Framed Hope

Today for the Resource Fair at our Church I took along one of the eight storm windows in my house that I use the AIR method of insulation on. When I got home I decided to take a picture of this storm with clear plastic on each side before I put it back on the window. I leaned it against the rain barrel in front of the house that has flowers on it and shot the picture. At first I was disappointed in the picture, for although the plastic coverings and glass are clear the reflection of the house across the street can be seen, as well as some of the painted flowers. Looking more carefully at the picture tonight I see it as more of a symbol of the hope we experience these days. Our clarity of vision is framed by our experiences, yet we can see the flowers through the glass and plastic. Our view is not clear, we also see in the frame images of everyday life around us. We glimpse the hope of life through the frame, but it is clouded by framed realities of our everyday experience.

The Resource Fair at the Church was not well attended, but there was a lot of hope of sustainable living in the various displays. The people viewing the displays were really looking for something they could do and practice living simply, sustainably, and more in accord with nature. Although not many children were present, the Growing Power Magic Show was a hit. For this show I used four good-sized plastic containers, one each of waste, compost, castings and plants. An organic food box was my time machine, while I transformed the containers from one stage to another. My wife assisted me with some worm wiggle rhymes and some reading of the children’s book, “The Diary of the Worm.’ We did the show twice, once for mostly adults and once for children. People were sincerely excited about how worms and nature can transform waste into good fertile soil.

Although I had a five-pane window and the modified storm window above with me, along with some with mathematical proof of the energy savings of this AIR system of insulation, there was not much interest today in this project. However, having this resource fair made me get together the factual scientific basis of this method and soon I will publish it on the nonviolent worm. Both the home model GP method of growing on display (G.R.A.F.) and the Air Insulation Resource system had one thing in common. Affordability. I talked with a woman who does solar energy home consulting, and my interest in affordable solar heating was renewed. Tonight I talked with our friend John, the creator of the window inserts, about his idea of affordable use of solar for electricity. These two methods and all the displays at the Resource Fair offer us a lot of hope that we can live in a simple and sustainable environment of hope. Our hope is only framed by our experiences.

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