Memorial Day

Another Memorial Day has come and gone. Along with it, adds for automobiles, furniture, and every type of consumable good you could ever want. It is also the unofficial start of the summer season. Holidays like this always leave me feeling a little confused. It is a day for remembering our fallen military men and women, but that seems to get lost in the commercial aspect of celebrating. I guess most holidays have become that way. For many people, this was just another 3 day weekend. Even my relatives who served in the military don't seem to outwardly acknowledge the day. My grandfather served in WW II, but he never talked about it. Maybe some don't want to remember. However, I'm sure many would like to know that those of us who did not serve in the military are grateful to those who did.

So, how does one show their gratitude? I can fly the American flag on my porch. I guess I could place a cheesy little ribbon on my car that says I support the troops. (I find it a bit ironic to see one of these on an SUV, especially an SUV from a foreign company) I didn't really know what to do, so I went on a bike ride. I rode to a national cemetery for the military. It is always mesmerizing to see the number of graves. They stretch by the thousands over several hills. If I cannot "do" anything for them, at least I can silently pay them a moment of gratitude.
The more I think about it, I guess the best way to honor our military is to just keep doing the things we do...after all, by their fighting for our freedoms and giving their lives, we all have the right to buy that new SUV and grill up hamburgers and hot dogs.

Met an old friend today.

I met an old friend on my bike ride to work this morning. Actually, I have no idea what his name is. For the last 2 or 3 years, we have passed each other, off and on, while riding to work. He traveling westbound and I traveling east. For a long time we passed and did not acknowledge one another. I don't know if he even recognized me as the same fellow riding each morning. Then I would occasionally give a small wave, and sometimes get a shout back from him "hey" or "mornin'". For the last several months I have not seen much of him. I think our timing has been off...since my kids started school I have been a little later departing than before. We met this morning with a wave and "hey".
I must admit that he seems to be a more diligent commuter than me. I have also seen him riding on several occasions while I, for one reason or another, chose to drive in to work that day. Seeing him out there pedaling while I am driving this bohemoth cage of steel and puffing out all sorts of polluting gases never failed to make me a bit ashamed of driving that day, and a bit jealous. Some days I had no real choice in the matter, family or work obligations that would have made a bike commute nearly impossible. But, there have been a few days where I was simply too tired, or too lazy, to ride in. Seeing my old friend out there always puts me back on course.

Forget about bike to work week.

It's that time of the year again...bike to work week. I'm sure the nation is all buzzed about millions of people making the switch from driving their cars to riding a bike to work. Ha, ha. I think that the only people who even know, much less care, about bike to work week are the ones already doing it. Don't get me wrong, I do admire the concept and the organizers who try to spread the word. What I think we need, however, is a little something closer to home and easier if we really want to get people on their bikes. For most, I am sure the idea of riding a bike to work is almost unthinkable. How about something more manageable, like "bike to the corner store day", or "bike to a neighborhood friend Sunday". These are things almost anyone with a working bike can do, unless they live in remote areas where the nearest friend or store is several miles away. Running an errand or visiting a friend would be much less stressful than planning out the logistics of getting to work on time. Start out with riding down the street to pick up a quart of milk or a six pack of beer. Head over to a friends house to visit for a bit. Nothing stressful...even if you get a flat or your bike breaks down, just walk the rest of the way. No need to bring along a change of clothes or worry about arriving all sweaty.
I think this way more people could get introduced to biking in a whole new way. Maybe they would even see the pleasure in it, all the while doing a little something nice for our planet.

Portraits of American Mass Consumption

A good friend of mine just turned me on to a web site for artist Chris Jordan. His site has some amazing photos that portray the darker side of America's love affair with mass consumption. Check out his exhibits "Running the Numbers" and "Intolerable Beauty". Note the size of the prints. They would be mind boggling to see in person. Also make sure to check out his exhibit "In Katrina's Wake".

Contamination in our food supply, again.

I was just looking through a couple of CNN articles about hogs, and now chickens, eating tainted pet food. Seems that melamine, possibly along with cyanuric acid, has been added to some variations of wheat and rice gluten from China that end up in pet food. On some farms the hogs and chickens are fed surplus pet food as part of their diet. The FDA has assured us that there is very little possibility that humans will become ill from this. They have investigators in China trying to figure out the source of the tainted products.
In the case of chickens, Indiana found that 38 chicken facilities had fed chickens contaminated feed. An estimated 2.5 to 3 million people have eaten these chickens. Several hundred hogs from farms in 3 states entered the human food supply that were fed contaminated pet food.
With a global economy and industrialized factory farms, a contamination like this can be far reaching. As much as the FDA would like us to think everything is safe for human consumption and they are on top of it, I am sure there is no way they can maintain the quality control they claim.
I have read many case of the FDA and USDA not being able to, or wanting to, perform the necessary testing involved to assure that these types of contamination do not happen. The enormous scale of factory farming also creates a likely scenario for a single outbreak like this to lead to illnesses and deaths all over the country, possibly the world. Think back to how wide-spread the E. Colli outbreak in spinach became. The globalization of our economy and consolidation of our farms may be good for the profits of a few, but their lasting and long-term effects on humans and our planet can be devastating.