I want to write about some of the climate stories I’ve collected.
In 2018, I campaigned for the Clean Energy Fund. It made a strong impression on me because of how many folks spoke with me about the petition and welcomed me into their homes. The Clean Energy Fund was on the ballot and voters would decide whether to create a tax on large retailers to set aside money for climate adaptation. I went door to door in several neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon.
Several folks made strong impressions. One was a small framed lady in her 80’s who answered after I knocked. She invited me inside. We sat down together and she began to chat. I had the handouts for the Clean Energy Fund but she was more interested in chatting than in my petition. She told me that her family had moved to Portland from rural Louisiana when she was young. When they built the house in Portland, the area was still somewhat rural. She told me which houses had been there before, and when the new ones were built.
Her memories of Louisiana included stories about her parents on a farm they had. She talked about a vibrant community of farmers. As a Black family in Louisiana they had dealt with descendents of the former plantation owners. She told me that one of these white women looked just like me.
As we sat there, there was a large window facing the street that was brightly lit by the sun pouring in. An older house, I imagined how the hotter and hotter summers would affect the home. Portland historic homes don’t have A/C, since the summers of the past were not often sweltering. I figured the additional heat would be a burden.
At the end of the visit, she took me into her backyard. There was a tall fig tree there, heavy with fruit. Her father had brought the seeds of a fig from their farm in Louisiana. He had planted it in the backyard. She picked figs from the tree and dropped them in a plastic bag. She sent the figs home with me. I often think of her when I imagine how ordinary people will face climate change. Perhaps it’s a higher utility bill, perhaps it’s an uncomfortably hot day.
People have taken long journeys to establish what they have. They’ve nourished the earth and the earth has nourished them. Homes tell stories of a family’s presence on the land. Where they came from, the skills they had and what they built. Yet now, climate change makes things that much more precarious.