Changing Climates

Changing Climates

Caroline and her father are driving down the coastline of Florida. The sky has a mixture of aquamarine blue with hints of salmon colored pink beneath the scattered clouds. It’s close to evening time and Caroline has her headphones on.

At fifteen, she’s already close to being taller than her father who is 5’11. Her long lanky body slouches in the seat as she ties up her shoulder brown hair in a bun. Caroline’s father, J.J, is seventeen years older than her. JJ shuffles his weight from left to the right. He begins to realize how the long drive isn’t great for his back. Today he is wearing a casual blue tee shirt shirt and blue jeans.

“ Sweetheart, I’m going to hook up my podcast to the speakers.” JJ shuffles his phone to synch up his bluetooth to the stereo system in the car.

“ Yeah, sure.” Caroline responds.

“ You’re welcome to listen in.” JJ says as he scrolls through the podcasts. Then the conversation between two women talking about climate change pertaining to Florida’s intercoastal waterways and coastline turn on.

“ Well, I think we're all concerned about the rising sea levels along Florida’s coast line, which has caused great concern for its residents and businesses. And it will continue to be a concern as time moves on.” The first woman’s voice comes through the car’s speakers.

“ So what can be done? And are cities doing enough? ”

“ Well, Laura. Along the coastal cities, we are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. What we have here, say, in Miami Beach, construction has already begun to elevate the roads. We’ve also added pumps that will help dry out the streets after the floods. Also, in Broward County, beach dunes have been built and sea walls raised a couple of feet. It’s not just in the municipalities that are preparing either. What we’re seeing more and more is that citizens are also taking a proactive approach. Just yesterday when we were doing a survey, we talked to residents who have raised their seawalls because, as you know, every October is king tide month. And that’s really important for homeowners to prepare so the tides do not cascaded past their sea walls. And it’s not just happening in the intercoastal waterways but along the coast line as well.” A brief static pause.

“ We will take a short break to hear more from Florida’s Public Works Director, Jumita Park” Jingle music starts to fade in.

“ Hey sweetheart, we have drinks and snacks in my backpack that mom packed.” JJ says looking over to Caroline making sure everything is alright.

“ Thanks.” Caroline takes off her headphones and reaches for the bag with cheese and grapes.

“ And we’re back. Welcome back to Florida Now. We’re here with Florida’s Public Works Director talking about what’s happening with the changing climate that's affecting the sunshine state. So, Jumita, we talked about what cities are doing in terms of preparing its infrastructure for floods, and what homeowners are doing to protect their homes. Now, let’s talk about some of the doomsday scenarios that could possibly happen to the state, if we’re not careful in combating climate change.”

“ Sure, well, right now, we are considering a proposal from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. What the proposal suggests is that Broward county construct seawalls to be 4 feet by 2035 and 5 feet by 2050. But the issue are funds and resources; and so, everyone will have to participate in one way or another.” Jumita delivers her response even toned and calm, as a faint static rips through the airway.

“ Well that’s definitely going to need attention. Would the sea walls protect against potential storm surges and the intensity of hurricanes we’ve seen increasing every year like El Nino?” the interviewer asks, however she’s cut short from the voice of Google maps.

“Left Turn on Primosa, and your destination is to the right” Google voice says.

“ Great, looks like we’re here at the Hyatt hotel.” JJ turns the car into the driveway and up to vallet to get the parking ticket. JJ and Caroline begin to exit the car and walk through the front lobby of the hotel. It’s decorated with a clean modern interior with a large overhanging chandelier at the center of the room, highlighting the high ceilings. JJ reaches the front desk lobby woman.

“ Reservations for two, last name, Burlingham, JJ Burlingham.”

The reservation lady gives a pleasant look as she gets to work behind her computer.

“ Yes sir, we have two rooms for the family Burlingham. Here’s your key card. Breakfast is served at 6am and the conference will begin promptly at 8am.”

