Memories

[Mensa]

It's a hot, humid, and hazy day here. Temperatures hovering around 40C.(that's 104F. for the thermally challenged) I live in a tourist area, when I go out my front door and turn left I go to a golden sandy beach on one of the largest lakes in the world. If I head straight forward I go downtown to the shops , restaurants, banks etc. When I turn right, however, I go across a stream, through the woods and out into wide open fields.

I take my dog this way often to let him have a good run. I remove his lead and let him go wherever he pleases. He's a Parson Jack Russell terrier. He's also a wimp! As I said, it was hot today so when I let him go he ran for awhile and then realized how hot it really was. He spent the remainder of our outing running from tree shade to tree shade. He'd wait in the shade of one tree til I passed him , then dash ahead to the next shady patch and wait for me to catch up. All the time giving me a look as if to say"Which of us is supposed to be the dumb animal, you walking in the hot sun or me who knows enough to find shelter from it?" He's snoring at my feet right now.

Walking there among the trees and wildflowers got me to thinking about how we build our cities in the wrong places. We always seem to pick the best agricultural land to pave over and build upon. Why we don't make our cities in the areas where crops and orchards don't do so well is a mystery. The scenery is breath-taking when you stop to enjoy it but already they are clearing large areas for futre homesites. Pity! We never seem to truly appreciate what we have til it's gone forever.

When I was growing up we lived in an area where we on the outer edges of a major city. My parents came from farms so they wanted greenery around. It was idyllic. There was a wild orchard growing beyond our back fence and in it there was an old abandoned house falling down. We would play for hours there using the house as a fort or a castle or whatever our imaginations required. We would eat wild apples and pears, even before they were completely ripe. Pick wildflowers to bring home for the dinner table. Up the road there was a wide open field filled with wild strawberries, through which a creek ran. The creek wasn't large but it did have a couple of water holes in it, they weren't very deep only five or six feet at most, but deep and wide enough to let children swim. Which we did as often as possible in the summer sun.

I went back to the old place years later and it was one of my worst decisions ever. Nothing was as I remembered it. The orchard with it's delicious wild fruits was gone, in it's place row upon row of tract homes. The fields of wild strawberries were now an industrial park. There was nothing left of the place I remembered so fondly, only paved roads and strip malls. Such is progress, I suppose, but wouldn't it be nice if we could leave places like this for future generations to enjoy as much as I did and build our cities in places where no such memories could exist?

 

[Guest]

 

[SunnyGirl]

Well, as much as I complain about being in the middle of nowhere, I'm thankful that I still have lots of wildlife, greenery, trees, flowers, creeks (there's one running just outside of my back yard), and places for my dogs to romp and roam.

Mensa, you're perfectly right. It seems that developers see a beautiful spot, think to themselves, "this will offer a nice view if I plant an apartment building right here", and then fail to realize that other buildings will soon spring up and the view will be destroyed.

*sigh*
I'm glad you got to go outside and appreciate what you have though...even if it was the ungodly temperature of 40C

 

[Barb Dwyer]

"They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot"

That was a very thoughtful and lovely exposition Mensa. Valid points. We are fast running out of green space around the globe. It was one thing when it was just the Amazon rainforest but now it is moving closer to home! Of course I am kidding, the deforestation of our planet is devastating.

Our ecosystems are being destroyed or irretrievably harmed. The extinction of species is accelerating. We are polluting our land, water tables, oceans lakes and streams and wetlands. We are harming the very air we breathe.

We are causing ourselves and future generations to get sick or become more prone to diseases through genetic mutations because of this.

I suppose the reason, like so many other things, is the almighty dollar. Developers don't care that they are cutting down trees or disturbing an animal refuge area. They just want the environmental impact studies to proceed smoothly and quickly so they can build housing, strip malls or office parks.

I am not usually so vocal about this subject, but your treatise gave me pause! However, I have, in the past, spearheaded a grass-roots movement to stop the development of 100 acres up the street from me. I hated to see such a beautiful, vast greenspace destroyed in order to put up 50-75 luxury homes. We were successful in holding up the project for 10 years. Finally, the developer went ahead with the project (despite not getting the original zoning changes/variances he wanted) and instead built 35 homes. It was a victory and a defeat at the same time.

They say "Time marches on" and "You can't stand in the way of progress." BAH! Give me my trees and wildlife, the flora and fauna over a convenience store and gas station ANY DAY!

Thanks for pointing out what is truly important. I am lucky to be able to go outside and be surrounded by nature. I can almost forget about the commerce and hustle and bustle just a few miles away - at least for a few minutes.