Yesterday was cold, and windy. Riding was not part of the church of what's happening now. By the afternoon it was gusting to 24 mph. So, we hiked. We did not wear sufficient clothing. But we were there, so we went. It was not a typical beautiful day, but the skies were impressive.
On the way out we saw this. I'm reasonably certain that this is part of the Tohono O'odham nation. We saw State Police cars, but no reservation police cars. We also observed that two of the officers were carrying long guns of some sort, probably shot guns. They all headed out to the desert on foot, and we did not see them anymore.
Then it was off to Tucson Mountain Park. We went up the Krein trail, to Sarasota, and then back down the curvy trail to Krein. It's not a long walk, which was fine, because we kept wondering if we were going to be rained on. The dark area between Golden Gate and Bren kept getting darker and more ominous, but it didn't rain on us. That came later, and it was quite the storm.
Last summer's monsoon was not great. It wasn't all that wet. It did have a lot of hail, wind and micro bursts. The saguaros really took it in the head. There are many down, and many with their tops blown out. I hate to see that, the ones with arms are generally 70 to 100 years old.
The AZ legislature, in its infinite wisdom, wants to pass a bill banning Satanic images from public buildings. Right, because there's nothing else in the world that needs to be addressed. What they have apparently forgotten is that ASU sports teams are the Sun Devils. Their mascot is Old Sparky, who is a devil with a pitch fork. One wonders if the alumni are aware of this threat to school spirit.
As we all know, sea levels are rising, and salt water is making incursions into fresh ground water. It's even worse than that. The sea water is corrosive and is eating the underground infrastructure. Honolulu has been studying this for quite some time. There's an article here.
So, that's it, that's all I've got.
And so much infrastructure is underground, even electric and phone in new subdivisions! And sad to see saguaros felled by storms. Not a great outing this time.
ReplyDeleteThe impacts of weather phenomenon and climate change are becoming more and more catastrophic. I live in a province where wildfires due to extended periods of drought and lightning storms (or humans) is prevalent. Our next door neighbour still has fires burning in the dead of winter.
ReplyDeleteYour hike looks interesting, though it is sad to see the saquaros down. I suppose the men in those trucks are hunting for illegal migrants?
the planet is undergoing massive change. it remains to be seen if humans will adapt or continue their destructive behavior.
ReplyDeletewhat the hell do they think they will accomplish by banning 'satanic' images? this is probably their attempt to keep the Satanic Temple from setting up displays next to christian displays in public buildings and schools. they are all for religious displays as long as they are christian displays, all for freedom of religion as long as it's christian religion.
It's sad to see the saguaros fall. Hopefully new ones are growing in their place, but they take a very long time to mature, don't they? The whole satanic panic is so silly. It's a distraction from real issues.
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