Le Sequoit

Holy Llama!

Just today, along about 11:00 AM or so, I discovered the path to “more environmentally and socially responsible living.” Each of us needs to:

· marry well and pursue two professional careers long enough to

· make enough money to quit our jobs while we at the same time

· buy 5 acres in a prime tourist location out in the woods and

· restore an old farmhouse into a quaint bed and breakfast so that we can

· charge each other $115.00 a night to come park our bio-diesel Geo Metros and read from each others’ eclectic poetry collection.

This is only the beginning of the incredible story of two BOBOs gone beyond bucolic, Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, your hosts at the Inn Serendipity. There’s even a book. Go to the site for the link if you’re interested cuz that’s all the formatting I’m going to do tonight.

These two do it all. Lecturing, organic farming, organic gardening, solar power, wind power, inn keeping, hangin’ out the laundry, cooking classes, purveying produce at the local market, free agent photography, advertising, marketing and being active members in a few score of noble organizations, not to mention feeding the llamas and raising the kid (home-schooled no doubt).

In the course of their hour long interview (where do they find the time?) they must have used the phrase “renewable energy” about eight thousand times! They’re just about breaking even on electrical usage with the used wind turbine they bought about 5 years ago, and don’t use fossil fuels on their “farmstead” at all. Good for them. Have you ever heard one of these babies in operation? This one is about 300 feet from the house so the guests can sleep. Assuming I could afford one of these puppies 300 feet would put my 120’ high whoop whoop machine in the vicinity of the bedroom of my neighbor about three doors down.

You physicists can correct me if I’m wrong, but how do you renew energy, anyway? With a perpetual motion driven generator? Does wind spring from a cosmic well of some sort? Is the solar energy received by Earth infinite? How many wind mills does it take to alter the rotation of the earth? I don’t know and I’m not going to look it up, but I’m thinking this “renewable” part is hooey.

So while these two are out lecturing on the environmentally sound method to keep the crabgrass out of the kumquat patch I wonder just how many solar panels and windmills it would take to heat up Tokyo and London. How much recycled French fry oil would it take to fuel traffic in Peking and Mexico City?

This couple has found a way not to take from the Earth. It’s a commendable goal, to be sure. They’re two in a million. Where does that leave the other 99.9998%? (I think that’s right)

Gasping for air.

posted by sequoit @ 9:38 PM