Our lack of attention to the big picture — while we wear power suits and turn up the air conditioning so we won't sweat — seems in the same category as trying to eliminate mosquitoes and dandelions.

We notice the birds in distress with their food sources interrupted by drastic weather changes, yet we continue to dump all manner of chemicals into our nest, raising lawns rather than food.

Our addiction to manipulating our environment for our perceived "comfort" and for demonstrating that we are winners is our undoing. Our primal instinct to compete needs a hard look to best reorient our energies.

We are struggling toward a new common sense — may we create it in time.

BARBARA VAILE, Minneapolis