Vacuuming the Lawn

There’s a few things in life you’d never imagine yourself doing under any circumstances.  No matter how hungry you get, you’re not going to eat a shoe. No matter how tired you get, you’re not going to sleep with your eyes open. No matter how messy your lawn is, you’re not going to run a vacuum cleaner over it.

People of all types will find themselves in unfamiliar territory now and again with no prior experience or intelligence on how to deal with some current state of affairs. The good ones find ways to get the job done no matter what the neighbors think. In the end it’s these outside-the-box thinkers who are willing to do things a little different that get the respect of others.

We need to start doings things differently than we have in the past. “We” as in most of the world’s population.  The financial crisis may or may not be entirely to blame on Wall Street greed. Terrorism may or may not have it’s roots in radical Islam.  Global warming may or may not be due to industrialization. In all three cases, however, my money’s on the latter.

It’s time to start doing things we never thought we’d do and time stop doing things we never thought we’d give up. The world is in crisis and it’s begging for a new view from its residents. I think a great place to start is with changing the way humans create and use energy; to respect the earth and it’s resources and tap into this immense opportunity to create a green-based economy; mix things up a little. Tell some of those guys pumping oil that we’d like take advantage of the sun and wind and even some atoms to light our lights and fuel our cars.

This is not my plan. This goes all the way to the top. Whatever your political leanings you more than likely hope our President-elect has got it right. Most of us can only hope he does, while a few smart and/or well-connected folks will actually be assisting him with his vision. As Barack Obama was quoted recently “The vision starts with me.” That’s what we’re gonna pay him for so it sounds like he understands the job description.

I’m as guilty as the next guy and must begin to do a better job being a green member of the species. Lately I’ve been nixing the dishwasher and doing the dishes by hand. I just insulated a couple more walls of this old house and a bit more of the attic.  For that job the parameters required blow-in insulation (my choice: cellulosic recycled paper), which in-turn required renting one of those machines to blow it in. Being the do-it-yourselfer that I am, with no experience whatsoever with the process, I jumped right in and found out just how incredibly messy this ordeal can be when you fail to do a few simple things properly.

I must admit that with the multitude of problems that plagued me early in the process, my attitude was severely challenged and some regretful phrases passed by these lips. With a fresh head and outlook early the next morning and with the help of an old friend, I managed to get the job done remarkably efficiently but not before blowing lots of really really small pieces of paper pulp all over my yard.

I’m happy say that our master bedroom is noticeably warmer already and we’re now pumping a little less pollution into the air. The hassle was well worth it and I was able to rake most of the bits off the lawn.

The rest I had to vacuum.