A Burning Analogy

While driving to work recently, I saw in the distance a plumb of black smoke rising in the distance. As I crested a hill, I could see that there was a vehicle of some sort engulfed in flames. It was one of those moments when you ask yourself "why do I not have a camera with me". As I got closer I could see that it was a minivan and the fire was a conflagration. The next thought I had was how it could, at any moment, explode.

What I didn't notice, until I got closer, was that the driver was quickly walking away from the fire. He was an average looking guy. About 40 with longish hair, wearing jeans and a ball cap. Carrying one of those igloo lunch boxes that have the little button on the side that you push and the top slides over sideways. What struck me as interesting was that he was looking back over his shoulder as he headed north. I'm sure his thoughts were somewhere on the order of "glad I got out in time". In the state where I reside, the only insurance required for drivers is liability. It was an older van. Probably a work vehicle for the guy. He very well may have been thinking with regret, "what am I gonna do now".

In this day of extravagant gasoline prices, I think a lot of people are trying to rethink what our next steps are going to be in dealing with dwindling natural resources. The increase in prices for fossil fuels is having a direct impact on lots of other commodities that we have, for so long, taken for granted. Who really considered how corn would play such a significant role in the initial response to the fuel crisis? Farmers have probably understood this for years but the average Joe or Joan most likely never considered such a thing. The prices of beef, chicken, milk, etc. have all climbed higher and higher. The basic staples of life are getting so expensive that many people are having to cut back or find alternative means to supply their daily food needs. It's almost as if we are working at the daily grind just to subsist. Making just enough money to pay for the fuel to get to and from work so we can make enough money to buy more fuel to get to and from work. A vicious circle. Where's the quality of life in that?

When I noticed the man walking away from the burning minivan, looking over his shoulder, it struck me as a sort of metaphor or analogy about the average person's attitude regarding the times we live in today. We have lived with so much for so long that we have quite literally taken the bounty of the earth for granted. In the United States, we are such wasteful consumers in a general sense. You all know this to be true. The look on the man's face, as I passed by at 60mph seemed to be one of resolution. His face seemed to reflect a new beginning. An understanding that we must turn our back on the methods and accepted practices of recently past generations. We must move forward. We must embrace new understandings of how we will live life here on earth. The ways that we work, travel, create and live on a daily basis will need new direction. Though there may have been a flicker of regret in the man's mind for the past and present, there was also a strength of character that said I can adapt. I can overcome. I can face these changes head on and ultimately make a better life for myself and for those that come after me.