On this Sunday afternoon here in the Appalachian
Mountains of North Carolina it is quiet with sun peeping in and out; just
enough to make me think it might stay for a while. The temperature is cool,
great for a walk, but I don’t do those much anymore. With back and hip
problems, I could be courting pain that lasts for hours.
I watched the Sunday morning TV news shows and I feel I
am listening to people who live in a faraway galaxy, not here in my country
where the woods are still and silent around my house; where the blue mountains
in the distance are home to bears, squirrels, coyotes, and deer, none of whom
threaten my way of life. In fact, I am quite sure I will live out my days on
this earth just as I am now. I will probably never see a Syrian refugee, a terrorist
who comes to blow up our town, an outpouring of angry people marching on the square
of Hayesville. I don’t live in fear for myself.
But I am concerned about the future of our world, our
country and especially our beautiful national parks and our state parks. The
last vestiges of wild and unspoiled land in the United States were set aside by
past leaders who recognized the future needs of our people to have a place that
was not concrete and asphalt, to have a quiet peaceful place to get away from
our hurried and stressful lives.
For many years now, here in North Carolina, I have had
the luxury of visiting the Smoky Mountains National Park. Millions of Americans
and people from all over the world come to soak up the vastness, the spiritual
feeling one absorbs here.
Far too many take our federal lands for granted with no
thought of the cost of maintaining these special places. I remember my trip to
Yellowstone some years ago. I will never forget the scenes I saw, the hot
springs, the bison, the mating elk and the moose. What a vision it was to look
out over the wide plains with the amber grasses tall enough to reach the
bellies of the buffalo herds that stretched for miles it seemed.
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| Elk - We saw them everywhere in Yellowstone |
Barry and I, while in Las Vegas on business, were able
to take an extra week to visit Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon. I wish
all the people who spend their lives in dingy little apartments in dirty cities
could travel to these glorious sites. When I was there I was so proud I was
bustin’ my buttons thinking that these thousands of acres will be protected
from the abuse of man and his greed.
Only recently have I worried that our culture might
change so much that we forsake these national monuments and development might
creep in and soon it will all be gone. I won’t be here to see it, but I have
nieces and nephews who have children and they will have families who I hope
will visit the parks and find them as fascinating as I do.
We must find a middle ground between those who will
destroy our land for money and those who challenge everything for love of
nature. We must find a way to make a living without polluting our water, our
rivers and our oceans. No matter what you make as a salary, it is not worth
spoiling our water resources.
I have lived a few weeks without water in my house.
What a horror. I have a well for water for my home and since we drilled a new
one, I have to use a filter on the line coming into the house, and also another
on the water faucet in my kitchen. Imagine having a situation like Flint
Michigan where all water is polluted and dangerous to drink.
When the protections set for our water and environment
were put in place by past U.S. Presidents, I was relieved and had hope that we
would be safe for the future. Now I am not feeling so safe. When regulations are
removed, then our protections are gone.
We are a capitalist country where money has more value
than almost anything else. When I was younger, I wanted more money and felt I
would be happier if I had a better house, nicer clothes, and could travel.
People who make 75,000 dollars a year are just as happy as those who make
300,000 dollars a year according to some studies. Our country is low in the
happy countries list.
No matter how rich we become, we need more than money
to make us happy. Our “stuff” will eventually be given away or thrown away. What
really makes us happy? Freedom from fear, love from our family, and lasting friends
who will always be there.
These are the non-material things we need.
To help support Yellowstone National Park, check out this link.
