Local Warming

The Charm is enjoying some unseasonably warm weather this week, a fact that makes for pleasant dog-walking, even if the mind wanders to global warming, energy crisis (experienced in our car-less home by rising heating costs--where's Hugo Chavez when you need him?), you know, impending doom...and the springy-ness of the weather, which would be a novelty, is spoiled by the budding (no shit) of the tree in the churchyard across the street, which we worry won't bloom this year, supposing that it freezes hard again, which it better, since it's January.

On a better day, I might be able to shove the inconvenient truth into the back of my mind and soak up the vitamin D, smug in the fact that we don't drive, but the fact is that we live in an old townhouse with a wacky thermostat that doesn't shut off when it warms up and it took us awhile to figure out so we burned a ton of gas over the last few months, so I was already feeling guilty before Mr. Man and I sat down to watch The End of Suburbia last night.

I think I would have really liked this movie when it came out in 2003 (or 2004). But at this point, the ironic retro film clips don't make the subject matter any less depressing, and the clever soundbytes offered by a few pompous white guys interviewees would have been better enjoyed in a print or text format. I like to drive home a point as much as the next girl, but maybe part of what keeps the masses from waking up/organizing is the emphasis on how dumb/fucked we all are and the under-emphasis on what we should be doing about it.

For our part, we're figuring out our heating shit and getting a recycling bin (kudos to Baltimore City for finally getting their shit together on that one, even though they didn't order enough for everybody) and hoping to find a CSA and trying to figure out where to position ourselves before the shit goes down.

And in a macabre way, we're kind of looking forward getting to know our neighbors and leading a simpler life after watching the machine chug to a stop.

On a lighter note, our feline ice princess, Bitsy, is showing signs of thawing in relation to our neurotic bitch, Belle. They're not making out yet or anything, but Bitsy has been adventuring down the stairs and away from her baby-gated lair, and often strays from her safe space on the back of the couch over to the end table next to the dog bed, where she can peer down on Belle, who gazes up maniacally adoringly. Come to think of it--like most cats, she's totally heat motivated--maybe the keeping the heat down will force her to submit to Belle's obsession--I might be fooling myself, but I'm dreaming of an interspecies snuggle session (think of it--we would rule Lolcats with their cuteness).

Keep hope alive.