2508. Off the power grid

We are very blessed to be rich. We do not want for much. We live in a rather well-admired suburb of a rather well-admired city. We have fourteen acres at the edge of the town surrounding our eleven bedrooms each with an en suite. It means friends can come and stay whenever they wish.

Being rich comes with its responsibilities. We are in a position to set an example to others, especially when it comes to care of the planet. That is why a good quarter of our fourteen acres (we removed the orchard) is reserved for solar panels. We are not even on the grid. It is an impressive thing. It’s like we are living out of the rat race that the rest of the world plunges headlong into. As one visitor put it: “Oh the silence! I had forgotten what birdsong was like, and the sound of the breeze in the trees!” Care for the planet is our motto.

It is a privilege to set an example. Of course, once the visitors go the thump of the diesel generators drives us up the wall.

2206. Cedar of Lebanon

What a magnificent specimen the Cedar of Lebanon was! It was near the front of Gordon’s property. Gordon thought it was maybe fifty, sixty, even a hundred years old.

It had been named “Tree of the Year” in his village. His village did that annually; name a Tree of the Year. It was a way of encouraging people to “think green”. Think conservation at every turn! That was the cry of the village. Help save the planet.

And that’s what Gordon strove to do. Some sacrifices have to be made to save the planet, although it broke his heart. He cut down the Cedar of Lebanon. It was shading his solar panels.

2147. Colour my world

It annoyed Janet immensely that a banana was the same colour as a lemon; and an orange was the same colour as a pumpkin; and a plum was the same colour as a red onion; and an apple was the same colour as a cabbage; and so on…

“How is one expected to tell the difference?” she exclaimed. “It must be very confusing. Thank goodness I’m blind.”

1829. The birthday gift

Dear Nora,

Thank you so much for the birthday gift. First of all I would like to say that the packaging, thank goodness, is recyclable. There’s nothing worse than getting a gift and the box it comes in is wrapped in plastic or even cellophane. I mean, what is one meant to do with it?

Yours was most thoughtfully wrapped, and the coconut fibres used as packing I can give to my garden worms that consume the few scraps I have.

I noticed that the stamps on the package weren’t fully cancel-marked by the Post Office, so I managed to steam two of them off to use again. However, once I had steamed them off I saw that possibly they had been licked, so I am going to put them in my recycle bin. Can you remember if you licked them? Thank goodness I was wearing rubber gloves before I even started with that.

The instruction booklet that came with your gift was printed on glossy paper. Really Nora! We no longer have to do things the way they were done ten years ago in the Dark Ages. What gets into manufacturers’ heads that makes them think they can print these days on glossy paper?

And the glue on the spine of the book! I know it’s an old book, but it comes from the days when glue was made using cows’ hoofs. I couldn’t bear to open it and be party to the cruel practices of our forebears. I suspect the book must have some value, but a book on bee-keeping is so insensitive. We imprison bees, in effect, and then steal the honey they make. It is a barbaric practice.

All in all, Nora, thank you once again for the recyclable packaging.

The other day, as President of the Green Party, I received a letter from the secretary of the Dyers’ Guild. In it he said that the colour green was the least biodegradable of all the dye colours, and that includes green printer’s ink. Green is a quite inappropriate colour for those who care about the health of our planet. I wrote back and said he must have better things to fill in his time than worry about non-biodegradable dyes and their environmental toxicity. Isn’t it funny how people get hung up on such unnecessary and insignificant little things?

Regards
Norman

1309. Nature Study

Christobelle had a thing for the environment. She was as green as they come. She ate only that which was organically grown. No meat of course; and in fact not even a life-giving chicken’s egg. No insect would be purposely crushed beneath her shoe. Her porch was riddled with spiders spared by Christobelle.

She was therefore considerably dismayed when it was discovered the apples her generous neighbour had allowed her to pick for the past six years, had been sprayed each year. Sprayed! Apparently to kill some moth caterpillar. These people ate cows and sheep and pigs. Why on earth would they fuss about sinking their teeth into a little creepy-crawly? And the thought of poison having entered her body annually for the past six years filled Christobelle with stenchful repulsion. She felt quite ill. What are they taught in school these days? What happened to Nature Study as a subject?

Two nights after this discovery, Christobelle went out and sprayed insect repellent into her neighbour’s thirteen beehives. That should teach him a lesson.

1187. Clean and green

What a go-ahead suburb Greenqueen was! For years they had cared about the environment. The streets were lined with gardens and hanging baskets. No artificial sprays used here. The council had stipulated: all was to be clean and green in Greenqueen.

And then disaster struck. There was an ant plague. Every garden, every hanging basket, every lamp post, every shop door, was alive with ants. Something had to be done.

A pest control firm was contacted. Could you come in plain clothes, in plain vehicles, in the middle of the night, and surreptitiously spray the streets with ant-killing spray?

They did that, and no one complained because no one knew.

Unfortunately, with the lack of labels everything was mistakenly sprayed with weed-killer.

748. What a view!

Felix was delighted. His new house and outlook suited his style. He had always been passionate about saving the environment. And now… look! How wonderful is that view!

There, to the right of that grove of trees, can you see the waterfall? It’s just between the spectacular cliff face and the larch tree. See how it drops into the lake. The sunlight on the spray! Such rainbows! And the snow clad mountains beyond! What a treasure to have such a sight from the window!

And the wonderful thing is, the man who owns next door is also environmentally aware. It’s next to the road, but the view will never get built out. He too is zealous about caring for the planet.

Here he comes now!

What’s he doing? …

He’s put up a 40 foot wide billboard. It reads:

SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT!

Listen the story being read HERE!