Travel

City in the Clouds

56 Comments

As part of yesterday’s discussion of one’s most favored habitat, I neglected to mention this enchanting idea – colonizing the planet Venus.

The surface of Venus is too hot for comfort (or even existence), but apparently at an upper level of the atmosphere it’s cool enough to be habitable as long as we solve these thorny problems:

  • Nothing solid to stand on.
  • No lakes or beaches.
  • Certain death in a planetary blast furnace if you fall off the edge.

But on the plus side, you’re considerably closer to the Sun, and even if you can’t surf you can tell the suckers back on Earth that you’re having a fine time in Cloud City.

This would not be a friendly environment for those among us who are worst-case scenarists. All you’d have to do is look up to see the giant kevlar balloon keeping cloud city afloat to start imagining myriad ways in which things could go catastrophically wrong.

And then of course there’s island fever – a popular name for the syndrome where one feels hemmed in and limited even though one’s prison is Maui. Being such a townie, I don’t doubt a completely artificial floating city could be constructed that meets all of my work and entertainment needs – a desktop, some nice restaurants and a few stages and cinemas – but after I’ve boasted to my friends that I live in Cloud City, what would I do with the stark realization that I’m stuck forever in Cloud City?

I suspect the final design will have to include a safety net that hangs below, just like the Golden Gate Bridge.

You’re going away for good. Name your preferred prison.

56 thoughts on “City in the Clouds”

  1. Good morning. If I’m going away for good and can’t leave the place I go to I think I would pick San Francisco. There might be some better places for me that I have never visited. Of those I know I think SF would be the best. That place has lots of interesting culture, good climate, and the ocean. If I had to stay within the boarders of the city I would miss getting out into the country. I would not mind being in a place with no winters. I can put up with winters and even like a cool brisk winter day. However, no more winter weather would certainly be okay.

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        1. i met a guy who had europe for his territoory and he chose buda pest and prauge as his favorites
          i like milan but i think maybe id consider doolin on the west coast of irland for the spiritual side of the equation or maybe vancouver island

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    2. Mark Twain quote: “The longest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Fransisco.” I have not found the weather there that desirable!

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  2. i just read a blog in freshly pressed where the author asks if the science fiction world can teach us how to do life better. it was interesting and the reason i love kurt vonnegut. the cranking up of the thoughts that circle around the what ifs makes you better. i think the idea of building a flaoting city is marvelous. when you realize you forgot to bring the 10mm socket for the socket set is will be a pain in the but to get it shot up on the next delivery vehicle to arrive in 90 days or so. you would be particular about what you ordered and a little frustrated if it got back ordered. i can see setting up the amazon .com warehouse at the halfway point to get it there int he extraordinarily short time of only 45 days for all the cloud city buyers and the dollars to be harvested form the captive audience. the socket is 3 dollars but shipping is 4000. it would be fun to see how it evolved over a 10o year span of time. edith could show up first and enjoy the perfect temperature rancge and balmy climate and then figure out the the closed in feeling needed a little help and plug in a space surfer sled wher you forget the closed in feeling and go sashaying through the clouds on an enclosed skateboard. thed idea of living on the starship enterprise is not a lot different from committing to a nursing home at age 80 but hopefully if you do it sooner you can enjoy it a little more. you are stuck there but you are not old and fading so you can make decisions on how to fix the place up. the commitee on redoing the main ballroom to accomadate the tennis player and the swimmers is going to take some work but you have 100 years … order up the stuff for the next shipment if you forget it will come on the next one. if you ahve 9 days to wait for it to get there you will absolutly be prepared when it gets there. fill the delivery vehicle up with space refuse and send it back for recycling. a very well monitored process headed up by the coros (committee on recycling our stuff) where each package, item and consequence of introducing an item into the colony would need to be addressed. my cigar smoking would have to be in the corner where the smoke is released to the outer elements. i can see the vegetable gardens and the exercise studio along with the mushroom caves and wood shop. scrapbooking may be a big hit and music lessons and the library would be regular spots of growth for all venutian inhabitants.
    its not so much where as how you hang out in the universe. mountains seas nebraska or venus. there is always something of interest. as for the suicide net. i dont want to go pull them in and deal with all the people who gave up. allow the kervorkian end if thats what they want. the antidepression chambers are there for their use any time and the 90 day trip back to mother earth nmay be jjust the buffer they need to gather their thoughts on what life means. a tiny house floatillia back to the mainland leaves every monday and arrives 90 days later in hawaii for all the 70 degree weather fans who are ready to feel island fever on land instead of the mothership.
    good idea dale. end of the trail mothership now accepting reservations for an initial departure to be at a date to be detemined later. do you put in a couch with a sofa sleeper for visitors or is that not a good idea?

