Puppets Getting Restless

Snowflakes were still falling in the land of the giant puppets, yet lately the snowy days had been punctuated with periods of warm sunshine. Spring was coming, albeit slowly, and the puppets were getting antsy. Let's see what they're up to.

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image courtesy of Pixabay

NOWCA was watering the newly planted leek and nasturtium seeds, Per was adjusting the grow lights, and Good Time was sweeping up the bits of dirt that had fallen onto the floor.

Mr. Pipeline was in the other room standing in front of a mirror and reading from a piece of paper.

NOWCA went into the kitchen and put on the kettle to make tea.

NOWCA: Mr. Pipeline, will you be joining us for tea? We have some home made oatmeal cookies.

MR. PIPELINE: I don't have time right now. I need to practise my speech.

GOOD TIME: A speech?! Why don't you practise it in front of us?

MR. PIPELINE: You're not my intended audience. I don't think you'd understand the urgency of what I'm talking about.

PER (pouring a cup of tea and taking a cookie): You never know, Mr. Pipeline. We might understand. Say, is that an invitation in your hand? 'Lee K. Pipeline' -- that's your full name? And it's from CAPP -- doesn't that stand for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers?

Mr. Lee K. (Leaky) Pipeline

MR. PIPELINE (quickly putting the invitation into his pocket): Mind your own business! And don't start calling me 'Leaky' for short. I had enough of that when I was in school.

And my talk wouldn't interest you, Per. I don't think my motivational speeches would work for this crowd.

Besides, I'm working to deadline. I have to have my speech down pat by early March.

PER: What day exactly, Mr. Pipeline? And where?

MR. PIPELINE: Monday, March 4th at 3pm in front of City Hall, but you don't want to be there.

PER (writing in a daytimer): I think it's time we puppets got out a bit. I'd like to hear your speech.

NOWCA: And Mr. Pipeline, the timing is interesting, especially since you were invited by CAPP, and the National Energy Board just approved the Trans Mountain Pipeline today.

MR. PIPELINE: The pipeline has been approved, but that doesn't mean getting it built is going to be easy.

GOOD TIME: That's for sure! A lot of folks, including indigenous people and environmental groups, are furious and will probably take this back to court. They're mad about this decision and what it will do to the Orcas, among other things. Some say this will make the protests at Clayoquot Sound look like a picnic.

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MR. PIPELINE: But industry is going to be proactive! We have a few tricks up our sleeves and, believe me, we know how to use them.

NOWCA: You know, Mr. Pipeline, people have learned a thing or two and many of us will be doing all we can to protect our environment and our future.

When the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says we have twelve years to limit the effects of climate catastrophe, people take notice. We're not going to fall for the fossil fuel industries' tricks.

MR. PIPELINE (stomping out of the room): I've wasted enough time. I need to polish up my speech.

PER: Interesting. I wonder if he knows about our event?

NOWCA: Could be a diverse mix.

GOOD TIME (eating a cookie and having a sip of tea): Want to make placards this afternoon?

PER: Sure, I'll get the poster board.

GOOD TIME: Sounds like fun! I'll get the felt pens.

image courtesy of Pixabay

Expressing Our Love in Rhyme

What gives Valentines Day a special shine? For the Giant Puppets it's a chat and a rhyme...

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NOWCA: The times are a changin' as they say. Some celebrate Valentines in unusual ways.

GOOD TIME: I like the heritage seeds, and the offer to help pull weeds.

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MR. PIPELINE: What's wrong with chocolate and long stem roses? You puppets seem to be holding your noses.

PER: You see, Mr. Pipeline, it's their supply lines. They give workers and earth a pretty bad time.

GOOD TIME: Who wants to support slavery? And I love environmental bravery.

NOWCA: There are alternate ways of expressing our love. It's each other, all others and earth we think of.

