Once again, I say that COVID-19 and global warming are the two most important world issues facing humanity today and while Carona Virus (hardly anyone uses that term anymore) is perhaps thought, by many, to be the more pressing problem, climate change could be the longer lasting and more severely challenging issue.  Therefore, I will begin Part XLVIII with further discussion on that topic. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its Sixth Assessment Report recently to address the most recent assessment of the climate system and climate change. A central theme in the report focuses on the urgency for action and the dire consequences of inaction.   For those of us in the Midwest, we can expect higher water and air temperatures. The following other changes expected to occur include:  

• The Arctic  is warming much faster than the rest of the planet because of exponential loss of sea ice and the Arctic temperature change has changed the polar vortex making it”wavy”. The United States has received less frequent but more intense ice storms.
   
• Longer, hotter summers can be expected in the Midwest but many other parts of the world can expect much higher average temperatures. 
• The growing season has lengthened up to 2 days per decade since the 1950’s.  At first glance one might think this is good. However, coupled with precipitation changes, this may lead to changes in crop selection and more genetic alterations of maturity lengthy, drought resistant varieties and that may open another can of worms– the long-term effects of GMO’s.

•   The hydrosphere (oceans, lakes, etc.) lithosphere (solid earth), and atmosphere (including the biosphere, that part of the atmosphere in which living organisms live) are very intrinsically related and when one is adversely affected, there is a ripple effect in the others. Consider, forest fires such as the Bootleg Fire in Oregon, the largest one in the US at 646 square miles or the Dixie Fire in Northern California. Huge areas burnt by fires and left barren of vegetation have become prone to flash flooding prompting flood watches in parts of seven states from Montana to New Mexico.  Nearly 22, 000 firefighters and support personnel battled 91 wild fires covering over 2,813 square miles, mostly western states. Besides the obvious effect of hundreds of families that have been uprooted which has its own financial ripple effect through the local and regional economy; consider the biological / ecological effect on the ecosystem (producers, primary, and secondary consumers, and even tertiary consumers) and consider all the fauna that either die or are displaced, the length of time it takes for succession to occur, and consider how the food chain is disrupted resulting in food scarcity. Consider the fact that the tremendous heat generated by the mega-fires exacerbates drought conditions and the effect that the smoke with its particulates has on people’s health as it drifts eastward.  For days we noticed the haze in the sky over Northern Illinois from  those  fires.  Think about the fact that the very trees that have been planted in thousands of acres to curb climate change are being destroyed. And, think about the simple chemical equation that all this burning produces and releases carbon dioxide into the air–tons of CO₂. Trees that were supposed to pull CO₂ out of the air thereby reducing the greenhouse gas are instead contributing to CO₂ buildup. The Oregon fire mentioned above which burned for about six weeks in late July and August wiped out 24% of a huge carbon offset project. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Chief Tom Porter, the blazes in the West took out years of work combating climate change.  The heat generated by these forest fires just prolongs the heat wave thereby increase the chances for more fires.

For the skeptics and nonbelievers. the next sentences may be more important than the report’s content itself.  The IPCC has compiled the data from hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific studies. That means that the sample size of data is something short of enormous, thereby ensuring that the reliability coefficient is high. That pretty well ensures that many views are included.  See Essay II for more on the nature of science.

      Also, for the doubters, you, like the rest of us are already being hit in the pocketbook by commodity changes in food, fire and flood insurance, cost of  repairs,  and environmental health, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and the  reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Simply put, the message is the longer we wait to make major changes, the more drastic the consequences.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Insurance Program (protects farmers from crop loss) produced the following

Year (s)                                             Subsidies (averages)

2001-20h0                                                  $4. 1 billion
2011 alone                                                  $10. 8 billion
2014-2018                                                   $6.2 billion
219 and 2020                                              $6.2 billion

        As predicted (by hundreds of research papers by some very brilliant people, many with PhD’s), we are now experiencing the gloom if not the doom of not listening or if listening of not believing those predictions. I still believe that a major reason, if not the major reason for so much disbelief / confusion is because of a lack of knowledge– based on research–not on someone’s opinion on social media… If you want information on something, go to a reliable source; go to a book, or a respected magazine or encyclopedia (online is about the only kind now except in libraries). Go to a reliable website but not to, say, Facebook. I encourage you, the reader, to read or reread Essay XXXVII. 

From forests in California and other western states, we visit almond country in California’s rich San Joaquin Valley where a longstanding drought is threatening the almond crop.   Climate change is having an effect on an area which produces about 80 percent of the world’s almonds which also happens to be California’s top agricultural export. The industry. already depends highly on irrigation.

 Finally, from drought in California to flooding in Tennessee where at least 23 people were killed when 17 inches of rain fell in Humphreys County

To generalize, from Barcelona, Spain, a report, The Groundswell Report projects how the slow onset climate change such as water scarcity, decreasing crops productivity, and rising sea levels could lead to climate migration within a country by the year 2050 under three different scenarios.  Under the most pessimistic scenario, the report forecasts up to 216 million people moving within their own countries across six regions which are:

1. Latin America
2. North Africa
3. Sub-Saharan Africa
4. Eastern Europe
5. South Asia
6. East Asia and the Pacific

In the least serious scenario, 44 million people could be forced to move elsewhere in their own country.
These findings reinforce the potency of climate to force migration of humans within their country. The report didn’t consider migrating outside one’s country’s borders.

Essays XIII through XIX and XLIII through XLV also discuss Climate change.Featured image credit to DAVID MCNEW / GETTY IMAGE.

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Note: I do not have a reference list for this essay. My apologies.

For those of us who live in a temperate climate zone (four seasons) we look forward every fall to the changing colors. Indeed, many people plan short trips or plan vacations around the color changes. But what makes the trees turn the bright yellows, oranges, reds, or rustic browns? What environmental factors and anatomical/physiological influences are responsible for these changes? Well, first of all, the lowering of the high and low temperature is a major factor as well as the deceasing number of daylight hours. But why does the duration of daylight hours decrease in the fall? Good question, right? Indirectly, the tilt of the earth on its axis is the root cause of changes in light duration. As the process continues to occur, leaves gradually cease to make chlorophyll and then the other pigments that were already present but masked by chlorophyll become visible. With decreasing daylight hours comes lower temperatures which also contributes to the process. It all starts inside the leaf. Leaves have color because of chemicals called pigments, and there are four main types of pigment in most leaves:

Biology and chemistry

So, now that we have determined the conditions that bring about the degradation of chlorophyll, the question becomes why must the leaves change color and fall to the ground and why does chlorophyll production have to cease? The simple answer is that chlorophyll production takes a lot of energy and there just isn’t enough sunlight available in the winter to maintain production. Furthermore, there isn’t enough liquid water available to keep the deciduous trees alive and produce chlorophyll too. So they go dormant. So why don’t evergreens drop their leaves (needles). I just gave a clue. First of all, they do drop them or at least some of them periodically. Remember the relationship of surface area vs. volume from essay XIV and the anatomy of the leaf, especially the epidermis and most especially the lower epidermis? Like our skin the leaf has small (microscopic) pores called stoma (stomata) that allow CO₂ in and O₂ out as well as excess H₂O (transpiration) Therefore, broadleaf trees lose their leaves to conserve both energy and water.

