An Open Letter to the U.S. Auto Industry

I just got done reading and commenting over at Lynda Lehmann's blog Peripheral Vision--Inner Sights about the proposed bailout for the U.S. auto industry. I usually, if ever, discuss things of this nature here at the Rosehaven Cottage blog, but because I try to focus my life on the idea of stewardship over what we are given I have chosen to post this open letter here with the hope that someone else will be able to see things as plainly as I see them.


Dear U.S. Auto Industry,

I know that you represent a large, may I say massive, number of jobs in this country for so many Americans that rely on you for their livelihood. I am proud of the heritage that your industry has in our great nation. I am grateful to the years of innovation and creativity that have contributed to the growth of our nation.

With that same innovation and creativity from which you were born, you must face the 21st century with a new perspective or you will wither away leaving many struggling because of your demise. You have been as a brilliantly colored caterpillar for the last 100+ years, and now it is time that you undergo a significant metamorphosis and become a brilliantly colored butterfly.

The metamorphosis of which I speak should, in my opinion, involve the following three steps:

1. Flip your business model so that the majority of your vehicles run on CNG (compressed natural gas) and a minority of your vehicles run on fossil fuels.
2. Be a leader in making changes happen in the fuel consumer marketplace.
3. Embrace your glorious past and tap into the retro-loving consumer market.

Flipping the Business Model

I've heard all the reasons why this is impossible or financially inviable, but let's face it--you're in deep trouble right now if the prospect of receiving government bailouts is on the table for discussion. You have to change or you will die. So do the hard thing and make the change.

Make CNG fueled vehicles your new focus. It is a technology that has already been tried and found successful. There are some markets where people are clamoring to buy and ship used CNG/gasoline hybrid vehicles to states where CNG fueling stations are more prevalent (i.e., Utah). Tap into that market! And not only tap into the existing market, but create a new one nationwide!

Be A Leader in the Fuel Consumer Marketplace

If you flipped your business model as suggested above, you could facilitate change across the country as to what is available to the normal fuel consumer. For example, California currently has a derth of CNG pumps at regular fueling stations.

Unlike states like Utah, California's marketplace doesn't provide an alternative to those of us that would gladly make an investment in a brand-new U.S.-made CNG vehicle if we had a place to fill the CNG fuel tank! As consumers, our hands are tied. We see groundbreaking strides being made with experimental vehicles such as a multi-fuel Toyota Tacoma. We want to stop using fossil fuels and have another alternative. But we literally cannot. If the U.S. auto industry came to our aid and not only provided vehicles for us to purchase, but also served as a catalyst to persuade the fuel industry to provide us with CNG pumps as they do in other states, you would be seen as a hero. And think about how many automobile drivers are in the state of California. Think about it.

This in turn, could revolutionize the fueling industry further by spawning a home-fueling market for homeowners to have CNG fueling nipples installed on the natural gas lines in their homes so that the U.S.-made CNG vehicle could be fueled in the comfort of the home garage before a commute and also fueled at the other end of the commute at a CNG-providing fueling station (which the U.S. auto industry would assist in making available).

And YOU, U.S. auto industry, could be the catalyst and hero in this scenario. Think about what that would do to your marketshare.

Embrace Your Glorious Past--Tap Into the Retro-Loving Market

For the past 100+ years, the U.S. auto industry has produced many gorgeous automobiles that are still loved and cherished today. Right now, if a consumer wishes to drive an alternative fuel vehicle they are required to drive something looking like a "cheese wedge" or some other monstrosity that has no connection to the design elements that are loved and cherished from the past 100+ years.

Here's a multi-million dollar idea for you, U.S. auto industry, so pay attention...

It's simple... remake cars from the past in modernized versions that run on CNG.

Don't change their dimensions and scale them down as has been done with the PT Cruiser or the like. Give us "life-sized" versions of the gorgeous cars from the first half of the 20th century. Put all the new technology in them disguised with retro design. And make them CNG vehicles.

Think about it...

Think about how popular a remade Woody station wagon running on CNG would be.

Or think about the amount of sales a cool old Chevy truck with the round fenders running on CNG could generate.

And think about the luxury market that would embrace a beautiful Buick from the 1940's running on CNG.

Go to any of the highly attended hot rod shows around this fair country of ours, and you'll get your design model. Don't tweak it for the sake of being innovative. Go back to what you did well, and then give it to the U.S. marketplace with a new fueling option--CNG. Put all the cool electronics in a dash that looks like it came from the past. We'll love it!

Don't give us U.S. versions of what Toyota, Honda, Kia and Hyundai are giving us. If we want that, we'll buy it from them. Give us the gorgeous designs of the American past! Again, you'll be a catalyst and a hero. And you'll be tapping into a multi-billion dollar marketplace that is clamoring for all things retro and vintage. Take a look at BMW's Mini. Need I say more?

Conclusion

The American consumer doesn't want to hate you. We want to support you, and in turn, support the 1,000's of fellow Americans that you employ. But give us new options. Give us pride in our automobile heritage. Come flying at us as a newly transformed butterfly instead of the same old caterpillar we know all too well. Be the innovative leader that you were when you stormed onto the scene over 100 years ago. Do it again, only this time do it brandishing a CNG flag. We'll gladly fall in step behind you, and shout your praises as we parade the streets of America in our gorgeous retro-inspired environmentally-friendly machines of American make.

Sincerely,
Cindy Iverson, an American consumer

P.S. And make the vehicles affordable! Set your price-point at under $25,000 and you've got a huge slice of the market share.

