Our catch phrase is on its way.

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

I am on my way to Seneca country in western New York, near the city of Buffalo. As I headed by car from my home near Monmouth, Oregon to Portland International Airport some 90 miles to the north, I was saddened by the huge amount of traffic I was part of. Even though I was making the 90-mile drive during mid-afternoon, before rush hour, the highways were packed. And, until I reached the vicinity of the airport, where I saw a so-called “light rail” that connnects the airport to downtown Portland, I saw no way to travel but to drive -- or to ride in – a truck or a car. There were no pedestrians to be seen, no wild animals to worry about hitting (since they have all been eliminated from the picture, one way or the other). Likewise, except for the “light rail” (which so many people around the area take so “lightly”), there were no trains or monorails or maglevs or hyperlinks – or even any bicycle lanes -- to be seen. The air was heavy with smog. In short, I was passing through hell. When I got to the Airport Sheraton Hotel, where I have stayed on frequent occasions for the past 30 years, I felt I was home. I was acknowledged as being a longtime, “important” guest by the staff here, all of them who had not yet been born when I started making my frequent stays at the Portland Airport Sheraton Hotel back in the early 1980s. Once in my room, I worked on the Seneca language project and also used Skype to measure prospective new Jingles clients back in Japan. I just hope that Salamanca, New York – located in Seneca country some 90 miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport -- will offer a less decimated natural environment…

Steve Walker, Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.