Apparently, I look at the world a lil' differently then "most" folks, and respond accordingly. Of course, I could just post pictures of puppies, or comment on a recent television show.....? Nah.

I overheard as I was walking past the post office, a pop or grandpa was saying to a young boy with THE VOICE, (yea, we all know the one,) " You need to quit singing and jumping around...."

I, of course, turned and piped up, "NO way, singing and jumping around IS what it's all about! It is we, grownup's who need to grow down!" When was the last time we lived with childlike awe, wonder, or glee, or expressed ourselves outwardly, with no regard for appearances?

Yes, I know, we have all been there, on both sides, and sure, it is our "job" to keep kids safe, but do we need to bully them, overpower them, or teach them a "lesson"? What do "we" know anyway?

Just a few minutes before that, I was reading a "local" newspaper (printed on paper from where? with ink from where?) about Dale Stephens, a 21-year-old, who informed his parents after 5th grade, "...that school wasn't for him and that he wanted to be a part of the "unschool" movement, which believes that learning outside of school can be 'massively successful'..."

"Quit singing and jumping around." Really?

A few moments before reading that article, I was asking someone in the Good Earth Market, which coffee was his favorite. He proceeded to show me the best seller (Is it because it is good, or because it is in the biggest and easiest to access container?) and some others, a few of which he liked. I asked about the "local" coffee, which I did get some of. I wonder still what makes it local? Roasted with "natural" gas fracked from the midwest or where? Delivered using "local" gas that came from the Tarsands fiasco, or tankers from Kuwait? Roasted by local humans who were born where? The coffee was shipped thousands of miles from where? Hopefully, grown by farmers paid a living wage, and grown in a way which preserves the land for future life, but do we know that?

Just what does local mean? At least, the labor and service are provided locally and the "profits" remain "local." How local is most of what we consume, and what are the real costs, environmentally?

A friend and I "carpooled" up to South Lake Tahoe and back, using about 25 gallons (we rarely think about or consider, really, just how much of any and everything we are consuming daily) of gas in the process, over the previous 2 days. Yesterday, on the lift with me were two strangers and a "marketing" director of the resort, who asked the other two folks to take a survey. He likely just looked at me, duct tape and bailing wire coming out of my ears, and turned the other way.

One question he asked was about rating the resort's "green" work, to which I laughed and added, "Yeah right, here we are being green.... driving and flying all around the globe, to have our lazy bones hauled uphill via electricity or diesel, all day long?"

It sure IS fun, especially telemarking down steep and narrow bumpy spots and sucking in fresh mountain air, but what are the costs to the future of everything? We consume as if we live on a planet of infinite resources, and as if our habits do not impact the living systems of Nature, which support all life.

The photo at the top of the run says, "No beginners, You can die, This is your decision point." I say, we are all beginners, with every breath, and we will all die.

In the meantime, I wonder, how are we living? What ARE we creating and leaving behind, with every waking dollar we spend, and with every disposable product we purchase? This IS our decision point folks.

It has now been almost 2 years since Fukushima, which is still spewing and teetering, and don't forget the Gulf spill, or the looming Keystone/Tarsands fiasco, all of which are brought to us through regulation and policy which are based on short term $ profits at the expense of a healthy future, and perpetuated through OUR consumer lifestyles/attitudes, and purchases.

What ARE we giving back folks, or leaving to the future? Global issues ARE important Local issues, and we ALL need to take back the world with every waking $, from corporate leaders and policy which are not in the interests of anythings future.

Environmental, and community health ARE the real profits, and all that really matters in the end.

It IS up to us to ensure that the Fukushimas, Fracking, and Endless Wars and waste are ended, and do not continue, otherwise? Do we really choose to leave the future in the hands of psychopaths, profiteers, and propheteers? Global issues ARE local issues......

Quit singing and jumping around? Pass the remote, and where ARE those puppies?