Today is the day that we remember all of the people who have given their lives for our country, along with all of those who are fighting oversees. It is a beautiful day, but also a sad day as more and more people are dying overseas for a questionable causes.
Like most Americans, I am proud of the work our fighting professionals are doing overseas. That is their job, their vocation. Yet, there is such a sadness and something missing back home here in America, particularly in the rural areas across our country. It is well known that a larger percentage of rural people go to fight for our country, as an opportunity and hope, only to come back home dead.
I hope that they all come back home alive. I know that’s not a realistic hope, and I fear for what so many of our communities are losing. Really good, really brave men go overseas to fight for our freedom, and leave our many communities behind. You simply can not say enough good about all the veterans and fighting men who put it all on the line.
Maybe by next year, things will be different as we will be celebrating our success in Iraq, and also have our men and women back home. Maybe next year, things will be just a little bit brighter, and our fighting men will be back here doing everything from building roads to protecting our homeland from the risk of terrorists.
So enjoy this beautiful first unofficial day of summer. And remember not everybody is as lucky as you are to be out enjoying it in the sun. Always remember those who are fighting on your behalf, and pray that all of them will make it home safely.
Black flies — there really is only one solution to them: don’t be hanging out until they are gone for the night. That means waiting for darkness to come over the land. Then the party can get started.
Black flies aren’t out all night. So that’s the best time to up and own doing things. Like cooking dinner, drinking beer, and hanging out by the campfire. There is nothing wrong with staying up all night during black fly season, because the days really aren’t that wonderful, if you don’t like getting eaten alive.
Granted, in the darkness, you are somewhat restricted in what you can do. But bring a flashlight, and hell, maybe a bunch of Christmas lights, party lights, and big bright 100-watt equivalent florescent lights, and pretend it’s day light. It’s also cooler, and generally much nicer in then in the day time.
During black fly season, the whole purpose of the day is to be sleeping, and recovering from the hang overs of the previous night.
In south-western Franklin County there is a state forest with approximently 12,00 acres of land, and almost 12 miles of truck trail. Most of it is wooded and moderately hilly, with acres of swamps and rivers, with substainal access via truck trail.
There are three campsites along Conservation Road, with one at Iron Bridge on the Deer River. This is a popular site, one with limited nearby firewood. You probably could drive to another portion of the forest, chop up some wood, and drive back so you have enough for camping.
Name
Latitude
Longitude
Avery Lot Site
44.7352235914112
-74.4550802614741
Conservation Road Primitive Campsite
44.7265204084443
-74.4838001692901
Foot Bridge Site
44.731452233788
-74.5090540850248
Horse Assembly Area (Two Sites)
44.7507488855137
-74.5131752114971
Iron Bridge Site
44.7190820582264
-74.4799989894277
Larch Site
44.730415232034
-74.5048391659423
Number 7
44.7335461250466
-74.5028504711799
Site 10
44.7315799764063
-74.5021705324054
Site 6
44.7271320391316
-74.4853763854447
Site 8
44.7297640340073
-74.4938030505511
The site is number 5, although I was only able to find sites one and two nearby. The other ones must be on other roads. I didn’t drive all over Deer River State Forest, due to the noise the hubs where making on the truck, worrying me about a potential breakdown/failure with the bad hubs.
Parts of Conservation Road where relatively rough and potholed, but compared to some of the other roads it wasn’t all that bad.
At Iron Bridge, there is a popular swimming hole. I went in both in them evening to cool off and in the morning to bathe.
One of the most concerning news stories of recent weeks is our low national savings rate. Last year it was a negative 1.6%. The previous year it was negative 1%. This year’s rate is the lowest in over 70 years.
For most Americans, that’s just another financial figure that goes in one ear and out the other. For some it’s not surprising, as they know first hand the impact of our mounting debt on their finances. They know what it feels like to be beholden to the bank.
Yet, for those who have a real understanding of this figure it’s pretty scary. It means we are spending more then we have money coming in. And a lot of that debt is not going to things that are improving us or building our country. It’s one thing to be borrowing money to get an education or buy an house or pickup truck, it’s another to buying more toys then you really need.
There is a lot of evidence that we are buying more toys then we need. We are too often sold consumerism and become blind to our own means or the costs of our consumption. Indeed, the personal financial transaction is minor compared to all the stuff we are amassing as individuals.
All those material possessions had to come from somewhere. They involved the exploitation of some material whether close or far away from us. They may have or may not have brought money into the local community. More likely then not, these days, they didn’t. And then they have to go somewhere.
There is no problem with making investments into the future. Likewise, there is no problem with purchasing material goods. But we need to be reasonable at what we buy and realize that there is only so much we really need. We need to focus more on ourselves and our communities, and stop buying things.
I have often been quoted that to be brave does not mean you are stupid. That means that you should not take unnecessary risks, but fight for what is right. When there is a cause worth fighting, you must be willing to your life on the line. Freedom demands nothing less then full courage in our fight for it. To be courageous means that you fight for what is right.
Religion often talks about courage. In Christian churches during the season of Lent we talk about the story of Jesus who fought for his beliefs and ultimately was crucified by the Romans for his religion. We talk about how his suffering not only cleaned us from sin, but how our own suffering often makes us stronger as individuals. To quote Romans 5:1-5:7:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; in perseverance, character; in character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right, when we where still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
These words from the bible represent what courage should mean today. It should be about fighting for what is right, regardless if we can win or not. We must believe in what is right, and use peaceful political change to obtain those means. Sometimes it’s not easy or will not happen over night, but regardless it will create greater perseverance in us as individuals. As the bible states: in perseverance, character is created, and in character we get hope for a better tomorrow.
It is so important to have courage and speak against social injustice. It might mean you end up being crucified at the end of the day, but it also may mean you gain more character and hope for a better world around us. Real courage is about taking a stand, fighting for what is right, regardless of the real personal cost. Any cost ultimately is off set by gains in character. Remember, that these costs are real and that when you decide to fight that the issue must be real and substantive, and that you are not just being stupid. A courageous person will be respected by others and loved by himself forever.
When people think about what things cause harm to the environment they think of many things. They think of tall smokestacks pushing out sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides, rusty metal drums leaking orange liquid, or the endless repetition of housing in suburban development.
Most do not think about attitudes and cultures that insulate people from the natural world. Yet, that might just be the biggest threat. Consumption without context, a lack of understanding of pollution, a distant natural world, and apathy all lead up to some serious environmental degradation.
Suburbia is grounded in consumption, often without context. They go to the mall and grocery store and buy things. The trash man comes by on Wednesday and takes away what they dont want. The people there have no idea where things came from, what technologies are behind it, and what the real costs of their actions are.
The landfill is well hidden from view. The methane from the dump and the landfill can not be smelled to the user. The factory in India spewing out toxic chemicals simply does not exist. Pollution does exist in suburbia from car emissions, phenalates from vinyl, and lawn pesticides, but it takes a different context from reality.
People in suburbia drive to work in an air conditioned sport-utility vehicle. They live and work in air conditioned vehicles that seal out natural air. Nature is little more then a place for camping. It certainly is not a place for living or making a life out of. If nature is anything in such a world it is always thoroughly controlled and regulated.
Life is suburbia is good, maybe too good. It breeds contempt and apathy. When life is so good, why challenge our status quo to protect some abstract environment so far away? Suburbs are non-political except for the occasional fight over grandpas fence, or parking. Real issues seem not ever to rise to interest.
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