ENERGY

Energy - photo by Lukasz Strachanowski

So there’s an energy crisis.  And concurrently, we have a housing crisis.  Out of these two, a financial crisis has arisen. We have a climate crisis, too.  We’re battered with wave after wave in the perfect storm of converging crises.  Are we headed for what Jimmy Carter notoriously identified back in 1979 as a “crisis of confidence?”  Does all this make a veritable tempest?

There’s a force abounding throughout these waves.  People run around like crazy, pulling out of the market, obsessing over imminent recession.  Others are bewildered into stupefaction.  In the midst of maelstrom, our leadership is vested in management.  Look beneath the swell.  We’re told what to think.  It’s important that we understand how instrumental they are. They will lead us to the sheltering harbor where all will be calm again.

This is the energy that can suck yours dry.  Realize that the commonality in all these crises is our willingness to buy into characterizations of ourselves that may not apply.  When we do, we trade our supply of good energy for malaise.

We listen.  We want to understand.  But doubt creeps up alongside, siphons our tank and we sputter to a halt out to sea. We put our plans and dreams on hold:  too risky, better play it safe, keep your job because you’re lucky to have it, don’t start anything because there’s no credit.  Get ready to bail, we’ve sprung another leak!  Does anyone find this as downright appalling as Pete and I do?

We’ve had it too easy!  We’ve let other countries feed oil into our gaping maw. We think we’re entitled.  We’ve been lulled by our investments, our employers, and our government.  We’re soft.  Despite the most magnificent terrorist attack in recent history and increased global nuclear proliferation, we’re ambivalent and argumentative in its aftermath.  We’ve enjoyed the greatest run-up of wealth ever over the last 60 years.  We don’t know how to work.  We’ve burned daylight, as Pete is fond of saying.

The result: we’ve allowed our precious energy to drain.  We’ve brewed up an energy crisis by not believing in or using our capabilities.  Daniel Webster said, “Failure is more frequently from want of energy than want of capital.”

Blogging is a lot about conversation.  But you’ve got to act.  Where do we get the energy to act?  What are we really doing?  I posed this question to another group and the answers were beautifully frank and uplifting:

… My entire life has been one of relying on self and God. Without my faith I could not have survived the things I have. I have utter and total belief in a God that cares about me and I trust Him. Yes – I worship a heretic and model myself after Him in as many ways as possible. I feel sorry for the folks … who don’t know the same rabble-rousing, butt kicking, in your face miracle working, get your hands dirty, party with sinners, homeless heretic I know. … Reliance? It’s all about faith. – B.B.

… there is a certain karma that goes along with taking care of others, most notably the elderly. Taking care of those who have it worse than you provides a necessary perspective. Obviously, if you have children, they come first. And it makes sense to me that if you worry about how this economy is stressing out your circle of friends or tribe, reach out to help others in your tribe. - M.L.P.

Betsy, I like the phrase “tightening our circle of reliance.” Tho some might interpret it to mean a shrinking of the circle (as in “tightening the belt” and doing with less), to me it indicates a strengthening of bonds with those who matter, in the way that Seth writes of “tightening the tribe.” - P.S.P.

I spent a good bit of time in the denial stage with brief stops in the anger and depression stages and now I’m closing in on acceptance. I can’t help but think I’m getting there because my focus has turned outward. There are a huge number of people, including some of my very good friends who are facing changes that a few months ago would have been unthinkable. I need to keep myself alert for ways in which I can be of service to them. - S.C.

I used this quote in another context somewhere else in Tribesville, but I think it’s apt: “Life is a shipwreck, my friend, but we must sing in the lifeboats.” To me, that’s Voltaire intimating that existence is going to present lots of confounding conditions, some of them grievous, but that a shared, collective will can keep us afloat. It’s less a blind faith than a sustained presence of mind. I think there’s even some humor, whether black or some other color, mixed in there as well, and God knows that humor in the face of barbed wire can soften the barbs a bit. – T.B.

I find it remarkable that similar metaphor occurs in much of what I have read in the past few days.  Storm-tossed travelers all, we still have faith, take care of each other, be of service, and find unison.  Lifeboat to lifeboat – here we are in the sea.  We have not gone down with the ship.

I’m reminded of the old salt who took us fishing in Seward: “It’s gonna be a little wrinkle-y for a while outside the harbor, but once we make it past Caine’s Head, it’ll smooth out.”  We’re now in the chop, friends, but smooth sailing lies ahead.  Here comes a loose list of how Pete and I, and others, are rigging our craft.

Attitude – See lovely quotes above.  Chris Brogan, in a post entitled The Beauty of Pirate Ships – another ocean-based allegory, tells us to always seek the treasure.  Brett Legree powerfully concurs, “Perhaps if enough of us turn our backs on those who are trying to instill fear in us, we can make a difference – we can build for the long term.” Les Brown said, “If you’re flat on your back, look up.  If you can look up, you can get up.“ Pete always keeps busy.  He believes you get old only when you don’t have a project going on.  (Try and laze the day away married to him, I dare you!)   What can you get out of a month of hand-wringing except behind with your plans?

