One Man's Opinion
Posted at 5:30 AM on April 21, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(22 Comments)
Today's blog entry is an editorial from Radio Heartland's chief correspondent Bud Buck, who, you might recall, was last heard desperately trying to develop the kind of alarmist, incendiary style that might get him a better job as a full time crank with the New York Times or Fox News.
This is Earth Day Eve, and a lot of lip service is being paid to the important job of protecting Mother Earth from our wasteful ways. Everybody from the president on down to the fifth grade bully who lives next door are putting pressure on me to cut back on things I enjoy doing, like raising and tending a beautiful green lawn even though it requires some checmicals and little water and a bit of smoggy mowing.Sure, that's bad. But what about these verbal emissions? The atmosphere is choked with pompous scolding. I can hardly breathe for all the hot air being released by defenders of the planet.
Don't get me wrong. I know our neighborhoods are full of incandescent light bulb-using, excess-hot-water-running, Earth murdering energy wasters. I see one in the bathroom mirror every morning, just before the glass steams up.
But why take aim at the easy targets when there are so many hypocrites who only talk the walk and don't walk the talk or even walk the walk very much themselves? Politicians? Of course. There's no bravery required to call a politician a two faced smug smarty pants. But who has the courage to assail the unassailable? I do.
That's why I'm taking on holier-than-thou Eco Kids.
You can always expect some 10 year old to get a bunch of press on Earth Day because she is setting a great example for adults. If we could only do as they do, the future would be a lot brighter for everyone, or so the story goes. There's always an adoring quote from one of the parents, saying something like:
"Until Ashley called me on it, I was using the toaster to make ONE piece of toast every morning. When she told me how wasteful that was, I started making TWO pieces of toast, even though I only wanted to eat one. I began saving the second one, eating it cold the next day. It tastes horrible, especially with butter lumps, but Ashley shamed me into making this sacrifice for the Earth. I'm so proud of her!"
I'm glad Ashley is able to goad her mother into eating revolting food in the name of conservation, but she better not come over here and try that stuff on me.
I happen to know her father drives her to soccer practice at a local park twice a week even though the trip is less than a mile. Wouldn't she be a better player if she developed the endurance to run over there rather than burn all that gas? She could carry the equipment bag back and forth, too - balancing it on her shoulders to develop both the upper body and lower body strength necessary to compete with all those hard working kids from less fortunate countries. But no! She rides in the back of that van like a tiny princess going to the ball!
At this rate, there'll be no Olympic gold medals for USA soccer in 2020!
At least she could walk or ride her bike to the mall, where you're likely to see her hanging out most weekends with a gaggle of her little fifth grade friends, generating bucketloads of waste at the food court and pushing the handicapped access button to make the door swing open, even though she's perfectly able to pull that door with her own muscles! Some ecologist!
Lest you think I'm using this forum for a vendetta against an actual 10 year old neighbor of mine, let me quickly add that the "Ashley" I mention in this commentary is an artificial construct, created to represent a type of young environmental blowhard. "Ashley" bears no resemblance to any person living or dead, and certainly there is no resemblance to my real neighbor, who is ten and a half, and whose name is actually Ashleigh.
But on this Earth Day Eve, let's beware the easy temptation to criticize each other for our wasteful habits, and instead find a way to work together, productively, to solve this crisis, before there's not enough clean air left to grow and enjoy a lush, beautifully green front lawn.
Bud Buck
Apparently Bud's quest to gain firebreathing commentator status is a work-in-progress. Take him to task or try to top him ... every response gets him closer to his Pulitzer Prize!
Comments (22)
I am old enough to remember the first Earth Day. It was a true grass root effort with a radical bent . I risked suspension for participating in a "teach-in." I am now conflicted by how Earth Day is celebrated. I don't object to the conservative Christian school in my neighborhood picking up trash, or corporations signing on (Target, thanks for the bag), or even "Ashley" harping about toast. Still, I am ;ooling for more.