“ Great, thank you.” JJ looks relieved how everything is going smoothly. He is starting to feel the 6 hour long ride from Jacksonville, Florida to Fort Lauderdale. JJ gave one key card to Caroline and told her he was going to get some work done before the conference the next morning. Caroline said that was fine, as she was not in the mood to do anything anyways. Once upstairs, they parted ways since both rooms were right next to each other. The first thing Caroline does when she enters the room is open up the heavy curtains. The thick dark curtains part ways to reveal a large swimming pool down below. She’s tempted to go for a swim since it’s still early. 9 '0 clock pm, the clock reads. Dad, wouldn’t mind, she thought to herself as she plopped on the bed. But then her body gave way to the soft fluffy firm sheets and decided it was time for bed.

*****

Caroline awakes by the ringing of the telephone next to the bed. She’s startled but manages to pick up the phone.

“It’s concierge, this is your 7am wake up call. ” says the person for the hotel.

“ Thanks, I’ll be getting up.” She manages to say slowly, still in a state of sleep and wake. She then plops back on her pillow. She can’t believe the beginning of her summer break has started by following dad to the Seastead conference. She begins to feel the enormity of how unfair life can already be. A gentle knock taps at her door.

“ Sweetheart, I’ll meet you down at the breakfast area. Don’t be late.” Her father announces through the door.

“ Yeah, sure, I’ll meet you over there. ” And with that, she begins to make her way out of bed and get ready to start the day.

The breakfast room downstairs is buffet style. JJ was already seated and drinking his earl grey tea. Propped up next to the sugar canister leans his ipad where he’s reading the Wall Street Journal just as he does every morning. When his father passed away last spring, he left him a portfolio of stocks, bonds, and options, which he had no idea about; as a result, it has been a huge learning curve for him in getting acclimated to the financial markets.

“ Good morning” Caroline pats her dad on the back and then goes to the buffet table and starts to scoop up the yogurt and granola. The breakfast room didn’t have very many people in it and no one was around her age. She thought this was going to be a long day full of grown ups.

After breakfast, it was time to proceed to the conference room. Before reaching the main conference room a sign that read: Welcome to Seastead, stood for the attendees. Before the entrance, a table with two women sat, both wearing pale blue satin blouses. JJ gets caught off guard by their good looks. He just stands there staring blankly at them. The two ladies smile back radiantly as Caroline starts to blush.

“Bonjour Monsieur” says one of the ladies. JJ’s staring spell is broken.

“ Yes, Uh, Bonjour. For two, JJ. Burlingham and my daughter, Caroline.” JJ looks over at Caroline as she rolls her eyes back at him.

“ Ah, yes, Monsieur Burlingham” The lady responds with a heavy French accent and hands over their name cards. He then proceeds to make his way into the conference room, still trying to shake off the feelings of being flustered. The conference room is large with only about 30 or so people and the rest are empty seats. JJ stares into the room, figuring on where the best place would be to sit.

“ Low turnout this year. But I guarantee you, by this time next year, there will be a flood of people coming through the gates of Seastead.” They turned around to see a heavy set man in his sixties speaking in a Southern accent. His white buttoned up shirt hangs on his heavy frame, stiff and carefully ironed. On his left breast pocket, a U.S Air Force button is pinned. He stands over 6 feet tall with a cane to one side.

“ I’m Clark Kay. The Director of Seastead. My father was the original founder.” Clark takes out his large hands to meet JJ’s. They both shake hands with JJ never taking his eyes off of him.

“ Good to meet you Sir, I’m JJ Burlingham. Well, Christan is my birth name. JJ are the initials of both my parents, which stuck on me over the years.”

“ Don’t worry, Son. We all have wacky family stories. Well, I’ve heard about you. Your resume got shuffled to my desk. You’re the guy who spent 7 years working in construction and now in law school. ”

“ Yes that’s right, Sir”

“ Call me Clark”

“ Right, Clark...” JJ is trying to find the right self promotional pitch. Brief moment of his uncomfortable yet charming laugh begins to emerge.

“ Turns out, this is my last year in the space law program at UCF.”

“ Well, hell, you need to be fixing to go NASA”

“ I see your point Clark. The thing is... there’s many overlaps with the bylaws of space and sea. Both are relatively unexplored frontiers with issues pertaining to territories, and crossing of transnational boundaries. I think what’s happening with Seastead is truly innovative and may even be part of the solution to the climate change crisis this country will be facing in the years to come.”

