Feeling uneasy.....

There's been a bunch of stuff that's just leaving me either anxious, ticked off or just with a sense of foreboding.

I live in the redwoods, literally within a forest. For those of you not here in California, we're experiencing a major outbreak of sudden oak death. The oaks around here are dying at an alarming rate, and it's not just affecting oaks, but bay and madrone as well. I've been noticing more and more dead and dying trees on my commute home, and it worries me. Now while there seem to be very few trees affected on our 7 acres, the growing number I see on my daily commute, leave me worried about the fire hazzard they will present at some point. It's been a cooler summer here; already the evenings are growing cool and damp, if not outright cold. Every morning I awake to tule fog shrouding our valley. I see wisps of it dancing on the waters of the Russian River as I drive to work. For the most part, even the underbrush of this forest remains green and lush. I suspect there will not be severe fires locally this year, though next year who knows. I see no movement from our cash strapped county to remove dead trees from public land, nor am I seeing any of my neighbors stepping up to pull out dying trees from their homesteads, unless they treaten either structures or powerlines. We shall see where this goes; at least the redwoods do not appear to be suffering, though the composition of the forest will change.

While I find the early change of season towards fall reassuring in lowering our fire danger, the chill in the air is a harbinger of the flu season to come. This year there are two to worry about, the seasonal flu and H1N1. Harvard's School of Public Health warned this past week of 30,000 to 90,000 potential deaths this year from H1N1, a potential 300,000 ICU admissions and as many as 120 million people infected in the US alone. Worse, there will likely be no vaccine before the end of October, it'll be a two dose regimen 3 weeks apart, it'll be 2-3 weeks after the second dose, before most folks have an adequate antibody response and the disease may well be in full swing before the vaccine arrives. Kids, pregnant woman and healthcare workers top the list for getting the vaccine, but what about folks with chronic illnesses? I've seen nothing yet about the immunocompromised, chronic lung patients, or diabetics. Being in healthcare, there's a vaccine out there with my name on it, but will there be enough to go around for everyone that should have it? My receptionist at the front desk is with child; do I move her to another location to keep her safe?

Last, Ted Kennedy. Sad to see him gone, particularly in light of healthcare bills being debated argued about lied about by Republican demagogues under consideration in the Senate. I'm particularly troubled by comments I've heard in the past 24 hours from both John McCain and Orin Hatch lamenting the demise of Ted Kennedy and alleging there might be more bipartisan progress if only he were there to spearhead it. It just feels so bloody disingenuous, particularly with so many Republicans, á la Sen. Grassley, spreading fear at townhall meetings around the country, talking about death committees denying care and in essence bumping off grandma. Until there's an election to replace him, with Ted Kennedy gone, there's one less Democratic vote in the Senate, and worse, one less liberal minded one, to balance blue dogs like Senators Lincoln and Nelson. I feel for Ted Kennedy's family. They must be grieving his loss. However, I fear for all of us with his loss; Are we now one step further away from honest reform of our system?