Physics of light

When I used to tell my students that the wall of the classroom looked blue or yellow because those were the colors of light that reflected back to our eyes and absorbed the other colors of the rainbow (spectrum), I usually got strange looks of astonishment, confusion, disbelief, or all of the above. Therefore, trees, grass, etc. appear green because chlorophyll a absorbs light in the range of 450 nm and again in the 680 nm (violet) and chlorophyll b in the 490 nm and 650 nm range. Note that this is in complete agreement with my earlier statement that we see the color of light that is being reflected back to our eyes.

Although the fall colors may be gone in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, their beauty remains etched in our photographs and our memories. Next up in my part of the world is the beauty of winter and for those in the Southern Hemisphere temperate zone, the joy of summer.

Welcome to the City of Belvidere, Illinois’ “City of Murals”.  Belvidere is located in North Central Illinois, 25 minutes south of the Wisconsin border. Only 75 miles from downtown Chicago, 83 miles from downtown Madison, Wisconsin, and 88 miles from downtown Milwaukee, Belvidere is attractive to businesses and residents that want to work or play in the area.  

History*: When the first European settlers come to the region around 1835, they camped along the Kishwaukee River, now the center of Belvidere. The settlers decided to name the town Belvidere, for the Latin meaning of Belvidere is “beautiful to see”. By the mid to late 1800’s, Belvidere became an industrial hub. Commercial transportation began in 1851, the National Sewing Machine Company became the largest employer of the city around 1900, and the Green Giant Company came to town in 1911. Now, the Chrysler Corporation Belvidere Assembly Plant, and General Mills all call Belvidere home.

Despite the emergence of industries, Belvidere  draws from its proud agrarian roots and heritage as you will see in the pictures and text associated with the Boon County Fair which is considered  by many the premiere county fair in Illinois, has been rated among the top 15 fairs in the Midwest at times, and is in its final day for the year today, August 15, 2021.    Of the 102 counties in Illinois, Boone is the second smallest. (Only Putnum County in central Illinois is smaller.)

                                                           

All the time I was growing up the population hovered around 8,000.  Then in 1964 when I was in college something happened that forever changed Belvidere.

The Good

Belvidere Assembly Plant and Belvidere Satellite Stamping Plant

3000 West Chrysler Drive, Belvidere, Illinois, United States

Floor Space: Nearly 5 million square feet

Acreage: 280 acres

Products: Jeep_® Cherokee

History and facilities[edit]

The factory was built in 1964 and 1965 in the south part of Belvidere, Illinois, adjacent to U.S. Route 20. The first production line vehicle was made on July 7, 1965.

The Belvidere Assembly Plant is adjacent to the Chrysler operated Belvidere Satellite Stamping Plant. The stamping plant produces sheet metal parts for the production lie.^[ The factory has 5,300,000 square feet (490,000 m²) of floor space over 280 acres (1.1 km²) of land, and had produced 5.9 million vehicles by the end of the 1993 model year.

Past products (model years)

Some of the past models made at the plant included:

• Simca-Talbot Horizon/Chrysler Horizon (1979-1988)
• Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon (1978-1990)
• Dodge Charger (L-body) (1982-1987)
• Chrysler New Yorker (1988-1993)
• Dodge Dynasty (1988-1993)
• Chrysler Imperial (1990-1993)
• Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue (1990-1993)
• Plymouth Neon (1994-2001)
• Dodge Neon (1994-2005)
• Dodge Caliber (2007-2012)
• Dodge Dart (2013–2016)
• Jeep Compass (2007–2016)
• Jeep Patriot (2007–2016)^{[18]  (Wikipedia)}

                                                                                                      

Chrysler brought with it a huge influx of people and by the early 2000’s Belvidere’s population soared to  approximately 25,000 and gradually became a diverse ethnic community with a high percentage of Hispanics and Boone County was the 87^th fastest growing county in the country and the third fastest growing county in Illinois. Then another major event changed that—the Great Recession just after District 100 built the second high school. I served on the committee that now some think made a bad mistake. But who could have known what was on the horizon (no pun intended regarding one of the models produced here).

1969 MISS AMERICA JUDI JUDITH ANNE FORD AUTOGRAPH PHOTO MISS ILLINOIS BELVIDERE

For Judi’s talent portion of the competition she performed on the trampoline; she was excellent at gymnastics too and became a PE teacher. Constant media updates were posted locally all during the week leading up to the finals; she was a constant front runner. I’m sure every TV set in Belvidere was on the night of the finals.

                                                    The Bad and Ugly

Friday April 21, 1967 started out pretty much as a normal April day with students, teachers and the general population looking forward to a nice spring weekend. I was soon to finish my first year of teaching at Hamilton Junior High in Loves Park. By mid afternoon the sky turned ugly and as I prepared to leave to make the 15 mile trip home it was raining hard.  By the time I approached Belvidere from the west there was an eerie greenish color to the sky.  By the time I was ready to make a left turn onto E. Lincoln Ave. I could hear sirens screaming like I had never heard before so I continued to the downtown area and just followed the sirens until I could drive no further because of downed power lines and uprooted trees.  I parked near St. James School and walked east on Logan Ave. and then south on East Ave.  (I know, lots of avenues).  Soon I met a group a people approaching me.  I asked what had happened.  What a dumb rhetorical question that was.     “Tornado” “Anyone killed?”  another dumb question! By the time I reached the high school I was in utter shock and disbelief.  Devastation all around me; the new high school in its first year of operation heavily damaged.  It looked like a bomb had totally destroyed blocks and blocks of homes.  It reminded me of some of my war movies and documentaries, only this was real.

I did something that I probably (definitely) should not have done. I entered the school either through a door that either the tornado ripped off or had been taken taken off its hinges for a reason I will explain momentarily and made my way to the gymnasium and saw the most grisly sight ever in my life. There on the gym floor were rows of sheet covered bodies that had been brought there on doors removed from the building, a temporary morgue

I wept as I left, sorry that I had entered.

Two days later Govenor Kerner toured the area. I was just a few paces behind his entourage as a light snow fell on the landscape, sort of a sign of peace and tranquility amidst all the sorrow. A school bus driver that was killed was a respected member of my church. In all 24 souls lost their lives that day. I could tell stories that came out over the years, stories of sadness but also of heroics. During the summers of my college years and after I split my time working at Green Giant and the Belvidere Oasis on the I90 tollway at the Standard Oil gas station. That summer I talked to some people that were traveling on the tollway that day and saw the tornado. Later it was classified as an EF4 tornado.