MR. PIPELINE: Seeds aren't romantic, nor pulling weeds. I hope you have something better than these.

image courtesy of Pixabay

PER: To a gardener those things are divine. But there's more -- much more -- that's great for this time.

GOOD TIME: Fair trade chocolate, indoor plants; a back rub, a poem, or a dance.

NOWCA: Bath bombs, cookies or bake me a cake; a thrift store find or something you make.

PER: A podcast, a poem, a piece of your art, any of these show what's in your heart.

MR. PIPELINE: You flaky puppets wreck everything. Can't you enjoy what tradition brings?

PER: Traditions change, Mr. Pipeline, and for good reason. When their roots are bad they've had their season.

GOOD TIME: We express our love in so many ways. From the puppets to you, Happy Valentines Day!

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Our Favourite Things

The weather was unseasonably cold in the land of the giant puppets, and they were hunkered down staying warm. Dressed in thick socks and warm sweaters, their days were taken up by tea, popcorn and jigsaw puzzles.

image courtesy of Pixabay

And conversation.

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PER (putting the last piece in the jigsaw puzzle): Aren't those tall ships beautiful?

GOOD TIME (perking up and listening): They sure are! Say, do you hear music?

PER (listening and humming along): I do. I simply remember...

NOWCA: my favourite things...

GOOD TIME: and then I don't feel so bad.

MR. PIPELINE: That's an old song from The Sound of Music.

GOOD TIME: What are some of your favourite things, Mr. Pipeline?

MR. PIPELINE: Well, I like expensive cars -- a nice Jaguar or a BMW. I like meals at private clubs, and good wine.

PER: I see. Some of my favourite things are sentimental tunes, abstract art and sunsets. Here's a Patsy Cline song that's been going through my head today.

GOOD TIME: Crazy? It makes me feel crazy about all that we might lose with climate disruption. Extinction includes all our favourite things. What about kids deciding what they want to be when they grow up, when they're not even sure they're going to grow up?

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NOWCA: It's hard not to go there, isn't it, Good Time?

GOOD TIME: Yes. I feel so scared and I don't want to lose all the things I love. Even this popcorn I'm eating -- I can't fathom no more people getting to eat popcorn. And all the food, entertainment and beauty that would be gone.

MR. PIPELINE: Good Time, you're over reacting! Climate change is exaggerated! Greedy environmentalists are just trying to scare you and get your money.

GOOD TIME: We're freezing all over North America, and Australia has just had record high temperatures and floods, and you think I'm exaggerating, Mr. Pipeline? How much worse can it get? What's this summer going to be like? What do you think the future holds if we continue on this way?

PER: Good Time, I agree and so do climate scientists. We're in a serious state and we have got to change course within twelve years to limit climate catastrophe. But people are stepping up! We've got everything from the Extinction Rebellion movement to the Green New Deal to the Leap Manifesto. We need to step up too.

MR. PIPELINE: Hey, Per, those movements are all too radical. We need incremental change -- industries are changing slowly.

PER: Too slowly for the good of the planet, Mr. Pipeline. And fossil fuel industries have had their chance. We can't waste time waiting.

Hey, NOWCA, we haven't heard from you. What are some of your favourite things?

NOWCA: I have so many favourite things -- life in all its aspects is so beautiful to me. It's hard to contemplate losing it all, not just for me, but for people in the future and all the other creatures we'd take with us. I can't imagine losing the birds, bees and butterflies, and reggae bands, captivating films, figure skating and all the things that would lose their cultural context. Thinking about this kind of loss is unbearable, and unimaginable.

image courtesy of Pixabay

PER: And, Mr. Pipeline, your fancy cars, restaurants and wine would also be no more. Isn't it worth changing our systems so we and those to come can still experience what we love?

MR. PIPELINE: You're all exaggerating! Life's going to continue. You shouldn't believe all those lies the foreign environmentalists are spouting.

GOOD TIME: David Suzuki isn't foreign. He was born in Vancouver. There are lots of Canadian environmental organizations. Per, NOWCA and I aren't foreign either for that matter. We just want a decent future.

