“Well I’m not doing that again!” Anita declared. “Doing what?” Harry asked.  “Vacation in Las Vegas in July.  What was I thinking??  It was 120 degrees some days!” she exclaimed.

        “Whoa!  Bad plan!” Harry agreed as their bikes rounded a corner. “But Las Vegas wasn’t the only place suffering.  This past June was the 13th month in a row that we’ve set a global-wide monthly high temperature record according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.  The whole world’s in a pickle!”

        “Yeah, and our family hasn’t done much about actually lowering our carbon footprint,” Anita admitted as they sweated up the next hill. “Funny thing is, before long we’ll be worrying about staying warm this winter and paying those heating bills,” she puffed. “Ours are way too high; I’m sure there must be ways to lower them.  But with work, the kids and all, who’s got time to figure all that out?” she groaned.  

        “Actually, you might have the time,” Harry smiled. “Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program has a free home energy assessment deal.*  Go on line and answer a few questions; it only takes about 10 minutes.  Then they send you a customized home energy report.  It includes tables and graphs to show you how much energy your heating system is using and what you could potentially save.  Even better, the report makes specific recommendations for your home and tells which Focus on Energy rebate programs will help pay for them and make your home more comfortable.  It’s a sweet deal!”

        “Wow! Sounds perfect,” Anita Gettgoin’ cheered. “It’s time to do it!”

        “But wait; that’s not all,” Harry smiled. “Hey, I sound like a TV pitchman, but there really is more free stuff from Focus.**  They’re giving away three different energy-saving packs: a Shower Pack, a Comfort Pack and a Bath Pack.  These packages are loaded with cool stuff like dusk-to-dawn LED nightlights, high-efficiency showerheads, weather stripping, LED bulbs, window and pipe insulation and more.”

        The two bikers glided down the long hill toward home. “Yeah, we’re in a pickle.  Luckily, it’s not some magical hocus-pocus that will get us out of it.  It’s working together, being smart and taking advantage of this kind of help.  But there’s no time to lose,” Harry Upp-Now urged, “because this is our only home.  It’s where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”

* https://focusonenergy.com/home-assessment
** https://focusonenergy.com/residential/energy-saving-packs

Me?... An Ancestor?
 
Wynn Ima-Goner couldn’t suppress a feeling of satisfaction as he stepped out of his attorney’s office and bumped into his friend Lee Gacey.  “You’re looking chipper,” Lee commented.  “Well thanks.  I feel great.” Wynn replied. “I’m ready to die!”
Wynn explained that he just updated his will.  “Yup!  I’ve laid out just exactly where all my possessions will go, so I’m all set for…whenever.  There’s nothing more for me to do,” he said smugly.
They walked on in silence for a few minutes then Lee asked, “Glad to hear you’ve got your possessions figured out, but have you decided what kind of ancestor you want to be?”  “Huh? What are you talking about?” Wynn asked.
“Wynn, you and I could die tomorrow, or who knows?  We might be around for another 20 years or more.  But someday, we’ll be someone’s ancestor; so what kind of ancestor do you want to be?* Will your descendants say, ‘I’m so proud of my ancestors. Back in the 2020s they dedicated themselves to preserving a healthy planet for me and my children.’  Or will they shake their heads and wonder why our generation didn’t act while we had the chance?  
“You know Wynn, what we do in the next decade will be critical in shaping the environment for hundreds of years to come.  Are we okay with letting global temperatures continue to rise and as a result alter the climate our civilizations were built on?  Each year, 200 - 2000 species are driven to extinction.  Are we going to let that continue?  Will plastic pollution become so pervasive as to be inescapable anywhere on the planet?  I could go on, but you get the picture,” Lee concluded.
         “Golly!  I hadn’t thought about it that way.” Wynn reflected. “I DO want to be remembered for more than just the stuff I leave behind.  Did I just say there was nothing left for me to do?  Oops, I missed the mark on that one!  My work has just begun.  There are tons of things** I can do to live more gently on this Earth.
         “Our descendants deserve a planet at least as beautiful and healthy as the one we were born onto.  After all, this is the only home any of us will ever know.  It’s where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”
*Concept courtesy of Robin Wall Kimmerer
**https://www.rituals.com/en-us/mag-kindness-for-the-world-50-ways-to-be-kind-to-the-planet.html

        Donna stomped toward her friends at the back-corner table and slammed a copy of the latest Smithsonian magazine down. “Some folks are just whacko,” she groused.  A guy gave me this and said, ‘Here, read this; that’s ironing for you!’  So I read it.  But it’s got nothing to do with clothing, laundry or ironing – weird!” Donna Gettit grumped.

        Ray and Effie flipped through the magazine as Donna pointed out the piece entitled “The Next Big Wave”.  They skimmed the article while Donna placed her order.

        The story highlighted the violent storms that have ravaged the greater Houston, Texas area.  In 1900, the Great Galveston Storm with 16-foot storm surges killed 8,000 people.  In 2008, Hurricane Ike - 20 ft. storm surges.  2017 - Some damages from Hurricane Harvey still remain.  This summer - Hurricane Beryl left 2.2 million folks without power.

        It went on to explain that environmentalists, ship pilots, law makers and petroleum executives are worried that another Category 4 or 5 hurricane in that area would destroy the oil refinery infrastructure that lines Galveston Bay.  That would unleash 100 million gallons of oil – a monumental disaster ten times worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.  So they’re devising a $34 billion plan in the hopes of preventing such a thing.

        “Ha!” Effie exclaimed. “He didn’t say ‘ironing’; he said ‘irony’!  It’s ironic because the petroleum industry’s greenhouse gas emissions that warm the atmosphere are a huge cause of the sea level rise and hurricanes that are directly threatening the sources of those greenhouse gasses.  So now we’re spending billions of dollars to protect the very thing that’s creating this vicious cycle of destruction. THAT’S irony!”

        “I get it,” Donna nodded. “It’s kind of like trying to drain the bathtub while keeping the tap wide open. There’s gotta be a better way.”

        “Oh, there is!” Effie Shency and Ray Newables said, practically in unison.  “We should be reducing fossil fuel subsides that, according to the International Monetary Fund, have risen globally from $2 trillion to $7 trillion since 2021. Then, of course, we need to support decision-makers who advocate for policies that enhance energy efficiencies and expand clean
energy production.”

        Donna smiled. “Then it’s coincidence and not irony that the insulation crew’s coming to my house in an hour.  Because I’m just doing my part, here where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”