BABY BOOMERS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

POST # 73



As time goes by and the cohort of humans that is commonly referred to as the baby boomers continue to age, our “infrastructure” ages along with us. Joints not working properly, aches and pains, memory loss, are all part of the aging process of our human infrastructure. After all, nothing lasts forever.

This past week, some other infrastructure that was “born” in 1955, the same year that I was, finally gave up the ghost. A bridge near the city of Mount Vernon here in Washington State, collapsed into the Skagit River. This particular bridge was located on Interstate 5 which is the main highway that runs from the Canadian border in British Columbia to the Mexican border.

The cause of the collapse was apparently due to a truck driven by a fellow Albertan transporting an oversized load south. According to reports, some part of the truck contacted one of the girders of the bridge’s structure. The resulting impact caused an entire section of the bridge to fall unceremoniously into the river. Amazingly, only the truck and two other cars ended up in the drink, and only a few minor injuries were suffered by a small number of people.

The accident happened around 7pm in the evening and the next day, my friend, Mary and I were travelling on the interstate south of said accident. At the time we had no idea at all about what had taken place less than twenty four hours earlier. Our return journey that day showed us just how much we take for granted believing that everything is going to work as we expect it to work, - forever. The traffic jam caused by the re-routing of traffic around the affected area, was a sight to behold. Lucky for us, we were moving in a direction opposite of the main jam, otherwise we might still be sitting there.

If one were to look at the entire country as a whole, this bridge was really just an insignificant structure compared to others scattered around the countryside. And yet, all it took was a small impact from a single truck, to cause chaos far and wide. The fact that it happened just prior to the long weekend helped to put a “spanner in the works” as they say in Australia, for quite a few individuals, who had planned to be using interstate 5 to get to wherever they were going that weekend.

This latest failure of infrastructure made me think back a few years to when I was still living in Vancouver, and there was an electrical malfunction that caused the entire downtown area to be without power for four days. During those four days, I happened to have a customer aboard my Aquabus ferry, whom had recently retired from B.C. Hydro, the power provider for the province. I’ll never forget what he told me that day. He said, “Vancouver-ites better get used to this happening from time to time because ALL OF THIS ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS AT LEAST 50 YEARS OLD.”

The point of all this is to say, that it really doesn’t matter whether we are talking about bridges, electrical grids, roads, subways, atomic power plants or whatever one wants to look at. All of it is getting as creaky and brittle as our aging baby boomer bodies. Most of it was constructed when the energy used to build it was cheap and plentiful, and at a time when it seemed that most municipalities were flush with money to continue to build and upgrade the systems. That was then and this is now. As time continues to pass, we will likely see more of, not less of these occurences. Having recently driven through Portland, Oregon, with all of its many bridges, I can only imagine what the folks living there must be thinking now. And plenty of those bridges are much much higher above the ground, than the bridge over the Skagit River. I certainly wouldn’t like to be on one of them when it fails. At that point, you would be hoping that you had purchased the latest car that could morph into an airplane and land safely. Somehow, I don’t think the technology party will be around long enough to see flying cars.

Thankfully, my own personal baby boomer infrastructure seems to be holding up so far in spite of the metal supports added to my right leg. And thankfully we weren’t travelling along Interstate 5 last week when the bridge came tumbling down like Humpty Dumpty. Sometimes it feels like life is like a game of Russian Roulette and at some point, one might find oneself in the wrong place at the wrong time. But until that time, I will continue to be thankful for each breath, and each precious day ahead.

Happy trails,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

Bob Marley and Trains, Planes and Automobiles

POST #72


The Bob Marley song "Three Little Birds" came to mind early this morning just after I awoke due to some chirping birds outside my window. It has to be one of the most pleasant sounds to wake up to.

However, last night around 11pm and for the first time that I can ever recall, there were some birds chirping in the trees outside under the cover of darkness. At the same time as that was going on, fighter jets were flying past, creating a very disturbing noise. The sound coming from the birds was almost like a cry for help, and I commented to my friend Mary about whether there might be a connection between the two things.

As I am currently in between housesits, my dear friend Mary has offered me shelter here at a place called Shelter Bay. Shelter Bay sits right across the water from Whidbey Island upon which sits Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. On a daily basis, a multitude of fighter aircraft use this base for training. And sometimes,like last night for instance, they practice night operations and this was probably why my bird friends were feeling so stressed. I commented to Mary that for us, the sound was just an annoyance but to people in other parts of the world, the same sound would make a person feel fearful. From my point of view, the roar of the jets brings up a combination of anger, disgust and sadness.

