A Wild Climate Denier Appears

Chance Encounter | Climate Change

It was a chilly winter morning.

You really do run into all kinds of people when you’re traveling.

Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of taking a trip down over the southern border and into the United States. It’s a little nerve-racking to travel alone, especially as a woman. Going through another country where the nearest familiar face is several hours away doesn’t help.

All that said, I enjoy travel. I’m not even really scared on the road, maybe a little anxious when I approach borders or bus transfers and other such hurdles, but mostly just because I always worry I’ve forgotten something. It’s always fine.

On this last trip, I stayed overnight in a small town before catching my first bus in the early morning hours. I was hanging about with all of the other travelers, having our coffee while we waited for the bus to arrive.

Among those on the trip was a very friendly couple. I assume they were married, I didn’t ask, but either way, they were cheerful and chatty. The woman was making a point of telling everyone about her church and how lovely it was, which isn’t unusual in my experience. Nothing seemed off.

By the time the bus arrived, a knot of us had formed a circle of conversation and we were happily talking about our travels ahead and where we’d come from. The gentleman asked if there was snow on the ground up in Canada, and I confirmed that there was.

I commented that the snow had just started, months later than it ought to have. I lamented the late winters and the green grass we were getting well past the point where we’d have been buried in snowfall when I was a child. Climate Change is really hitting us hard.

“Oh, I don’t believe in climate change,” he told me. “I think it’s cyclical.”

I blinked but said nothing. And then he told me that the government controls the weather anyway, and had I heard of geoengineering?

I had. I just nodded. And I helped his lady companion carry their bags onto the bus, as I am a polite Canadian and they looked terribly heavy.

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