The Last Blast

Every year I look forward to the barefoot days of summer,
to ripe blackberries, and the odor of tomato vines when I
eat tomatoes beside the garden bed, and to swimming in
Little River and wading in Cane Creek.

And every year as August wanes I grow weary of the
heat, of cutting grass again and again, and of carrying
water to plants that wither and die despite my efforts.

It was especially so this August with days in a row with
temperatures of 100 or more. Records were broken in
Atlanta. The creek dried to isolated puddles, just as it
did last year, but earlier this time. By June the creek bed
was so void of water that the local newspaper reported
that it looked like a runway for four wheelers. The
Beavers abandoned it last year, and apparently so did the
watersnakes.I've seen only three different watersnakes
this year, and only one of the largest ones, and none of the
other kinds that live under and around the house.

A rain about mid-July filled the creek with water, but most
of the water was gone within a couple of weeks, and still
there are only scattered small puddles as October winds
down. A great blue heron is here every morning feasting
on the few small fish remaining in one of the puddles. I
think it is like the proverbial shooting fish in a barrel,
although they can dart to safety under the metal barrier
my sons erected to keep the creek from lapping at the
house foundation. I filled the space between the barrier
and the house with rocks, hauled them there on a
wheelbarrow, so there are places for the fish to hide
where the rocks are uneven.

I watched one puddle near the bridge as it shrank daily. It
was filled with tadpoles that did not have time to mature
before the water was all gone. Many creatures depend on a
supply of frogs for food. I kept thinking of the story by Ray
Bradbury which ended with a drastic change in government
because a man who went back in time had stepped on a
butterfly. The shortage of beavers, fish, and frogs in one
creek will surely not cause such an upheaval, but there will
be an effect.

All outside watering is banned in North Georgia. Atlanta
has three months of water storage. The docks of expensive
homes on the shores of Lake Lanier, source of Atlanta's
water supply are high and dry. The forecast is for a warm,
dry winter.Ordinarily, that would sound good, to be in the
wintertime warm and dry. But I fear that this prolonged
drought will be followed by floods and ice. Political
cartoonists for some of the conservative newspapers
continue to prod Al Gore with inane drawings.They
seem to be among those most inconvenienced by the
truth of global warming.