The clouds and the watermelons

photo by Carl Wozniak

I drive country roads a lot. Here´s a story of a day on which I felt I´d lost my path.

It happened one very warm day when I was driving back to the ranch. I had to stop the truck because I felt lost even with the paved road ahead. It was mostly because of the clouds. Not because they obstructed my vision it was more because of their reflections. And my own reflexions. While stretching my legs I thought that probably at that very moment about half of Earth was covered by clouds.

I remembered reading somewhere that they reflect more sunlight than land and water. I was dressed in my white clothes because it was Summer. Everybody knows that white keeps you cooler. I felt some relief thinking that those clouds by reflecting sunlight were keeping the Earth cooler too. And that was when I got completely lost: I was blinded by the A factor. The Albedo in them and in me.

I grabbed a piece of watermelon.

I had recently found some sites about counteracting global warming effects. Scientists no longer talking about it but rather on how to solve the problem. The civil society is more aware of it although finger pointing is such a common thing we do... Names like "ecowarriors", "alarmists", "climate change deniers", "skeptics", "anti-aviation campaigners", “conspiracy theorists”, "liberal activists", "manipulative ecologists", etc are all over the Internet.
I spitted some black seeds.

- "So now some scientists are talking about 'geoengineering' the planet", I said to myself. "It seems that some are thinking on injecting sulfate particles in the upper atmosphere to increase the albedo. Shooting the clouds with some poison that nobody knows what´s going to feed us back can´t be called a 'escape route' from global warming. So vapor trails left by aircrafts are environmentally friendly and cow farts are not?"
- "Hey, finally somebody advocates for us!", a voice said from behind me.
I looked around and saw nobody. There was only me, the truck, the clouds and a black Angus chewing some grass.

I took another bite of watermelon. Summers are so warm down here in the Pampas...

- "Some want to spray aerosol compounds into the atmosphere by utilizing commercial, military and private aircrafts and calves are condemned for belching? It´s not fair...", I thought and sighed.
- "That´s what I said, thank you", said the voice again.
- "Who´s there? Is bad enough that you don´t show yourself but reading my thoughts is something I won´t allow you"
- "Sorry, sorry I didn´t mean to disturb your thoughts. My name is Negrita and I think that since aerosols cut down sunlight by large amounts, they may be spinning down the hydrological cycle of the planet. That´s pure science distorsion, maddness based on volcanic eruptions, come on!", she said.
- "Well, nice to meet you Negrita, I´m 99", I told the cow.
- "Yeah, I know, I read your blog"
- "Well, thanks. So your opinion is...?"
- "I think that using sea water as a source for hygroscopic nuclei may produce enough cloud cover to provided an offset a year's worth of carbon increase"
- "I don´t understand..."
- "See, it´s about evaporating 50 kilograms of sea water per second. We could even, if we wished, drive the problem backwards. It is also fully controllable: you can switch it off!"
- "You mean it can be better than giant reflecting mirrors in space, or laying reflecting film in deserts, or floating white plastic islands in the ocean mimicking the reflective effect of sea?"
- "Yeah, I think it might work better"
- "So you think it´s all about the clouds?"
- "Yep. Clouds and opacity. Clouds and clouds lifetime. Clouds and albedo. Every thing's albedo is measured by how much they reflect sunlight. Bouncing back the light makes them shine, and the Earth shines like a diamond in the Universe. High thin clouds are better blankets in trapping warmth, while low thick clouds make better coolers. Want some grass?"- "Thanks no, I´m on a diet. How do you manage your weight?", I said as I steered at the sky and thought on how much clouds have changed during my lifetime. High, warming clouds had increased while low clouds had decreased"
- "I sweat. I like being black in Summer. Keeps me in shape"
- "Then again back to the subject. Sunlight heats the ocean, water escapes into the atmosphere and falls out as rain..."
- "... non-polluting, planet-saving mist..." - "Not a bad idea"
- "... or just cut the crap with the oil. It´s gonna rain, gotta go. Bye", and she left.
- "Bye Negrita, glad to meet you. See you around!"

