Blistering

Back in the day, I spent four months living in a cave on the reef and beach in Sharm el-Sheikh when there was nothing there except a locked dive hut. (Sharm el-Sheikh is now an “Egyptian resort town between the desert of the Sinai Peninsula and the Red Sea, known for its sheltered sandy beaches, clear waters and coral reefs.”). During that long ago past, I survived 3 days of desert sandstorms, called khamasīn, in the Sinai Peninsula and have since traveled in Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Israel/Palestine. These are all high temperature countries. Yet, these days, it’s California experiencing temperatures ranging up to 114 F (+45 C) . Creatures great and small struggle at this temperature. The extraordinary fires exacerbate a growing catastrophe.  
What’s next, a plague? Oh, wait…. Now you mention it….

News blues…

Click to enlarge.

A month ago, South Africa was fifth on the list of countries most affected by Covid-19. If the numbers can be believed, it’s now seventh on the list,  behind Peru and Columbia. Good going, South Africans! 

Healthy futures, anyone?

Magical moments in music  (7:00 mins) 

***

Has the pandemic highlighted the fragility of global supply chains and identified a need to redefine the role of food in the economy? In UK,

The first post-lockdown crops of the land army have been harvested. The food – chard, spinach, lettuce and radish – is being parcelled out to the local shops, market stalls and those in need. Now the volunteer labour force has its sights on a new goal: a land-use revolution that will make UK farming more nature friendly, plant-based and resilient to future shocks.
“If the whole coronavirus experience has taught us anything, it is that we should be more self-sufficient. It was terrifying seeing the empty shop shelves,” said Chris Higgins, a retired academic who gets as much back as he gives from the voluntary work. “It’s very enriching. Growing and cooking food and working together is a great way of engaging with the local community and nature at the same time.” 

***

The Lincoln Project: UnAmerican  (1:15 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The day before The Day. Tomorrow, we take my mother’s three very elderly and very incontinent dogs to the vet for the last stage of their life journey.
My mother moves to the Care Center next week. Two of the younger dogs will stay in this house with me until the house is sold. I’ve committed to “rehoming” them. Rehoming is not an easy task in a country with an exploding dog population (even more dogs than monkeys) – and a mother who believes that, if not with her, all her dogs should be put down. She explains, “I don’t want them to be unhappy.”
I will drive her small Toyota Yaris with my mother, a domestic worker, and three elderly dogs to the vet. After the deed is done, the dogs remains are “processed”, returned to my mother in personalized boxes, and will be placed on a shelf in her new home with at least a dozen similar boxes of cremains.