harvests

i was out running some errands today that took me out to the suburban/rural nexus...

i saw crops in the fields...nothing unusual about that this time of year...

and fields that have been harvested...

as well as those in the process of being brought in...and what, i wonder, is powering that combine? diesel fuel? gasoline? ethanol? whichever it is it is buring carbon..and fossil fuels planted the crop and petrochemicals fertilized it and did in the "weeds" and the "pests" that tried to makle a living in the field...

and when the combine is full it will disgorge its contnents into this truck which will use fossil fuels to haul it to a grain elevator...and when it is sold on the mercantile exchange in chicago it will be loaded onto a train or semis to go off for what? to feed cattle with acidosis in a cafo? or be fermented into ethanol to fuel more emissions? or for extruded hot pockets and a raft of processed foods including high fructose corn syrup to fuel diabetes? who knows...dense yellow # 2 is a commodity...it could end up as anything...even beer...

and on the way home i was stopped by a train...two engines ( burning diesel to generate electricty for the motors ) and two hundred and twenty-six cars of shipping containers full of vital consumer goods...stuff...and car carriers full of cars ( there goes some ethanol ) to carry it home ( or to storage ) in...humans are such habitual creatures...things are heating up and we either don't notice or are in a deep state of denial about our activities ( and yes i was driving and burning carbon...i am not innocent )...we probably won't really notice until it is far too late...i planted a mooseberry bush yesterday...i wonder if it will be able to handle the climate.