Open Writing

Despite what experts might insist are “normal” events, it seems to me we live in unusually tumultuous times. I just don’t buy the explanation that our awareness of catastrophic events is simply due to greater media exposure. I read an article the other day, which, in response to public concerns about the recent number and frequency of major earthquakes, stated predictably that the occurrences were nothing unusual.

The writer went on to say that earthquakes of 7.0 to 8.0 severity occur on a regular basis on the sea bed. Well, so they may, but the ones that get my attention are those that destroy whole regions, as in China, or even countries, in the case of Haiti. The recent earthquake in Mexico’s Bahia Pennisular, and other rumblings up and down the west coast of America, would seem to warn of the likelihood of a major schism in the San Andreas Fault in the foreseeable future.

Then there are the restless volcanoes around the world, disintegrating ice caps, massive forest fires in the US and Australia, unprecedented flooding in many countries, devastating tornadoes, hurricanes and droughts. On the human level, anywhere you look there is war, starvation, oppression, genocide, terrorism, new plagues, and the resurgence of old ones like tuberculosis.

Whether these events are just examples of what goes around, comes around or not, my personal feeling is that life is a lot more unpredictable than it has been for most of my years. When I lived in England, the weather was predictably cold and wet, and when I came to live in the US it was delightful to be able to plan a picnic or barbecue weeks in advance, and be reasonably sure it wouldn’t get rained out.

All that has changed. Since I left England there have been summers there, and in Europe, when people died of heat prostration. In Connecticut, where I spend the summer to get away from the Florida heat, it has been hotter there on some days than in the south of the country. The high temperatures that were normally encountered in the North East only in August, began in June and lasted through September.

Then last year it was raining and cold when we arrived in Connecticut in May, and continued that way through the end of July! Returning to Florida in September, when the searing heat of the summer is usually tapering off, 90°F plus (32°C plus) temperatures dogged us through November.

We grudgingly tolerated this in the belief that December would bring the cooler, dry, Mediterranean style weather that is so enjoyable and normally lasts until April. Well, cooler it got; and cooler, and cooler, and wetter and wetter. The drought conditions that had prevailed through the previous four winters were replaced by monsoon-like weather. Citrus and strawberry crops that normally come to fruition in February and March, were blighted by overnight frosts!

Since my retirement income is closely tied to the Stock Market, I’m also keenly aware of the upheavals in the global financial world. Just as it looked as though the US economy had weathered the storm, now there is a maelstrom of bad news from Greece, Spain and Portugal, all of whose failing economies threaten to send the US Stock Market into another tailspin.

When I was kid, I chafed at the predictable sameness of everyday life, longing for some unexpected event to overtake me. In part this may have been because World War II swirled around my formative years, but once it was over the same old routines quickly reestablished themselves. So one could say that I had been conditioned to expect the unexpected. Now, I treasure the days that unfold just as I had anticipated. I have lost my ability or desire to dodge the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.