La Niña

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has officially declared that this will be a La Niña season. La Niña has the opposite effect of El Niño. In La Niña years, the trade winds are stronger than usual, pushing more warm water towards Asia. Off the west coast of the Americas, upwelling increases, bringing cold water to the surface. For the northern states La Niña means a colder winter. In southern states, the prediction is that the weather will be drier than normal, with some areas of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina experiencing warmer temperatures than average.

The term La Niña means Little Girl. This little girl isn’t timid. In the areas where I have lived most of my life, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, La Niña means a cold winter. Its time for folks in those areas to make sure that their car is ready for cold morning starts and their furnace is working properly.

But I have moved. My insulated coveralls have been hanging in the closet since we arrived with our last load from South Dakota. And, if I am reading the forecasts correctly, I won’t be needing them this winter either unless I travel back to Montana. I am not planning to do so at this point.

Last weekend there was an inter church drive for warm clothing for those who are living on the streets. Church members donated clean, slightly used coats, hats, scarves and gloves that will be distributed to those who have need. Our congregation was one of the collection sites for warm clothing. Many members of the congregation had been working hard to produce hand-made scarves and hats for distribution. One church member commented that the handmade items gave a more personal relationship and connection between congregational members and those in need. It made sense to me.

What I have observed, however, is that what those who have no homes in our community really need is rain gear. Waterproof jackets, and pants seem to be in order. The item of outerwear from my closet that is getting the most use lately is my raincoat. We decided that if we were going to live in the northwest, we should invest in good rain gear. It has not been a mistake. There aren’t too many days when we can’t find a period when it isn’t raining to take a walk, but there are also days when the time we have available to go walking is when it is raining. I haven’t solved the problem of water spots on my glasses yet, but for the most part the rest of me is comfortable and dry inside of a good rain jacket with a hood.

One other thing I really appreciate is my wool navy watch cap. I grew up with a mother who was a knitter and I’ve had a lot of handmade knitted hats, but the plain black machine-knitted stocking cap, similar to those issued to those serving on Navy ships, is terrific. It is just the right weight to keep my head warm in cold weather. Being wool, it retains heat even when it is wet.

While others are doing a wonderful job of hand knitting warm hats for those in need, I’ve been trying to find an inexpensive source for a quantity of those hats. I really think that they would be treasured by those who have no home.

The reality is that we really don’t know much about how to help others. The simple fact that we have so many homeless people is a demonstration of our inability to find effective means of sharing. The price of housing continues to accelerate at a dramatic rate in this region. There is a shortage of housing and competition for what remains is intense. The house we have rented for the past year is back on the rental market with a 10% increase in the rent. That’s a pretty rapid rate of inflation if all you are measuring is rent.

For many families, rent and groceries are the only items in their budget and when rent increases more than wages, which has been the case for decades in this country, it outpaces people’s ability to pay. Our housing costs are going down considerably as we move back into home ownership. But for those who cannot raise the money for a down payment, which is accelerating as quickly as rent prices, home ownership is not an option. It is a problem that we as a nation need to address and it is a complex and perplexing problem. I wish I had something a bit more helpful to offer than a few warm hats.

After the unusually warm summer, there are plenty of folks who are welcoming the wetter weather which should affect all of Washington and Oregon as well as parts of Idaho and California. For those of us who can keep dry, the rains are welcome. All of the plants that were dormant have turned a lush green. I’m still adjusting to living in a place where I didn’t mow my lawn at all in July and August and now that October has arrived I have to mow it weekly. It seems strange to me, but it is a way of life around here. The locals mow their grass in the rain, but I haven’t figured out how to do that. I keep checking the forecast for an opportunity to mow when the sun is shining, or at least the grass is a little bit less wet. There is much to learn about living in a new place.

And that fancy, multi-speed delay setting on my windshield wipers is used a lot. I use every setting on the car from the fastest to the longest delay, often in the same trip between our rental house and our new home. Yesterday I drove in every condition from no rain at all to a downpour that obscured visibility enough to slow traffic in one trip. Auto parts stores do a banner business in windshield wiper blades around here.

So welcome to La Niña. I’m still trying to figure out what that means.

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