When you live in the woods of Chatham County that's a tall order. The idea of a bus somehow lodged in his imagination, probably from a book or a song or something, and once there it was all we heard about for weeks.

I finally met his demand by adding an extra hour to an airport run so that we could board the shuttle bus and take a pointless loop around the terminals.

When it became known to the driver, and the handful of passengers that this was a "first bus ride," everyone joined in the event. And we were able to take one item off his "life list."

Nowadays he still wants to ride the bus. As he enters his teenage years he is a skateboarder enamored with fashion, and stickers, and everything that goes with that.

Which means on gray winter days he is able to enumerate many reasons why living on a gravel road in the woods in unacceptable when he could be roaming the shops and grinding on the curbs of Chapel Hill.

Some days it would be nice if he could simply take the bus.

And there is talk of a bus. Pittsboro's mayor, Randy Voller, shepherded in a grant for a route between Pittsboro and Chapel Hill.

Fantastic idea.

No doubt Chapel Hillians would want to use the bus to come to Pittsboro. Perhaps for some live music at the General Store Cafe. Or to get away from the influx of skateboarders.

We have a lot of UNC employees, and hospital workers, and commuters who would surely rather read the paper than the bumper in front of them.

Now that world commodity markets have crashed, I hope the American public will not return to its wasteful ways.

At $4 a gallon for fuel America woke up. We began to carpool. Bus rider ship increased. We started shedding our SUVs and slipping into hybrids.

And the idea of a bus between Pittsboro and Chapel Hill got traction.

Today the closest we come is the beautiful park and ride lot at Cole Park Plaza. I've been using it since it opened, even though I lack the sticker they say you have to have to park there. I've never received a parking ticket. And I've never had to stand because all the seats were full.

And it saves me the madness of finding a place to park on campus. It's a wonderful service.

Now if we could just take a bus from Pittsboro to Cole Park Plaza we would be set. From there we could get to anywhere on earth without using a car.

So I am hoping the idea sticks.

Today America's energy consumption has plummeted along with our share prices. At present we are conserving energy not because it of its expense, but due to the remarkable transformation our economy is undertaking.

Like everyone else, I am still trying to get my head around things. The normal words, like "depression," "collapse," and "contraction" aren't working for me anymore. I'm leaning toward "transformation."

And when I reflect on the transformation it strikes me that perhaps now is the time to make corrections in how we spend our money on energy. Our normal energy paradigm is predicated on transferring vast sums of our wealth to far-away countries whose people don't like us very much. Except maybe the Canadians.

Perhaps now would be a good time for a hefty tax on petroleum. That way we could capture some dollars in our economy and recirculate them to projects that would benefit our society. I don't really care what those projects are. It could be education. Or health care. I'm thinking that if we tried hard enough we could find some worthwhile cause that could use some cash.

Detroit, perhaps?

I worry that as we re-enter an era of cheap fuel all of our conservation gains will slip away.

Which is why we should put a bus on the road. My son still wants to ride the bus. I want to ride the bus. We could call it the "Transformation Line," with a nod and a wink to a bygone era when fuel was something we could hardly afford.

(Contact Lyle Estill at lyle@blast.com)