Ponderings

News blues

Delta variant now has been found in up to 98 countries and it’s spread hobbles global efforts to lift COVID-19 restrictions. Vaccines that reduce hospitalizations and deaths are tempering economic concerns — but not in poorer, less-inoculated countries. 

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Health service buckling as third coronavirus wave fueled by Delta variant sweeps across South Africa. 
In Iran, Covid-19 has killed more than 84,000 people out of over 3.2 million infections. These figures, according to authorities, do not account for all cases.

Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has expressed fears that Iran will be hit by a new wave of Covid-19 due to an outbreak of the Delta variant in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country.
“It is feared that we are on the way to a fifth wave throughout the country,” Rouhani told a meeting of Iran’s anti-virus taskforce, warning the public to be careful as the Delta variant had entered the country from the south and south-east.

Read more >> 

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A month ago, even as President Biden laid out a goal to vaccinate 70% of American adults by today, Independence Day,  he conceded the U.S. would need to overcome “doubters” and laziness to do it. “This is your choice … It’s life and death.”
That goal has yet materialize – among humans, that is.
Zoo animals, however, are a different story.

Tigers Ginger and Molly were the first two animals at the Oakland Zoo to get the vaccine this week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday. The doses were donated and developed by veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis in New Jersey.

Healthy planet, anyone?

ExxonMobil, cont’d…

0ver the past decade, Exxon Mobil Corp. ― once the chief funder of think tanks that sowed lies about how burning fossil fuels affects the planet’s temperature  ― abandoned its denial of climate change and embraced economists’ favored solution: putting a tax on carbon emissions.
But on Wednesday, a veteran lobbyist at the nation’s largest oil producer was secretly recorded on video seemingly confirming what many environmentalists had long suspected ― that Exxon Mobil believes a carbon tax is politically impossible, and thus has supported it as a ploy to prevent lawmakers from enacting more popular climate policies.

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New oilfield in African wilderness threatens lives of 130,000 elephants 

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Yellowstone’s most famous geyser could shut down, with huge ramifications If temperatures rise 10F by the century’s end as projected, Old Faithful could stop erupting, and the snowpack that feeds rivers throughout the west may disappear.

Read more in The Guardian >>  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday was the first day, since I returned to California last month, that wispy clouds overhead softened relentless heat. A perfect day on the Delta. Friends visited to celebrate Independence Day – one day early to avoid crowded waterways – with traditional BBQ/”braai” and untraditional cuisine: roasted veggies and corn/”mealies”, lamb, couscous … and, naturally, dairy-free ice-cream. Plus, swimming. And friendship. Perfect.
Keeping alive the tradition of non-traditional on this boat, today I intend to apply my new battery-operated hand saw to the half-sheet of plywood recently purchased from the Eco-Center (specializing in good-value-for-money recycled materials) and create a rolling storage shelf. And swim.

An observation about my “internal process”: I grew up in what family psychologists would call “a non-nurturing environment.”
Unconsciously – I was nothing if not unconscious – holding that that non-nurturing environment would not sully my chosen life path of discovery, I elbowed my way with bravado through situations where caution might have been wiser. 

Wiser with age and burdened by guilt, these days I’m more cautious. 

Perhaps over-cautious? Yesterday, my anxiety peaked. First, I’d forgotten how to light gas cookers; experimenting with potentially explosive gas is anxiety-provoking. Then I abandoned my intention of installing onto the transom of the Sea Eagle inflatable, the electrical trolling motor and battery. I’d purchased both before the pandemic – 2 years ago – and never used them. Yesterday, fear of dropping either or both into the river predominated. Perhaps smart to wait, it’s also disappointing. Back in the day, heedless youth barging through barriers ignored any anxiety and caution so heedful senior years acknowledging both is a sign of developing a healthier psyche. It is also disorienting… which creates further anxiety.
The human. A bundle of contradictions.
I ponder, therefore I seek balance?
The good news? Collective action with friends helping to figure out the gas cookers succeeded in producing a delicious meal… while enjoying a beautiful river, amazing bird life, and the luxury of friendship.
Life is good – if one allows it….