Fossil Fuels and Smoked Brisket

No.172: August 12, 2023

Welcome to The Square Inch, a Friday newsletter on Christianity, culture, and all of the many-varied “square inches” of God’s domain. This is a paid subscription feature with a preview for free subscribers, so please click on the button below to enjoy this along with an “Off The Shelf” feature about books and Wednesday’s “The Quarter Inch,” a quick(er) commentary on current events.

The Buc-ees Beaver

Dear Friends,

I saw the most beautiful farmhouse. It was surrounded by a pristine green lawn and rows of mature trees on all sides. A barn, grain silo, and other outbuildings filled out this little paradise. Throw a rock from anywhere on the wrap-around porch and you’d hit rows of corn stretching for miles in three directions.

And the whole scene struck me as an awful tragedy.

Because I could see it.

I mentioned that the cornfields spread out in three directions. What about the fourth? Well, approximately twenty-five yards that direction sits the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which I happened to be driving at the time. Tens of thousands of vehicles a day, big rigs and Beemers and minivans, all rumbling a stone’s throw from this beautiful back porch. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the land-and-homeowners to hear the announcement that the Turnpike was slated for their backyard. Somehow they’ve made their peace with it, but I don’t think I could.

I don’t want to go all Wendell Berry on you and lament the advent of the automobile or concrete jungles or the hustle and bustle of having to frantically get from Point A to Point B or the demands of modern life, and so forth. I think we can and should strike a balance between the agrarian and urban life, but this particular juxtaposition was difficult for me to stomach. Just a shame.

Have you ever had that thought as you were cruising along an Interstate Highway? Wow, what a beautiful home! Except for the inconvenient fact that it sits right next to the Interstate Highway. Perspective is a very relative thing, isn’t it? From the highway that porch looks amazing; from the porch, that highway makes it not nearly so amazing.