Monday, December 20, 2010

Don't step in the exhaust (my carbon footprint series #2)

We live in the rural upstate NY town of Waterloo. The smaller town of Ovid exists some 15 miles south, with its rich Amish presence and that romantic horse and buggy culture. You see them frequently, distinct forms riding along the side of the highway. Along the roadside are sings for fine crafted canned goods, jams and jellies and of course those amazing quilts they make. Men in black hats and robin egg blue shirts with no buttons. The women so conservatively dressed. Perfect models of what a Utopian society could be...except, like the rest of us, they suffer from problems with their vehicular exhaust. I lie awake some nights sleeplessly wondering if I should care about greenhouse gasses? If I should buy a hybrid, or even a volt??? Am I wrong to be so selfish and just not care? But then I pause and look at "Utopia." The Amish with their amazing values...and I realize that they care even less. I mean, when it comes to vehicular waste products, at least I have a cataletic converter.
Note the handwritten silver pen-work below the wheels, "Please use the shovel." And to think, it's not just me who needs to be concerned about my negative contributions to the environment.
By the way, if you're ever in Ovid, be careful not to step in the exhaust!







Saturday, December 18, 2010

God and Architects

I heard a great joke today...
"What's the difference between God and an architect?"
"God doesn't think He's an architect."