The Rise and Fall of Things

This past weekend I travelled to Lincoln, CA, about a two and a half hour drive north, to visit my dear friends Barb and Marianne, who recently moved from Oakmont to Del Webb, Lincoln City in order to be closer to Marianne's daughter, as well as to say good bye to my dear dear friend, Morella, who sold her house in Folsom and is moving to Miami to care for her parents, ages 94 and 95. Will I ever see Morella again? I hope so, but I doubt it, as I have no yearning to visit Florida, but from time to time Barb and Marianne and I will visit, either there or here.
The significant differences between the two retirement communities is size and age, as well as localle. Lincoln is only 14 years old whereas Oakmont is 50, though some houses are still being built.
Many here are bought by  contractors, and rebuilt, whereas up there everything is still shiny and new.
There are few trees there, and not a mountain in sight, whereas here the landscaping is mature and mountains caress both sides of our little valley.  On the plus side, because it boasts over 7 thousand homes, the recreation facilities far surpass ours in size and sizzle, and the Kaiser clinic is five minutes away. Morella and I ate in the lovely dining room which certainly surpasses the golf course menu here. I was amused to learn that in Lincoln City the pickle ballers are fighting for space with the tennis players, just like here. So much for comparing retirement communities.
One thing they don't have at Del Webb is Lifelong Learning. This afternoon was my last class in the course, The Rise and Fall of Civilizations. It compared the Egyptian civilization to the Mayan civilization to our own. it was rather scary to see that they same things causing the fall of a previous civilization are threatening us, environmental changes being the primary cause.
The teacher, though, thinks there is hope; that developing empathy is the answer. I wonder if I will ever have empathy with the Republicans who don't believe in climate change?