1966...that was "the year we almost lost Detroit", when the Detroit Edison Fermi 1 nuclear power plant experienced a partial meltdown and, from what we now understand, nearly exploded.
They were able to only partially "resurrect" the plant before they were finally forced to shut it down for good in 1972.
Flash forward 40 years...the big threat now is prolonged drought in a part of the country which is quasi-desert in nature and already known for it's "low humidity levels" and high winds, in combination with the notorious modern-day practices of overbuilding and suburban sprawl syndrome
...and the end results are huge wildfires usurping everything around them---including communities: all the fancy "reclusive" two-story homes and small businesses that comprise them.
Yes, it's time for mother nature to "reclaim" some of the territory we stole from her to use for our own selfish purposes
...perhaps part of a "300 year pattern" we're unaware of (and if the previous inhabitants of this territory were aware of such patterns they sure-as-hell were not about to tell us about them, not after the way we forced them out to "make room for" our then-"new society")
...or is it part of this "global warming" we've been hearing and reading so much about? Are the artificial alterations mankind has been making to the collective landscapes the past 150 years or so really having that much of a profound effect on the health and functionalitisms of the planet's normal "patterns"?
...or---is it a combination of all these factors, plus more?
I've been through these areas lots of times before in my life---in fact I even lived in eastern Colorado for brief periods a couple times...only about 70 miles give-or-take from "the Springs" (as those from there call the city)
...I know what all is there as well...Castle Rock...Palmer Lake/Monument...the Air Force Academy...Interstate 25...all the Taco Bells, McDonalds, Villiage Inn Restaurants, Burger Kings, Hardees...Colorado College, Academy Boulevard, The Citadel Mall, Bijou Street, Platte Avenue, Peterson Airfield (both the municipal airport and the air force base)...U.S. 24...
...so, to me, it's kind of "spooky" to be reading about all this on MSN and watching it on CNN.
I'm hoping 2012 only turns out to be nothing more than "the year we almost lost Colorado Springs" and not one in which we set a world's record as "the first year we actually lost a major U.S. city to a natural disaster"
...New Orleans in 2005 was bad enough...
They were able to only partially "resurrect" the plant before they were finally forced to shut it down for good in 1972.
Flash forward 40 years...the big threat now is prolonged drought in a part of the country which is quasi-desert in nature and already known for it's "low humidity levels" and high winds, in combination with the notorious modern-day practices of overbuilding and suburban sprawl syndrome
...and the end results are huge wildfires usurping everything around them---including communities: all the fancy "reclusive" two-story homes and small businesses that comprise them.
Yes, it's time for mother nature to "reclaim" some of the territory we stole from her to use for our own selfish purposes
...perhaps part of a "300 year pattern" we're unaware of (and if the previous inhabitants of this territory were aware of such patterns they sure-as-hell were not about to tell us about them, not after the way we forced them out to "make room for" our then-"new society")
...or is it part of this "global warming" we've been hearing and reading so much about? Are the artificial alterations mankind has been making to the collective landscapes the past 150 years or so really having that much of a profound effect on the health and functionalitisms of the planet's normal "patterns"?
...or---is it a combination of all these factors, plus more?
I've been through these areas lots of times before in my life---in fact I even lived in eastern Colorado for brief periods a couple times...only about 70 miles give-or-take from "the Springs" (as those from there call the city)
...I know what all is there as well...Castle Rock...Palmer Lake/Monument...the Air Force Academy...Interstate 25...all the Taco Bells, McDonalds, Villiage Inn Restaurants, Burger Kings, Hardees...Colorado College, Academy Boulevard, The Citadel Mall, Bijou Street, Platte Avenue, Peterson Airfield (both the municipal airport and the air force base)...U.S. 24...
...so, to me, it's kind of "spooky" to be reading about all this on MSN and watching it on CNN.
I'm hoping 2012 only turns out to be nothing more than "the year we almost lost Colorado Springs" and not one in which we set a world's record as "the first year we actually lost a major U.S. city to a natural disaster"
...New Orleans in 2005 was bad enough...
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