I saved the rest of the watermelon for later and jumped back in the truck. I felt not so lost anymore.
Hot Summer days and watermelons just seem to go perfect together...

buenos aires argentina

Elecciones 2007

EL DIFICIL ARTE DEL ZEN ARGENTINO

CANDIDATOS A PRESIDENTE Y VICEPRESIDENTE
PARTIDO OBRERO: Pitrola-Arroyo
PARTIDO SOCIALISTA AUTENTICO: "Pino" Solanas-Cadelli
MOV. SOC. DE LOS TRABAJADORES: Vilma Ripoll-Bidonde
RECREAR: López Murphy-Bullrich
PARTIDO POP. DE LA RECONSTRUCCION: Obeid-Vergara
CONF.LEALTAD POPULAR: Mussa-Nespral
COALICION CIVICA: Carrió-Giustiniani
MOV. INDEP. DE JUB. Y DESOCUPADOS: Castells-"Nina" Pelozo
ALIANZA CONCERTACION UNA: Lavagna-Morales
FREJULI: Rodríguez Saá-Maya
MODIN, etc : Sobisch-Asís
FTE. AMPLIO LATINOAMERICANO: Ammann-De Leonardi
FTE. DE IZQ. TRABAJADORES SOC.: Montes-Heberling
FRENTE PARA LA VICTORIA: Cristina Fernández-Cobos

Sepan disculpar cualquier olvido o error

Qué laburo esto de ser argentinos...

Porteño/a, siga participando: CANDIDATOS A SENADORES Capital Federal

UCR TIT: 1. Gil Lavedra 2. Iraizoz; SUPL: 1. Marquina 2. Canals
PARTIDO DEMOCRATA CRISTIANO TIT: 1. Rabanaque Caballero 2. Domínguez; SUPL: 1. Traboulsi
PARTIDO DEMOCRATA PROGRESISTA TIT: 1. Alterini 2. Mauri; SUPL: 1. Svartz 2. Almirón
PART. OBRERO TIT: 1. Rieznik 2. Barrionuevo; SUPL: 1. Ferro
UCD TIT: 1. Portas Dalmau 2. Mazzeo; SUPL: 1. Barrio 2. Redruello
UNION POPULAR TIT: 1. Seisdedos 2. Sabato; SUPL: 1. Seeber
PART. AUTONOMISTA TIT: 1. Chaied 2. Jarazo; SUPL: 1. Saba
MOV.POR LA DIGNIDAD Y LA INDEP. TIT: 1. Seisdedos 2. Sabato; SUPL: 1. Seeber
MOV.SOC.DE LOS TRABAJADORES TIT: 1. Bidonde 2. Capano; SUPL: 1. Britos 2. Pacagnini
PART. POP. DE LA RECONSTRUCCION TIT: 1. Videla Sánchez 2. Insua; SUPL: 1. Segret 2. Pueyrredon
MOV. INDEP. DE JUB. Y DESOCUPADOS TIT: 1. Perren 2. Rios; SUPL: 1. Valsecchi 2.Ferreiro
ACCION CIUDADANA TIT: 1. Cruz 2.Gerez; SUPL: 1. Rozenfeld 2. Cuarterola
CONVERGENCIA SOCIALISTA TIT: 1. Tavolaro 2. Belizán; SUPL: 1.Yaggi 2. Grancelli
PART. LIGA SOC. REVOLUCIONARIA TIT: 1. Calcagno 2. Calaresu; SUPL: 1. Sposaro 2. Frascino
EL MOVIMIENTO TIT: 1.Piragini 2. Onna; SUPL: 1. Pollach 2. Caubet
CONVOCAT. INTEGRACION CIUDADANA TIT: 1. Sanchez 2. Batalla; SUPL: 1. Tavanti 2. Leal
CONSENSO PORTEñO TIT: 1. Cruciani 2. Matta; SUPL: 1. Lloveras Videla 2. Alvarez
PART. ASAMBLEAS POPULARES TIT: 1. Melnik 2.Abregó; SUPL: 1. Montenegro 2. Rabih
FUERZA INDEP. DE CENTRO TIT: 1. Seisdedos 2. Sabato; SUPL: 1. Seeber
FRENTE PARA LA VICTORIA TIT: 1. Filmus 2. Marcó Del Pont; SUPL: 1. Santa María 2. Dosch
ALza.FRENTE PTS – MAS IZQUIERDA SOCIALISTA TIT: 1.Zadunaisky 2. Castillo; SUPL: 1. Saab
ALza.PROPUESTA REPUBLICANA TIT: 1. Melconian 2. Agostini; SUPL: 1. Torello 2. Berkowski
ALza.PROYECTO SUR TIT: 1."Pino" Solanas 2. Garcia Tuñon; SUPL: 1. Puricelli Yañez 2. Macaggi
ALza.MOV.PROVINCIAS UNIDAS TIT: 1. Silva Garreton 2. Caldini; SUPL: 1. Bustelo 2. Luquet
ALza. CONCERTACION UNA TIT: 1. Posse 2. Suarez; SUPL: 1. Diaz Ortiz 2. Gene
ALza. COALICION CIVICA TIT: 1. Estenssoro 2. Cabanchik; SUPL: 1. Cingolani 2. Montes
ALza.Fte.JUSTICIA UNION Y LIBERTAD TIT: 1. Lanas 2. Domínguez; SUPL: 1. Franco 2. Ferreyra
ALza.Fte.AMPLIO UNIDAD LATINOAMERICANA TIT:1. Zamorano 2. Guardado; SUPL:1. Guglielmotti 2. Balestra

