By Brian Skeele, on April 15th, 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 #3
The Hot New Product Revealed
(previously…… Polar Sam is about to introduce a new product line. “What now, lemon flavored Krill oil?!”, exclaimed Doc Plaza. An involuntary shiver went through his body as he recalled last week’s ‘Hot new product’. The memory caused his upper lip to curl in disgust.
“No, no, this is the real deal. Village in a Box!” Sam pulled out a book sized cardboard box, with a lively village street scene on the front. The three of them crowded under Sam’s oversized beach umbrella, and examined the front graphics).
“Shops below, living upstairs”, Doc Plaza remarked. “Reminds me of the life downtown Santa Fe when I was a kid.’
Kid Suburban observed, “I like the people fishing in the town lake. What’s this ‘Living Machine’ greenhouse thing?”
“Those are tanks of biologies where the water from the lake is cleaned and recycled back into the lake; keeps the algae blooms down and supplies filtered water to the greenhouses,” Sam replied matter of factly.
“Hey, look, people are growing food, and playing volleyball, and shopping, right next to the Post Office!” Kid exclaimed.
Polar Sam couldn’t resist a little sarcasm, ”That mixed use dealie is weird, huh?! they don’t need to drive to everything.”
Sam turned down the sarcasm and continued, pointing out features. “And those kids have a tree fort, right in the little plaza where they live. Shops below, homes one and two stories above. And the parents are over under the umbrellas barbequing”.
“Look at all those solar panels on the roofs. And the grandfather playing checkers with a young person. I wish Jason lived nearby. That kid makes me laugh”. Doc Plaza’s grandson and his daughter Irene moved 60 miles away last year, as the real estate prices of Santa Fe had gotten so steep. A deep pause enveloped the men and the white bear.
“ I like the Community Forest and biomass power generation facility”’ Doc continued. “ Putting everything nearby is just better. I’m telling ya Kid, the mixed income workforce housing is so important, how can you be so blind??”
Kid Suburbia suppressed his urge to choke the old man. “So what’s this Village in a Box thing?”
A wave of excitement passed over Sam. He’d spent a whole weekend at the Sustainable Institute preparing for just this “magical sales moment’ moment.
A couple of kids showed up with a handful of coins. “Hey Polar Sam, I want a frozen snickers. Yeah, and I want a cherry popsicle.”
“You’re just in time for the premier showing of Village in a Box” Sam exclaimed. He handed them their treats. “Here, help me set these up.”
Down from the racks on top of the ice cream truck came a couple of folding chairs and a little table, and from the Styrofoam box in the front seat came a projector. The make shift movie theater on the sidewalk set up in seconds. Sam took the DVD out of the Village in a Box container, inserted it into the projector, pulled the movie screen down on the side of his truck, and “Wallah!” Doc and Kid Suburbia starred in amazement, the kids cheered.
“Grab a seat,” said Sam, trying to be casual, while at the same time he could hardly contain himself.
Thoughts came pouring in. “If only my mother could see me now!!”
He flipped the remote video cam on. “Wait til the gang back home sees this!” The thought of his friends, family, and the Elders, sitting around the iceberg, peering into the clan’s one laptop, waiting for the satellite feed to download, was overwhelming.
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!”