Learning Opportunity for Texas

To the Editor: Though the final death toll of the Texas winter storm will take months to determine, at least 80 people have died so far. People are still dealing with water shortages, broken pipes and water damage to their homes as well as job and wage losses. Recovery costs are expected to exceed $50 billion, the most costly storm in Texas history. Much has been written about the lack of preparedness of the energy infrastructure for an extreme weather situation, but it pretty much boils down to Texas, rather than becoming part of a national well regulated grid, wanting to do it “their way,” …

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Living in Ghost Land

I recently got back from two months in San Jose, supporting Russet, whose son Austin succumbed to a malevolent brain tumor in January. It has been an extremely taxing, long haul for her, caring for him as he went downhill over the last year. After returning home, I’ve been dislocated in time and space, yanked around by a profusion of emotional climates as erratic as the weather, both here and there: From the frigid winter winds blowing across the stark whiteness of Jenness Pond to the feminine softness of mournful, foggy mornings in the Los Gatos mountains. It didn’t help when Coco discovered a dead …

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