pippa brighton

dear mom,

i think at this point i am pretty much speechless. i wish this were a better mother's day for you.

the cars on the street out front, the ones that haven't been blown up or overturned, are all swathed in layer upon layer of dust and grime. this is due both to the complete lack of motion as well as rain. the plants are choked for water and i can't bear to spare much; who knows when that will disappear as well. i am envisioning a mad max type scenario, and the men definately have to wear ties around their foreheads - i think i might be losing it.

so i walked around today. mainly i was checking out the looting situation, doing a little shopping..no, seriously. as i was walking around i encountered many random people selling produce, eggs, dairy, flowers, you name it. i even got a good line on a cheap espresso machine if anyone is in need. 

my deductions and conclusions from my pedestrian tour are as follows. the looting is moving west and at a rapid rate. we have already boarded up all the windows. the dogs are a great help in deterrence, but it is getting crazy out there. remember those dusty cars i described? they have all been siphoned bone dry. we are far into desperate times that are only going to get worse. 

i miss the good old days when the kid and i would make you breakfast on mother's day while dad mowed the lawn. mowing the lawn is probably the furthest thing from his mind right now. the time may come when we have to eat that grass, right. can people eat grass? 

i don't know if you will ever even get to read this. mail delivery has become so sporadic. i may attempt the 20 mile ride tomorrow, and hand deliver it, but it is so dangerous out there. i wouldn't want you to worry.

i love you a million forever and a little bit more! happy mother's day!

pip

i have been following along with the missions that people have posted at the site (www.worldwithoutoil.org). i have been trying to do all of them, but it got me to thinking. switching from using plastic/paper bags at the store to using your own reusable bag is great! but what would be better is telling the cashier and the people around you why you are doing so. putting a bumpersticker on your car is getting the word out there, but putting the bumper sticker on another car (as suggested) without explaining what it means to the owner does nothing more than get someone pissed off. talk to people, get them to put the sticker on themselves and you have educated another mind. 

we need a change of thinking. our country, and the entire planet, needs to alter our view of the world; what we have been doing in the past isn't working anymore. we need new approaches to old problems as well as new approaches to new problems. the first step towards change is awareness, and we need to raise it amongst fellow humans. 

with the weather getting nicer i have come up with a new mission: mission public awareness
step 1 come up with a medium to get your message across
i.e. build a solar cooker http://solarcooking.org/plans/ and then start cooking hot dogs outside of your house. people will make their way over at some point, if not just to ask what that crazy looking machine is

step 2 spread the word
tell people how you built the cooker and why. have copies of plans for people to take with them, or better yet ask for email addresses to email plans to save on paper. 

you could even go a bit further and have a solar cooker block party. the possibilities are endless. all you have to do is get someone's attention and it will all be downhill from there.

today was a thoughtful day. it wasn't originally designed as such, but it just so happened to work out that way. i was supposed to be at work by ten this morning. work, which i actually do tend to enjoy, is about 30 miles away. it was funny, kinda. when i called i got the answering machine; i guess no one else can afford to get their either. 

instead of working i spent a most enjoyable, thoughtful day with my dogs. this began with my cleaning up of a once gigantic cardboard box which at some point in the recent past held a stainless steel firepit i received for christmas. you might wonder to yourself, "how much cleaning up can a cardboard box take?" it would be a good question, answered by my previous statement involving dogs. while the box came to the front door in one piece, it quickly became millions of shreds at the paws of the girls. it was laid to rest in the compost pile next to the garage. how we will miss you mr. box.

i decided, since i was stuck at home for the most part, that i may as well have a beer while i lounged outside (wireless internet god bless you) to research converting the waterfall in my pond to a solar panel outfit. it looks pretty simple, but something happened and my mind went to the beer. now please don't get me wrong, cleveland has some decent breweries. however, i am a huge fan of suds from the west. *ALERT* we now have a bigger problem than i once had thunk!

as i tried to wrap my head around the approaching adult-beverage apocalypse i took another sip, looked down at the label, and then smirked to myself as i licked my lips; this beer is from vermont. ok, so vermont isn't west, but it is still rather far away. but seriously, what of the beer?

i finished my beer, as i pondered converting the basement into a brewery (research on that to come soon), and looked around the yard. the girls were napping in the sun, the tulips that i never planted but show up every year were blooming, and i found a birdhouse in a tree that i never knew was there. all in all, it was a perfect day in my backyard paradise. i sighed, thinking it was too bad the rest of the world wasn't just like it.

the warmth of the sun on my face was rejuvenating. i was leaning against the rectangular glass hut, watching the kid with the radio sell illegal cds out of his backpack in front of the gas station. the wrinkled old man from inside the station was out for the third time since i had been waiting. again with the long metal arm, moving and changing the numbers that were already so high i don't know if i could recite them in one breath. sweat was dripping down his forehead and settling in his eyebrows, but for only a moment before streaming into his eyes. from his back pocket he pulled out a torn rag and ran it across his nose. using the metal arm as a crutch, he hobbled back inside.

by this time i realized that the news reports had been correct, and not just pessimistic 'sky is falling' garbage; the bus wasn't going to be coming. 

i could walk to the rapid, this pathetic excuse for a cable car transit system we have here, but it wouldn't do me any good. unless i wanted to go to the heights, downtown, or the airport it wouldn't be very helpful. dear cleveland, please build a public transportation system that actually serves a useful purpose. sincerely, your suffocating citizens.

i started to make my way down the street, not really in a particular direction, just...away. is there really ever an away though? i talked to wendell last night. he thinks he is going to get fired. i told him there wasn't much he could do about it, you know considering. you can't really justify driving 50 miles to work for minimum wage at this point, even if you hope to make senior sales. he'll get realistic soon or he'll get a swift kick in the ass. 

wait. where am i going? and how am i supposed to get there, or back for that matter? interesting that i find myself in front of yet another gas station. same line of people, wrinkles boring their way into their faces as they worry about the future they have contributed to. same clear and black plastic numbers soaring to infinity on brightly colored plastic signs. suddenly a piercing scream breaks my concentration. 

the voices all rise at once, swelling to a point where i am completely engulfed. wailing and moaning and the slamming of car doors and screeching of tires; these are the sounds that fill the air. 

the station is out of fuel...

i am the problem, and
you are the problem, and
we are all the problem, and
we strive for instant gratification
which lends itself to
bigger cars, faster planes
the we want it now generation
the we kill daily generation
because the earth is dying, and
we are killing her, and
no one seems to care
because it could be so easy, and
we could fix her up, and
maybe
just maybe
extend her life, and
her gifts to us, and
we could make it up to her, but
it just might be too late