puf! ... andá a votar!

Día de la madre/Mother´s day

En el día de la madre les dejo como regalo un link para recorrer...

Women´s International League for Peace and Freedom

... y este video sobre el peor presidente posible y cómo muchas mujeres americanas recomendan actuar para detener sus actos y evitar que otros lo imiten.

(cuidado: el contenido es fuerte; ustedes deciden si quieren mostrarselo a sus hijos)

Today is Mother´s day in South America. This link is my gift...

Women´s International League for Peace and Freedom

... and a video on the worst president ever and how many American women are recommending to act to stop his actions and for avoiding any other to imitate him.

(warning: the contents is tough; you decide if you want to show it to your children)

Peace takes courage
On October 27th. stand up for peace,
join the National Mobilization from your city: OCT27.org

Blog Action Day 2007, Environment /Medio Ambiente

The fishes house and the Chaos Theory

I loved my father. My father knew everything because he had swept back and forth across the world many times. He knew stories of winds and creatures like nobody else.

One of our favorite strolls was taking a walk on the riverfront to look around among the fishermen. Some of them greeted us and I always asked their permission to look inside the buckets where the fresh catfishes were still gasping in resignation.
Sometimes my father shared a mate tea with the fishermen. The mate was made with water from the river and even when he was too gringo to like it, he took it anyway because he had learned in this land that you should never refuse one.

While walking and in whispers so as not to bother "the catch" I was asking him things about life that he answered to me in long stories also in a low voice.

I had to relearn some of those lessons later in my life but there´s one that still guides me.

In the middle of the river were some buildings like islands with no land. From my height I always saw three. The Río de La Plata was so wide that I stretched my neck and stood on my tip-toes hoping to see more of them because my dad had explained to me that there were many. I was certain that he could see them all from his 6'6" height.
The buildings were brick cubes with roof, door, windows and even when there always was somebody swimming at the beach side no one was ever seen near them.

- Dad, what are those?
- Those are the fishes homes. The fishes go do their b´ness during the day and then at night they go home to sleep. Just like us.
- Don´t they go at siesta time?
- Fishes don´t have siestas like we do. But sometimes they go durin da day when some folk blows on the other side of the planet.
- What happens when somebody blows on the other side of the planet?
- It happens that the air rolls by and turns into winds. If da blow is strong enough there might even be hurricanes. Did you feel da breezes in the Summer nights? Well, it´s da fluttering of da wings of da butterflies in China, ´cos they are awake and fly, ´cos is daytime there.

Years passed and I became and engineer. I learned that the fishes houses where the intake of the drinking water supply for the city of Buenos Aires. It was hard to digest. More years passed and I gave up engineering and resumed my environmental studies from that very lesson. I understood that the waters of my river travel throughout the planet like the winds and can bring back home stories of other creatures.

My father never knew anything about global warming, toxic spills in the river, dead fishes by contamination, acid rain. The latest technology he enjoyed was the Telex.

But he surely knew about the Chaos Theory, the delicate and unpredictable poetry of the natural relationships and he was a firm believer on word of mouth power. He would have been an active blogger.

He would have written a good post on environment today, on Blog Action Day .

La casa de los pescados y la Teoría del Caos

Amaba a mi papá. Mi papá sabía de todo porque había peinado el mundo para allá y para acá varias veces. Conocía historias de vientos y de bichos como nadie.

Uno de nuestros paseos favoritos era recorrer la costanera y curiosear entre los pescadores. Algunos nos saludaban y yo siempre pedía permiso para mirar adentro de sus baldes donde los bagres recien sacados del río todavía seguían boqueando resignados.