Dale, could you play some Pete Seeger to bring me back to my roots? One option would be all the verses to "This Land." but there are surely many more.
Thanks!
Wake up Radio Heartland! This is serious!! Just kidding.
Asheligh sounds like a treasure.
I would hope the hair color industry is exempt from all this trash talk!
Spelunking is one of my favorites. She's talking about the Black Hills right here in SD, you know!
Thanks for the early morning chuckle. Now time to work and listen! Wishing everyone a great day.
Good thing I read this before putting a half of bagel in the toaster. Guess I will have cereal instead.
To help celebrate Earth Day all summer with weeding, we have started some vegetable and flower seeds inside. They need some encouragement to grow. How about the song that starts "Row by Row..."?
Can't remember the real title or the artist, but I know it will make those seeds sprout strong and healthy shoots (or BUDS).
Bud Buck continues to be inspiring!
Good Morning!
I'm a little concerned that, perhaps for the first time, I find myself in agreement with Bud Buck. Well partly since I won't be going to the make toast today for tomorrow routine. I do wonder how it is that we came to be so dependent on our cars for short trips. Walking is great exercise as is bicycling and just a little exercise goes a long way in terms of the health benefits, even more than the environmental ones that will be so much in the news surrounding Earth Day.
Stepping off soap box...
Perhaps Karen Savoca's Green would be a good song for the season?
Dale,
Thanks for the wonderfully affirming music this morning!
Wishing everyone a sunny, goat-filled day!
Yea Dale - thanks for making me look like an idiot.
i think Ashley's Mom should toast two slices and eat them both.
in one year, she would have gained over 10 pounds - from just that extra piece of toast each day. talk about energy conservation!
unfortunately, that extra weight would probably increase her carbon footprint
Hi Folks
I was sitting here enjoying the beautiful music, when the song "Green" by Karen Savoca came on and filled my cup to overflowing. That was one I used to dance around with the house with my late great daughter, Laural (1988-2006, car accicent).
This station that Garrison, JimEd, and Dale assembled, nurtured, and shared has been instrumental in the raising of my family, grieving our losses, and also in our healing.
I attemped to attach a link to our website (readytogoratterriers.net) not to sell any pooches (and there are no pups this spring), but there are pics on there of Laural and the family that I wanted to share.
Good day all.
Being of the generation that grew up with the "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" campaign as well as the PSA with the Native America crying by the litter-filled roadside, there are messages that stuck (I have been known to pick up other people's litter, carry my own bags to the store, don't heat the house to 75 degrees, walk when I can, etc.).
But I draw the line at my beloved incandescent bulbs. CFLs might be friendlier to the earth - but even the color-corrected ones burn too blue for my taste. I just can't get used to them. Bud Buck, it seems, might agree with me.
Got any good songs about light/lighting? If it hasn't been done yet, I wonder if someone will write a love song for the incandescent bulb...
I think Ashley might ask people to plant gardens and trees which, of course, wouldn't be appreciated by Bud Buck. Trees would just make it more dificult for him to mow his lawn. The trees would get in the way of his mower.
Would Ashley be willing to pull the weeds if she was able to get her parents to plant a garden? Are the Obama girls really going to pull any weeds in the White House garden? I don't know.
My daughters weren't very interested in weeding. However, I was suprised and pleased when one daughter helped her daughter plant a garden and the other daughter became interested in house plants. You never know how things will turn out.
Shame, Bud, shame.
The movie "Silent Running" is one of my favorites - featuring Bruce Dern who tends to massive greenhouses in space containing remnants of Earth's flora and fauna. The soundtrack contains a couple Joan Baez songs - "Rejoice in the sun" and "Silent Running" - got either of those?
Oddly enough, the soundtrack was conducted by Peter Schickele of PDQ Bach fame.
I remember the first Earth Day also - 1970? Last night, I helped my six-year-old daughter print copies of a poster she made for Earth Day - she wants to hang them on light poles by our house.
