One of my favorite things in life is Saturday mornings when I can listen to Wait Wait on NPR. It's probably the smartest thing I do all week. It's a news quiz show with, among others, pop culture authority Mo Rocca. The "Grand Prize" is getting this guy to do the recording on your home answering machine.
Last Saturday I couldn't listen because I was working. I was showing a million dollar 87-acre ranch in Boling, Texas. The night before Blaine and I went to see An Inconvenient Truth. It was a sad commentary on this God-forsaken state I live in when there were about 7 people total in this film and about 700 waiting in line for The Fast & The Furious. Now, I can totally understand that there are people, maybe even lots of people, that don't dig an Al Gore slideshow about global warming. But it's very symptomatic of what I see around here. Granted, I have a very limited scope of people I am in contact with most days. I can dig if you think global warming is a bunch of hogwash. At least you have an opinion. At least you've given it five second's thought. What really grinds my gears is that it's never even occured to a lot of folk to even consider the issue. They're too busy worrying about if Britney is pregnant or "Ohmigosh! Can you believe she wore that?"
But I digress...
Again, I can pretty much understand if you don't agree with global warming, but certainly, surely you can't disagree that we've done too much damage to the planet or that at the very least we should try to minimize our impact on the environment in simple ways. Single women do not need to drive Navigators. We should conserve energy around the house and office. We need to preserve habitat for all animals because each plays a vital role. I defy anyone to give me a valid arguement that these aren't necessary things. In that way, this is an excellent film that makes you think about the earth and environment. Even Blaine said, "That was wow." If you believe that humans are slowly (or not so slowly) killing the planet then this film makes it even more apparent. As the closing credits were rolling I was thinking about my dad's land and how I so want a piece of land somewhere, even if it's only one square foot, that's all mine and I'll just let it be. I won't build on it. I won't pave it over. I won't cut tree one down. I just want to leave it the heck alone. I just want to know that there's one little piece of the earth that won't be tarnished by human hands and machines. I want that so badly I can taste it. I started to cry.
The next morning I had to get up to let an agent and her buyers in the ranch. I drove out in the morning with the dark clouds chasing me. I was listening to Prairie Home Companion trying not to get lost out in the country. I was very far from the cookie cutter picket fences of suburbia. I finally got there and drove up to the house. I got out of the car and started to have a look around since I was there so early. I nosed around the pool in back and went in the pool house. I looked at the barn off in the distance. I looked at the land as far as the eye could see. Later, after the buyers showed up, it started to pour. It was thundering and lightening. It was amazing from inside the house. Then I took a step outside onto the front porch under the overhang and it was actually cool outside. The rain came pouring down and I felt it bounce back up in a mist on my face. The wind blew the trees and they swayed this way and that. I looked at all the land and thanked God for it. I told myself I want this. I don't need a house like is on that property. I just want a simple house. But I want lots of land. I want a home where birds and rabbits and squirrels and snakes feel welcome. I want a huge willow tree next to a pond. I want a tire swing for the future kids to swing on. I felt the need for a place where I can feel enveloped in nature.
I only stood out there two or three minutes, but it was heaven while it lasted. I'm not a real outdoorsy type, inasmuch as I hate being bothered by bugs and the sun gives me a headache, but I love nature. I love seeing pristine land. I loved being out there hearing nothing but the rain. It did my soul more good than I can say. It was so refreshing to know that there are places several miles from the nearest Wal-Mart. I felt like I was at Tara. I felt at home for the first time since I moved down here.
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