It finally happened. It finally arrived. The new year, that is, which brings us that much closer to the November election when we finally may be able to get back to normal, whatever that is!
I can't disagree with many of the pundits who say this final year of our president's terms in the White House will probably be exciting, indescribable or chaotic. Take your pick. It will be a relief not to listen to his lectures to the masses almost every day.
Several weeks or months ago, I promised to disclose the name of the person who I think will be elected president in November. I'm going to fudge a little. My prediction is the next president's name will begin with one of the first five letters of the alphabet. As a caveat, I reserve the right to modify that sometime in the middle of September, which is, in itself, another caveat; I'm not saying which year.
Now on to different topics. Let's take climate change, for example. Yep, it is a-changing. It always has and it always will. Perhaps mankind's actions may or maybe not have a bearing on the timing and extent of those changes. The problem, if we consider the human's contribution to the problem, is we must take into consideration the seven-plus billions of breathing human beings doing their things and making their demands of Mother Nature. Getting those billions (make that nine zeros of noses and eighteen zeros of tramping feet) in line surely must be one of the greatest challenges.
Let's sort of change the subject a bit and focus on the record-setting, challenging, warm, wet, windy and wintry month of December. Subscribers of the Eagle Observer last week read editor Randy's rain and flood stories: that the rainfall and moisture in December set a record for the area, that county roads suffered great flood damage and some city streets were blocked by rising water as were some area highways. Neighboring Noel (Mo.) was particularly hard hit. What a mess! The winter storm was appropriately named Goliath.
December was a warm month, with almost half its days hitting the 60-degree mark. In fact, there were several 70-degree days. Christmas day was toasty-warm, as Susan might write, followed by several warm days, until the bottom dropped out of the thermometer with sub-freezing temps, flurries of snow and sleet pellets, to end the year. Not to be outdone, Mom Nature threw in a couple of tornado warnings with sirens to get our attention.
One thing we can count on is that days -- make that the daylight each day -- are beginning to lengthen, a few minutes every 24 hours, which will turn into days which, before we know it, will bring a return to Daylight Savings Time in the middle of March. Spring really is heading our direction.
A change of direction occurred on New Year's Eve when a fire broke out on the Address Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Watching the reports on the boob tube with scrolling explanations in Arabic flashing across the screen reminded me of school days. I learned that the strange symbols of languages in that area of the world are indeed undecipherable to an old country boy like me. Even if I knew all the twists and curls in their writing, the words scrolled from right to left. I don't think I'd ever adjust to reading text from right to left.
Now, some good news, which could be read in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, concerned a few new laws that have or soon will go into effect in our state. Besides listing new information concerning abortions and the proper labeling of catfish, the article also noted that low and middle class Arkansans will see a reduction in taxes, and that a driver's license can now be purchased for eight years instead of four.
A fact reinforced during the past week, is that Oklahoma is the most earthquake prone area in the nation. Numerous quakes were recorded, two of which measured 4-plus on the Richter scale. Hundreds of lesser quakes have occurred in the state during the past 12 months. I wonder if the Sooners and Cowboys football teams were affected, leading to their bowl game losses? By the time you read this, I hope our Razorbacks were not affected by a trembler escaping across the state line.
Finally ... yes, here's the end of this 'Cuff: As a final prediction, I predict that we will have six more weeks of winter whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow on the second day of February. Stay tuned.
Dodie Evans is a former owner and long-time editor of the Gravette News Herald. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 01/06/2016