
As you'll see below, Mike has a lot of irons in the fire, a high ikigai, a term the Japanese use to describe purpose in life. There is no word in Japan for retirement. Mike's ikigai is contagious.
Running for the week of October 13: 30 miles (3 ten milers), plus a 5-mile walk
Plan for the week of Oct. 20, same as above, plus or minus a few miles.
TWO LIVES
Some of us lead two lives, one in the here and now, as we always have. Our other life is in the future, where we believe it will be quite different, perhaps "nasty, brutish and short".
You know about the future one - global warming. Too hot to grow crops over much of the planet. Nine billion people to feed by 2100, to clothe, house and transport. Exhaustion of natural resources such as potable water, wood and fish. Metals and other minerals scarce. Hundreds of millions of desperate refugees from countries evacuated because of the rise in sea level. Resource wars. We will kill to get supplies. Dictatorships. Lives shortened by nuclear disasters (more Fukushimas) if not
nuclear wars.
Contemplating this miserable gloom and doom that lies ahead - so soon - is so dismal that we gratefully return to our present healthy and prosperous lives, living as kings and queens never did in all of history. When will we stop burning fossil fuels? When will massive methane clathrates melt and surface? When will we control our population growth and reverse it? Have we the intelligence to prevent the end of civilization and of human life on earth? Will we spend the next 3, 10, 20 years doing effectively nothing to change our privileged world to prevent this horrible calamity? Will we spend this time to the tipping point squabbling over gay marriage, pitting murderous Shiites against Sunnis? Investing in more fences to keep out Mexicans? Burning the rest of our fossil fuels?
We cannot adapt to the expected changes. We can reverse the situation at reasonable cost if we understand what is happening, and force our Congress and President to act IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. NOW! I'm doing what I can. I'm worried about my children, grandchildren
and great grandchildren. Good luck, gang!
Editor note: One simple thing that we can all do is to take a few cloth bags with us when we go shopping for groceries. A few years ago Kroger stores offered a rebate of a few pennies every time a customer brought in his or her bags. More than a few folks took advantage. But when Kroger stopped the promotion, most returned to using the plastic bags. Believe it or not, if everyone would do this simple environmental act, it would help! Here's a book that offers more ideas on how we can preserve our resources: http://www.amazon.com/Prevent-Global-Warming-Save-Money/dp/0740733273/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382315362&sr=1-2-fkmr1&keywords=100+ways+to+stop+global+warming
You can buy the book for a penny plus shipping. You can make a difference!