It won’t do to try personifying nature despite the many mythologies directed at doing so, but as Harper Lee describes the scene in TKM the first time little Scout sees snow falling she wonders if it means the end of the world since she had never seen such a thing before? During WWII travelling from Bakersfield to Cleveland, Ohio by train we arrived in blizzard conditions. While Bakersfield winters were often bitterly cold my brother Ronnie and I had never seen such a sight in our young lives, and I could later understand Scout’s concern faced with such a phenomenon when you have never before experienced such a fantastic thing.

In the early 40s while living in Little Oklahoma, southeast Bakersfield, I recall a meteor shower one night that had everyone running out of their houses to witness the event, some people shouting it was the end of the world! The sky seemed ablaze with shooting stars everywhere and Ronnie and I stood outside transfixed by the awesome, spectacular fireworks display in the heavens above.

Having been at the epicenter of three major earthquakes I can readily understand anyone believing it’s the end of the world when the ground is heaving under your feet so mightily you can’t stand up and you can see the earth actually shaking and tossing dirt and gravel into the air to a thunderous sound like that of a freight train bearing right down on top of you! There is nothing like being at the epicenter of a major earthquake to shake your confidence in everything you once thought stable in the world; that leaves you feeling so utterly helpless in the grip of such a dreadful force that has you so completely at its mercy.

Then there are the fires and floods, my home here having been flooded and wildfires burning right up to the edge of my house twice now. Even as I write the threats of fires, floods, earthquakes continue undiminished. It isn’t even a question of if, but when the next one of these will happen. And there is the very real possibility of the Isabella dam nearby giving way with the very next earthquake releasing a deluge that will destroy everything in its path.

The California coast being on the “Ring of Fire” with the San Andreas Fault a prominent and very visible fixture of our geography it is quite understandable I would be concerned about the recent earthquakes around the Baja peninsula, and quite justifiably wondering if these may be the harbinger of the “Big One” that will make deserts beachfront property as some surmise. Whether or not, this much I do know: There isn’t anything anyone can do about it. Disasters of such magnitude are completely beyond any human instrumentality to contravene. Our species really is at the mercy of nature, and while global warming continues to be debated we will continue to be subject to the forces of nature no matter what.

Right now I am enjoying the sunshine streaming through my windows here at the desk where I write, the resident cat is soaking up the rays by my open door and all seems well, but folks in the rest of the country are suffering extreme cold, blizzards floods, drought, tornadoes, wildfires, and I can’t help but wonder what nature has in store for folks next? And the only thing that comes readily to mind as I enjoy the mild weather and sunshine here in the balmy Kern River Valley is whether the earth beneath me is getting ready to cut loose with that expected Big One! What with everything the rest of the country is suffering from nature’s wrath, isn’t our turn here out west?

Charles Shultz had Snoopy saying in reaction to some threat by Lucy, “My life is filled with un-suffered consequences.” My, wouldn’t that be great if our lives were lived with un-suffered consequences for our actions. But alas, in all too many cases we pay the piper. However, when it comes to the forces of nature there is little to be done about this. Nature will have its way despite all our efforts to bend it to our whims. But what of the horrors brought about by the monsters in the guise of human beings? It seems there is little to be done about this either, since they continue as they have throughout history. We seem unable to deal with the Caligula’s, the Stalin’s and Hitler’s, the monsters preying on women and children.

You would at least think we could do something about the dirty business of politics and corrupt politicians. But here again it seems our species will continue to reward the most base of all and even exalt them to positions of power and eminence rather than disavow the scoundrels. It just seems to me that good people who only want to live their lives honestly and in peace have never had a chance against determined evil.

Even now as America is facing such dire threats because of unscrupulous politicians and their corporate bosses it is business as usual with evil ones that have the power and authority to rule our lives. The problem I have with “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” is the Pollyanna message that such a person could ever be elected on the basis of telling the truth to begin with. An evil system so bred to corruption would never allow such a person to be elected. Perhaps this says something about our species when we allow those the rule over us who are so obviously corrupt and self-seeking. And it makes me entertain the notion at times that perhaps our species is a kind of space virus. And if not, there are times when I feel like shouting: “There is no God!”

But no, I haven’t given up on God yet. However, it is very difficult to make sense of what appears to be the lunacy of a species that we will continue to exalt the most vile while no good deed goes unpunished, and the best of our species has never yet been able to circumvent those like the present occupant of the Oval Office and those no less corrupt seeking to take his place. And considering those being touted if the Devil does not own the MSM and TV programming in general, the end result would seem to be the same whether or not.

While nature seems to have little regard for human life, we seem in no better case when it comes to those that have the rule over us. Go figure. I’m still trying to find pieces that will fit the puzzle. While I don’t believe in any personification of nature, human nature is quite something else. And when our borders remain unsecured inviting in millions from Mexico for slave labor, when people on the dole abetted by unscrupulous politicians can vote themselves the money others earn, the end of this ugly side of human nature unlike the weather is easily predicted.