The Good

Belvidere is known as the City of Murals, and Jay Allen, owner and president of ShawCraft Sign Co., Inc., in Machesney Park, Ill., is a big reason why.

Born and raised in Belvidere, Allen is an original member of the Walldogs, a passionate group of mural-painting artists. Since their founding in Allerton, Iowa, in 1993, Allen and fellow artists have completed more than 700 murals across 14 countries.

“Whenever we go to a community, we always see a new sense of spirit,” says Allen, also a board member of the Boone County Arts Council. “I’m addicted to helping communities improve.”

Allen helped to create 10 murals in downtown Belvidere during the city’s Walldog Festival back in 1997. As a result, Belvidere received the 1997 Governor’s Art Award from the Illinois Arts Council and was given the City of Murals nickname by then-Gov. Jim Edgar.

There are 31 murals in Belvidere, and the Walldogs created 11 of them. Several other artists, including local high school students, created the remaining murals. Each one depicts a piece of Belvidere’s rich history, says Allen.

I will add a few of those pictures

“Every community needs to hang its hat on something in order to have a sense of community pride,” he says. “The murals help give Belvidere an identity.”

Many of the murals can be found in the downtown district along State Street, from Hurlbut Street to Logan Avenue. Other murals can also be found along First Street.(rrstar 7/2/2020)

The Pride of Boone county-The Boone County Fair

In the August 9, 2021 edition of the Rockford Register Star (Winnebago county) “Illinois’ most popular county fair returns after last year’s fair was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019 the Boone County Fair saw a record 222,131 people in attendance according to the Illinois Department of Agriculture records.” “People just can’t wait for it to happen” said Tom Ratcliffe, advertising director for the Boone County Fair “…many fair favorites will be back this year, including the Queen of the Boone County Fair Pageant …” “There are daily horse shows, live music, and an agricultural exhibition with roughly 4,000 head of livestock ranging form cows and horses to chickens and alpacas. “There are about 200 vendors including the volunteer firemen donuts and the Cosmo Sweet corn and many other eateries.

Granges began in ‘the early 20th century as a social organization for farming families.

A friend who used to snowbird in Florida told the the story of meeting a local who upon seeing his Illinois license plates asked where in Illinois he lived. When told Belvidere the guy said they plan their vacation each year around the Boone County Fair. Quite a story!

Finally some photos of my favorite local parks

As kids will do, we used to swing the bridge as much as possible. One summer I lived on the north side of the Kishwaukee River and worked as a troubleshooter for Belvedere (spelled correctly) Products who made automatic hair washing machines & other salon equipment on the south side. I sometimes rode my bike to the bridge, carried it up several steps, rode across the bridge,and carried bike down stairs to continue to work.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

I originally intended to modify this essay in a presentation to my 60 year high school class reunion mainly for the benefit of out-of- town class members but we canceled the reunion last week due to variant concerns.

• 
  
  

• In the Rockford Register Star April 22, 2021 edition, there appeared a small article titled Study: Millions in U. S. breathe polluted air. The study was done by the American Lung Association. According to the report 40 % of Americans. (135 million) live where the air is polluted and that people of color were 61% more likely to live in in an unhealthy area than white people. Climate change was blamed for air pollution.  Two kinds of pollution were included in the reports
• Smog (ground-level ozone)
• Soot (particulate matter)

Smog forms on hot days and vehicle exhaust exacerbates the problem.
          Sun
    O + O₂————-→O₃

Normally oxygen in the atmosphere is a diatomic molecule (O₂). However, radiant energy of the sun may split O₂ molecules which then may combine with normal oxygen molecules to form O_3.  Ozone may also form as a result of running certain machines.  I vividly remember the pungent odor of ozone in the copy room of one of the schools I taught in. An aside: I was taught in high school never to end a sentence with a preposition. Therefore, to honor the late Dorothy Bennett (Miss Bennett to us) who was my English grammar and literature teacher for three years (English II, English IIII and English IV.  I will rephrase that sentence to read “I vividly remember the pungent odor of ozone in the copy room of one of the schools in which I taught.” Sounds weird doesn’t it. Many years later I learned that rule had been relaxed.
Back to the essay; smog is also formed from power plants and industrial smoke stacks. Really hot weather again exacerbates .the whole problem. (Can you tell I really like that word exacerbates ?) Next, particulate matter (larger particles) is more deadly causing more premature deaths than ozone pollution. Next, to my California readers, sorry but your state is the most polluted one with Los Angeles the top city followed by Bakersfield.   Visalia and Fresno topped the list for particulate pollution. For those who are interested, Barrington, Vermont, Charlottesville, Virginia, Elmira, Corning, New York, Honolulu, and Wilmington, North Carolina were the least polluted according to this report. (Rice)

In an article written by Doyle Rice, the level of O₂ is higher now (2020) that it has been in 3. 6 million years. “Human activity is driving climate change” says Colm Sweeney of NOAA’s Global Monitoring, Laboratory. The Earth’s atmospheric temperature has risen to levels that can’t be explained by natural causes according to scientists. Here are some thoughts to ponder.

•The world’s temperature has risen about two thirds of a degree in the last 20 years.  That may not seem much but in 100 years that figure changes to 3.5° worldwide. • “We’re completely certain that the increase in CO₂ warming is the planet”

Kate Marvel a climate scientist at NASA said:

• “I’m even more certain CO₂ causes global heating than I am that smoking causes cancer. The world is already more than 2 degrees warmer than it was before the Industrial  Revolution.      

• The global surface average for CO₂ was 412.5 ppm (parts per million) during 2020. (Rice)

Sea levels are rising at an ever-faster rate as ice and snow shrink, and oceans are getting more acidic and losing oxygen according to the climate Intergovernmental Panel on climate change (IPCC). Another aside: As I pointed out in an earlier essay, as a body of water is heated its kinetic energy increases (energy of molecular motion) because molecules are bumping into each other at a faster rate. Thus O₂ molecules are forced to the surface and go into the atmosphere. As many aquarium enthusiasts know, the increase in water temperature if left unchecked will kill the fish.  Believe me, I know from experience. Now think about this concept of physics on a global oceanic level and its effect on all ocean animal life.  Added to this is the fact that this also promotes algal bloom which chokes out zooplankton and all marine animals, which just as you guessed, exacerbates the problem. This is already happening on a world-wide basis. Additionally, (another favorite word) rising ocean temperatures spawn hurricanes and other tropical storms. And I called this just an aside!

