A Couple of Positive Items

Two articles that I came across in the media this week caught my attention. Yesterday I read where California's largest utility, PG&E, is striving to save all its customers energy. On the surface that sounds rather oxymoronic. Utilities saving energy? Well, what happens is the Golden State will reward the utility with a large bonus if PG&E can cut the amount of energy their customers use. If they fail in their attempt they have to pay the state a huge penalty. What PG&E is doing is giving out free energy-saving lightbulbs in hopes that Californians will switch from their old incandescent ones to the fluorescent type. I hope they succeed. I'll be pulling for them.
The second item that caught my eye was that India's Tata Motors, the fifth largest automaker in the world, has unveiled a car that gets 50 miles to the gallon and costs only $2,500. It exceeds current and future European emission standards so it's enviromentally friendly. Right now the auto isn't available in the states. I wish it were because I would buy one. The vehicle doesn't have air conditioning or push button windows but who cares? As long as it goes from point A to point B safely. Other foreign automakers are following suite. Now if we can get Detroit to build something like this perhaps we can all inhale cleaner air. Hey, every little bit helps.

Looks Are Deceiving

Last August I took this photo of my backyard with my three Elberta peach trees off to the side of my main garden. There were so many blossoms in the spring that I had to prop up a few of the branches with clothes poles. I expected a bumper crop of delicious peaches. Didn't happen. There was one teeny tiny problem. In my neighborhood there are more squirrels than humans. I mean it. Every day in the summer at least four of these shaggy-tailed creatures hang around my backyard, waiting for me to fill up my bird feeders. Over the last few years they have destroyed countless feeders and to make matters worse, when my peaches are just about ready to be harvested, they pick and devour almost the entire crop. Last year one of them had the audacity to sit beneath one of my three fruit trees eating the last of a juicy peach, waving his tail at me as if letting me know that I was too late to enjoy most of my crop. The little critter left me only the two peaches you see in the photo. I've tried covering the tree with netting but they only laugh at my efforts. That's not the only trouble they get into. I spotted one of them walking along the top of the wooden fence that runs along the side of our house, holding a giant sunflower between his teeth. The little son-of-a-gun chewed it right off the stem. And wouldn't you know it, the sunflower was a volunteer and the only one I had in my garden. At this point I've all but given up. They are a lot smarter than I, that's for sure.

The Electrical Accusation

This is a true story. My wife and I are on vacation in Texas visiting family. After a long career in the weather business, we decided to take a two month vacation and reconnect with all six of our Austin-based grandchildren. Needless to say we've enjoyed the trip immensely. Before leaving Michigan we had all of our mail forwarded and yesterday we received a letter from Consumers Power Company of Michigan wanting to know why our electrical usage has decreased dramatically. I phoned the 800 number and after explaining the fact that we are on vacation I asked the representative do they also send out letters to customers who use TOO much power or do they only pick on the ones who are trying to conserve. The rep replied with a lame excuse about their concern that the meter might not be running properly. I politely accepted her explanation. After hanging up I realized that they might have been concerned that we were lying on the floor in our front room deader than door nails, so I was kind of glad I wasn't too hard on them.
Conservation has always been our motto. Waste not, want not. My wife and I knew that retirement was on the horizon so five years ago we bought a small (800 square foot house) with a large backyard and settled down. Each year we have replaced major appliances with Energy Star rated ones, installed a solar fan on the roof to lower our attic heat in summer, replaced all our light bulbs with energy savers, etc. It's a wise way to go. Our utility bills have dropped by about 30 % each year. We are looking forward to the next letter from Consumers Energy as to why we have completely dropped off the grid. Wouldn't that be nice if we can be rid of those people? Maybe one day.

Something to Think About

My favorite writer, Mark Twain, once stated: "When we finally realize that we are all crazy, things will begin to make a lot more sense."

Bamboo Bamboozled

Mizoram is a tiny state in the northeastern corner of India. The citizens of that state depend on bamboo for their livelihood. About every 48 years or so, the bamboo blossoms and produces fruit that attract rats. I don't mean a few rats, I mean jungle rats that devour everything in site, including all the surrounding crops that annually grow and nourish the people of Mizoram. The result is famine and death for many of those citizens. This year the bamboo is beginning to flower once again and the million or so inhabitants are in dire straits. This is an example of balance but at its extreme. Would you accept forty-eight years of relative abundance for one year of devistation? Not an equal trade and one that leave the people of that region helpless. They've tried traps and poisons but in the past nothing had helped. About their only recourse is to accept the inevitable...or move from their homeland. If you would life to read more, check out the December issue of Vanity Fair. The excellent article is written by Alex Shoumatoff.

The Last Empire

An article in the Jan/Feb issue of Mother Jones entitled The Last Empire was one of the most enlightening articles I've read recently. The writer is Jacques Leslie and his research centered upon the desertification of China. I knew that pollution was a huge problem in that part of the globe but I never dreamed the extent was so catastrophic. The overgrazing of animals, the cutting of forests and the sheer number of Chinese are turning the country into a large desert. Scientist predict that in as little as three to five years, Beijing could be buried in sand. I mean nothing in that city would be able to move. Can you imagine? Half the country's waterways contain human and animal waste. Four-hundred thousand of its citizens die prematurely from lung disease caused by air pollution. The ten percent increase in yearly GDP is offset by the ten percent rise in environmental damage. Their spectacular economic revitalization has, in effect, a zero sum. They are destroying themselves by copying the American economic system. But enough of China's citizens are waking up to the realities of Western-style capitalism that daily protests are a common site. Even the state run media is critical of its governmental officials. If the problems were contained to only China, the rest of the world could shrug and say, "So what?" But the polluting dust created by their attempt at industrializing their nation flows upward and is carried by the jet stream to all corners of the earth, adding a stifling dose of greenhouse gases. What to do? Is China past the tipping point? I think so, but I hope I'm wrong. As China goes, so goes the world. Let's hope that vast Asian nation turns around and realizes the folly of imitating America. Now if only America can wake up...

Truth

The philosopher Hegel said, "Truth is found neither in the thesis nor the antithesis, but in an emergent synthesis, which reconciles the two." A wise person will try to maintain a dynamic balance in life, neither pursuing too much nor too little pleasure. Of course too much or too little pain is also not advised. But sometimes you just can't help becoming squished between the proverbial rocks and hard places in life. John Denver sang it best: Some days are diamonds, some days are stones. When you're down, look up at the stars and your troubles will seem distant. When you are up, beware, and be wise enough to know that change is on the horizon. Change is inevitable. The only thing that doesn't change is change itself. So...take head. Plant a garden, love your spouse, smell the aroma of a beautiful flower, do whatever it takes to enjoy life and all its wonders. Life isn't full of miracles. Life IS the miracle!!