Mi papá a veces compartía un mate con los pescadores. El mate se hacía con agua del río y a pesar de que de puro gringo no le gustaba demasiado, se lo tomaba igual porque en estas tierras había aprendido que un mate nunca se desprecia.

Mientras caminabamos y susurrando para no molestar "el pique", yo le iba preguntando cosas de la vida y él me respondía con largas historias también en voz baja.

Muchas de esas lecciones las he tenido que ir reaprendiendo a lo largo de la vida pero hay una historia que todavía me guía.En el medio del río había unas construcciones como islas sin tierra. Desde mi altura yo veía siempre tres. El Río de La Plata era tan ancho que yo estiraba el cuello y me ponía en puntas de pie esperando poder ver alguna más porque mi padre me había explicado que eran muchas. Yo estaba segura de que él las veía todas con sus dos metros de estatura.

Las construcciones eran cubos de ladrillos con techo, puerta, ventanas y a pesar de que en el balneario casi siempre había gente nadando, nunca se veía a nadie cerca de ellas.

- Papá, qué son?
- Son las casas de los pescados. Los pescados andan por ahí durante el día y a la noche se van a dormir a sus casas, como nosotros.
- Y a la siesta no van?
- Los peces no duermen la siesta como nosotros pero a veces van durante el día cuando alguien sopla del otro lado del mundo.
- Qué pasa cuando alguien sopla del otro lado del mundo?
- Pasa que el aire va rodando y se forman los vientos. Si el soplido es muy fuerte hasta puede haber huracanes. Viste las brisas de las noches de verano? Bueno, son por los aleteos de las mariposas de China, que están despiertas y vuelan porque allá es de día.

Pasaron los años y me hice ingeniera. Supe que las casas de los pescados eran solamente las tomas del sistema de agua potable de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Me costó digerirlo. Pasaron más años, largué la ingeniería y retomé mis estudios sobre el medio ambiente justo a partir de aquella lección. Entendí que las aguas de mi río viajan por todo el planeta como los vientos y que pueden volver trayendo historias de otras criaturas.

Mi padre nunca supo del calentamiento global, ni de los vertidos tóxicos al río, ni de los peces muertos por la contaminación, ni de la lluvia ácida. La tecnología más avanzada de la que disfrutó fue el Telex.
Pero sí sabía de teoría del caos, de la delicada e impredecible poesía de las relaciones naturales y creía firmemente en el poder del boca a boca. Hubiera sido un blogger activo.
Seguramente hoy 15 de Octubre hubiera escrito un buen post sobre el medio ambiente.

Satuday night/ Sábado a la noche

Draft Gore Petition here

Nobel Peace Prize 2007

Climate change and peace: when politics is the key

Standing applauses to The International Panel on Climate Change IPCC
And more standing applauses to Mr. Al Gore, the former/future president of the US.

The scientists issued the worth reading document on options for policymakers. IPCC chairman, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri and over 2500 people among which there are more than 40 Argentineans like Dr. Osvaldo Canziani, Co-chair of WGII, show us the tools to face food security, water management and the socio-economic impact of the climate change.

Mr. José Manuel Durão Barroso, president of the European Commission, referred to the close relationship between peace and climate change and explained the official reasons for the nomination. But yep, there are detractors too, the eternal poodle bushists.

Draft Gore Petition here

IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 976pp.

Danger

Tenía mi post preparado para el Blog Action Day con un tema similar pero se me cruzó la realidad por el camino...

Aplaudo de pie a estos criollos que con el ingenio propio de los que abrevan las aguas de este Mar Dulce (más conocido como Río de La Plata) han puesto la verdad a disposición de los buscadores de Internet.
Gracias muchachos, lo andábamos necesitando

I had my Blog Action Day post prepared with a similar idea but reality stroke me first...

A standing applause to these brave criollos that show the truth to the world through Internet search engines. Such talent could only come from people that were nourished from the Sweet Sea waters (also known as Río de la Plata)
Thanks kids, we needed it

Grammar/Gramática

Verbs mean to me action and results. And vice versa. I trust them. I am their devotee.

Adjectives remind me to take care...

I tend to distrust adjectives when I read or hear them. Whoever chooses them for the occasion expresses their set of values in life. But it´s so hard to stop at adjectives in a phrase or prose or poem or newspaper, that I usually give up and read forwardly taking them for truths.

