Colorado Lows and Climate IS changing

Good morning, Don! This is Thanks Giving weekend for me so I'm still trying to catch up with everything! I spent two glorious days with my daughter and her family! The joyous chaos that 5 more people and 4 more dogs bring into our house is energizing! But, we all have to settle down and get back to real life sometime.

So we have officially started the Christmas Season! The intense 4 weeks of shopping before we celebrate Christmas. It is interesting that I don't seem to have any great demanding needs this year which has messed up my husband's "What do you want for Christmas?" list. Of course, his list is already being bought – he buys and I wrap. The news reports that buying locally is down by 10% - more people are shopping online. I have to admit, the sales on online were better announced! The local stores really pulled back on their sales this year... hard to buy locally when you can get it cheaper, including shipping, online.

Have you ever wondered where we get our Colorado Lows from? It's not like we have a secret weather controlling station here – our lows have to come from somewhere! Who can we blame? It would nice to be able to point a finger at some other state and blame them for the 15 degree weather we've had for the last 4 days. We actually saw the sun on Friday and Saturday for a bit ... otherwise it is just 4 inches of snow and lots of cold. This particular system, which I'm sure you'll get part of, slid down the east side of the mountains. The ski areas got snow – but the west side was sunny and bright.

The "slop snow" (as you call it) left us ¼ inch of ice on the cars – we had to chip our way into the car, let it warm up for about 20 minutes to de-ice the windows – good exercise before a big Thanks Giving dinner! But ice? In Colorado? Unheard of in the past.

I've been reading about the new Climate Accords meeting in Paris this coming week – there will be 150 + countries attending and it appears there is no longer debate as to whether or not climate will change like there was in 1978 with the Kyoto Accords. Now there is agree that climate is changing more quickly than anticipated. To put it bluntly, earth has become a dangerous place to live. Technology has helped, but more people are still dying due to weather related disasters.

 Hopefully there will be some sound changes that countries are willing to make – the US as one of them. I figure if China can cut their industrial sector (China right now is the world's leader in carbon emissions) and in the meantime become one of the leading solar power countries in the world, maybe we can too. Sadly, we don't have a government with enough backbone to get it done... Next year is the Presidential Election – and I have to say that things are heating up already. So far, no one looks very responsible. 

 I loved your book report! We don't need roads: the making of Back to the Future Trilogy sounds like a great read! Speilberg has pull! And so does Hanks! My son often reports about product placement in movies and in TV shows. I remember Wilson, and I remember how devastated I was when he floated away.

So while I was perusing the internet for news this morning, I ran across an article on Tom Hanks in the 1980- 82  TV sitcom Bosom Buddies with Peter Scolari. This is where Hanks got his start. It was a takeoff on Some Like It Hot with Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe. Even though it only lasted 2 seasons, that was enough to slingshot Hanks into more dynamic leading man roles.

One of the questions that came up over Thanks Giving was when was I going to retire? I'm seriously thinking about it. I'm getting envious of your trips to Mexico for the winter – and your sense of freedom to go explore when you feel like it. But my husband and my kids have all pointed out that whenever we had a Christmas Break that lasted more than 2 weeks and during the summer, they all decided it was time for me to go back to work after 2 weeks – I drove them crazy! I was free! I had things to do and places to go, adventures to have... they didn't and apparently still don't – see life that way. Ah well. For now, I have reports and a new curriculum to create by January.

Have a great week!

Carolyn

All images downloaded from Google Images

Fig 1 – retrieved from Life Skills | Aspergers : A Mom's Eye Viewasdhelp.wordpress.com

Fig 2 – retrieved from snow/icewww.kevinkarn.com

Fig 3 – retrieved from What is Climate Change? - Middlesbrough Councilm.middlesbrough.gov.uk

Fig 4 – retrieved from Adaptation | 350:Cartoons Against Climate Change350cartoons.wordpress.com

Fig 5 – retrieved from 1980: 'Bosom Buddies' Debuts on ABCwww.tvworthwatching.com

Fig 6 – retrieved from Retirement Gag Gifts [Slideshow]seniors.lovetoknow.com