Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Back Story: The Flow

A friend here in town will be moving to Ecuador in a few months. Another Yellow Springer is moving to Panama. A third friend visited Costa Rica and returned with glowing reports of a large expatriate community of Americans living a good life there.

Ecuador... I assume it is so named because it is on the equator. I have spent time near the equator in Singapore and Malaysia. On the very first day I arrived, I told Amy I didn't think I would survive the night. The heat and humidity pressed me down like a duck under glass. I sought airconditioning and found it, but it wasn't all that easy to locate. I survived by embracing the local life-style, which has evolved in such a way as to work around the climate. In Singapore, nobody cooks in the house. The evening meal is taken out-of-doors in food courts, and always after 9 p.m.

The flow used to be from Ecuador to here. It seemed its residents would do anything to get out of there and come to the USA, where, in their view, the streets were paved with gold. Now, it appears, the flow has reversed. And it's a good thing, too. Too many people in the northern hemisphere are about to cause the Earth to flip over, because it is getting top-heavy.

As a transplanted New Yorker and voluntary resident of this place, I declare Yellow Springs to be my Ecuador. I will not be moving to the equator or farther south. Somebody has to stay here and hold down the fort. Once they are all down there and the globe is once again stable on its axis, I will feel more secure in my Ohio digs. If they want to talk to me, there is always Skype.

-vh

1 comment:

Les Groby said...

We can expect this trend to accelerate as our financial and monetary systems and economy collapse, taxes on "the rich" rise, and our government becomes more militarized and oppressive. It is sad and shameful that Americans are now fleeing their homeland to find more freedom and prosperity in "banana republics".