lorax

Yeah, well the Southern climate here is seriously screwed up, according to the locals. My landlady is in her 80's and she tells me that it has NEVER been this cold in April in her lifetime, nor has it rained this much. Ecuador is getting what has been called the wettest and coldest year on record; even the active volcanoes are getting SNOWED ON, and the south of Quito got a hailstorm that dumped 6 inches on the ground and closed the highways.

The dry season should have been underway weeks ago, but still it rains, and still it floods, and we've lost a number of people to it, not to mention the lowland crops of rice, soy, and oats; the pineapple crop is threatened, and the watermelons failed at the beginning of the rains. Flooding wiped out the shrimp crop as well.

All this extra moisture means that the commercial banana growers are facing increased incidence of Sikatoga and oher fungal blights, so we might lose the Cavendishes. That would just about kill Ecuador; it's our primary export. Luckily, some of the big plantations have been starting to permaculture and produce coffee and papayas as well; this seems to up the fungal resistance of the nanners.

This morning I'm looking out over a city that's buried in clouds, and it's about 5 C, which is colder than Quito is ever supposed to get. I suppose that later when I can see the top of the volcano, it will have snow. I'm worried about my hibiscus plants and my big barrel-stemmed Plantain, since it goes all droopy and has dropped leaves when it gets like this.