Cruisin'

Had the opportunity to take a little drive last week. Well, by "little" I mean around 1800 miles, round trip. Now, for the last year or so I've been trying to live in a way that leaves a smaller ecological footprint. Less gas and electric heating in the winter, more open window and less A/C in the summer; more locally sourced produce, less of that delicious Brazilian rain forest beef. Hell, I even got a compost bin.

Incidentally, I can now cross "tried to find a way to get fluid nitrogen supplements into the compost" off my life list. It involved some nocturnal micturition while hiding behind a hedge.

Anyway, in spite of all that, I leapt at the chance to drive across a couple of states. It's a goddamn lot of fun to drive the interstates like that. And with good music and good company, it can be an excellent way to pass a few days.

So among the other things that we'll be able to tell our kids about but that they won't be able to enjoy for themselves, I reckon we'll have to include the road trip. And I will, without hesitating, tell them that they were great and that they have no idea what they're missing when they climb into their hydrogen-cell transport units for a computer-controlled ride across the San Angeles Metroplex or the Mega-City 2 X-Pressways.

Other things our kids won't get to enjoy: beef steaks bigger than their faces, ice cube machines, religious icons treated humorously in comics, sporting fields or events without corporate sponsorship, bowl after bowl of delicious turtle soup and US constitutional amendments 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 15.