What, then, is the cause of the oughts? Arguably, there are several. But I'll suggest that the most far-reaching, all-encompassing, ever-pressing one is clear: the environment.

And so it comes as little surprise that an enduring icon of the past 50 years, a man who helped spawn the folk-rock music scene and played an instrumental role (no pun intended, seriously) in the birth of protest music, is now making waves near his home in Upstate New York (okay, that pun was intended).

Pete Seeger, along with several friends, introduced his latest effort to change the world last week -- a pool submerged in the Hudson River, which filters filthy water through an intricate network of mesh filters to create a clean, contained oasis for up to 20 people to swim in just off the coast of Beacon, NY.

The idea is to draw attention to the polluted river, and inspire others to follow suit -- either in making their own pools, or more ideally, light a fire under the policy makers in Albany to start realizing the deferred dream of making the Hudson clean in time for the 400 year anniversary of Henry Hudson's historic journey up his namesake waterway. (For those of you who don't specialize in local history, that's next year.)

Thanks, Pete. I'll do my best to venture to Beacon this summer. I still haven't been to the art museum -- maybe the promise of dipping my toes in your pool will finally get me there.

Sounds like a pretty nice day-trip, no?

[Image Credit: Unknown, from the pool's Website]