“ Hell, that sounds great. I’m still not clear how seven years working in construction gets you to become spaceman?” A puzzled grin appears wrinkling his large forehead.

“ Well, Clark. This is Caroline.” JJ turns to introduce Caroline who happens to be standing straight and smiles for Clark.

“ And so, when we found out we were pregnant, it sort of came unexpectedly.” JJ was choosing his words carefully while briefly glancing at his daughter.

“ I was supposed to go to grad school right afterwards, but in our town of Jacksonville where the suburbs have been growing rapidly, construction paid well. Then in a few years I was promoted to project manager, and I couldn’t complain about the $104, 000 a year salary. But I’m like you Clark. I want to make a difference here while I’m still alive. You know, sink my teeth into fixing things better for the future.” Caroline was taken aback at the sudden determination that overcame her father.

“ I have grandchildren too. Right about her age.” Clark’s voice softens.

“ You two, sit on my table. The show is about to start.”

The presentation began with the lights dimming down. A man in a heavy thick French accent starts to explain the first slide, which shows an aerial view of planet Earth and its oceans.

“ Ladies, and Gentleman, thanks for spending the weekend with us. We have a lot to cover, so we'll just get right into it. You see, right now, we do not feel the full effects of climate change. Maybe slowly, but not enough to fill the room today for people to understand what’s going on. You see our oceans are taking a huge impact to carbon dioxide emissions, greenhouse gases, and human activity. The problem with that cycle, is that we need the oceans to help balance the Earth’s climate. But that’s being disrupted, which is a huge problem. According to IPCC, we will see more EL Nino occurrences due to greenhouse gases. What’s more, it’s causing the oceans to become acidic. This in return, interrupts the marine life and its ecosystems creating further vulnerability to marine species. ” The presenter switches to the next slide. The next slide, has a big heading that reads Seastead. The slide is illustrated with clusters of white pods floating in the ocean. Walkways connect each pod. The presenter proceeds to speak again.

“ So our solution to these changes in the climate is Seastead. As many of you already know, being our investors, we’re set to launch this project in the next 2 years. Where we’re at now is keeping the oceanic environment at Seastead unaffected by global warming.” The slide switches to a close up view of an underwater photograph of coral restoration with scuba divers tending to a floating net with broken bits of coral reef.

“ One of the projects that we are undergoing is coral restoration. According to IPCC, it highlights we’re progressively moving toward losing more than 90 percent of coral reefs by 2050. As you know this causes serious alarm. So what you’re seeing here are underwater nurseries of coral harvesting where they

can reproduce themselves and the polyp buds build on top of one another. Next slide” The next slide shows a blue head lamp above the floating nets.

“ Our proprietary technology that integrates with the LED blue lamps boosts coral reef significantly than they would normally grow out in the wild” Caroline watches attentively, her eyes never leaving the screen. It was the first time she saw information like this since most of what she learned in school, talked about a grave future of coral reef damage due to global warming.

“ Well ladies and gentleman, turns out the party is having so much fun. We’re going to take a short break.” The presenter then unclips his microphone off his shirt, which gives off a loud screech before the audio person turns off the sound completely.

“ So what do you think so far?” Clark’s hazel brown eyes peers into JJ’s. Caught by surprise, JJ begins to smile.

“ Oh well, it was how I imagined it. Cutting edge technology in the works. I can tell there’s some really smart guys over here working with you.”

“ Hey, meet me for a drink in the hotel lobby bar in 10 mins.”

“ Oh, we have a long drive back home and…”

“ It won’t take long. We can talk more then. I have to mingle with the French since their government is funding most of this project, and it’s on their territory.” With that said, Clark got up to move across the room and pat the presenter’s back. He then lets out a big gregarious laugh as they both enjoy the good mood.

******

The hotel lobby bar is practically empty. The only person who seems alive is the piano player whose fingers grace the keys to play Simply Red’s, After All These Years. His fingers dance on the keys as if it is his sole companion. JJ and Caroline find a spot and before they begin to sit down the waitress comes by. Behind her comes Clark who squeezes her shoulders.

