How will we explain ourselves to our grandchildren?
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I grew up in Pittsburgh. My grandfather would talk about the old days when the mills were running and the air was so thick with soot that you had to shovel it. But, he said, it was good for the economy.
And my family built their house in an orange grove where the smudge pots would smoke during the frosts and the windows sills, the laundry and the cats would have a sheen of oil on them...
Hey, folks, I live not very many miles from Pasadena/Deer Park, TX, where a lot of your gasoline is refined, and a lot of your other unpleasant chemical products are produced. Locally, the public health specialists call it Cancer Alley.
I am not literally in Cancer Alley, but that sign you posted holds very personal meaning to me. "Smells like bacon and eggs" was the usual reply when I, as a kid, complained about the smell of all those chemical plants. Did anybody listen? Yeah, sure; look for yourself. Just be sure you don't breathe as you look...
I remember a friend being stunned to find, after living in Pomona Valley for a few weeks, that she was living next to the mountains. The sky used to be gray with smog and you couldn't breathe deeply without feeling soreness in your lungs.
Ah... fond memories of childhood... and today, to think of it.
4 comments:
I grew up in Pittsburgh. My grandfather would talk about the old days when the mills were running and the air was so thick with soot that you had to shovel it. But, he said, it was good for the economy.
And my family built their house in an orange grove where the smudge pots would smoke during the frosts and the windows sills, the laundry and the cats would have a sheen of oil on them...
But it was good for the economy... *cough cough*
Hey, folks, I live not very many miles from Pasadena/Deer Park, TX, where a lot of your gasoline is refined, and a lot of your other unpleasant chemical products are produced. Locally, the public health specialists call it Cancer Alley.
I am not literally in Cancer Alley, but that sign you posted holds very personal meaning to me. "Smells like bacon and eggs" was the usual reply when I, as a kid, complained about the smell of all those chemical plants. Did anybody listen? Yeah, sure; look for yourself. Just be sure you don't breathe as you look...
I remember a friend being stunned to find, after living in Pomona Valley for a few weeks, that she was living next to the mountains. The sky used to be gray with smog and you couldn't breathe deeply without feeling soreness in your lungs.
Ah... fond memories of childhood... and today, to think of it.
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