The annual increase in atmospheric methane, CH ₄, a far more potent greenhouse gas, was 14.7 ppb (parts per billion), the largest annual increase since 1983 when such measurements began. (Dole Rice)
It’s no wonder the oceans are warming since they absorb more than 90% of the excess heat in the atmosphere as well as much of the CO₂ making the upper water layer slightly acidic The chemical equation for the reaction is:                                

                       CO₂  +  H₂O   →  H₂CO₃: (carbonic acid)

Next step:  H₂CO_{3     ←→       H} +          HCO₃^–
              carbonic acid        hydrogen ion    bicarbonate ion

 In a reversible reaction if the forward reaction is favored, then a hydrogen ion
(a hydrogen atom that lost an electron and thus simply has one proton in its nucleus) which explains the + and a bicarbonate ion which gained that charged electron are formed. If however, the reverse reaction occurs which will happen once the _H + and HCO₃^– concentrations are in excess (> [H₂CO₃]). Then eventually everything comes to a new equilibrium but that equilibrium is different from the old.  So what does this all have to do with the first equation? Absolutely nothing!  Well sort of but if you followed my reasoning, it was a lesson in logic and organic and biochemistry.
So if you are into statistics as I sometimes am (besides baseball stats and my own website analytics), then consider these.
The world’s oceans (and I love this) have been taking the “heat” for climate change for decades.

• Seas are now rising at one seventh of an inch a year which is 2.5 times faster than the rate from 1900 to 1990.
• From 2006 to 2015 Greenland ice melt plus that from Antarctica, and
  the world’s mountain glaciers has increased and now equals 720 billion tons of ice annually.  That is equal to about 8 million modern aircraft carriers!
• Marine animals are likely to decrease 15% and fishery catches by 21% by the end of the century.
  I caution readers that these are estimates and projections and rely on many factors, any one of which can significantly alter the figures for the good or bad. (Borenstein)

References:

Borenstein, S. We’re all in big trouble, September 26, 2019, Rockford Register Star

Rice, D., Study: Millions in U. S. breathe polluted air.  April,22 202, Rockford Register Star

Rice, D., NOAA: Earth’s carbon dioxide levels highest in over 3 nillion years, date unknown

My absence from writing the past few months is only partly explained by the fact that spring, summer, and fall bring about extraordinary responsibilities and time demands, demands which, I’m sure, everyone reading this can relate to. It’s not for a lack of available material on global warming. On the contrary, part of the problem-is too much material from one source-newspapers.

To be perfectly honest a major obstacle revolves around convinceability.  Another corollary to COVID-19. Either you accept and believe it’s real or you don’t and little I write can change people’s minds. However, there is a middle ground, a third alternative, and that is, acknowledgement that it exists but denial that it is anthropogenic. I’m sure you know which side of the fence I reside.

If your position is on the other side, then you may also believe that man never set foot on the moon and That President Kennedy survived the gunshot wounds and lived incognito for several years. According to Elizabeth Watts in an article in the American Biology Teacher journal 70% of Americans acknowledge that climate change is occurring and believe it will cause future generations harm. In the same article, while less than 30% of Americans say they are greatly concerned about climate change 72% of those individuals are Democrats and 24% are Republicans. Does that remind you of a point I made in a recent essay on vaccines? Five years ago I would have found that hard to believe but not so today. By the way, in a report I read recently, 40% of people worldwide have never heard of climate change.

Many people reject climate change for religious reasons. They may believe that God gave us the earth to use as we see fit or that God won’t allow such harmful occurrences to happen   While 97% of all Americans are aware that global warming is taking place, only 49% believe that rising temperatures are human caused. Thus, while Americans are ahead in awareness (third worldwide), there is a huge gap between recognition and blame assessment.  There is a large gap between awareness and our ability to mitigate climate change. Bridging the gap will require ingenuity in education. The sad part is that many people either don’t realize the damage already done or refuse to believe it’s seriousness, Consider in the above  example, that they believe “future generations” will be harmed while ignoring the carbon footprint the present generation is leaving. (Watts, 2019) According to economist John List, the problem resides in the perception of the immediate costs with the projected benefit 50 – 200 years in the future. List believes you can change beliefs-but over generations not overnight. Additionally, where the public gets their information is extremely important.   Most people get most of their information from social media that is, from indirect, informal, and mediated sources. (This time I refer you back to Essay XXXVIII).  International agencies such as UNESCO have recognized the need for better educational programs such as Sustainable Development.  A program the Climate Change Education Act (CCEA) was recommended to Congress in 2016.  Such a program would be in line with the earlier cited data in which 82% of surveyed Americans supported increased research into renewable sources of energy. However, as of May 2016 the date this article was written, that bill never passed.  Even though public opinion is split on such anthropogenic influence, a significant majority agrees that climate change should be an integral part of school curricula.(Watts,2019)

A comprehensive study by Pennsylvania State University concluded that 70% of surveyed middle science teachers and 87% of high school biology teachers report that they teach climate change in their classes (average time about 4 classes). At least that is a start.  Sounds encouraging, yet how the subject is presented remains unclear since that was not in the research. For example, the National Earth Science Teachers Association found that 47% of teachers were teaching both sides of the climate change debate rather than as clear evidence in the affirmative. No mention was made of whether the “human imprint” was stressed or even mentioned.
In Watt’s concluding remarks she proposes a strategy for effective teaching about climate change. In it she strongly emphasizes a methodology that stresses the nature of science in a straightforward manner in which students can make scientific evidence-based judgments for themselves rather than forced learning and rote memorization. I couldn’t agree more. For a complete summary of the nature of science scroll all the way back to Essay II and for past essays on global warming see Essays XII through XVIII.

References

Watts, E. Teaching Climate Change to Increase Understanding & Reflectivity, The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 81, No 5 May, 2019

Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents, Featured image credit to Beach, R. etal,, Routledge, May 23, 2017

Looking back on the past 14- 15 months, we have learned quite a bit about coronavirus and ourselves. We have learned that a tiny particle that exhibits characteristics of life and non-life can bring us to our knees. We now know that we as an inhabited  world was not prepared for such an onslaught and may not be ready for the next catastrophe if we don’t prepare for it and not as a whole accept the cruel truth that we are not invincible. We need to accept that the experts in their respective fields know more than we do and that science and faith in a Supreme Being can be our guideposts for they do not lie and this is a preview sentence for the transition back to climate change. I understand that people are tired of masking up, of practicing social distancing, of small group limitations, of curbside pickup, online learning, and all the rest of it. I also know that here in the United States, vaccines, wearing masks, and social distancing have become a political football. Generally speaking, they have become a sign of party affiliation, not a medical issue. With exceptions, if you are a Democrat you will “follow the rules” and if a Republican you won’t. According to Dr. Deborah Birx when interviewed on CBS’s 60 Minutes, the lack of leadership set us back at Least a month in the late winter of 2020 in terms of recognition of the seriousness of the virus and not listening to the science experts. Watching Republican rallies reminded me of Nazi propaganda in the early and mid 1930’s and we saw the horribly disturbing results on January 6. 2021 and these words coming from a “registered” Republican.

