ME III: Gully Washer

Oct 10, 2023 · Maine Event

The news has me down a little. I'm sad. There is almost always a better way than war and we need to figure out how we can live together and tackle the problems that we collectively face.

I've been reading again about how climate change is changing what people can grow where. This is super important for farming communities and gardeners but rarely anyone other than that thinks about it. I found this site to be interesting. I can also geek out on the USDA plant zone map. I grew up in 5a and it's 5b here. That said this is based on 1976-2005 data and it sure feels like a different world since then! Not that you'll be able to grow tangerines in Maine but everything is changing and winters everywhere are getting milder. This of course has pluses such as a wider number of crops and growing seasons and minuses since winter is what keeps things like malaria mosquitoes away and kills other pests so they don't grow exponentially. It is also important for water storage for the summer months for most of the northern and mountainous states.

Today we had a lovely crisp day that was filled with clouds then there was an hour of serious rain. It felt like a gully washer and then the skies cleared and we got a little light at the end of the day. The high was 60° and the low was 41°. We opted to get takeout from Boda, an incredibly delicious Thai food nearby.

In other news, I'm on an email list of Japanese weavers and menders and they highlighted this cool group doing fiber stuff in India called Aranya Natural from the Srishti Trust

Still busy with work and I didn't make very much progress today as I had many emails and other tasks.