Great Weather
I don't remember such a sunny summer here. It has been great.
I got this shot on the way home from Akaishi, the next village south.It is our fancy German windmill: our ecology saver. One of the shareholders is my friend, Mr. Ota, who owns the plant that bottles water from our World Heritage Site, the Shirakami old growth beech forest.
Mr. Ota helped me out with my need for firewood by introducing me to the villagers from Sarutani (Monkey Valley) who go into the foothills of the Shirakami mountains to cut cordwood from their traditional site there. This cool forest glade is on the rough gravel road that goes 2 miles in to the site.
This whole ecology business is complicated. Mr. Ota used to be the one cutting the old beech trees: they were sold to make TV cabinets. When the forests were protected, he was in a quandry. He realized it was a waste to haul these beautiful giants out on cables (the new technology that allowed him to get at the trees that had been inaccessible), but he had a (Japanese) moral obligation to provide jobs for his employees. So, he used the now-famous Shirakami name to sell bottled water, and his employees work at the bottling plant. His investment in the windmill project is furthur proof of his new-found commitment to ecology concerns. However, one of my German friends tells me that after several years German involvement in wind technology, they have determined windmills are net energy losers, if the cost of building, maintaining, and then replacing the mills is factored in.
And, why do I suddenly need firewood? I now have a wood burning stove because some researchers think burning wood balances the human production of carbon dioxide and the forest's prodution of oxygen better than burning fossil fuels, so the government subsidized the purchase of the stove (with kerosene prices double what they were, I got with the program). So- what is the net energy equation if you factor in the gas I use to transport and cut the wood? I try to pick it up when I am going past on other businees, but still...
And as for the good weather, I am enjoying it, but my farmer friends are eyeing shrinking resevoir levels with concern- will there be enough water to finish of this year's crop?
Life is complicated. We do our best (sometimes), but ultimately our trust must be in God.
I got this shot on the way home from Akaishi, the next village south.It is our fancy German windmill: our ecology saver. One of the shareholders is my friend, Mr. Ota, who owns the plant that bottles water from our World Heritage Site, the Shirakami old growth beech forest.
Mr. Ota helped me out with my need for firewood by introducing me to the villagers from Sarutani (Monkey Valley) who go into the foothills of the Shirakami mountains to cut cordwood from their traditional site there. This cool forest glade is on the rough gravel road that goes 2 miles in to the site.
This whole ecology business is complicated. Mr. Ota used to be the one cutting the old beech trees: they were sold to make TV cabinets. When the forests were protected, he was in a quandry. He realized it was a waste to haul these beautiful giants out on cables (the new technology that allowed him to get at the trees that had been inaccessible), but he had a (Japanese) moral obligation to provide jobs for his employees. So, he used the now-famous Shirakami name to sell bottled water, and his employees work at the bottling plant. His investment in the windmill project is furthur proof of his new-found commitment to ecology concerns. However, one of my German friends tells me that after several years German involvement in wind technology, they have determined windmills are net energy losers, if the cost of building, maintaining, and then replacing the mills is factored in.
And, why do I suddenly need firewood? I now have a wood burning stove because some researchers think burning wood balances the human production of carbon dioxide and the forest's prodution of oxygen better than burning fossil fuels, so the government subsidized the purchase of the stove (with kerosene prices double what they were, I got with the program). So- what is the net energy equation if you factor in the gas I use to transport and cut the wood? I try to pick it up when I am going past on other businees, but still...
And as for the good weather, I am enjoying it, but my farmer friends are eyeing shrinking resevoir levels with concern- will there be enough water to finish of this year's crop?
Life is complicated. We do our best (sometimes), but ultimately our trust must be in God.
posted by John Elliot | 11:13 PM
3 Comments:
you're right: our trust must be in God.
I like to think of all the hidden costs in any given situation, such as the cost (both financial and ecological)of using gas to get the firewood to feed the stove.
It seems that many problems-- such as landfills full of non-biodegradable items, wasteful production methods, planned obsolescence, and all sorts of pollution-- could be avoided if there was some way to show all of the hidden costs up front.
You know how the grocery stores now show the price per ounce or gram or other unit so that a shopper may determine the relative costs at a glance? Why not somehow factor in other costs as well, related to production before the product reaches me, and related to the cost of dealing with the container when the useful contents are gone? As a futuristic whim, I would like to see a little screen next to each product which would allow for a glimpse into the experience and quality of life of the workers who make the product, or a glimpse of the transportation costs involved, the rate of decay of the packaging once it is discarded, and some information about what the manufacturer is doing to make improvements in each of these areas.
Or consider investing. A person wants a good return on his or her investing. If the financial return is the bottom line, how does that drive a company's practices? How does my investment shape the world? And if I understood all of that, would I be willing to take a smaller return in order to create a better situation?
For non-material issues too: what is the cost of staying up late tonight? It feels free, but it certainly affects how I feel and act tomorrow. Or the hidden costs to my health and sense of well-being if I eat just one more of that delicious something -- if I could always keep these costs up front, wouldn't it make everything so much simpler?
But then, would people really make wise choices if the issues were all crystal clear? It appears that we don't necessarily. Our wills must choice what is good, and if we don't want to choose good, our need for internal consistency will drive us to reshape the way we think in hopes that the world can somehow fit our choices.
And what is the hidden cost of reshaping the world to fit myself? I see in the life of at least one of my friends an inner schism which threatens to tear him asunder, because he will not acknowledge truth.
Lord, have mercy. Show us yourself. In your light we see light.
Amen.
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