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    2. tim, I think you will be named the Philosopher King of Cloud City – hanging out with you and considering all the options will clearly be one of the major attractions of the Atmospheric Venusian Lifestyle.

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    3. Could I ask for one small concession? Please divide your posts into paragraphs, tim. I just can’t make it through that much verbiage without a break. Please!

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      1. Agree with PJ. Just hit “enter” a few times and we can manage better. Don’t know if it’s my brain or my eyes, but woo-boy, sometimes it’s hard to read.

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  3. Rise and Name Your Cloud Baboons!

    I hate to be smug, but I would just move into one of the core cities of Minneapolis/St.Paul–either will do if I can get to buses and trains and own only 1 car. I am happy in my cloud now–even in the Long Winter of 13/14.

    But mindless rule-tending has never been my thing. So a new settlement for no reason just won’t do when I am happy here with my wifi restored.

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    1. That WiFi thing is really a lifeline, isn’t it? I was without internet most of the day yesterday, and it struck me how central my computer is to much of what I do.

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      1. I could probably be ok without it, as long as everyone else was without too.

        When everyone else has it and assumes I do (or should), it becomes a necessity.

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    2. We counted all the stuff it has replaced: banking AT the bank, encyclopedias, either at home or the library, some book lending at the library (still use it, just on-line), newspaper on weekdays–still need the paper version on weekends, cookbooks when seeking new recipes. And then there is Netflix or other streaming services–really missed that!

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      2. The internet has replaced the phone book too, but why go to the trouble to talk to people when you can text them instead? When the wifi is down, how do you contact someone to say the wifi is down?

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    3. I apologize for my snickering at your comment “..and own only 1 car.” Currently, and this has happened in the past, too, my household has 1 car – for four drivers. It works (sort of) because of public transportation, biking, and being able to walk to places such as the library. And because none of us has much of a social life.

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        1. We wouldn’t all fit at the same time – at least not legally. Those two guys who don’t drive can’t be left home alone and their car seats take up a lot of space.

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  4. My acrophobia rules out Cloud City as a bearable destination for me. I shiver just watching sci-fi that has such locations. I believe Empire Strikes back is possibly the worst.

    If I get to have books and wi-fi any place with plenty of outdoor opportunities and four seasons will be fine.

    If you want to punish me, confine me to the island of Manhattan. Fine for a day trip, I could not stand never being able to leave.

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        1. so when you drop your cell phone down the trash chute, nobody has to go looking for it, because you know it’s really gone.

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  6. Lock me up in Grand Marais or Oslo. Both would be good places to live with just enough to keep me entertained, fed, and content. Arguably, neither would really be “prison” as such, but I suppose I could argue (based on yesterday’s comments) that Grand Marais would be some modicum of deprivation in that there would not be much for live opera (I would have to drown my sorrows in chocolate covered cake donuts from World’s Best Donuts). Oslo is more of a stretch…um…hmm. The expense of peanut butter would make it a luxury item instead of a staple. There. That works. (Never mind that the dairy products in Norway are divine, so I could make up for my peanut butter losses with good cheese and ice cream.)

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    1. Re: live opera

      As we were travelling our usual impractical route through Iowa and going through small towns, I pointed out the now mundane businesses occupying what were once vital parts of small town community life.