“ Sherrie, get whatever they want and put it on my tab.”

“ You got it, and for you?”

“ Macallan on the rocks” He plunges his large body in the cavity of the beige suede armchairs. The waitress looks over to JJ and Caroline.

“ Little lady here will have a chocolate milkshake and I’ll have the same as Clark, with a soda water on the side, please.” She nods her head and leaves quickly to the bar.

“ Listen Christian, I’m going to be honest with you. You got a beautiful family, you don’t want to leave them on land to spend your days in the middle of French Polynesia messing around with broken rocks.” Clark wasn’t a man to dance around. He likes to get straight to the point. However, JJ is taken aback by his abruptness.

“ Yes, you may be right about that.” JJ replies quietly “ So what makes you stay committed this to project for a decade now?” He picks up his tap water and takes a big gulp.

“ I mean let’s be honest here. I would love to have a smart guy like you onboard. Graduating at the top of your class, on the Truman fellowship, family man, and all that. But this climate change talk, it’s all good and all, and we try to make a difference. But this climate change crisis is a spiritual crisis.” Clark’s deep raspy voice pierces through JJ.

“ I see.” JJ sets down his water glass slowly. Not knowing what’s going to come next. The waitress sets down their drinks. Caroline feels relieved to drink her chocolate milkshake. For the first time, she sees her father not knowing what to say but to remain contemplative.

“ If we’re to make sense of what’s going on. It’s because we’ve lost touch with God and the relationship with the land, the sea, hell, even each other. We don’t relate to each other but it’s about what can you do for me and vice versa. But that’s all backwards. We’re supposed to relate to each other like brothers and sisters under God’s law.” Clark sips his scotch. JJ watches him rattle the ice cubes in his crystal cup.

“ You know when I came back from Vietnam, I got this pin as a hero for saving my troop. But if I didn't come back, my family would have gotten me wrapped up in an American flag. You see, we’re seen as expendable. But the game is faulty to begin with. Because everyone knows the true enemy of war is war itself. We just fool ourselves on the notion of territories, for more resources, more bullshit. And that’s how we view the earth--expendable. Territories to exploit and liquidate.” The fan above moves quietly but enough to make itself heard. The piano man begins to play a new tune.

“ You have to know which battles means the most to you. You don’t want to be like me travelling city to city giving lectures and these presentations. I’ve inherited my old man’s project where I only get to see my boys during Christmas. And even after all these years, I don’t know who they are, really; and so, we sit around making small chat and I pretend to like their wives sponge cake that tastes like cardboard.” Clark takes a final long gulp as JJ watches him finish off his drink. JJ hasn't touched his drink, he just remembered he has to drive back. Clark continues to speak.

“Sure, we’re saving the climate in a very fragile part of the world. But the earth is still here now. There’s a lot that can be done in communities all around the country. They just need to turn on their spark and keep that flame going. You know what I’m saying? ”

“ Yes, yes I do.” JJ replies slowly. Feeling a bit frazzled by the peep talk. Clark gets up and JJ follows suit.

“ The position is yours starting this summer.” Clark leans against his cane looking squarely at JJ.

“ Thank you, and good luck to you as well. ”

And just as Clark came into the room like an unexpected whirlwind; he left quietly like a lion in the safari, most certain of his direction.

*****

It was dark by the time JJ and Caroline started their drive back home. Caroline talked about things that might interest her dad, perhaps to console him on what happened earlier during the day. The phone rings through the bluetooth. It’s Mom.

“ Hey babe.” JJ answers.

“ So how did it go? I got Caroline’s text you guys are headed back.”

“ Yeah that’s right. I’ll tell you about it when I see you.”

“ Okay, so, you guys left about an hour ago?”

“ Yeah, that’s right, we have a good five more hours; and so, we’ll probably grab dinner on the road.”

“ Okay, well, drive carefully. Call me when you guys stop for dinner.”

“ Yep, love you.” JJ is starting to feel like himself again, in the comfort of his wife who knows him best.

“ Love you too.” She responds as she waits for them to come back home.