Living is narrating.

The human being is an animal narrans,
and differs from animals to the extent that,
through narrative,
new forms of life
are brought about.

A narrative contains the power
of a new beginning.

Every action
that changes the world
presupposes a narrative.

The crisis of narration, by Byung-chul Han, page 68

Little by little I am absorbing the news that Asheville North Carolina is in ruins. I visited Asheville in the Smoky Mountains not so long ago. It was a beautiful place, attractive to artists, a magnet for tourists. But now in the aftermath of hurricane Helene Asheville does not have clean water to drink. Asheville is five hours inland by car from the coast, not usually subject to the big storms. After 30 inches of rain in a few hours, — the times have changed for Asheville, and for all of us. Rebuild? Of course, Asheville residents have roots. However, the priceless residue of many generations is erased.

In Asheville, a city at the heart of Western North Carolina, the impact of Helene was captured in a chilling video shared by ABC 11. The footage showed a house floating away, carried by the raging floodwaters, before it ultimately collapsed into the torrent. The destruction was a stark reminder of the power of nature, as homes and livelihoods were washed away in an instant. Across the region, communities were left to grapple with the immense challenges of recovery, with many still facing the immediate dangers of flooding and unstable infrastructure.

— Travel and Tour World, Sunday September 29,

Americans need a new story, a tale that includes everyone, a story that features Nature, the fundamental reality of our way of life. We are homo sapiens, a species among other species of animals, living in cities; our towns close by rivers, and it is our sacred duty to change what we desire, to reduce our “footprint”, the co2 imposition upon the atmosphere and the oceans. This is high school chemistry is it not? Buildup of heat amounts to increased intensity, to acceleration of chemical reactions. Weather and climate science are just another vocabulary, another view, chemical reactions writ large, transposed to the atmospheric rivers and ocean currents.