This morning I am headed for an ever-increasingly tiresome medical appointment. No, I'm not complaining, not really. Each medical procedure reminds me of my good fortune to be so well-cared for on my life journey. More than medicine, I am talking about a lifestyle. Without giving it much thought (because I think as little about finance as possible) I can climb into a reasonably decent vehicle, ride for 90 minutes on a reasonably decent paved road, and enjoy the pleasant company of a wonderful partner. I can switch on my ever-trusty iPad and learn, read or listen to pretty much whatever I want to. I can worry about little else than where we will go for lunch later. Well, worry about that and ponder the state of humanity and the world this morning.
My iPad is an eye pad, giving me a tiny window on the entire world from my little corner of it in rural west central Alberta: today the Queen's jubilee celebration is shared by millions as we eagerly await the big concert, featuring some of Great Britain's musical royalty. I glance out the window and note that cattle are out on the grass now...typical June. I think about wealth and privilege, and note that I have never wanted for a good meal, or good entertainment. I take much for granted.
Today a Facebook share presents a poster regarding the more disturbing aspects of the development of the bitumen in our north country. Cancers, degradation of water supply, deformities in animal life, loss of a people's traditional way of life, and I note another share, a cartoon, the caption of which reads, "What you environmentalists have got to understand is the destruction of the planet may be the price we have to pay for a healthy economy."
Further down the road, I glance out the window at the beautiful little Blindman River, where I have lived most of my life, and I note the gas and oil installations that have been part of that fabric since I was a tadpole. I ponder a winding history of cancer patients in this little corridor: Bob, Waldy, Ron, Barry, Elaine, Sandy, Lena, me, and too many more.
Today an email offers a Groupon deal for Siberian mink eyelash extensions for (gasp) only $89.00. I know. I could hardly believe it myself...regularly valued at $236.85. Valued!
I glance out the window at fields turning green with the promise of an abundant harvest. An oil industry convoy is meeting us on the highway, a farmer is pulling his seeder out of one more finished field.
Somewhere, right now someone is making a billion dollar deal to harvest bitumen, someone else is begging for a scrap of bread, someone else is getting into position to watch Sir Paul McCartney, live. Someone else is embarking on a treatment regime for a newly-discovered cancer, and someone, heaven help us, is pouncing on the incredible opportunity to own Siberian mink eyelash extensions. Valuable ones.