Fuel  (Transportation) – We’re a 2-vehicle family.  We’re already driving only one on the weekends.  I could use the second one even less.  Public transportation is close, and biking it to the office isn’t outside the realm of possibility.  Verdict:  needs more serious action.  We’re pretty frugal when it comes to conserving gas by combining errands, or opting out of them altogether.

Fuel (Heat) – We’re lucky that the genius who installed leaky metal windows in a late-70′s remodel of our home also put a wood stove in.  Pete has used wood for supplemental heating since he’s owned the house.  Price increases this winter have been estimated as high as 40%, so this year we’re going to use it more.  Our winter energy bills were several hundred dollars per month last winter, even though we put in a new furnace over a year ago.

Pete regularly trolls Craigslist to supplement our supply of firewood. We’ve currently got about three cords total on hand.  Our plan is to get as much as we have room for. Last week we brought about two cords that are ready from the area by our garage where it cures, and stacked it up by the house.

We’re planning on dialing down to the low 60′s this winter, lower at night.  Pete put in one of those Honeywell programmable thermostats years ago, replacing what I considered to be a highly functional dial dating from the 60′s.  Honestly, you can remember to dial down, too, but no!  Whatever.  The wood stove really cranks the heat out but up it goes via the stairwell, too.  So we’ve got a ceiling fan in the highest vault upstairs and it’ll re-circulate warm air.

We put new siding on the house earlier this year – thanks to the mother of all hail storms.  They wrapped it in Tyvek barrier first.  The contractor said less heated air would escape.  No, I thought, it will just congregate at the metal windows like Macy’s shoppers at the revolving doors.  Now, we’re replacing half the windows in the house with energy-efficient ones, and while that won’t help as much as we’d like, it’s what we can afford to do.  We’ll be breaking out the warm clothes and socks, too.  My dad used to tell how he would wake up in the morning at the farm and there would be a dusting of snow on his pillow, so I can get out another sweater.

When you know you’re doing as much as you can, you feel empowered.  Last year, the Juneau area saw an avalanche cut off electrical supply – raising prices 400% almost overnight. In very dire straits, residents resorted to ingenious and extreme measures to save energy:

Changed out all incondescent lights to energy saver bulbs. Went from a total of 3,322.5 watts to a new total of 477.5 watts on lights. Cost $135.00 Shut furnace down all day. Turned down hot water heater form 140 to 110 degrees. No lights or tv during day. Heat down to 62 day and night. Only one light on in evening after dark and that is a 13 watt bulb. Turned off one refer. Only one laptop on for 30 minutes three times a day. Conserve on showers. Turn water off while soaping and washing. Use paper plates and wife cooks. About ready to use plastic utinsils. Only wash cloths every two weeks. Make washing machne and dryer full now. No extra rinse. I lived in a logging camp when young and know how to conserve electricity. They did not have watt saver bulbs back in the 50′s and 60′s. Oh, what fun we are having now. Memories are wonderful.

Now they’re not returning to their old ways, because a low-water year threatens hydroelectric sources, too.  Likewise, when oil demand in the continental U.S. lessened and the ban on offshore drilling seemed doomed, voila! the price per barrel dropped in the last week.  That’s more control!

Food – We both come from a long Midwest tradition of re-using, saving, butchering, canning, and freezing.  On the farm you ate what was in season and canned the excess.  Friends, it’s time to conserve and preserve.  If you don’t have a freezer, see if you can share one.  Stock the pantry.  Clip coupons, buy in bulk.  Simplify.  Exchange processed foods for fresh – better for your family and less expensive.  Eat less.  Seriously.  There are tons of resources all over the web on money-saving.  Pete’s vegetable garden fed us amazing produce this summer.

Other fun frugalities.  Getting rid of our land line.  No longer are we victims of Qwest!  Vacations on the cheap - we’ve talked about them here and here.  Anybody done a “stay-cation,” discovering what’s local?  Clothing swaps and friend-me-downs?  Do you like to sew or knit?  How about handmade-only holiday gifts?  Trade Great Depression stories from your family and compare your life.  Here are two of our family’s:  hitching up the Model T to the plow when the horse died, and dinners of saltine crackers.  How about depriving ourselves of negative people and conserving our positive energy?

Ambrose Bierce defined destiny as “a fool’s excuse for failure.“  Circumstances find us far from the quiet harbor of complacency, in the lifeboats with each other.  Will we deem these rough seas exhilarating or terrifying?  The future is in our making.  What will be our song?

This series has turned out to be a party of sorts (see yesterday’s RELIANCE) and you’ve shown up.  Here in Minnesota, accepting an invitation is usually followed by, “What should we bring?”  So, what can you share?

On deck for later this week:  PROCEEDS

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