Saturday, February 23, 2008

Is This Where We´re Headed?

Here´s a quote from Lonely Planet´s Central America guidebook, about what caused the decline of the Maya. It sounds eerily similar to what´s going on with our civilization today:

"Near the end of Copan´s heyday, the population grew at an unprecedented rate, straining agricultural resources; in the end, Copan was no longer agriculturally self-sufficient and had to import food from other areas. The urban core expanded in the fertile lowlands in the centre of the valley, forcing both agriculture and residential areas to spread onto the steep slopes surrounding the valley. Wide areas were deforested, resulting in massive erosion that further decimated agricultural production and resulted in flooding during rainy seasons."

It sounds so much like now. And here´s how they ended up:

"Skeletal remains of people who died during the final years of Copan´s heyday show marked evidence of malnutrition and infectious diseases, as well as decreased lifespan . . ."

Scary stuff. Is that where we´re headed?

Monday, February 11, 2008

Click click click.

Click click click.
Vast black bathroom.
One small noise is massive.

Click click click.
Crabs are somewhere.
Night in Nicaragua.