Parks Not Personal Monuments

            My favorite thing about going about on trails and seeing huge natural formations is the sense of discovery that comes with it. You can never be quite sure about what is just around that next bend or over that next hill. Unfortunately, all the natural wonders I enjoy have been slowly eroding, but not by natural means. We’ve all seen the litter along trails. We’ve all seen the names carved into a rock or tree.

            I love it when structures are built to complement the landscape. Trail improvements should be the same way. They should move along with the contours and trees instead of cutting right through it. I’ve seen a lot of trails that do just that. Adding stairs and bridges that don’t detract from the scenery can enhance the experience. At least they make the parks that much more accessible. If done wrong though, they can destroy the magic of a place. The last thing I want when I go to a park is to feel like I’m in the middle of a commercialized enterprise.

            That’s one of the reasons I’m against the proposed “improvements” to the Grand Canyon National Park. The addition of a gondola to ferry tourists to the bottom of the canyon and an increase is commercialized space would intrude too much. The National Park Service has other reasons for opposing the development. Mainly they have concerns about the water situation, which is already tenuous at best. I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, but when I eventually do visit I don’t want to feel like I’m in a mall with a view.

            For the most part trail improvements are necessary and can increase park visitor numbers, which is only a good thing. I praise anyone that would go spend an afternoon walking along a trail, but with greater accessibility comes an increase of those who lack respect for the park. We've all seen litter along the trails. You're just as likely to see a water bottle as much as a tree. But unfortunately, that's the least damaging thing we've all seen.

            If you ever get the chance, go see the Rock House in Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio. It's a good little jaunt and you can easily walk the entire thing in an hour or two if you take your time. The parks department has made several improvements to increase the accessibility of the cave. But the site is marred by the continued and repeated wear and tear caused by visitors. With one goo look you'll see dozens upon dozens of carved names on the floor and walls. There are large grooves worn into the soft sandstone by people repeatedly scraping their foot in one place.

            If this isn't cracked down on, anything natural in these places will eventually be destroyed, along with everything that makes these places special or interesting. Instead of natural beauty all that will be left is a battered and scarred monument to self-gratification. At that point what’s the difference between that and a shopping mall? The park service can’t do it alone, so the next time you’re walking along a trail, pick up that bit of litter. Maybe this time don’t hold your tongue and tell the other visitors that carving on the rocks isn’t okay. Keeping the parks in good condition should be the goal of everyone.

The Job Search

            So I said when I started this narcissistic indulgence I call a blog that one of my goals was to find a better job. I believe I gave myself until the end of April to have found on. Well, I've found plenty of jobs between then and now. Unfortunately none have hired me. All the employers are probably trying to figure out the answer to that age old question: what do you do with a BA in English? If someone knows please tell me.

            It's rather unfortunate that I didn't know what I wanted to do until I had graduated. If I had I certainly would have changed majors. Not that many of the classes I had would have done me much good in switching majors. Not outside the basic classes. But that's not important right now.

            I don't have much more to say, but there's where I stand at the moment.

Mile Markers

As Americans, we really like to memorialize things. It certainly seems like if anything of even minimal historical significance happens somewhere or if there's a house or other object that's stood since the 1800's it will end up with a plaque on it sooner or later. Not that that's a bad thing by any means, but sometimes it seems a little strange.

            Here's an example of what I mean. Between Fremont and Rossford, Ohio, along the north side of Rt. 20 is a series of square stone pillars, each one with different number on it. They're fairly easy to miss if you aren’t paying attention. I must have driven that stretch of road dozens of times but I didn't notice them until last weekend. It didn't take long for me to realize they are old mile markers, from before they started marking miles at county lines.

            While I drove I kept an eye out for each one. I was on a long drive with nothing better to do, so why not? Driving West, the numbers on the markers counted down. But when going through Woodville, still watching out for each one, I spotted the sixteen mile marker in front of one of the storefronts downtown. This marker seemed to sprout from the middle of the sidewalk and right next to it on a post all of its own was a plaque. Of course I had to stop.

            The plaque offered as much information about the mile markers as it could I suppose. It certainly offered more than I asked for. I found the whole situation amusing. Just the fact that memorializing a mile marker seems silly, but at the same time it had piqued my interest enough to get me to turn around and stop. What was most surprising was that most of the mile markers were still there. Some had obviously been moved, but were still visible from the road.

            That’s just one example, but it’s one of those things that if you kind of stumble upon. It allows you to learn about things, but at the same time gives you a sense of discovery and exploration. Maybe that’s why we like to memorialize things in this way. People discover something interesting, then share the information in such a way that the rest of us can get that same feeling. 

Making a Few Changes

I've decided that doing one post a week is a bit much for me, especially this week when I've got such a nasty cold. That said, I will be alternating between larger posts and smaller posts each week.

750 plus words is also a bit much, so instead I'm going to strive towards having a much more precise word economy. It should help keep posts much more focused and to the point. Plus it won't look like a massive wall of text.

In other news: IT BEGINS.