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?

image courtesy of Pixabay

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