By Brian Skeele, on June 22nd, 2011
A polar bear, sent by his people to save their way of life, finds himself driving an ice cream truck around suburbia, on a mission to reverse global warming, one ice cream at a time.
Episode #4
Village in a Box hits the streets.
EPISODE #4 (previously…..Polar Sam is unveiling Village in a Box; He brushed all the thoughts away to focus on the task at hand, and gleefully announced to his small but entirely captivated audience. “It’s Show Time!”)
The same lively village scene that was on the outside of the Village in a Box container, filled the entire side of Polar Sam’s truck.
“This”, said Sam, “is how you could be living. Suburbia can be transformed into a…” Like an orchestra director, Sam raised his arms, and while pointing to the words across the bottom of the scene, he led his audience in a group chant “mixed use, mixed income neighborhood, with lifelong learning and open space……everywhere!” the boys cheered. Doc and Kid Suburbia clapped and grinned, totally caught up in Polar Sam’s enthusiasm.
Blown up to the size of the big screen, the details became clearer. “Look! there’s little sail boats in the lake.”
“Remote controlled” chipped in Sam.
“And a guy kayaking” “and two swans”, “and three ducks!” “ and those people are fishing?!” All the water captured the boys’ imaginations. The Santa Fe River hardly ever ran, and then only for a month at the most in the Spring. Or during a big rain in August’s “monsoon season”.
“Where would we get the water for all this?” Doc Plaza asked skeptically. “Certainly compelling, but as Santa Fe’s gotten bigger, the water’s all gone to new homes, and the river’s pretty much dry.”
“Those ‘Living Machines’ are remarkable. Imagine every block had a couple of greenhouses. The biologies can break down any thing, even PCBs!” Sam was on a roll now. “So we tap into the sewer lines, solar pump to the greenhouses and in a series of those above-grade translucent fiberglass tanks, the water gets purified by the biologies. Add a UV sterilizer, and Wallah! fresh water, higher quality than the original tap water! So the neighbors get fresh fruit and vegetables and fish raised in the aquaponic tanks, the river gets filled year round, the aquifer is replenished, and the water ends up feeding back to the Rio Grande without any pollutants like pharmaceuticals!”
The boys cheered again. Kid Suburbia stared at Polar Sam in disbelief. In his ice cream delivery “Uncle Sam” vest and tails, and with his Red and White stripped top hat, “he looks a bit like a buffoon,” Kid thought to himself. But seeing the elegance and beauty of the vision before him…”The guy’s a genius”, he muttered to himself.
Out loud, Kid Suburbia jabbed, ”ya get this off a Peace Pop stick?”
Sam just grinned back at him. “Oh, there’s more!”
Sam continued, “ Ya know how you were saying what a bummer it was, there’s a bunch of elderly ladies still in the homes in your neighborhood, living by themselves in a 2400 sf house? the kids have grown up, and either the husband died, or they got divorced, but she’s living alone and she wants to stay in her neighborhood? Well, imagine one of these little plazas surrounded with casitas. Your lady friends can downsize and stay in their neighborhood. She can stay independent, live within walking of long time friends and shopping. And get assistance from the kids at the local elementary school if she needs it.”
Doc Plaza chimed in, “Sounds like a new version of the way it used to be, like an extended family. I could live with that.”
Kid Suburbia laughed. “Yeah, that way all your girlfriends would be in one place.”
“Hey, don’t be knockin it”, Doc fired back. “If I don’t shoot you first, you could outlive your wife, and having folks to conveniently do things with in the middle of the day is a really good deal.”
Kid Suburbia got quiet. “My best friend Harold has been complaining about moving to a smaller place. He wants to stay in the hood, but he’s tired on keeping up such a big house. I was missing him already. If our neighborhood had one of these Senior Placitas that would be really great!”
“Hey Bro!”, Sam nearly shouted. He held up his paw for the Kid to high five ‘em. “Welcome to the amazing power of Village in a Box!“ High fives were exchanged by the entire audience of four. None of them knew exactly why, but the Bear’s enthusiasm had them sold in that moment. READ MORE >>