Modern Homes

I live mostly in an old Brownstone in Park Slope Brooklyn, on a block that is considered very beautiful, with trees and even gas lights. Walking down this block is a nice experience, as it somehow connects us to Whitman's time, and the sentimentality that comes with reminiscing about a time when we were not yet born. But to live in this way now is somehow a bit depressing to me, as these old buildings are not particularly energy efficient, and the design is overdone, with ornamentation that speaks nothing of our modern life. Traveling beyond New York City waste is much more evident and has been talked about in detail. Large lawns, big homes for small families, SUVs etc, which is not such a new problem, but one that more people are recognizing. This brings me to a recent purchase my wife and I have made, which is a small mobile home in the Catskill mountains. Initially my idea was to buy this home, in the woods, surrounded by nature, and then build a new house. After spending weekends in the mobile home though I realize how modern this is. The mobile home is small, energy efficient, a part of nature, rather than a disturbance to it, and somehow a way of living rather than presenting. What I mean by this is that any prejudice about trailers keeps me from telling many people about it. It is an insecurity which I now realize is stupid. I sat on our little terrace in the Catskills on Saturday night looking over a beautiful mountain, listening to the birds and frogs, and the occasional loud engine, and realized that my perfect night is not much different from that one. If the cars were electric they would be quiet, this is the future. I could listen to the wildlife and still be modern.