Well... almost.

I belong to a generation that was not influenced in their youth by video clips and the span of my attention was not shortened much. That always gives me a the second opportunity. When I finish a reading there´s something in the back of my mind that alerts me. It´s my distrust on adjectives.
I have a relationship of love-hate with adjectives.
Under Latino cultures we are taught that superlatives and gestures are required. To stress meanings. To make them clear. So, we turn our passion into movements of hands and bodies, we touch each other, we dance. We might also end up jumping into hyperbolisms that can be taken as overreactions. (Good luck to the others in understanding the magic in our realism)
We tend to dye with our colors (this is not an exclusivity of Latinos).
Ah... the rainbows! They are tricky...

Nouns. I like nouns. Nouns are like lambs. Creatures that trigger sympathy. They are easy and calming. They evoke and picture and decode in concepts. They show themselves and leave the rest to the imagination. They do as much as they can to stay in our memories.And then the adjectives come and reshape them.Prepositions, the soul of the language as my darling says. Connections and pushes. They are capricious and stubborn like winds. They herd nouns and adjectives towards who knows what direction and then they curl and tied them together.

But then the rest is again up to the verbs.

Being all of the precedent personal and being "second" the only adjective I used on purpose, my post today is first to honor the commitment that verbs bring to us.
And then, to enhance the value of "second" thoughts. Especially when reading adjectives as: ignorant, xenophobic, foreign, stupid, black, white, etc. They come from the painter.

Said so, I´m going to go out and shout out loud a couple of dirty words with a lot of adjectives, so that my neighbors remind me to shut my mouth up...


Los verbos significan acción y resultados para mí. Y viceversa. Confío en ellos. Soy su devota.

Los adjetivos me recuerdan que tenga cuidado...

Tiendo a desconfiar de los adjetivos cuando los leo o escucho. Quienquiera que los elija para la ocasión expresa sus propios valores. Pero es tan difícil detenerse en los adjetivos en frases o escritos o poemas o diarios, que generalmente me rindo y leo de corrido dándolos por verdades.

Bueno... casi.

Pertenezco a una generación que no fue influida en su niñez por video clips y mi abanico de atención no se achicó. Eso me da una segunda oportunidad. Cuando termino de leer siempre algo en el fondo de la cabeza me alerta. Es mi desconfianza en los adjetivos.
Tengo una relación de amor-odio con los adjetivos.
En las culturas latinas nos enseñan que los superlativos y los gestos son necesarios. Para enfatizar. Para poner en claro. Entonces, llevamos nuestra pasión a movimientos de manos y cuerpos, nos tocamos, bailamos. O podemos terminar haciendo hiperbolismos que pueden ser interpretados como exageraciones (suerte a los demás en tratar de entender la magia en nuestro realismo) Solemos teñir con nuestros colores (y esto no es exclusividad de los latinos).
Ah... los arco iris! Son mañosos...

Los sustantivos. Me gustan los sustantivos. Los sustantivos son como corderos. Criaturas que desatan simpatía. Son mansos y calmos. Evocan, dibujan y se decodifican en conceptos. Se muestran a sí mismos y dejan el resto a la imaginación. Hacen todo lo que pueden para quedarse en nuestra memoria.Y luego vienen los adjetivos y les dan forma.
Las preposiciones, el alma de un idioma como dice mi amor. Conexiones y tironeos. Las preposiciones son caprichosas y tercas como los vientos. Arrean a las palabras y a los adjetivos hacia vaya uno a saber qué dirección y luego los enrulan y acomodan juntos.

Pero al final todo se trata de los verbos.

Siendo todo lo anterior personal y siendo "segundo" el único adjetivo que escribí a propósito, mi nota hoy es primero para honrar el compromiso que los verbos nos traen.
Y luego para resaltar el valor de los "segundos" pensamientos. Especialmente cuando al leer nos encontremos con adjetivos como: ignorante, xenófobo, extranjero, estúpido, negro, blanco, etc. Estos vienen con el pintor.

Dicho lo cual voy salir y a gritar unas cuantas malas palabras con montones de adjetivos, de manera que mis vecinos me recuerden que me calle la boca...

Solar

¡Qué buena idea! diseño y tecnología para vivir mejor. Bravo xCRUZA!

Great idea! design and technology for a better life. Go xCRUZA!

figurines at cowparade