Gas lines of the 1970's
Today is my dad’s birthday. Dad would have been 84 if he were still here, unfortunately he died of cancer and medical mistakes in 1996. I often wonder what he would think about the many changes the world has undergone since his passing. Somehow he is still here with me whispering in my ear as life on our planet starts to hit some major challenges.
My dad was a scientist at Bell Labs, I grew up immersed in all aspects of science. He taught me all about the “greenhouse effect” which we know now as Global Warming, Climate Change or as I like to call it, Global Weirding.
Dad was an avid reader, that’s where I got my love of books from. He read Limits to Growth back in the early 70’s. This book argued that unchecked consumption on our finite planet was leading the Earth towards an “overshoot” of its carry capacity which would result in disaster. Scary stuff for a kid to hear, I tucked it away, thinking it wasn’t happening just then, so I would deal with it later. That time has come, I suspect.
My dad was frugal to a fault! That was a result of growing up during the Great Depression. I remember being embarrassed at the Hess station when he rolled down the window to complain to the crisply dressed gas attendant about the fact that Esso only charged 33 cents a gallon, where did these Hess guys find the nerve to charge 35 cents? Just a few years after that, I remember sitting in a gas line with my dad when prices shot up to 50 cents a gallon and we could only buy gas on even days of the week. That was when I first learned about the concept of Peak Oil. (Click here for a deeper explanation of what Peak Oil is.) Nowadays, as the economy continues to crumble, frugal is becoming the new “black”.
My dad was an avid gardener. At least a third of our 1 acre New Jersey yard was filled with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, asparagus, tomatoes, zucchini, spinach and more. We had full sun and deer were not an issue in suburbia back then. I’ve been growing more and more food in recent years as my focus has shifted from nutrition and cooking towards the food system and community gardens.
As a kid, I thought my dad was nuts. Today I realize that he was simply ahead of his time. Somehow my dad prepared me for a time when the weather would get weird, and the costs of fossil fuels and food would climb to the point where it might make more sense to grow food in your backyard instead of a lawn.
My kids absolutely think I’m a nut talking about climate change, peak oil and an economy that isn’t so rosy. I remind them that the mighty oak tree was once a nut that stood its ground. Some day, they’ll figure it all out, just like I did.
