It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine – R.E.M.

I refuse to read the political news for the next four years.

The other day I sat down with popcorn to watch several Book Award ceremonies. I wanted an escape from reality. Alas, even the international writers alluded to the American presidential election.

F… it! This will happen at the Golden Globes and at the Oscars, too. Every writer, actor, artist, musician… And I don’t want to think about it. I will watch only costume dramas and read the classics. This is our home, we were stunned, we didn’t expect those election results, but we have to get on with it.

So let me rant about something I care about. Let me rant about the environment. What can we do? Recycling is a great idea, but our plastics and paper too often end up in landfills or warehouses and are not recycled.

I do recycle, but if you want to make a big difference, forget your romance with the car. Drive less or not at all. According to the EPA, greenhouse gas emissions from cars and other vehicles account for about 28 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas (carbon monoxide) emissions . It is, astonishingly, the single largest cause of emissions.

A personal testimony: I do not drive. I never learned to drive. Actually, I know a few liberal arts types who never learned to drive. We made a conscious decision. Even when I was very young, I was concerned about air pollution and committed to minimizing pollution. There are many alternatives to driving cars. But you know what happened. People got sold: “They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.”

And another random rant: Do you read post-apocalyptic novels?

A friend, half-joking but not really joking, pointed out that the apocalypse has already happened.

I was horrified, but I thought about it. And yes, I think it is true. For me it started in 2020. The Covid pandemic killed 3 million people before the vaccines were developed.

Fortunately, the world provided us with endless distractions: books, computers, cell phones, music, live-streaming, or no one could have borne it. I’m pretty sure that Netflix has wiped my memory of the whole event.

Covid is still out there, but we seldom think about it. My advice is: keep up to date with your vaccines.

End of rant.