This may be passé now but it was reported near the end of March that the AstraZeneca vaccine provided strong protection for adults of all ages. The study concluded that that the shot was effective 79% of the time at preventing asymptomatic cases of the virus in trials involving 30,000 people. No severe illnesses or hospitalizations were reported among volunteers who received the vaccine compared to five such cases among those who received a placebo. Additionally, there were no side effects or increased risk of blood clots. It was suggested that emergency use could be granted by mid- April (now), a boost to U.S. and world supply. The study reportedly included different age groups, racial and ethnic groups, and people with underlying health conditions. The vaccine, a viral vector contains a harmless cold virus to carry genetic material from the COVID virus spike protein into the body which primes the immune system to fight the real viral threat. (Cheng, M., L. Neergard
Then just a few days later came news that Astra-Zeneca may have included “out-dated information” in touting the effectiveness of the vaccine to which the company was urged by NIH (National Institute of Health) to provide the most accurate up-to-date data. (Neergard, L,)

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B R E A K ING N E W S

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April 13, 2021 9:30 am CDT My wife just informed me that the government has just halted use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after several people have developed blood clots.

COVID-19 may be the beginning of global pandemics according to Doyle Rice, a USA Today writer in a September, 2020 article. In the journal ” Cell”. Dr Anthony Fouci and Dr David Morens, a medical historian say that “We have entered a pandemic era in which climate change may also play a role.   Deforestation and urban crowding were listed as causes. To be more specific the virus (perhaps most pathogenic viruses) thrive in warmer temperatures. Even though the viruses tend to live longer in colder climates which suggests that global warming would favor a lesser threat, higher temperatures usually force people inside into air conditioning which would help to control the spread the disease. However, seeking cooler temperatures would simulate isolation which, according to meteorologist Jeff Masters could increase the spread of the disease.  So much for isolation as a means of regulating disease spread. However, that goes contrary.to current thought, in my opinion. We do know that climate change alters how we relate to other species on Earth and that matters to our health and our risk for infections” that from Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Harvard University’s T. H. CHANGE program director.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

As the earth heats, animals, both terrestrial and aquatic, migrate north (or south) to escape the heat. As a result there is an overlapping of habitats which results in new ecological relationships (predator-prey, symbiotic, and pathogenic). Many of the worst viral diseases are the ones whose vectors are mosquitoes which thrive in hot humid conditions. Malaria, Zika, and West Nile virus are some diseases that will probably spread into new areas in the future. Some scientists believe that pandemics like COVID-19 are exacerbated by global warming. (Rice., D.)

 Dr. Ross Powell, a distinguished research professor in the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences at Northern Illinois University asks “Can we learn anything from facing a global pandemic to help understand how to deal with climate change”? Medical scientists have pretty well convinced politicians that COVID-19 will require a massive change in lifestyle and mobilization to combat it. Comparing graphs of exponential increases in COVID-19 cases and deaths- and increasing greenhouse gasses and global warming are similar. Nature greatly impacts humans just as humans impacts nature and COVID-19 illustrates that natural crises are best dealt with by taking swift action. We have been so slow to take action against greenhouse gas emissions that they must be cut in half in the next decade to avoid catastrophic effects. The biggest polluting countries are not living up to even their minimum commitments of the 2010 Paris Agreement and 2019 will go on record as the highest year for greenhouse gas production. The point here is we should approach the climate crisis with the same zeal with which we have fought COVID-19. Even though it may be here for a long time climate change is still more of a threat to mankind and assuredly more permanent. COVID-19 has shown nearly total world agreement with masking, social distancing, and quarantine. But how long will that last? That question is important because that sense of unity will become even more important in solving the warming problem. (Powell, R.)

In a column written by Dr. Allen Williams, MD and Joan Letourneau it’s common knowledge that breathing dirty air leads to a greater risk of heart attacks, lung disease, cancer, and to become seriously ill from COVID-19.  More than 100, 000 Americans die each year from diseases related to overexposure to air pollution and minorities (African American and Latino neighborhoods) are at greater risk. A longtime study by a Harvard research team found that minorities and low income families have a significantly higher risk of premature death linked to exposure to particulate pollution (PM 2.5).  The main source of this fine matter– you guessed it–the burning of fossil fuels. So people living near high traffic areas, train yards, warehouses, and manufacturing plants, etc., lack access to quality health care and are a living time bomb waiting to explode. It’s no wonder that people of color are experiencing significantly higher infection rates as well as deaths rates from COVID-19. There is legislation in Congress to keep fossil fuels in the ground. It is the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR 763) and if passed would place a rising fee on carbon from coal, oil, and gas.

Let me summarize this essay by selecting an article that I almost misplaced because it ended up at the bottom of a pile I had clipped and saved. (I know I rely heavily on newspapers but remember there aren’t many books written and published yet on COVID-19. . I have used some internet articles in the past.) This article was written by Mr. J. Maichie “Mike” Brown, a member of the Climate Reality Project Northern Illinois Chapter, a group I was invited to join but just never did. Titled “Climate crisis jeopardizes long term pandemic recovery” let me summarize it. The pandemic is a painful reminder of the interdependence of individual and population health to the overall well-being of society. Many individuals think that we can reopen society and pick up where we left off but this is not practical where public health is concerned. The complicity of effectively responding to the pandemic is jeopardized by the exponentially larger global climate crisis. The complexity and frequency of climate-related extremes lead to displacement infection control and disrupts health care and other critical services. The need to address both crises must acknowledge the fragility of both systems. Then Mr. Brown lists several facets that support society such as manufacturing and commerce, emergency response, health care, public health, climate change, energy, transportation, and education. He makes the point that the current system is inadequate to meet basic needs especially impacting low income communities of color. “There is unanimity for a robust recovery that benefits everyone, ideally by solutions that reflect care of each other by:

1. preventing or minimizing future emergencies and
2. developing personal and community resilience to rebound from adversity.

Specifically he cites access to quality health care, fair wages, and climate change solutions as critical areas to address.

