Cooling off.

It is only going to be 90 today. Nice breeze. People in Nica are having a bad feeling about the changes in the weather. It has rained a few times this winter  (never before) and the warm weather seems to be coming a month early (never happens). Think of the disruption! The confusion!

I am being silly. But seeing the confusion this little bit of change brings here, I can't imagine the disruption that the weather extremes are bringing to most of the world. Is it possible that people who have always lived without at the bottom rung of the ladder, might now have a lot to teach the rest of the world? For millions of years, people survived without electricity and without cell phones, without supermarkets, without airplanes. No, I am telling the truth.

The people for whom massive disruptions caused by extreme weather don't leave them helpless could be the life coaches of the future. Maybe instead of working so hard to make more energy saving tools, we should think about how to live without cars and without electricity. It kind of freaks me out that we don't have skills to do so.

My cabin in New Hampshire had electricity and running water and flush toilets and we had a car. But we also had a hand pump and a wood lot and nearby horses and food stored in a root cellar. And even in those days before climate change ran amok, we used all our backup stuff from time to time. But how can this work if you live in London or New York or Bangkok? I don't know, but it must be possible.

I am not talking like a survivalist who has his/her energy supplies, food and water for years in cans in the basement, guns to protect it all against the hungry. I am talking about learning to live comfortably with a lot less. I am also not saying that we should all become peasants. I have nothing against a good life. But what I am suggesting is that we maybe learn what is necessary for a good life and cut back a lot on the thousands of extra stuff we 'have to have'. My grandmother was an excellent cook. She had few utensils in her kitchen, almost none of which were electric. It can be done.

Imagine this! When I was a kid, we dried our hair with a towel! And we didn't look unkempt and we didn't run around with wet hair all the time. If everyone threw away their hairdryer that could make an impact on global warming. In fact, it might save some lives down in the mines or near nuclear power plants. I can whip cream with a whisk in almost exactly the same time it takes with an electric device. Why wouldn't I ?

These are simple thoughts and I am sure you have a million more. Maybe we could start small and make a few changes each.