According to some, the US consumes around 20 million barrels per DAY of oil and it has been suggested that approximately half of that amount is used just to keep the military machine functioning. Even though the justification for all of this military infrastructure is under the guise of bringing "freedom and democracy" to the world, the real reason is to continue to try and secure more oil resources to keep things running. Since I've been on the planet, the military machine has only gotten bigger which means of course that even more energy is required. It seems to me that this can't possibly end well in the long run. Many people around here, when they hear the jets fly past will say "that's the sound of freedom" however I am more inclined to agree with my friend Guy who says "it sounds like oppression to me."

And speaking of my friend Guy who writes at a website called "Nature Bats Last", I have just returned from my second visit to his place which he calls the mud hut, in southern New Mexico. I had a wonderful three plus days there during which time we had plenty to talk about. On my return journey to Washington state, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit with Mike Ruppert in Colorado. Mike is another person I've been learning from in recent years having read a couple of his books and viewing the movie "Collapse" back in 2009. Both he and his friend Doug made me feel very welcome, and I was grateful for the chance to spend time at their place.

The past week to ten days has seen me moving around using a combination of trains, planes and automobiles but now I will be settled in here at Shelter Bay courtesy of my friend Mary, prior to heading back to Canada in early June to begin my next housesit.

That Bob Marley song from back in the '70's which I mentioned at the beginning of this post has as part of the lyrics "baby don't worry about a thing,cause every little thing's gonna be alright". I wonder, if Bob were still alive today and heard the sounds of those birds last night, whether he would have written those same lyrics in 2013?

Happy Trails

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE MUD HUT

POST # 71

Hi from the mud hut somewhere in New Mexico. My friend Guy has allowed me the use of his computer, so I wanted to send a few words to say that I am having/have had a wonderful few days here, with plenty of thoughtful discussions combined with time spent walking the goats Bella and Lillian, as well as collecting eggs from all the chickens on the property.

Tomorrow, I depart to Colorado for an overnight visit, and then fly out of Denver on May 16th to return to Washington, via Eugene Oregon. The thoughtful wanderer is doing plenty of thinking and plenty of wandering in this past week and it will be good to settle in one place for a while after this trip is complete.

Not sure if I'll be near a computer on May 21st, but if so I will add the next update.

One final note. My time spent here at the mud hut has been very relaxing and Guy has been a wonderful host. How he manages to do this and get all his work done, I will never know, but I am happy to be on the receiving end of his kindness, generosity and good humour. It's been a laugh a minute since I arrived.

Until next time.
Happy Trails,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

FAREWELL FURBALLS-HELLO MUD HUT

POST # 70


Felix, Oscar and Sophie don't know it yet, but tomorrow I'll be saying farewell to them again. My time on Orcas is coming to a close, and a very relaxed time it has been.

Of course I will miss their company, as they are some of the nicest cats I've ever had the pleasure to spend time with. I am going to miss how Sophie likes to stir things up with the other two from time to time. Having her around keeps those two old guys on their toes (claws?). It's been fun to watch them, and I have had more than my share of laughter as a result. I had another big laugh just before I started this blog, when Sophie came bolting through the cat door straight down the hallway. One second she wasn't in the house and the next thing I know is there is this noise and then a blur of fur racing down the hall. She must have been frightened by something, and she managed to scare the other two cats and me because of her dramatic entrance.

I've kept a pretty low profile while here this time, just being content with spending time with the cats, a daily bike ride of course, and enjoying time down at the beach. I haven't had much interaction with other humans but that's ok for a change of pace. One never has to go very far to find other people if one choses to do so, even here on quiet Orcas island.

Tomorrow I head out for my second journey to the mud hut (see post 60) in New Mexico, to visit friends. It will be a quick trip and I wasn't really sure if I could make it happen or not, but everything has fallen into place, so it seems, and so I'll be flying to Denver from Seattle, then renting a car and driving south to New Mexico. According to google maps, the journey is about 11 hours or thereabouts so I plan to find a rest stop along the way and snooze overnight in the car.

My time at the mud hut will be approximately 3 or 4 days, so it seems like a long way to go for such a short visit, but at the same time it seems important that I do go. I'm looking forward to my time there, as it will be an opportunity for thoughtful conversation which is something that I find very rewarding. I imagine at this time of year there will be some agrarian tasks to participate in compared to when I was there in February, and that participation will also be another learning experience which I look forward to.

At this point I am not sure when the next blog entry will be as I may or may not be close to a computer. I'll just have to see how the rest of the month pans out.

Time now to spend some more precious moments with the kitty kats, before I get out into the warmth of the day and take a ride to the beach for the last time on this trip to lovely Orcas.

Happy trails,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer