Resources

This is an oil well-common in the forests around here and growing more common as the price of oil increases. The mountains of Western Pennsylvania were one of the original boom landscapes in the late 1800's when the demand for oil first began. With a barrel of oil at over $100 it has become economical to drill new wells and reopen old ones that may have a few drops left underground. There is currently disagreement about drilling in the Allegheny National Forrest, where private owners have mineral rights to what is beneath the surface, but Legally, it Will be done for the week or two worth of oil left that America will blow out it's collective tailpipe. As I watch food prices around the world rise while the World Food Bank calls on rich nations to face their "moral imperative" to help feed the suddenly desperate hungry-made poorer as the cost of oil inflates everything along the food chain and we grow corn for ethanol - I fear it is a portender of the future which unfortunately many Americans continue to ignore. Where were the solar panels on all those mansions built in the last decade? Where were the gas mileage standards when there were already vehicles making 35 mpg in the 1980's? What has been in the people's heads who have bought all these trucks and SUV's? I do not think that the average citizen understands the gravity of the shortages facing this planet-in the seas, in the energy supply, in the water quality, in the chemical pollution and habitat losses-in everything that an island runs out of when the populations gets too big and consumes too much. Another two billion people in China and India have gotten a taste of the American lifestyle and by God or Hell they want and believe they deserve it as much as we do. I still beat my head against the wall trying to get people to turn the lights off when leaving a room. I suggest to them that they walk or bicycle or buy a scooter to travel the few miles around this town. Maybe it will require $4 or $5 dollars a gallon to force real change in peoples habits, which at the same time might solve some of the ills caused by the obesity epidemic.I have not fallen into despair for I have seen innovation in a few places, but the leadership from Washington has been pathetic for decades, and time is running out. I always used to say to my kids that this was going to be the critical century for humanity, and taught them to live simply by my example, but even in my warnings there was an expectation that the crisis might not come until their children's lifetime... I see now that it has already begun and is a slow process that unfolds right before our eyes. People have simply chosen to ignore it from cowardice or shortsightedness. So carbon limits and all the other innovations that should have begun years ago were ignored in order to "prevent economic hardships"... well, sorry, but the economic and social consequences of the problems facing this world will Not go away merely because people hide their heads in the sand. We spend trillions of dollars on weapons while people go hungry?? Where is the moral outrage in every kitchen and living room? We expect medicare to buy our insulin while we stuff ourselves with Twinkies? Where is the personal responsibility to pick up your own bootstraps? Go walk a mile, and buy a moped, or a hybrid... and turn your damn air conditioning down and cool your feet in a stream ..Might do you and everyone else in this world some good..

Love, or something else

It's been a mixed road in my life so far as female relationships are concerned, and most recently I was labeled a "f-head" by someone who has claimed to be in love with me. For whatever reason, probably my independent nature, I have had no pressing need for companionship and ultimately have either been unwilling or unable to romantically give women what they want. Perhaps because of my inexperience I simply chose unwisely and it is only in middle age that I know clearly the kind of woman I would wish to spend time with. Spontaneous laughter without judgment would be a good start. Many years ago a close friend said of love, " You have to find someone you want to give to", ( ..and who wants to give back ) and that sounds true enough to me. Another workmate once said that love is " an ever growing affinity to be with another person to the point of physical discomfort upon separation". Jackson Browne has many good things to say in his songs, with "Sky Blue and Black" perhaps his definitive masterpiece regarding the hope and madness that relationships draw out of people.
I look around me at couples who have survived the challenges of marriage and stayed friends and lovers, some of whom met one another at a young age when they could not possibly have known what they were looking for, yet somehow they did, so their wisdom or good fate astonishes me. Love certainly does not seem to have anything to do with raw intellect, or age, for I see people of all kinds who make it work and other equally good or bad people who do not. I have friends and acquaintances who have never had loving families, nor known even a few years of loving companionship, nor found the joys and trials of children, and I wonder why the 'hardship has been piled' on them...fate? bad luck? chance?karma?genes? When I look closely at my own life I find that my present emotional reactions and anxieties trace all the way back to the womb, so in one sense our personalities are set in stone and there is little we can do other than recognize our inner truths in hours of need. We are all of one mind in our need for love-where ever and however we find it.
While I am walking I sometimes see an injured or struggling insect and I spontaneously bend over to help it to the side of the road, or help it fly, and show it great compassion without thinking, then later I wonder why that kind of kindness comes so easy to me yet people can be a struggle. At such moments I ask Heaven to help ease the suffering of that fellow creature and hope that Heaven hears me. I don't know if any of it matters but I tell myself that love of any kind is why we are here.

Politics,etc

Has to be Obama...he is the only one with genuine WISDOM and the charisma to unite people-that is, if they are openminded enough to be united...critics bitch that he is all talk, naive, elitist etc... but such people are pessimists who fail to understand that some people actually Believe in cooperation and compromise and work to make it Reality...Obama wisely examined the history of the middle east with the Foresight to Know that invading Iraq was a foolish decision Before we went in...a rare thing among politicians who were ridiculed for it at the time..I respect McCain for his personal integrity, but his policies are far too conservative for a forward looking man...Clinton would fight like hell for what she latches onto, and be a good second choice, but probably lacks the people skills to unite this divided world..In my heart I know that the entire political/economic system is corrupt, but I'm going to vote anyway rather than give in to despair... As for criticisms of Mr. Obama's 'lack' of experience or judgement, people have to remember that the present mess in both the government and the world is the direct result of the decisions and behaviors of mostly middle age experienced white men. And I am supposed to worry that a young black man might do worse?
...postscript:- As I walked into the office just now after my walk, I was told that Bill Clinton was campaigning for Hillary in the high school a mile from here..I never even knew that he was coming to town, but he apparently drew thousands..
...postscript: A poll in the local paper shows support for Clinton at 46.2 %, for McCain 46.2 and Obama 7.7%...which reflects the conservative, rural character of this county...No doubt there is a measure of racism to the Pennsyvania vote, so I am not convinced that the nation is yet ready for a black president..in that regard I am a bit ashamed of my fellow citizens, but closed minds are hard to enlighten...
...postscript: I just returned from the theater in town where author Peter Jenkins gave a talk. He's the guy who wrote "A Walk Across America" about his walk in the 1970's...His journey took five years during which he stopped for months to earn money, so it was an entirely different experience than mine, in some ways more socially and economically integrated.Although I was not impressed with his somewhat superficial, 'pedestrian' speech, I respect that he's still out there giving a positive message about humanity. A few people in the mostly middle aged and elderly audience showed interest in doing their own journey, so I reinforced to them that the negativity in the media was not reflective of the good heart of this nation...Yes-the crazies are out there, but they are given far more press than they deserve