Only to have the next big "1000-year storm" wash the new one away, too.

Yes. What about them, too? Yes.

As the climate crisis gains ground (literally!) I'd guess we're gonna see coastal areas everywhere in trouble. Including my own beloved Southern California - which we left a few years ago.

Sure do hope so!

And another +1

Times a thousand.

That, and I wonder how long insurance companies will be there when needed.

The rates will be ungodly. And at some point, I doubt even the federal government can handle it, what with everything else our taxes pay for - that are also legitimate needs.

I feel bad for the Floridians. Even on this thread, people talk about that state in such honestly loving terms. It's appeal is REAL.

But 50 or 60 years from now - by the end of the century, what will be left of the peninsula? Some of the projection maps I've seen are horrifying. Whole chunks of the state expected to be permanently - and irretrievably - underwater.

NO, it doesn't sound insensitive at all!

And that would worry me, too - the increasing intensity of the storms. I'm seeing in the news that this hurricane will have qualified as a real monster. Maybe the worst on record. YES, next year it may not be as bad. But there will come another year where it's gonna be ungodly worse. i think the trajectory is the tell. Over the years it IS gonna get worse. It's already well on the way.

We left a few years ago after daughter finally married her longtime boyfriend and

his family and family business were in the northwest. Besides, we knew grandchildren would eventually be coming. And they did.

Our son still lives in SoCal, but he's got a career track in the entertainment world that will keep him there - at least for awhile. I still feel guilty that he's down there by himself, but he's got a large circle of friends and a great support system, and a growing number of industry contacts that mean more work. And we're still in touch, frequently. He's happy and feeling creatively fulfilled, so I really can't gripe too much. Even though I miss him like CRAZY. Daughter's very independent and always was. Son had kind of a bumpy start so I spent TONS of time with him through his "Wonder years" - so we're still really close (discounting the miles of course).

Indeed.

One thing anybody has to say about Russel Honore - he's as credible as they come.

True enough, but that costs tax money.

Do you know anybody who welcomes paying taxes? Or doesn't mind at all - when taxes go up?

And I don't like it either, but I try to remind myself that paying taxes are like paying dues to be part of the finest and most fabulous and well-appointed country club on earth, with all its perks and benefits. That's what keeps the streets repaired and public schools open and teachers paid and the grid maintained and police and firefighters paid and R&D and all that. And more. It's just the price you pay. And I understand how so many people don't want to shoulder that burden, and it IS a burden. But it's one we all have to shoulder anyway.

I remember the political insult "the something-for-nothing crowd." As in - those who want all the benefits but hate having to pay for 'em. Well, like it or not, it's something that we all have to accept, whether we like it or not. I'd rather keep it all, too! What there is of it, anyway. But I try to remind myself that those taxes underwrite some really necessary stuff - and not just necessary stuff for me personally. And sometimes it's a heavy lift (especially when I think that some of that goes to paying the salaries for the officials and staffs with whom I vehemently disagree.

There's some comfort in remembering that not only does nobody get outta here alive, but nobody gets outta here for free. Cuz at the very least, somebody has to cover the funeral costs...

Let's just say I'm glad I'm not the one who has to decide this for anybody other than just me.

My husband feels the same way.

Just another reason not to want to run for office.