More Opinions Columnists

• V.B. Price: Preserving our water is greatest challenge the city, state faces
• Jeffry Gardner: End of The Trib is part of the demise of serious journalism
• Katherine Augustine: Time with friends from Japan provides treasured memories

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

Spring is just about over, and summer is around the corner. Is it just me, or did this spring feel weird?

With all of the rain and the outrageous snow we've had, I feel like I'm back in my hometown of Detroit. My mother tells me it's been very freakish there, too.

Is this the reality of our global-warming future?

I moved to the Land of Enchantment to avoid the very weather that has been going on since last fall. For the first time since I moved to the Nob Hill area, I've had to kill a bug I thought I'd finally seen the last of - the dreaded mosquito!

I know that sounds a bit babyish, but bugs bug me - say that three times fast. I'll never get used to the cockroaches that saunter up to my doorway and patiently wait for it to open and sashay in. Until this year, I didn't have to worry about my beloved dog Shaft getting fleas in my xeriscaped backyard. I have to get Shaft to the vet before the house and my black life-is-a-bore cat becomes infested.

My big worry is what climate change may be doing to me physically. I left Detroit to slow my advanced degenerative joint disease, warm my osteoarthritis-stricken bones and revel in the fact that I only need a winter coat for about 10 weeks. It's mid-June, and I haven't turned off the furnace. I use my swamp cooler just a few hours a day.

Cold and damp weather feels like being fully dressed and left in the bathtub long after the water has gone cold. The humidity causes my legs and arms to swell quickly after I get out of bed.

I loved the relief from these uncomfortable and exhausting symptoms for seven years now. I don't want to live with them again - ever.

These symptoms can quicken the aging process for me. They mean more medication, more time in bed instead of outside admiring my flower beds and no lazy summer afternoon shopping, because I'll overheat.

People with disabilities have internal thermostats that don't work well. When I get cold, I keep getting colder, until hypothermia begins and I need heat fast. When I get hot, I get dizzy, and sweat coats my skin like sticky jam. If I don't cool off fast, I'll have heat stroke in seconds. These disruptions can happen in as little as five minutes. Moving into the sun or shade does nothing for me when my body starts to act up.

I'm doing what I can to reduce my past contributions to global warming. I've planted trees around the house. I don't drive unless there's no choice, and I recycle as much as I can. I write letters and donate money to the green effort.

It's not much, but it's the best I can do.