Assignment 26 - "All I Want"

As a little girl in the '50s, Christmas seemed to take forever to come round each year. I could not wait to sit on Santa's lap, to sing carols, to open presents, to see the tree all sparkley and magical. It did not take a whole lot back in the day. A simple string of lights could keep one mesmerized as you sat watching your 33rpm record spin round for the hundredth time that day.

We did not go without, but there was not an abundance of stuff everywhere. Something told me I needed stuff. Other people had it. I wanted it too.

By the time I was buying presents for my second and third daughters, money was not a huge object. It was a consideration, but not an obstacle. I could get the children so much stuff!!! And as they got these things, I noticed that they liked very much to play with the boxes that the stuff came in. Other than that, the promise of "hours of fun" just about made it, but not quite.

One day, Crystal said to me: "Mom, when we were younger, we began to wonder why we didn't feel like the people in the commercials. Why didn't this stuff make us all get excited and smiley like those people?"

Later, as they grew, they began to talk to me about what we consume, how it is made, what effect so much of it has on our environment and the lives of humans on the planet. At first I pooh-poohed the ideas, thinking that growth was good for people. But, after they faced 40,000 robocops in Miami, and I spent three days combing indy-media in terror, I began to think that there must be a reason they would face lives of post traumatic stress in order to try to get us to listen.

And listen we have. We've become more and more aware of what we bring into our home, into our lives - where it came from, who it impacted in its creation and distribution and so on. Buying used items, fairly traded items, purchasing food and flowers that did not cause birth defects and illness to those who are providing them, and things like that. Still, there is no getting around the fact that we use technology, and enjoy it very much. Although, none of us rushes out to buy the latest of everything, and the girls all decline owning television sets. Still, I'm sure we are all aware of the impact this has had on our environment.

But, I think we are smart. I really do. And I think that once the people can be heard, and the huge conglomerates that so encourage mass consumption can wake up to the fact that you can't eat money and we need a healthy environment in which to live...I think we can find ways to do things correctly, and be fair to everyone and to our planet.

Which leads me to my assignment (finally) - All I Want is for these guys in this photo (and all the creatures who dwell in the water)is to have clean, pure water to live in. I figure if I got that wish, it would set off quite a chain reaction of good things. Imagine streams and rivers that children can go into, as they did long ago, without fear of a tire hitting them in the head, or worse contracting a flesh eating bacteria! Imagine water that could be sipped from so many sources...no need for the bottles!

Yep, that is my wish...that is All I Want....sorta. (Of course there's more...I was thinking it might be clearer as What I Want.) Clean air would be great too!

As CagedBird mentioned, this is a good time to bring up Wells for Zoe