References

R

Bacon, M.January 20, 2021, Climate crisis jeopardizes long term pandemic recovery, Rockford Register Star, printed in Milwaukee, WI

Cheng. M. l. Neergard, March 23, 2021 Data shows vaccine effective for all adults, Rockford Register Star, printed in Milwaukee, WI

Neergard, L., March 25, 2021, US: AstraZeneca results may have included outdated info, Rockford Register Star, printed in Milwaukee, WI

Powell, R, Dec. 10, 2020, COVID19 response needed for climate change, Rockford Register Star, printed in Milwaukee, WI

Rice., D., September 11, 2020, Climate change and COVID-19, Rockford Register Star, printed in Milwaukee, WI

•  

Wialliams, A, J. Letourneau, COVID-19, air pollution and social justice, Rockford Register Star, printed in Milwaukee, WI

                                                                                                            

The first part of the following essay was adapted from an article by Jonathan Corum and Carl Zimmer that appeared in The New York Times on February 24, 2021.  All diagrams as well as the text were modified for the purpose of this essay.

Johnson & Johnson is testing a COVID-19 vaccine known as JNJ-78436735 (also known as .COV2.S ).  It is a single dose vaccine exhibiting an efficacy rate of up to 72 percent.  The SARS-CoV-2 virus is covered with protein spikes which it uses to enter body cells.  Fortunately, these “daggers of danger” also can be used against the virus since they can be used as targets for potential vaccines.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses the virus’s genetic blueprint for building the spike protein.  But the Johnson & Johnson vaccine stores instructions in DNA, not RNA which because it is double stranded is more stable.  The DNA (gene) for the coronavirus spike protein is inserted into another virus belonging to  the group of adenoviruses; in this case adenovirus 26 which has been modified so it can enter cells but can’t replicate or cause illness.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

As pointed out above, the adenovirus based vaccines are more rugged than mRNA vaccines plus the tough outer coat of the adenovirus helps to further protect

the DNA inside. That explains why the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can be stored for up to three months at 36-46°F (2-8°C).  Upon injection the viruses bump into cells and latch onto proteins on their surface. The cells engulf the virus by phagocytosis and eventually enters the nucleus where the gene for the COVD-19 spike protein can be read by the cell and copied into an mRNA molecule.

 Next the mRNA leaves the nucleus having done its job and the cells begin assembling spike proteins.

Immune cells, B cells, may bump into the COVID spikes or free-floating fragments and lock onto the spike portions and begin to pour the antibodies that target spike proteins preventing spikes from attaching to other cells.  If these B cells are then activated by helper T cells, they will start to proliferate and pour out antibodies that target the spike protein.

Some of the spike proteins form spikes that migrate to the cells’ surface protruding the spikes through the surface which can then be read by the body’s immune system. Furthermore, the adenovirus initiates the cells’ alarm to activate nearby cells’ response. As vaccinated cells die, (as all cells do; we lose millions of cells every day) the spike proteins and protein fragments can be assimilated by special cells that help raise the alarm.

The antibodies can attach to the spikes, tag the virus for destruction, and prevent infection by blocking the spikes from attaching to other cells.

Other immune cells, T cells that have been activated in the process, can also destroy the spike protein fragments as well.

According to Johnson & Johnson, their one-shot vaccine provides good protection against COVID-19. Admittedly, it might not be as effective or last as long as Pfizer or Moderna’s two dose formulas and was significantly weaker against the South African mutated version but it may provide an acceptable alternative and from a scientific point of view, a good model for comparison (Please note, and this is significant, the word mutated. Yes this is evolution at work for those doubters of science, especially those distrustful of the word evolution).  

 Johnson & Johnson has a lofty goal of providing 200 million doses to the US by June and a billion doses worldwide by the end of 2021. As of January 30, 23 million Americans had received the first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. I received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine a couple weeks ago and will receive the second on March 13 (a pre-birthday gift). As per-expectation, I suffered no ill effects However, the consensus is that the Pfizer vaccine, generally speaking, does produce milder side effects and the second shot for both kinds is more of a killer. I asked the nurse who administered mine if she was aware if anyone in Boone County (population about 53,ooo) had had any serious side effects so far and her answer  was “no”.                                                                                                                                                                                         The following table summarizes the test results.    

 0verall

Effectiveness                       US                     Latin America          South Africa 66%*                                    72%                               66%     57%

85%**                                                                                                          

*Preventing moderate to severe symptoms  

**Preventing most severe symptoms

Here comes perhaps the most important part of this essay. The experts say the more the virus is allowed to spread, the more opportunities it has to mutate. (Neergaard, and Johnson) PROVEN DOCUMENTED, SCIENTIFIC FACT, NOT SOME WHACKY SCIENTIST’S CONSTRUCT, HYPOTHESIS, THEORY, ETC. This is true for most pathogens and has been known for a long,long time and THE MORE IT MUTATES THE HARDER IT IS TO ERADICATE. And how do we prevent it from spreading: 

BY WEARING MASKS, BY PRACTICING SOCIAL DISTANCING, AND BY GETTING THE VACCINE, ESPECIALLY BY BEING VACCINATED.  ENOUGH SAID!!!!   

A major concern is that the variants appear to spread more easily and that they are more resistant to the vaccines.  Furthermore, they may undermine tests for the virus as well as reduce the effects of some treatments.  Researchers are really concerned about variants from South Africa and the United Kingdom. (Liu and Stobbe)

Will COVID-19 become endemic?

 Recently Dr. Fauci dismissed the idea that it would be eradicated in a few to several years. Here are some definitions /descriptions of the word endemic:

1. Spreads at a baseline level every year without causing major disruption to people’s lives.
2.  Constant and/or usual prevalence of a disease within a population in a certain geographic area.
3.  Is present for long periods of time without interruption, continuously circulating in the population like the common cold.
4. A sudden increase of a disease above what is normally expected among the population in a certain area.

And finally:

5. A disease can be endemic in one country, an outbreak in another country, and an epidemic in another country.

What are some endemic diseases?

The four common cold viruses are endemic in most parts of the world. Many childhood diseases are endemic such as measles, and backing up to epidemics, not all epidemics are caused by pathogens. Diabetes, obesity, and drug addiction can become epidemics. (Rodrigues)

Doses Available — Doses Needed

The title of one large article I am looking at now says “Poll: A third of US adults skeptical of COVID shots. The Associated Press Hope Center for Public Affairs Research conducted the poll so I assume it is fairly accurate and reliable! It found that 15% of Americans surveyed are sure they won’t get vaccinated and 17% probably won’t. Reason for not range from doubts about the safety of the vaccine to their effectiveness, worries of side effects, to the speed of development to mistrust of the government. (Stobbe and Fingerhut) (As my ENT doctor told me the other day how many of those people would go.to the beach without sunscreen protection or the North woods without insect repellant on. To bring it down to a very personal level after receiving my first shot I realized that people with thrombocytopenia run a risk of severe repercussions and at least one person died almost immediately I’ll let the reader figure that word out. Got a good dictionary? But who’s to say what effect, if any, it had on his death.  A quick check with my hematologist put my mind at ease by being told that the risk posed, by not getting the vaccine was far greater than the risk of it’s serious side effects. I received my second vaccine last Saturday with absolutely no side effects, not even a sore arm.

