Day 150 - Wisdom of the Ancients

Wisdom of the Ancients

The other day I was talking to Felix, the gardener at the SCCLC.  He does an amazing work.  The school is a beautiful garden.  He is a little old man.  By little, I mean I don’t think he is five feet tall.  By old, I mean he just turned 85.  I try to greet him every day and compliment him on his work.  He smiles and talks to me about his garden.

This particular day we were talking about it being a comfortable day in the mid-80s.  I was told, and vaguely remember, that October and November, and sometimes December, are very hot.  Close to 100, though not often topping 100.  This year we have had days in the 90s, but they have been followed by surazos, those cold winds from the south.  For this time of year that means comfortable days around 70 degrees.

I told him that the internet forecast was saying it would be in the 90s over the weekend, but in the 80s all next week.  He said that is because of the moon.  What?  So I asked him to explain.  I didn’t catch every word he was saying, but mostly because the moon is closer than normal this year it is blocking the heat from the sun.  Therefore, it would be a cool year.  It would also mean that we’d have less rain than normal.

Our Recent "Super" Moon

He went on to say that there are things which people knew in the past that scientists of today have forgotten.  Once, he said, an agronomist told him how he was planting things the wrong way and offered to show him a better way.  The plants, according to the agronomist’s method, were dead in just five days, but his way always works.  His plants thrive and bloom and bloom and bloom.

That made me think of what my grandfather taught me about looking at the moon to forecast rain.  He said when it is a partial moon think of it as a cup.  If the cup can hold water, it is not going to rain.  If it looks like it would pour the water out of the cup, it will rain.  If it is upside down, where it could hold no water, it can’t rain, because there is no water.  I thought my grandpa was crazy, but for decades now I have observed that he was right.  Though honestly, I don’t check the moon and rain together that often.  A few people have laughed at me when I predicted rain and it rained.  It works.  I don’t know how it works, but it works.

Felix knew that about the moon too.  He proceeded to explain it, but I couldn’t follow him.

My conclusion to this?  We have lost a lot of science as we become more scientific.  We scoff at the elderly because they are not as smart as us.  But they knew so much more than we do.  Our scientists can’t explain things so well built, like the Pyramids, Stonehenge, or the Nasca lines.  We can’t imagine that those before us could have more knowledge than we do and do amazing things.  We have knowledge today, a lot of knowledge.  They had wisdom in the past.  They did things in the past that still baffle scientists.  It is why some weirdos will say that aliens created the Pyramids or Stonehenge.  They can't imagine that man could do that. 

November is almost over.  It should be our hottest month here in Santa Cruz.  Today, November 29th, at 12:00 as I decide to post this blog, a surazo has just blown in.  It turned cold and started pouring rain.  A week ago, while at a birthday party for a friend, the temperature plummeted to 60, with hurricane force winds.  At the restaurant where we ate, the door blew off.  It might only have been 60, but it had a chill behind it of 40.  That is cold for this Texan.  It should be 95 degrees outside, but it feels like winter.

Pray for Don Felix, he has been sick lately.  I saw him hiding in a corner to throw up.  He is 85, but loves his work and wants to be at school no matter what.  When I told Yascara, the school secretary, she called his son to come pick him up and make him stay in bed a few days.  He is the reason my school is like a beautiful garden.

He is a wise man.  I want him around for a while longer.