I hope we have learned to respect ourselves and the other flora and fauna with whom we share this planet.

I hope we have the time and leisure to worry about synthetic dyes.

I hope Patrick's nightmare vision - or Bill Gates' reality - will be seen as anathema, and that people will still treasure the work of mind and hands; that they will still love the smell of wool; that war rugs will still be viewed, if not as beautiful art, then as almost unbearably poignant reminders of chaos and suffering.

I hope that we will have learned to manage our economy and our political struggles with compassion and with a sense of balance.

I hope that we will have learned to stop brutalizing each other and our planet. I hope that we will still value beauty and the creative process. I hope that we will not have forgotten how to dance.

I hope we can stabilize our population and protect the plants and animals who, willy-nilly, must depend upon us for their very lives.

If all of things come true, then we'll still be collecting rugs, and arguing about them; but more importantly, we'll still be making them. We'll still be painting; we'll still link arms and dance. Our voices will be raised in song.

If not. . .

Good to see your voice.

Your conditions are daunting.

Regards,

R. John Howe