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Essays, Memoirs & True Stories
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For three days last year I planted small trees
For three days last year I planted small trees and shrubs along Interstate 85 for $3 an hour. Mindlessness, talentless and eternal boredom became the key words filtering through my consciousness, as all sense of self expression and sensitivity took a back seat to survival.
February 1974
Sy’s Space
More jobs in the last year than I can remember, and so little sense, through it all, of any purposeful endeavor, of meaningful labor, of real work.
February 1974Sy’s Space
A cloudy, dreary day, sick with a cold, yet I want to mark the day, the year, to settle old accounts and begin something anew. It is what I am always up to, and I see how foolish it is, and how necessary.
January 1974[Big cities may shrink]
Big cities may shrink to more manageable proportions because of the fuel pinch, some regional planners believe.
January 1974Nobody Called
Chapel Hill Energy Task Force
Sweat suits instead of flannel pajamas, river canoe trips instead of a vacation in Disneyland — these are some of the changes in lifestyle “every thinking person” should make, according to Shirley Marshall, chairman of Chapel Hill’s new energy conservation task force.
January 1974Alternative Energy
Solar energy, many scientists believe, is adequate for all the conceivable energy needs of the world. It is safe and clean, but expensive. The main technical obstacle is bringing down the cost of the solar cells, which convert light from the sun directly into electric current.
January 1974
[The best alternative energy sources]
The best alternative energy sources, according to Watson Morris of ECOS, are “doing away with present wasteful practices.”
January 1974![[The best alternative energy sources]](http://www.thesunmagazine.org/ext/resources/2020/08/1486591368_1-7-drawing-preview.webp?t=1713552000)
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Lewis’ head is under the hood
Lewis, who lived through gas rationing in World War II, observes that “this country runs on gas and oil” and “the man with the money gets what he wants.”
January 1974
The Price Was Never Right
We will strip off the earth’s skin for oil. We will destroy the beauty of our shores. We will pollute the air for it. And we will kill for it. If we cannot buy it for what we consider a fair price we will take it by force, our need is so great.
January 1974
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