The Garden Puts On Its Autumn Frock

As the days get shorter and the nights get chillier here in the San Francisco Bay Area, the garden is putting on its unique autumn attire. Our autumn color may come later than in other climates, but it still comes nonetheless. And I love it when it does. It all happens in time for Thanksgiving and that makes it even more special.

In the spring this hydrangea is a pure white. But with the onset of autumn the petals of the blooms as well as the leaves don a wonderful deep pink.

It's as if nature is burnishing them with the deep russet tones of autumn as decor for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Alone and less fantastic than its summer siblings, an autumn "Abraham Darby" bloom still puts on a show in front of the reddened hydrangea.


[In case you're wondering, that's an "Abraham Darby" in my blog header. It's my favorite rose in the garden.]

My puzzling "Princess Di" bower vine (that's only "supposed" to bloom from May to June), still has many white blooms on it that look enchanting in the November light. I was taking shots of this blossom when suddenly this bee zips in to grab a snack. I clicked the shutter just in time before the bee took off again.

Click on the image to see the bee and its silhouette larger.

And remember my unseasonable October apple blossoms? [If you don't click here.]

Well, I decided to leave them on the tree and now I've got a nice crop of what I'm calling "encore apples"! They aren't very big yet. But I figure that most apple trees like cooler weather and these apples may get big enough so that by the time we have our first frost some time in December, they'll be ready for harvesting. Hubby and I were actually able to harvest one apple off this tree from the first batch of the year. It was the first time we've ever been able to eat anything from the tree. It was a very nice and delicious little Pippin.

Why I Love American Thanksgiving

Here in the United States, we get to have what I think of as "a triple" as far as autumn holidays go. Here in our home it ends up being "a quad" of autumn holidays starting with my birthday on September 29th. With the passage of my birthday, I enter my favorite time of year because there's a holiday for each of the next 3 months. October has Halloween. November has the American holiday of Thanksgiving. Then December has Christmas.

As long as I can remember, I've enjoyed milking each month's holiday for all it's worth. I don't like to look forward to Christmas until Thanksgiving is over because it's been more fun for me to focus on Thanksgiving as a wonderful holiday in it's own right. I think I was in kindergarten when I was introduced to colored popcorn, cornucopias spilling out fruit, gorgeous ears of dried Indian corn, and pilgrim hats made of construction paper. The russet tones of autumn were a treat for my eyes then as they are now. So many rich colors to enjoy.

As the world of retail has continually pushed aside Thanksgiving in order to fill the store shelves with Christmas merchandise, they've also taken to playing Christmas music earlier and earlier. I try my best to ignore it and turn my attention to the annual store displays full of roasting pans, jars of marshmallow cream, cans of cranberries, and canisters of wonderful spices that mean its autumn. I've always been a huge fan of the whole aspect of baking for the Thanksgiving holiday. Mind you, I rarely do it myself, but the idea of it makes me all giddy inside. It brings back memories of how my mother would start baking around on the Monday of Thanksgiving week (Thanksgiving is always the last Thursday of November). I knew when I came home from school that there would be wonderful aromas meeting me as I opened the front door. It was so exciting to think about.

In this spirit, I set up a Thanksgiving still life and photographed it and then brought it into Photoshop to transform it into the "painting" I was seeing in my head. American Thanksgiving is November 27th this year--only a week and half away. I created this as a desktop image for myself so I could decorate my computer, and I'm sharing it (for free) with anyone who wishes to download it from my Flickr photostream. Click here to go directly to it.

Creation of my "Rose Nostalgia Collection"

Since the majority of my roses in the garden were developed or introduced long after the era of the vintage botanical print, I thought it might be a fun idea to take some of the photographs I've shot of my roses in bloom into Photoshop and see if I could create images that looked like vintage botanical prints.

I started out with the "America Rose". It's the one I did all my experimenting with to find the right process for making this idea happen. Thankfully, a Flickr friend of mine (playingwithbrushes) has a wonderful set of free textures on Flickr that she's photographed and scanned from around her farm and home. Included are some old book pages that she's scanned. They're perfect for what I wanted!

After I completed the "America" rose, I really wanted to try my hand at some others. So the next one was the "Blue Ribbon" rose:


And then the "Janice Kellogg" rose:


The latest one I've completed is the "Montezuma" rose:


I'm calling these images my "Rose Nostalgia Collection" and I'm planning on doing one for every rose variety in my garden (except the mystery roses that I can't identify). It's a real treat to transform these photographs and watch them turn into vintage illustrations with the use of the modern technology of Photoshop and my Wacom Cintiq 12" digital tablet.

Because of the state of the world economy,
I have chosen to scale back my emphasis on selling my work
and, instead, to emphasize sharing it for free via the digital image online.
Click here to visit my Flickr page for more images for you to enjoy for free.

Signed fine art reproductions can be made available upon individual request
for the price of shipping to your location anywhere in the world.

Autumn Medley

1. Autumn Medley 1, 2. Autumn Medley 2, 3. Autumn Medley 3, 4. Autumn Medley 4

Click on any of the links above to see the full image.

November Ladybugs

I passed the bougainvillea today and a wink of reddish-orange caught my eye. In the November sun, ladybugs had gathered to drink in its warmth... and play a little "leapfrog".

Another ladybug was catching all the sun it could get atop a fennel blossom. For being late on a November afternoon, it was wonderfully warm. I ended up going out in the back garden and following this ladybug's example... except I chose the chaise lounge instead of the fennel to soak up the rays.