when the levee breaks

it is the day before earth day 2010. i am pedaling my bike up a hill. no, i am not some sort of environmentalist hippie...i am riding because it helps with my mood at work, and because my car is in the shop getting the transmission replaced. this transmission...apparently only the dealer can work on it and it is designed to fail. that's another blog.

at this point in my life, i am used to pedaling a lot. it does not bother me to get on the shoulder of the highway and have cars pass me at a speed limit of 55 and common limit of 65. my trip to work is 9 miles long. most of it is flat and downhill, but 3 miles or so is uphill. it is a 2-lane road with no shoulder. recently, "land developers" came and built what seems like an endless amount of cookie cutter houses that are designed to fail, too. the road then became a nightmare for motorists. hundreds of families traveling on a 2 lane road that was originally meant to carry vegetables to the market from towns 2o or 30 miles apart.

anyway, there i was, pedaling up the hill like it was nothing. my legs were burning like usual, but this particular day i felt light. maybe it was because the day before i left my shoes so that i'd have one less thing to carry. maybe.

as i pedaled up this hill, suddenly an infamous suv roared past me. it's fumes lingered with me long after it was out of sight. and well, it got me thinking...

do they realize?
will it be too late by the time they realize?
if it keeps on rainin' the levee is gonna break.
when the levee breaks we'll have no place to stay.

i dunno. there was so much flowing and now it is hours later, i am tired. i guess it just often feels like everyone takes it all too lightly. it's not just about the fumes. it's about the lingering. the effects. i just hope it is not too late by the time they realize. unfortunately, i feel it will be.

i don't know why we feel the need to fuck up this planet. but eh, happy 24-hours of Earth Day.