#weekendcoffeeshare – 02/18/2017

Florida, Climate Change, and Extreme Life

Good morning! Welcome to #weekendcoffeeshare! I want to invite everyone in for coffee, tea, hot chocolate or the beverage of your choice. I am liking the Indian Spice Chai Tea because I don’t drink coffee. We have many different types of coffee and tea here for your drinking pleasure!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that my #weekendcoffeeshares have been odd the past few weeks because I’ve been traveling but I am back home and back to normal now. Traveling has really done a number on my writing. I’ve gotten a bit of writing done but have done absolutely nothing on my novel. I have to get back to work on it as soon as possible. Traveling does, I think, enrich your writing.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I hope all of you are doing well and that your writing muse is with you. I hope you’ll share your writing experiences with me in the comments and I look forward to reading your #weekendcoffeeshares.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that it is indeed interesting to now anticipate  living in the tropics six months each year. We are going to be living far enough south in Florida that it is certainly in a tropical zone. That is quite different from the temperate zone in which I live now. I do so love it there, however. But, I’m concerned. I don’t know about each of you, but I do believe in climate change and that the actions we take effect our climate. It seems that one of the key cabinet positions in the Trump Administration is now being run by an individual who does not believe in climate change and that does not bode well for keeping the regulations we have concerning the climate in place.

Florida is one of the states in the U.S. that will be first affected by rising sea levels. My new little home there is only one mile from the coast so I am concerned. Tides are getting higher. Real estate values, tourism, and Florida’s fresh water supply are already being affected. Florida is also getting hotter. When I was there this winter, it was above 80 almost every day in the Ft. Myers area. In late January and early February. I believe climate change is real and, living in Florida, you experience it first hand.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I have a lot of different interests. One of them is science and I read something this week I want to tell you about. Scientists have discovered a Mexican cave system that is incredibly beautiful but so hot that they call it both Fairyland and Hell. In that cave system are microbes that they think are at least 50,000 years old and have survived by living on minerals such as manganese and iron. They are called “extreme life” but they are not the oldest extreme life. To illustrate how extreme they are, they are very far from their nearest relative — as far as humans are from mushrooms. Just a science tidbit I thought you’d find interesting!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I hope to have some new writing to tell you next week, such as the fact that I’m making progress on my novel!

I have to go now and finish our unpacking from a month-long RV trip. A huge job. I’ve enjoyed being back with you!