MR. PIPELINE: What if we do all this work to give up oil, change our lifestyles and turn everything on its head, and it's all for nothing? Because you were tricked by environmentalists?

PER: Really Mr. Pipeline? A better future would be for nothing? My hope is that the path forward brings us peace, health, safety and a better way to live.

NOWCA: What ever happened to the time honoured tradition of wanting a better future for our children? We need that sentiment now more than ever. We need to tend our path into the future very carefully.

image courtesy of Pixabay

Contemplating Extinction

Though it was still cold in the land of the giant puppets, there'd been a few sunny days that dropped the slightest hint of Springtime to come. And yet, one puppet did not look very happy. Let's see what's getting Good Time down.

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image courtesy of Pixabay

PER (walking into the living room and discovering Good Time sulking): Good Time, what's wrong?

GOOD TIME (looking up): Oh, hi, Per. I just listened to a really scary video about climate change from a scientist named Gail Bradbrook with the Extinction Rebellion.

I was already feeling a mix of anticipation and dread for the coming warmer weather, and now I feel scared about what it'll be like next year.

Last year it was so smoky, and we weren't sure if our little town would be the next to burn down. I wish there was something I could do.

PER: Maybe there is, Good Time. I listened to that video too, and at the end of it, Dr. Bradbrook talks about how we need to take action that is both peaceful and disruptive since the climate situation is so urgent. Maybe we can plan something like that.

GOOD TIME: But I've never planned anything like that before, Per. I wouldn't know where to start.

PER: Gee, neither have I. I wonder if NOWCA might have some ideas.

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NOWCA (entering the room with a plate of veggies and dip): Per, will you give me a hand with the tea?

PER (walking to the kitchen and bringing out a teapot and some mugs): Thanks, NOWCA. Just what we need!

Good Time and I were talking about planning an action to show our opposition to climate disruption. We need the world to change course and don't know what to do. Do you have any ideas, NOWCA?

NOWCA (as the three of them gathered around, poured tea and started snacking): I guess I'd find out who else is feeling the same urgency and see if anything is being planned. Creative, non-violent and disruptive action makes a lot of sense, and it needs to be well orchestrated.

GOOD TIME: That's what Dr. Bradbrook of Extinction Rebellion said too, NOWCA. Thanks for preparing these snacks. Eating together with you and Per is comforting.

NOWCA: Glad to hear that, Good Time.

GOOD TIME: I feel so panicky this time of year. I want it to be spring, but then I'm scared of the

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forest fires summer might bring.

NOWCA: I know what you mean, Good Time. Every year the summers seem to get more hot, with more forest fires.

GOOD TIME: I don't know how to express those feelings in a public way that will help to change things for the better.

NOWCA: It feels good to talk with friends who are just as concerned, doesn't it? I think we need to see what others are doing, share on social media and discuss these things to see what gets the most traction. Then plan it carefully and take bold action.

PER: I guess taking care of ourselves and each other and keeping our ears to the ground helps.

GOOD TIME: I'm still scared, but feel so much better after talking with you, Per and NOWCA. Thanks for being such understanding friends. Our relationships matter more than ever in these crazy times.

PER (giving Good Time a hug): Whatever happens, Good Time, our relationships are what matter. We all really need each other when life is so terrifying.

NOWCA (giving Good Time and Per a hug): I think the more we trust and support each other, the better our actions will be.

Hey, here's a song that just popped into my mind. Can you imagine thousands of people singing this in the streets? It would be a great start to the radical shift we need to make.

GOOD TIME: It would be amazing, NOWCA! Thanks for helping me feel better. Whatever our chances of addressing climate change, I'm grateful to have you two with me. And I hope we sing this song in the streets together with lots of other people soon.

PER: And I hope singing that song marks the beginning of some course changing climate action.

image courtesy of Pixabay