Weather in the Tries: No triple digits in sight on my phones 10-day forecast. Friday was 103, so just for grins, I bought a cold weather fleece hoody because I know just as surely as Johnny Appleseed invented little green apples, it’s gonna be cold this winter! My gal pal and former travel partner lives just outside of Las Vegas. It’s considerably hotter there. The same day it was 103 here, she had 115 and at 8.30 that night it had cooled to 105.

Years ago, when I worked for a living, one of the Engineers I supported was from the Middle East and he told me about an underground city in the desert. That it was a beautiful city, cool, had water and fountains, but was underground. The desert above it was too hot for comfort. Coober Pedy in Australia is also underground. If we don’t want to change our ways, I think a lot of us are going to have to think of going underground, and figuring out how to grow our food, etc. There are also salt mines that have become underground towns/cities or at least tourist sites.

Vancouver BC has quite a large mall underground. I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to visit (I’m claustrophobic), but it was like going into any large mall topside. It was actually quite pleasant, and there were several places with large skylights for natural lighting. Or there weren’t, we just kept coming around to the same ones from different angles?? Actually, Canada has several such malls, etc., in their larger cities. Or so I’ve been told.

My understanding is that being underground is a pretty fair way of maintaining a constant temperature, I suppose it varies on the location of the city—altitude, type of rock, etc. But I don’t know. I’m truly claustrophobic, and spelunking has never held my interest long enough to try it. I’m okay, until I get to the entrance hole, then I change my mind.

Okay, on to Florida!

What is going on down there? I lived there when JEB was governor, and he certainly didn’t try any of the stuff DuhSantis is doing! I understand a lot of construction isn’t being completed because a lot of the workers left. They no longer feel welcome. Well, duh! Some were undocumented, some were documented, but members of their family weren’t. Pretty soon, the housecleaning staff at the major hotels will be sorely missed, too, when the snow birds fly south for the winter. And now they are rewriting history that slavery taught the slaves usable skills? Was good for them? Reminds me of people I knew when I was a kid that didn’t understand why the slaves even wanted their freedom. After all, they were clothed, fed, had homes in which to live and raise their families, why, they never had it so good! They didn’t believe the history books. They just didn’t believe no one would be as mean, as cruel, as Massa was.

A few years ago, Alabama tried basically the same thing, except the history re-write. The Mexicans (all Spanish speakers are Mexican to them) were taking jobs from decent white boys. The state went after all the “Mexicans,” and you know what? There was nobody to pick the harvest when it was ready. Those “decent white boys” surely didn’t want to stoop and pick cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, etc. That’s back-breaking work. And they sure enough weren’t going to pick cotton, but I think that’s mechanical now. Not sure about then. Anyhow, when the harvest rotted in the fields, and those hard-working decent white boys weren’t interested in hard work, but hardly work, the new law was repealed, or at least forgotten, and eventually, the pickers returned. 

Florida is already experiencing the same thing. A lot of their crops are not being picked. Too many crops, too few pickers. 

I think I’d really rather talk about living underground, claustrophobe that I am. I think I could live in Coober Pedy. Not sure I’d want to live in a salt mine, think my food would always taste salty. Salty Caramel might be okay, but salty flan? Although it would be beautiful, I’d rather look for opals in Coober Pedy. There are other underground malls in Canada. Wonder if they have underground hotels, homes, apartments, etc.?

Helsinki has a vast network of almost 10 million square metres of underground spaces and tunnels. Watch the video, it’s fascinating, and up to date. They can hold 150% of current population of Helsinki, and though meant for bunkers/survival, many of the spaces are used today for running, indoor sports, etc.

And now, I’m up, have coffee, and realized it’s Monday and this isn’t yet posted. Sigh. Eventually, I’ll get back to being normal. Or maybe I’ll develop a new normal just for me. Patience, Grasshopper! What will come, will come.

Have a fantastical week. Do good things for others and yourself. Stay cool. Smile. Hard to think depressive thoughts when you’re smiling. Besides, it makes other people what you’re up to.

The Big Chihuahua says he’s ready for some cooler weather for a while. Not a lot cooler, but cool enough the parking lot where he walks isn’t quite so hot. I agree with him.