Relative Something

I have survived another return trip from the lake. Just about the time I am expecting to readjust to life in the suburbs again, I ended up taking an unexpected trip to long past school days. We were giving Cyndie’s dad a ride home and when we got to her parent’s house, were expecting to have dinner with family. What we didn’t expect was the inclusion of a long-time-gone childhood friend that was in town for a high school reunion. In the middle of the exchange of funny stories, someone pointed out that we had 5 consecutive years of graduates from the same school, sitting around the table. We had a lot of common experiences that served as fodder for a wealth of tales that spawned much laughter.

When I finally reached my own home, I was behind my timeline to accomplish my comfortable Sunday routine, but my mind was still cluttered with the fragments of 40 years ago. I glanced through the mail pile and saw the new edition of the National Geographic magazine. Scanning just bits of features I see an idea about how to shade the earth from the sun to mitigate the over-warming of the planet and read accounts of the dwindling numbers of salmon.

It all just seemed to strike me in a way that boggled my mind. On any given day, I might contemplate whether I need to trim my finger nails or not. At the same time, someone is trying to imagine a way we can intervene on a grand scale to reduce the impact of global warming, while tribes of people who have fished salmon for generations are witnessing the decimation of that resource.

I remember when I was in high school in the ’70s, being taught that it was quite possible that we would not be buying single family homes when we grew up and started families because of concerns about the limits of energy resources. The thinking was, that people would all be living in multi-family dwellings that are more energy efficient. That didn’t end up becoming true, in my experience, but it could be that they were just off in the timing. I know the available real estate for new development in my suburb has almost been exhausted. For generations, people have assumed they will have more than those who have come before them, but logic dictates that this pattern can’t continue forever.

It’s like this state of mind where children misunderstand when parents and educators tell them that someday they could grow up to be President, by thinking they could actually all be the President, not that they all have the opportunity to accomplish the feat. I don’t know if it compares with challenges faced by legions of people in centuries past, but I can only assume they face mind boggling moments of their own. And we continue to have children, raise families, schedule our days, put one step in front of the other, and forge on, regardless the challenges faced.

It’s Monday. I guess I will go to work and see what needs to be done today.