Incidentally, the picture at the top of the essay is of one of the new variants.

References

Liu, M. and M. Stobbe, Jan. 29, 2021, Virus variant from South Africa detected in US for 1st time, Rockford Register Star, published in Milwaukee, WI

Neergaard, L. and L, Johnson, Jan. 30, 2021, One shot vaccine proves effective, Rockford Register Star, published in Milwaukee, WI

Rodrigues, A.Feb. 18, 2021, Officials say coronavirus will likely become endemic, Rockford Register Star, published in Milwaukee, WI

Stobe, M. and H. Fingerhut, Feb. 11, 2021, Rockford Register Star, published in Milwaukee, WI

PS It’s been a tough two months but we are slowly getting used to the quietness of the house, the change in routine, coming home to an empty house, etc. We have ashes to bury under the pines of the front berm near Buster and Bandit (“little nose & big nose”) when the frost is out of the ground. Spring outside work & golf will be good therapy for me.

 

I am publishing this post again to commemorate the thirteenth observance of the tragic shootings at my alma mater.

I especially grieve for the families of the deceased and the wounded students and others in the class.  Beyond that I grieve for the NIU community at large.

I was on campus yesterday morning.  I spent an hour with the biology department chairman.  I attended a lecture in molecular evolution in Montgomery Hall where I took graduate and post graduate classes (i.e. genetics & human A & P).  I walked through Faraday Hall past a large lecture hall, laboratories, and a small classroom where I took general chemistry & organic chemistry classes.  I strolled past Davis Hall where most of my undergraduate biology classes were held and past Swen Parson library (where I spent hundreds of hours studying) as I made my way to lunch at Holmes Student Center.  I left campus at approximately 12:30 pm not knowing the tragic events that would soon unfold. Several former students from Kishwaukee College attend NIU or have graduated from there.

When I arrived home, I returned an e-mail from a former classmate and biology major who had become aware of my visit but who, like me, is retired.  He is a past faculty member in the biology department and also dean of the graduate school.  Then I e-mailed a former Kishwaukee College and present NIU student who assisted me last year in collecting data from the Kishwaukee River in the state’s RiverWatch program.  This all took place minutes before the shooting began.

At approximately 3:00 one of my sisters called and asked if I had the TV on and when I said no, she told me to turn it on but warned me that I would be shocked.  I watched in horror as the live coverage wrenched my heart.  It was a somber drive a couple hours later as my wife and I drove to a Valentine Day dinner at an East State Street restaurant, made even more somber by the sight and sound of helicopters flying to nearby St. Anthony Hospital from DeKalb.

 We have season football tickets, recently attended a men’s basketball game, and I play(ed) in the alumni band at homecoming.  As you can see I still have close ties with NIU and my wife has taken graduate classes there too.  We grieve for you NIU but in our grief we know that you will endure and become a better, stronger institution.  May God bless you in these terrible hours and beyond.

Like Bandit before her, Brandie developed stenosis and neuropathy of the lumbar spine along with arthritis in both hips and knees, with slight canine cognitive dysfunction (animal equivalent to Alzheimer disease). The neuropathy resulted in deteriation of the myelin sheath (like insulation on wires) She lost control of the hind limbs with muscle atrophy. I built the ramp shown below and eventually just let her potty on the snow covered deck and finally we used dog pads inside. The last few days she could not get up by herself. That’s when we knew that it was time.

       Brandie

Brandie our Brandie

You’re sweeter than candy

You love to play football

It’s your most favorite game of all

You are so athletic

You make other dogs look pathetic

You catch and shake the toy coon

Morning, evening, and afternoon

We take walks in the park

During daylight and dark

You sometimes pick up a big stick

And may even eat part of it

Eating bad things was never a chore

You just went back again for more

The carpet you did chew

Your toys and your bed too

Rubber bands, pins, plastic; you ate them all

Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall

You love to jump and run

It’s always been so much fun

You’re so smart and so bright

You even know left from right

Though everything I’ve said is true

We will always love you

My goodness, my golly

You’re such a good collie

June 10, 2009–January 12, 2021

(11 years 7 months 2 days)

It is really hard knowing that there will never again be a dog in our home . I have always said I would rather be without a dog late in life than for a dog be without me. They are the most loving and devoted creatures on earth. The thing that will remain with me forever is the way that Brandie especially would put her head against my leg and look up to me with the most adoring look in her eyes. That image will always remain. For childless couples our pets are our children, But now I must live my faith and say with conviction it is well, it is well with my soul. Tears are streaming down my face as I type this. Except for brief interludes I have had a dog for 37 years. A chapter in my life is closed and I must look forward to a new one.

Please feel free to make comments on this post or any of them. I especially would like to hear from relatives, friends, classmates, etc.

Profile

I graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and earned a Master of Science degree in Education also from NIU in 1973.   I taught in the Harlem School District (5 years), a Chicago suburb (1 year), and the Rockford, IL School District for 27 years (26 at East High School). I culminated my teaching career  at Kishwaukee College (8 years) Two important events occurred  in 1988: I married my wife Angie and I received a summer teacher’s research fellowship through  the University of Illinois School of Medicine at Rockford.  My primary responsibility was light microscopy and Scanning electron miscroscopy of rabbit renal arteries (effect of high cholesterol diet).  For 14 years I was a citizen scientist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in their RiverWatch program (monitoring water quality) My hobbies and activities include gardening, golfing, bowling, downhill and cross country skiing, photography, including photomicroscopy and time lapse photography, spending time with my wife and our dog, and in the winter playing around in my small home biology & chemistry lab.

Beyond what I have written in past profiles, in the early 1980’s I was an EMT with the Boone Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Squad (BVARS) which fit in nicely with my science training and teaching. I also enjoy public speaking and made frequent scholarship presentations to graduating seniors and outstanding middle school students through the former Belvidere Y’ Men’s Club.  I also made power point presentations of the RiverWatch program. But I most enjoyed making presentations at my high school reunions.  Thanks guys for allowing me to do this. 

Every pet has a special place in the heart of its human companions.  Shadow, the first g helped me get through some difficult times during my longer than normal single life. 

My future wife, Angie, decided early in our relationship that a guy who had a collie couldn’t be too bad a guy.  Like me, she had grown up with cats so I knew the perfect gift for her first birthday after we were married would be a kitten.  I just knew that Shadow would accept the adorable fuzz ball which he did.  That was 1989 and they became constant companions until that fateful fall day in 1995 when suddenly we had to say good-bye to our 12 year old canine buddy.

Within months I was ready for another puppy.  I had always loved dogs and was partial to collies since the earliest Lassie movies. (I have virtually every one on DVD).  Angie agreed but didn’t want another sable and white dog since it would remind her too much of Shadow. 

