It's a long bike ride home, and I'm tired, so I get to thinking.

I seem to be unintentionally reading to a theme recently. Maybe it's unavoidable with a certain kind of modern nonfiction.

Kurt Vonnegut, in A Man Without a Country, says

"Evolution can go to hell as far as I am concerned. What a mistake we are. We have mortally wounded this sweet life-supporting planet -- the only one in the whole Milky Way -- with a century of transportation whoopee. Our government is conducting a war against drugs, is it? Let them go after petroleum. Talk about a destructive high! You put some of this stuff in your car and you can go a hundred miles an hour, run over the neighbor's dog, and tear the atmosphere to smithereens."

I have a plan for NY, that I share with people sometimes. So far they have all told me it's nuts. I say of course it is; that's why it's brilliant. In fact, if you compare it to my plan to eliminate all guns everywhere, it sounds positively sane and doable.

So: All cars in the city are forbidden for personal use. No more commuting, no more driving out to a restaurant or bar. The only motor vehicles permitted are buses and delivery trucks.

What are the downsides? It wouldn't work overnight, I know that. Some people are physically incapacitated. Some don't live near public transportation. Lots of problems. But what if we had better public transportation and much, much more comprehensive social services? Think about it.

If the only drivers on the road were professionals, and everything was clearly marked, suddenly biking (and walking!) become a whole lot safer. People who wouldn't currently dream of biking to work (and I don't blame them) would suddenly be able to. Buses would have dedicated lanes everywhere, and no one would have to double park because the delivery trucks would be able to pull into areas that are currently designated for regular parking. Their would be subsidizations for the MTA.

It's an idealistic vision, but not unworkable. Life as we know it is unsustainable, and the only way that's going to change is with, well, MASSIVE CHANGE.

Does it sound like I hate cars? I kind of do, but I don't actually want to do away with them entirely. Or anyway I'm open to the idea that we wouldn't. To go back to David Byrne:

Now I have to admit it's nice to motor around a continent and stop wherever and whenever one pleases. The romance of being 'on the road' is pretty heady, but a cross-country ramble is a sometime thing. It isn't a daily commute, a way of living, or even the best way to get from point A to point B.

Cars are fine for special occasions. It's the way we've woven them into our daily lives and accepted 100% their danger and noise and pollution to do it that is the problem. People have made their cars absolutely central to their identity and that, frankly, is bizarre.

Sometimes when I'm biking home from Rockaway I look over at the Belt Parkway and marvel at the constant traffic. Most of the cars have only a driver, no passengers. Most are SUVs. It's easy to watch them go by and think nothing of it. But then I do think, and what I think is THIS MAKES NO SENSE HOW HAVE WE DONE THIS TO OURSELVES AS A SPECIES.

If I'm honest, I don't think we will ever be able turn off this course we've set. Not without WWIV anyway, when we're all back to sticks and stones. So it goes.

RECIPE: Ginger Bourbon Pecan Pie, which will be THE Thanksgiving pie at my house forever and always (though I still love you, pumpkin; you can come too).