What a long winter it’s been, and an extra day in February, too.

But meteorological Spring begins March 1. And there are already early signs of seasons changing–2 hours more daylight since the winter solstice on December 21. There have been some robin sightings. And the pussy willows are just starting to open.

Yes, spring is coming! And the waxing crescent moon is beautiful.

But there is a climate of uncertainty these days. It’s not just the Cook County property taxes due on March 3,  or the looming tax deadline on April 15.

Markets don’t like uncertainty.  The tumbling stock markets in response to the coronavirus crisis is the worst week since October 2008.

The stock market is not the only place that deals in futures.  Loans and bond issues are long-term deals. They assume (except for force majeure clauses) that life as we know it will be pretty much the same in 30 years. There will be roads and schools, bills and taxes.  But what will life be like in 30 years?

We know there is a climate crisis. The wild fires in Australia and melting glaciers in Iceland and Antarctica are signs of change.

There are more floods and fires, blizzards, tornadoes and hurricanes. More people are affected. There are more refugees. Will there be bridges or walls?  What kind of future do we want?   What kind of leadershipt do we want?  Remember when Donald Trump tossed the rolls of paper towels in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria?

Remember when he altered a weather map with a Sharpie, and NOAA coerced to salvage his ego?   Hurricane Dorian seems so long ago. Here’s a post about it.

There was a pandemic response team at the CDC under President Obama. That has been  scrapped. Now we are facing a crisis with the new coronavirus.  Maybe Donald Trump will throw us bottles of hand sanitizer.