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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Stumped.


Before there was a garden here,  a forest stretched softly to the sea, unmolested by chain fences, ignorant of wild roses and rambling grasses, posing majestically among mossy groves.
Waves of fresh and salt water formed a lagoon here, a bay there. The local population spent summers on these shores, catching and smoking salmon, bass, clams, collecting mushrooms and nuts, drying kelp and reeds, carving shells and driftwood into usable tools and implements.

In winter they lived inland, up river, on the Elk, the Sixes, Hubbard Creek, Floras Creek, away from storms that would blow their huts away.

Old summer villages, excavated and recorded, have left many traces of the bounty provided by the forest and the sea.We have no pictures of the trees or the life lived here.  The two stumps are young compared to  old growth in the vicinity.

After last night' s windstorms, more trees will be cut down.

Today's inhabitants are full timers. They have laid out strong foundations and stronger roofs.
They are making plans for using ocean waves and wind to generate energy to run their many machines, to warm their homes, to create more tools to colonize these wild lands.

Soon, instead of old growth, we can expect to see condos right by the water, stumps eradicated completely, gardens protected from the wind in man-made green houses.








21 comments:

Suz said...

Oh I hope not!

Elisabeth said...

It sounds so sad, Rosaria. The price of progress or the madness of human kind?

Brian Miller said...

and we will call it progress....sadly...io think we need more wild space...

Terra said...

Wild beauty makes my heart sing, and people keep building more houses, streets and buildings.

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

Oh, no, not condos! It's so sad to see natural, wild space paved over and partitioned off.

musicwithinyou said...

progress should be the other way around. Saving what is left of beaches and forest. Not destroying them.

Rob-bear said...

Well, the old order changeth, as Tennyson noted, but not necessarily for the better.

Wish thoughtful people like you could have the place for ever.

Meryl Baer said...

I wish lawmakers had the guts to pass laws limiting growth close to the ocean.

ds said...

Criminal. So many fail to see the beauty in the wild--it sickens the heart...

The Broad said...

No! That makes me feel quite sick... 'They' are out of their minds...

Perpetua said...

I hope they enjoy being buffetted by the winter storms their ancestors had the sense to escape! The thought of those cliffs with condos saddens me.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Rosaria .. sounds rather daunting .. and I hope the people that come in understand and appreciate the land - that's a big part of the battle .. our natural earth is so important ..

With thoughts - Hilary

Man of Roma said...

I understand your worries, but you people out there have so much space compared to us. When I came to California in 2008 I was so amazed by the sheer size of the land. It is more worrying here in Europe where there’s less territory for the inhabitants. In any case since the world population cannot but grow respect for nature must grow too or we’re done.

the walking man said...

Rosaria we are still in that time of European/American Manifest Destiny. How much longer it can continue and man can survive is the question I am always asking myself.

ellen abbott said...

I hate for trees to be cut down when they are still living.

Maggie May said...

One of my pet hates cutting down trees unnecessarily.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

yaya said...

Leaves a bad taste in the mouth I think. I hope it doesn't come to be. Enjoy your area while you can.

Helga said...

We visited Oregon 2 years ago. The acres and acres of cut down trees and the devastation and mess left behind were a truly sad, sad sight.

Then again, I remember Woodland Hills, CA and the orange grove on Oxnard that was converted into a townhouse complex, as well as the strawberry patch on which a hotel was built.

Well, first everyone is upset and protests, then gets used to it, then forgets what used to be there, and in the end finds the new outcome quite beautiful and convenient. But it will never be the same.

I love nature and wish and hope that the cliffs, the ocean, the forests and all this world's splendor will be preserved in its natural beauty for us and the enjoyment of many future generations.

Vagabonde said...

I think that one of the problems here is urban and regional planning, or lack of it. Often zoning laws are passed here without vision for the future – that certainly happens in Georgia. Who thinks about the America of 2050 or even 2100?

rjerdee said...

Oh no! I'm hoping the powers that control your town/city planning will hold back the "developers"...they do that here in Venice, FL. They keep the bad buys at bay, maintaining our 13 miles of pristine public beaches where the only occupants are those in bathing suits...who leave at night.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

How sad, Rosaria.