My fondest memory of the Eco-Rationing was the tree planting. We were all little back then and it seemed like a block party, with everybody out in the streets picking up their saplings from the government trucks and getting checked off the list. They'd size up your house and give you the trees that looked like they'd work the best, like how much sun you got and how dense your yard already was. Everybody had to take a dozen, and then we all dug and dug and got our hands dirty together.

There were a couple of arguments with people about having to tear up their fancy lawns or pull out their azaleas or rhododendrons or whatever in order to put the trees in the best spots (not to mention the fertilizer restrictions and water rationing for grass and ornamental plants), but mostly I remember it was fun. And that they let old man Ruggles keep his prize roses, even though the azalea people complained.