Reading Michael’s blog entries, I’ve realized that Michael and I have something in common; we love drawing messages from books we read and sharing them with others. I rediscovered a book yesterday, a book that I used to read all the time but in recent years have put on the back shelf. It’s a wonderful story of new beginnings and of hope—a feeling that I find abundant in the Buffalo ReUse atmosphere. Anyway, the story is The Wump World, written by Bill Peet, and it’s about a planet full of these cute capabara-like creatures (Wumps) that is taken over by Pollutians from the planet Pollutus. The Wumps are forced into hiding while their world is destroyed by pollution. The world becomes so polluted that the Pollutians give up and leave, finding it easier to leave than change their ways and stop polluting. The Wumps emerge from hiding to find their world completely contaminated and it seems like things will never be the same, but wait! Among the smog-filled miles of highways and skyscrapers, they find a patch of grass! The last page is a picture of a plant growing up from under the concrete and I believe it holds a strong message: no matter how bad things seem or how much a place has been destroyed, it can still be rebuilt. Put in the context of Buffalo, this story tells me that there is so much potential in this city. It has been neglected for a long time, but we can rebuild it and rebuild our communities. New beginnings can happen in this city. Wump World is a short read and I recommend you share its message with anyone who will listen.