      Many small towns had opera houses that small touring companies played and the local theatrical society used for presentations. There were also ballrooms/dance halls (we made a small detour to see The Surf) with live bands.

      Rural America didn’t have to be a boring, barren wasteland, but perhaps it is more profitable to have it so.

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        1. if its a darn good blender. like the 99 dollar one to make smoothies in vs the 29 dollars on that makes fruit juice if you thaw the frozen can

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  7. If it’s prison, I guess a few acres of tillable soil where I could grow grapes, have a few milk producing animals and grow some wheat so I could survive on homemade wine, cheese, bread.

    But like Anna, Grand Marais would work too, as long as the fresh food conundrum was addressed. Hard to grow anything that far north and that cool, I’d guess.

    Chris in Owatonna

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    1. That’s why I probably won’t answer the question, Chris. You can tell from my name that I know what prison is like. And I don’t like it.

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      1. I agree, littlejailbird. Sorry to hear about your legal troubles. Perhaps a better phrasing of the question might have been, “Where would you choose to live if you had to live there the rest of your life, with no travel (release or escape) allowed?”

        Chris in O-town

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  11. I think I could handle being imprisoned on Amtrak (esp. if Husband is imprisoned there too) – places to go, great views, pretty good food, I imagine you’d at least have a bunk somewhere and not have to sleep in coach.. certainly get used to the clickety-clack.

    Or how about a cruise ship?

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    1. Travel on AmTrak now is a great deal like being imprisoned. Trains hauling customers are second in standing to those that haul freight. On a typical AmTrak trip, anticipate being stuck on a side track for 5-8 hours in a typical trip.

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      1. Exactly right, Steve. I regretted my decision to take the train back from Seattle after bringing youngest daughter to college there last fall. It wasn’t so bad going west, but on the way back, the train would be sitting at the siding for hours while waiting for 1, 2, or more freight trains to go by. Some of it happened at night when I was sleeping, but during the day, it always happened at the least scenic place imaginable (can you say BORING). The Empire Builder is supposed to pull into the St. Paul Depot around 7AM and I got there at 3:30PM. We got so far behind schedule that any stops at stations were shortened to about 3 minutes and they told us to not get off the train. So, yeah, it felt kinda like a prison. By that last morning and until we arrived at St. Paul, I was going stir-crazy. I had read so much that I didn’t want to read any longer; I had listened to music so much that I didn’t want to listen to any more music; I was sick of looking at the scenery out the window. Not to mention I was starving. The snacks I had packed didn’t last to 8 hours past scheduled arrival time. Next time I will take a plane.

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        1. I believe the North Dakota oil boom has something to do with this. More fossil fuels are being pulled out of the Earth to refine and put in Amtrak locomotives that are sitting on sidings, running their engines and waiting for the fossil fuels to go by on the main line.

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  13. Okay, I lied to Chris – I will answer the question (now that most baboons have gone to bed and won’t see this). If I had to go away for good, I think I would aim for somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve heard Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula is nice. The climate is good, berries grow well there, and there’s a year-round Farmers Market. Plus, if I live in town, I think everyone gets free wifi, presumably even in jail. Views of the water (ocean or Sound or whatever they call it) and mountains. Free bus to Hurricane Ridge. No snow shoveling, but you can get winter when you’re in the mood by going up the mountain.

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  15. I’m pretty sure no one will read a post at the end of the next day in which the question was posed…………but anyway, I’ll add my two cents. I find that the cottage on Crystal Bay is the only place on this earth I’d rather be until the end. In fact, they’ll have take me out of here feet first. Having live here for 12 years, I can fully understand my parents’ love affair with the enchanted place. I’ve heard that once you live on water, you can’t live happily anywhere else. Now, I get it. If you were to lift this cottage and place it in south Mpls or Brooklyn Center, it’d have very little appeal. Perhaps the environment is as important as the home itself?

    This place is wood beamed, pegged wood floors, wood-paneled in nearly every room with a full wall fireplace facing the lake. It hugs anyone who enters the space. The knotty pine walls make the cottage feel like a mini-lodge. It’s my refuge and peace.

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