Sheila - beautiful site - beautiful daughter. and i love the picture she took of Ashley in a cheerleader skirt - gave me a good chuckle! i love the song "Green" also - but your words are much more eloquent than mine could be. thanks for sharing.
Anna - i have a friend who drives a Prius, is very careful in reducing, reusing, recycling but also HATES CFLs. we do what we can.....
Beth-Ann - my day is goat-filled for sure! thanks
Donna - your edge really tickles me
and i bet Cynthia is having computer problems yet - stakkers! (ask her what that means)
Overslept this morning and missed hearing the show "live" -- well, except for this last 15 minutes. Great topic. My daughter and I just planted our first little seeds last night. Some lettuces, spinach, chard in egg cartons and pushed some beans and peas into dirt as well. We're excited about our summer garden plans -- and, by the way, heartfelt thanks to whoever it was on this blog that recommended "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral" by Barbara Kingsolver. Dare I say "life changing"?
Have a great sunny day, Heartlanders.
Barb, thanks for thinking of me...and my computer. I had to re-install windows, lost all my pictures, music, genealogy files...in process of re-installing...uff da! Yes, dealing with computer issues (again)...but the good side...cleaning, off to a "new" and less cluttered machine. If only I could say the same about the rest of my life.
I don't know what "stakkers" means...stacks? wretched woman? my Haugen dictionary confuses me. Help!
Time to go to work.
Speaking of toast, here is an excerpt from a book called "Kitchen Essays" by Agnes Jekyll. The original essays were published circa 1922.
"Toast, to be good, demands a glowing grate, a handy toasting-fork, and a patient watcher... An anxious bride, humiliated by the sort of toast that only a starving sparrow could relish, wrote to one learned in such matters, asking for a trustworthy recipe. "Cut a slice of bread, hold it before the fire and say incantations," was the unhelpful but only advice vouchsafed."
I had never thought of a toaster as being a high-tech invention, but reading this has convinced me otherwise, whether used for one or two slices.
Dale and Mike ~ Should have asked in previous post, but are there any songs about toast in the vast expanses of your music library?
My Mom was a firm believer in the healing properties of toast. It was the cure-all for everything from a broken finger to a broken heart. Can't inhale the fragrance of toasting bread without thinking of her wise and wonderful ways.
Thanks
well, the way i learned it, one said "Stakkers!" in sympathy/empathy for someone in a tough situation. and the "ers" at the end is pronounced errrsh and the accent is on the first syllable with a short vowel because of the double k:
someone says "Cynthia with a fouled up computer" and i would say "STUCK' errsh!"
but you know, it's been about 35 years since i studied Norsk.......
Sherilee -- glad you enjoyed the "Animal Vegetable Miracle" reference, and you said it well, it is a life changing book!
And Sheila from Ada, thanks for sharing your site's photos (hmmm, good idea) and your story. I think anyone who has lost someone (my son Joel died in 2007 from an alcohol related accident) has at least one song that "brings them back".
Since I've been away on the West Coast for 2 weeks, I'll answer these questions a few days late:
What equipment do you use to listen to Radio Heartland?
COMPUTER WHEN UPSTAIRS, NEW HD RADIO (MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT) IN KITCHEN.
When do you tune in? LAST HOUR OF DALE'S SHOW, AND THEN SPORADICALLY THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
Have you tried to explain Radio Heartland to other people? YES
Did you encourage them to listen? YES
How did that work? WORKS BEST ON MINNESOTA EX-PATS.
What should we do to attract more listeners?
ADVERTISE ON "AMERICAN ROUTES" AS WELL AS ON "PHC". (That may have been mentioned -- I only skimmed ALL those responses.)
Would it help if we featured more baby goats?
OF COURSE!
for late readers... on the toast subject. One of my favorite poems by Piet Hein. Called "Timing Toast"
There's an art to doing it.
Never try to guess.
Toast until it burns.
Then 20 seconds less.
Sherrilee, I think I must have been using your toast recipe all these years without knowing it. Luckily for me, I rather like the burned bits. Of course, if you put enough butter on something…
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