It is September 2007, and I am turning 43. Six years past half way, according to the Social Security Administration’s actuarial tables.
For my birthday, I’ve asked for an ice cream maker. Why not? I like ice cream. My sister Kim introduced me/us to the idea of homemade ice cream, and the ice cream she made for us this past summer was delicious. I’m betting I get it.
There are times when I think I have been unduly blessed. I was a mediocre student; a smart enough person but undisciplined and misdirected. I have ambled, meandered, stumbled and fallen through a not-unsuccessful career. I’ve no doubt taken many things for granted, including (shamefully) friends. For all this, I materially have everything I want.
Except an ice cream maker.
But it’s not the ice cream maker that I want, it’s the memories the ice cream maker will create for my children. This is what it means to be a dad: I want less for me, and more for them. What I really want for my birthday is a guarantee of my children’s future, their well-being and happiness; a guarantee that they will continue to enjoy the carefree fortune with which I have so serendipitously been blessed.
I will likely see the end of fossil fuels in my lifetime. At the very least, I will see the beginning of the end. I think about this problem every day. It worries and scares me to think that my children will live in the ensuing turmoil of the faces of this change.
It is coming.
It saddens me deeply to know the potential hardship of their future, yet I am unable to change it. And I am unable to change. I get into my car every day and go to work; I can’t not go to work. I heat my house in the winter, turn on lights and the refrigerator (among many, many other things). I contribute to the demand on fossil fuels.
Don’t we all?
For my 43rd birthday I’ve decided to write down my thoughts, ideas, and observations regarding this problem. This will be a series of posts under the label “You Old Fossil.” I doubt these thoughts will change the world or its future, but I have to do something, however small.
My children are counting on me!
2 comments:
Homemade ice cream rocks!
OK, so you need this: http://www.absak.com/alternative-energy/complete-power-systems.html
And of course you absolutely need this: http://www.gizmag.com/go/6256/
But if you're not feeling completely guilty, I'd say you should go for this: http://www.carver-worldwide.com/Home/Index.asp?nc=1
You may live longer than you think. Many life expectancy calculators project that I could live into my 90s. It seems the older you get, the longer your lifespan will be (because you've already been successful at living to your current age).
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