The Coming Times ^TM

Mary

And now my dear one

Close your eyes

What do you see

Say

Scribe

You and I at the park bench

You holding the globe on your necklace out for me to look at

And I sit down

And I peer into the globe

Ah yes there is the familiar blue and white of our beloved Earth

And my heart swells with fondness for her, my home, as I look at her

Mary

Enter your home

Scribe

And I descend into the Earth

And I am in Florida, USA

My home

Mary

Vibrate your 3^rd eye

And look

Vibrate and look

Scribe

I see that water is seeping up through the lawns of suburban Florida

No need to water the lawn!

The water seeps up from underground

Florida is gradually sinking

Inch by inch she is sinking into the Atlantic Ocean

Mary

And what do the people do dear

Scribe

They are in complete denial

Confident that they can work around and over and through

Any problem presented to them

Architects and engineers are called upon

Water is drained into ever more retention ponds

And there are more and more of these retention ponds

All across suburban Florida

Soil is hauled in

And people pour layer upon layer of soil upon their lawn

And then replant the lawns on top of this new soil

And the newer houses built incorporate all sorts of features

To protect from flooding

The architects are able to come up with many suggestions and features

And the builders listen to them

And continue building new homes across Florida

And the people continue moving to Florida to live

And Florida continues to sink inch by inch by inch into the Atlantic Ocean

And the Florida Chamber of Commerce is concerned

For the tourist industry on which Florida is so dependant

Is being hurt

For the beaches are being swallowed up

The ocean now reaches right up to the hotels’ doors

There is no beach

And engineers and other specialists are called in

And the government follows their suggestion and dredge up sand

And ‘create’ beaches so that the tourists and their money

Continue to flow into Florida

And this seems to work, all of the techniques and strategies

That are implemented are helping

They are helping

And so the builders continue building

New homes in new suburban subdivisions

New hotels along the beaches

And new residents continue moving to Florida

And the tourists with their money continue pouring into Florida

And yes the government and the business professionals

Are proud of themselves

Yes, they can approach these problems

And yes they can find solutions

And yes we can continue building and continue growing

And continue to make money

Yes we can

And Florida continues to sink inch by inch by inch into the Atlantic Ocean

And the hurricanes sweep across Florida

And Florida braces itself for them

And then courageously rebuilds and repairs the damage wrought

We can handle this, yes we can

And there is a sense of camaraderie among the people

Yes we are in this together

And yes we’ve survived hurricanes before

And we’ll survive hurricanes again

And it’s funny how the hurricanes continue hitting the same area

The Florida Panhandle for example seems to be a favorite target

One Panhandle resident, after having survived 3 hurricanes

Is quoted in the news as saying

“It’s hard not to take it personally”

And yes the residents who keep getting hit are now getting weary

And the staunch determination that they had initially shown

Begins to falter

Perhaps we should move

And a few people do

But most stay

They are in denial

We’re tough, they say

Besides every place has its problems, they say

This is my home and I’m never leaving it, they say

And Florida continues to sink inch by inch by inch into the Atlantic Ocean

And the hurricanes continue to batter Florida

The hurricanes come and the hurricanes go

And the people now have the drill down pat

Yes you get your gas tank filled

Yes you get plenty of bottled water

Yes you get plenty of cash on hand

For the Automated Teller Machines won’t work

And the stores will not be able to accept your credit card

And you will not be able to buy what you need

So yes do have plenty of cash on hand

And the people know the drill

They are quite proud actually of their expertise

Their growing expertise at facing and coping with these hurricanes

For with each new hurricane, the residents learn something new

Yes we buy plywood and board up our windows

And now we already have the plywood in our garages

And with the next hurricane

We’ll have all the plywood and the tools already on hand

We know how to do it now

Yes we are learning

But the people grow weary of days and weeks without electricity

And without running water

Can you imagine!  We had to go three weeks without running water!

And those who can afford it buy backup generators

So they don’t have to endure such inconveniences

And Florida continues to sink inch by inch by inch into the Atlantic Ocean

And the hurricanes continue to batter Florida

And now the ocean water is past the hotels’ front doors

And has moved into the hotels’ lobbies

And the hotel managers grow increasingly distressed

No the tourists will not put up with this

No they will not

And now the water creeps up from underneath the ground

Up through the lawns across suburban Florida

The water creeps up inch by inch

Despite all the retention ponds that have been built

Despite having added all these layers of soil

And planting their lawns on top of them

The water creeps up inch by inch from underneath the ground

The ocean water sweeps in feet by feet ever closer toward the towns

And the hurricanes continue to batter Florida

And this occurs over the span of decades

And the people adjust; the people adjust

The government adjusts