This is the Alaska State Fair theme this year. I keep it in mind. I am not at all a sentimental person; or rather, I didn’t used to be. Why the change? I don’t know. Using the fair as an example – I am attempting to think in a positive fashion, about those who have worked tirelessly to make this a meaningful event. There are the performers. There are the quilters. There are the woodworkers. There are those who provide quality food. There are parking lot attendants. There are those who tend to and show animals. There are the maintenance people. There are those who work at the recycling collection. There are those who bring plants to life in an artful fashion. There are even those who tend to the horse arenas, so increasing the odds that horses and riders will do their best. I could go on and on and on. Oh yes, there are those who distribute books, as they tell people, envisioning the power of literacy to change lives by making books accessible to those of all ages.

So too then, I reach for the stars. Today, at times, I did lower my arms. There were just so many people, hundreds and hundreds of them. And the problem is that humanity en masse is a rather ugly and wretched sight. People are just blind to the fact that we are, worldwide, experiencing an over population explosion. Hence, the squabbling over limited resources and the detritus that we are leaving behind. No matter how good every parent’s intention might be, we are all consumers.

I remember some neighbors of ours; prior to having children they were adamant about the fact that their two offspring would not be adding to the carbon footprint. The eldest now has his own car and travels via airplane to sporting events. These kids never took a school bus to school, rather they were driven to their educational destination.

Bottom line – from the minute we take our first breath, we begin consuming.

And in our final hours we are either cremated, which requires a certain amount of energy, or we are buried, in which case someone has to cut down a tree and someone else has to make a coffin.

Me, I am now driving a car places. I used to ride my bicycle everywhere. I miss this. I am hoping to get my two bicycles going again and doing more riding.

Pete has grown a lot of our food. Tonight we had a homegrown meal, potatoes, kale, broccoli, and salmon. We would have goat milk, but the stars that I have been reaching for have not yet aligned themselves.

And so, seeing all those people, many pushing strollers – all I could think was, we are not smart enough to see that our biological imperative is leading to our own demise.

Next: 221. 8/17/25: Fair Game