Category Archives: the land

Rolling the dice on El Nino: Too soon to predict?

Given that this is the worst drought on record in California, it's natural for people to hope for El Niño and all the rain that a good strong El Niño can bring. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported: …even as hope dims for a March miracle storm, climatologists say weather conditions could change this year ifContinue reading “Rolling the dice on El Nino: Too soon to predict?”

Facing Drought Together: Ojai Valley News

Let me share Kimberly Rivers' thoughtful newspaper story about an event here in town I helped launch —Facing Drought Together – which did draw a good crowd, and got a lot of conversation started I hope. Here's an excerpt from story in the Ojai Valley News:  “I took away the realization that a lot of other people in OjaiContinue reading “Facing Drought Together: Ojai Valley News”

Everything you always wanted to know about drought*

Four of us from the Ojai Valley area, all concerned citizens from very different backgrounds, think that we need to talk frankly about the drought, and more, do what we can about it. Not just for ourselves, our properties, gardens, orchards, trees, lands, and wildlife, but also for our community.

Walking with Cheryl Strayed on the Pacific Crest Trail

..because Strayed didn’t know what the hell she was doing, as she freely admits, she was kind of wonderfully dumb about it. To be blunt. This gives her story the drama of the sincere naif — in some glorious/awful sense, the story of youth versus experience.

What it takes to move an atmospheric river: two images

Deborah Byrd, of the ever-changing EarthSky radio program and science site, posts a wonderful animation of what the current storm hitting California looks like from moderately high pressure.  Technical difficulties with the gif force me to post a still from the animation, but still you can see the rotation of the winds up against theContinue reading “What it takes to move an atmospheric river: two images”

What it looks like when a big atmospheric river hits CA

When an atmospheric river reaches California it's often a beautiful sight, especially in an infrared image drawm from NASA's AIRS satellite, explored in depth in this backgrounder from the Sacramento Bee:  The exciting part is that — according to Duane Waliser, a lead scientist at the NASA-backed Jet Propulsion Lab — five-day forecasts of these "PineappleContinue reading “What it looks like when a big atmospheric river hits CA”

Facing Drought Together: The Ojai Retreat 3/9/2014

Bill O'Brien, a civil engineer, Victoria Loorz, a pastor, myself, and Ulrich Brugger, who directs The Ojai Retreat, are putting together a public conversation which we hope will help motivate people of the Ojai Valley to take a serious look at our drought and what we can do about it.      We also intend toContinue reading “Facing Drought Together: The Ojai Retreat 3/9/2014”