We had saved an abandoned tri-color collie months earlier but couldn’t keep him permanently.  Angie had temporarily given him the name “Bandit”.  So when we (I) selected our new puppy the next summer, his name had to be Bandit.  My wife selected the name and I selected “the one with the white tipped tail” and to top it off, he was born on March 14, my birthday!

We went through the usual trials and tribulations of life with a new puppy and whereas Shadow licked Buster’s ears and kept them clean, Bandit loved to chew on them.  Over the years they became good friends and we felt Bandit helped keep Buster young.  They affectionately became known as “big nose & little nose”. 

In 2004 we moved from town to a quiet subdivision just outside of town.  Our daily walks changed from an extraordinary long block to the one half mile circle of the subdivision or the longer walk down a hill, past the horses (with occasional pauses to greet them), past a cornfield, and to the conservation district woods.  He usually didn’t want to go into the woods except in the winter when I would take him cross-country skiing.  Well, I would ski and he would follow behind until we headed homeward; then he took the “point”.  By then I was partially retired, teaching 3 days a week at a two year college 35 minutes away.  Needless to say, we both enjoyed the additional time together.

In May, 2007 we had to give up Buster after a long gradual decline.  Sadly we buried him under the pines of the front berm.  Less than two weeks later we almost lost Bandit to pancreatitis but with the aid of some very good iveterinarians he pulled through.  Dr. Lendman spent virtually all day every day over a long holiday weekend with Bandit because he was determined we weren’t going to lose two pets in 10 days.

           In March or April 2007, I noticed that he would sometimes drag his feet on the pavement as we walked.  In June Sherry, the groomer, called and said Bandit was having a lot of trouble.  We had to carry him to the car. We took him to the clinic and after a few tests Dr. Frost wanted to get X-rays.  They confirmed that he had a form of neuropathy in which the spinal cord was deteriorating.  He said that Bandit would eventually lose control of his hind legs.  He told us that there was an experimental medicine that we could try.  But Dr. Frost said to be prepared for 2-5 months.  That devastated me.

          Shortly after that he also started to exhibit strange behavior like getting confused and going to the wrong side of the door to get out.  Internet research led us to believe that he was also suffering from canine cognitive dysfunction, the animal equivalent of Alzheimer disease.  So we started him on a very expensive pill for it.  We were already giving him a pill for arthritis.  His appetite started going downhill and in late August I stayed home with him while Angie went down to her folks.  During this time he was barely eating.  Then he started circling a lot–a new problem.  Dr. Frost then began to suspect that he had either had a mild stroke or had a brain tumor.  To help with the arthritis, his appetite, and to reduce inflammation in case of a tumor, he suggested taking him off the arthritis medicine and putting him on a steroid, prednisone.  Now he started to eat like a pig, gained some weight, and began walking again, eventually back to 1/2 mile every couple days.  This was October now and we had hope even though the confusion and circling became progressively worse. Around Thanksgiving he really took a turn for the worse and we just hoped to get him through the holidays.  Angie’s parents, bless them, agreed to come up for Thanksgiving and when they saw how bad he was said they would come back up for Christmas.  December was horrific.  By Christmas we (usually I) had to help him outside and carry him down the step to go to the bathroom.  We had a lot of snow in December and I would scoop out areas for him to go.  The last few days we just let him go out on the deck and I would cover it over with snow or scoop and throw it.  Even though he was a large dog, he loved to sleep on the bed with us (if you can imagine two people and a large dog on a bed).  I would sleep with my head at the foot of the bed to keep him from falling off.  Someone had to be nearby most of the time.  Finally, we decided that the day after New Year’s Day we would have to end his misery.  Yet, he was eating well, was taking all his meds, and still loved and recognized us.  But his circling was almost constant and had to be guided everywhere.  So on January 2, I gave him his last treats-one for every year of his life and took him one last time to State Street Animal Clinic and we said our last good-byes to our wonderful friend and companion.  Angie collected some of his fur left from the shaving procedure and saved it.  We had already made arrangements to have someone dig his grave near Buster’s grave. 

          During the fall I prayed that he would get better but then I realized that God had given us one miracle a year and a half earlier to enjoy him more than before.  In addition, he had too many other health issues.  On that last day the vet told us that because of the limited success with the experimental drug, they were now trying it on another patient.  We like to think that Bandit paved the way for other dogs, at least at our local animal clinic. 

SHADOW

Shadow my friend your were so dear

From the beginning this was clear

You looked just like the hero Lassie

And to us you were just as classy

At first there was just you and me

Then came Angie to make it three

And when we got that fury kitten

You were not the least bit smitten

You took him in like a little brother

And sometimes acted more like his mother

For you washed his ears and kept them clean

And to Buster you were never mean

When the sirens screamed you howled like a wolf

They nearly drove you through the roof

You were so patient, devoted, and kind

You are still in our soul and mind

It’s been a long time since we had to part

But you will always be in our heart

You were the very first dog we had

And for that we will always be glad

God rest your memory for eternity

And for the dog you will always be.

Bandit

Bandit our Bandit you’re still the one

I knew it from the starting gun

With your tail so pure and white

I just knew that you would be right

Your fear when the weather got stormy

Seemed to us a little bit corny

The only one that you loved to fight

Was Buster the cat whom you liked to bite

He hissed and kicked to no avail

For you were soon back on his trail

We went for walks in all the seasons

You and me for many reasons

And in the winter we would ski

Alone together just you and me

You chewed right through the trimmer cord

Because you were mischievous and bored

You are so handsome and so bright

Everyone thinks you’re a beautiful sight

And now you’re old and a little bit frail

But we still love your pure white tail

And when you’re gone you will have left your mark

In everyone’s life and in their heart

You’ve been so devoted, kind, and true

There will never be another you

You’ve touched our lives and made them whole

With your eyes as black as coal

You made us laugh, you made us cry

And we will love you till we die

BUSTER

He is a present, a gift from Larry

He makes us laugh, he makes us merry

He is a tiger, a little kitty

And oh his coat, it is so pretty

He has a huge vertical leap

A secret he just can’t keep

He runs the stairs and jumps the wall

To the great amazement of us all

He sometimes stays outside at night

And comes home after a fight

He once went into the storm sewer

We thought his days would be fewer

Of his nine lives he’s used a few

But if you were he, you would have too

His first canine friend washed his ears

The second one only brings him fears

He’s older now, and sleeps a great deal

And sometimes doesn’t eat all of a meal

But that’s OK, we love him still

We just give him a little pill

The best cat he will always be

To both of us, Angie and me

The subject of this poem you know who

Of course, it is our Buster Boo

With a heavy heart I must announce that today, Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 11:42 am CST we said goodbye to our precious girl Brandie. I have almost finished my tribute to her and expect to publish it tomorrow.