Poetry Sunday

Although there are those who would tell you that climate change, or global warming, or whatever, is a hoax that evil liberal Democrats use to scare the sheep, it's pretty obvious to those with a brain that the climate is changing around us. Hurricanes are not necessarily more frequent, but are stronger and wetter, drought ruins farms, causes cities to go dry, and exacerbates the huge wildfires that char the West. The cold is colder and the hot hotter. Yep, times and weather are changing. Here's a look at how to predict those changes, at least at the local level ...

How to Foretell a Change in the Weather

by Ted Kooser

Rain always follows the cattle

sniffing the air and huddling

in fields with their heads to the lee.

You will know that the weather is changing

when your sheep leave the pasture

too slowly, and your dogs lie about

and look tired; when the cat

turns her back to the fire,

washing her face, and the pigs

wallow in litter; cocks will be crowing

at unusual hours, flapping their wings;

hens will chant; when your ducks

and your geese are too noisy,

and the pigeons are washing themselves;

when the peacocks squall loudly

from the tops of the trees,

when the guinea fowl grates;

when sparrows chirp loudly

and fuss in the roadway, and when swallows

fly low, skimming the earth;

when the carrion crow

croaks to himself, and wild fowl

dip and wash, and when moles

throw up hills with great fervor;

when toads creep out in numbers;

when frogs croak; when bats

enter the houses; when birds

begin to seek shelter,

and the robin approaches your house;

when the swan flies at the wind,

and your bees leave the hive;

when ants carry their eggs to and fro,

and flies bite, and the earthworm

is seen on the surface of things.

Have a good day. Conserve water and believe in what you see.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo