My little area has been spared the devastating floods.
The road to Hawk Circle is flooded, but everyone is safe.
Thunder, lightning and intense heat have me spending less time outdoors than I had envisioned. I rarely watch TV, so seeing the subject of Global Warming as the only topic on Oprah, watching John Stewart interview Al Gore and watching footage of our northeast US climate crisis had me wondering. Are my neighbors and fellow citizens ready to take the issue seriously? At the end of her show, Oprah encouraged viewers to go out and buy compact fluorescent light bulbs. If we all do, that would cut down on coal consumption. If we all get hybrid cars, we’d save billions of gallons of fuel oil. I’m fortunate enough to be able to walk to the post office and the store.
My parents built the first solar house in Guilford, CT in 1979. Our entire lives were about respecting the land, so it would provide for us. Growing up on a farm taught me to use resources judiciously. Conspicuous consumption was discouraged and delay of gratification was rewarded.
I remember the day I got my first credit card. My parents had helped me open a checking account in my senior year of high school. In my sophomore year of college, my Dad encouraged me to get a gasoline credit card. It cost $10 to fill the tank of his V-8 engine vehicle (a Plymouth Fury or Chevy Impala?); I had to check the oil and wash the windows. When the bill came in Dad told me to pay it in full. “Never pay a finance charge,” he had said.
To this day, I save up for what I want to purchase, buy it on the credit card, and pay the bill in full when it comes in.
When I go out today, maybe I’ll stop in a few stores and see if there are any compact fluorescent light bulbs on the shelf. Wouldn’t it be amazing if every individual changed one small behavior to help conserve resources and take the burden off the planet? Could it happen? Gore thinks so. Oprah thinks so.
I have every reason to be hopeful that maybe I won’t be the only one walking to the store or munching my lawn in the near future.
It could happen.