecast to be 21 degrees, and at least that will be in the afternoon. But the bottom line is that today was simply COLD. When Shadow and I walked this morning at 10 am, the temperature was 11 but with the wind chill it was -7. So we didn’t walk as far as usual. By Sunday, this cold snap should move on. But here is what I don’t get. I keep my thermostat set at 68 during the day and right now the thermostat registers that. But it definitely feels colder than usual. In fact, my nose and my hands are cold to the touch. Why is that? If anyone can explain that to me, please let me know.
I did spend my late morning and early afternoon working on my Voyage of Windbird writing project. When it was time to go get Ollie, I changed gears. I took Ollie home and put a laundry load in. I then came home and took Shadow for a second walk and then headed back to put my clothes in the dryer. I went to the grocery store while the clothes were drying and then went back to get my clothes and head home for dinner. Heather has been so busy the past couple of days that I haven’t seen her when I take Ollie home. But she did emerge from her bedroom/office just before I left. She was all dressed up, so I asked where she was going. She was making a Zoom presentation for the Peabody Essex Museum at 7 pm. That was only 45 minutes away, but I asked if I could still sign up. She hadn’t told anyone about the presentation because she wasn’t sure she was pleased with it. But I hurried home, signed up, and tuned in at 7 pm. The presentation was entitled The Tale of Two Crises—Climate Change and the Coronavirus Pandemic. She addressed the lessons learned from Covid-19 crisis that also apply to the climate crisis. I jotted down some quick notes, so hopefully my outline of her presentation is accurate. According to my notes, the lessons learned from the two crises are:
• Words Matter
• Flattening the Curve is Key
• Listen to the Science–We can’t embrace something we don’t understand.
• Federal Leadership is Critical, but . . .
• Individual Action is Necessary and Worthwhile.
• Data are Personal
• Our Current Systems Perpetuate Injustices
• Crises Offer Opportunities for Positive Change
• It’s Never Too Late . . . “The next best time is NOW.”
I am so glad I decided to do a laundry today and found about the presentation. I had never really thought about the lessons learned from these two major crises we are facing. It was a great presentation, very thought provoking.
