REMEMBERING INNOCENT DAYS

This is a photo of the sand dunes and Gulf of Mexico in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida where I lived two different times in my youth. I spent many hours playing in these waters and fishing from nearby bridges. The sand was sugar white, the sun hot, the water clean, and the animal life abundant. I swallowed a few gallons of that salty water while body surfing the waves.

I did a nationally syndicated radio interview the other night and the talk show host lives in Ft. Walton Beach. He told me the oil was beginning to show up there. My mind flashed back to 1969 when I had a newspaper delivery route on what is called "Okaloosa Island" - the beach community there along the Gulf. In those days it was not covered with hotels and tourist joints as it is today. Back then many of the streets were still sand and miles of unspoiled beach lay before the eye. I would get up at 4:00 am and deliver papers on my motor bike along a 50 mile route and then sleep in school.

The local economy in Ft. Walton Beach is divided between the military and tourism. This oil mess will likely hugely impact the tourism.

In those days I took the pelicans for granted as they flew along in their bird formations, gliding just above the breaking waves. It breaks my heart to now see photos of these birds covered in gooey oil or laying dead stiff as a board on the darkened Gulf beaches.

I spend many moments these days trying to squeeze a bit more energy savings out of my being - walking as much as possible, turning off lights even more than before, working in our garden more. But I know this is a drop in the bucket. What we need is a national policy that moves us away from dependence on fossil fuels and toward public mass transit and creating a solar society.

I got an email this morning from a Florida friend linking to a column in his local newspaper where the editor takes personal responsibility for the BP disaster. It is worth reading. See it here

A friend that works at Bath Iron Works came over on Monday to show us a memo from General Dynamics to all BIW workers promoting a bond issue (which passed on Tuesday) to help fund wind turbine development for Maine's off-shore wind abundant waters.

My hope is that the American people can feel the pain of this disaster enough that we demand the end to off-shore oil drilling. My hope is that the people will demand we move away from dependence on oil.

My hope is that people will begin to see that we are all responsible for this mess.