I went out for a walk at Cole Hill State Forest on Sunday. It was a delightful day, especially between the clouds.I took the loop to the east labeled steep hill. This forest road had a pretty good snow pack remaining on it, a bit not enough for snowmobiling.
There was a fair bit of litter from trashy shooters, who had done some target practice and not taken their shit home. Idiots. Besides that I heard an ATV in the valley, and I thought it was closer, but I think it was just an echo.
Farther down the trail, below the steep hill there was an old volley ball with a wig or maybe horse hair on it. It was kind of creepy but cool at the same time. I got a nice photo of it I will have to post.The trail was closed off in several places by downed limbs that I had to sneak around. Snowmobilers all winter have been doing this. There is a lot of broken limbs and damaged tree from the ice storm this past Decemmber.
Hiked down towards Cole Hill on the road and took some pretty pictures of the valley and the farmland down there. The earthy browns against the blue sky where beautiful. Hiked west on down to the Swamp past the Kiosk and to the bridge. It was pretty down there, although the sun made photography difficult.
They say this month comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb. This is the month where the harshest part of winter comes to an end and spring starts to take over. Certainly by the end of the month we may start having some temperate warm days, as average high temperatures start to work their ways over 50 degrees.
The thaw is much needed this year. It has been a long harsh winter. The green that will soon surround us will refresh and inspire us; it will wash away all the salt and muck that has piled up throughout the winter. We need to be able to put away our winter coats and enjoy the great outdoors without being bundled up.
While nobody thinks that things will green up this month, the warmer weather and the melting snow is a sign of what is to come. Things will get muddy, and we will get more snow, but the calender will say spring as we move into nicer warmer weather, finally.
Soon will be when we can go out camping and enjoy long summer evenings under the stars. When a weekend hike won’t involve cold but just the beauty of springtime and summertime. When the summer seems endless and we won’t have to think of shoveling anything related to snow or ice.
This times are near. We just have to work out way through this cold month and it will become nice once again by the end of April..
There are certain goods that government can provide to people that are largely indivisible and are little consumed by each individual use. While for sure all use consumes and degrades land and infrastructure slightly, the costs are so marginal that the public benefit of providing a good to the public as a whole vastly out weights the cost of maintaining such a property.
Public lands and infrastructure are good examples of public goods. Most parkland is not extensively damaged by a few people walking on them a day or using their facilities. Lands with back-country camping are quickly healed after people leave them. Roads, within their capacity limits, are not extensively damaged by vehicular traffic. Sidewalks generally are unaffected by whether 10 or 100 people walk on them every day.
Our lives are made better by the commons. On these lands we can meet other humans, we can get from one place or another. We can experience nature. Everybody benefits from the commons, even if they do not use them regularly. Certain individuals will inevitably benefit more from the commons, but their experiences enrich the public as a whole.
The tragedy of the commons is that it has to be regulated to prevent the overuse. People will disagree on how much any particular piece of land can be utilized until it’s experience is degraded to the point where the degradation is essentially intolerable. Indeed, some of the most important public policy debates of the day involved deciding how much to limit the use of the commons.
I must admit I have a personal weakness — I hate to be told to do anything, much less change. While I believe in the importance of change, and always challenging one’s views against the changing backdrop of the world as it may appear today, I have an awful strong resistance to being told to do one thing or another.
When people tell me something, my first response is either no or that I am morally right. I can be an awful difficult person to bargain with, and sometimes I should take my hat off and put it behind me and realize that I’ve made a mistake. Yet, too often I fail to do that until it’s too late. I hate to be viewed as a total jerk with things, but sometimes that just in my nature.
I need to learn to accept the changing world, and make sure that I know all the facts before I tell people no. Sometimes I should just be honest and say I need more time to consider the proposition before I tell people what I really think of them.
Today is December 25th, which is known around many households as Christmas. A truly wonderful celebration of Christ’s birth and time for families to come together once again. Many of us have wonderful holiday traditions this year, and enjoy feasts with the family. It truly is a great time.
In this holiday season don’t forget Christ and the natural world that sustains us all. Spend sometime observing the beauty of the simplicity of Christ’s birth in a hay manger in a cow stall. Go out and feel that cold winter air and think how it must have felt that cold winter night some 2009 years ago today. Take in a deep breath, and realize your taking in the same air that Jesus once did centuries earlier.
The other day I cued up this song by the Rascals on my old record player. One of my favorite songs, it lyrics quote from the bible and other sources on the topic of freedom. “It’s a natural situation for man to be free.” Indeed, it is.
“You should see, what a wonderful world it would be, if everybody learned to live together.” Such good advice, living in a world that sometimes seems to have so much hatred of our fellow man. We all live on one small planet, and we have to learn to live together and respect our fellow man.
“Seems to me that we got to solve it individuality. I’ll do what you to you what you do to me.” Our world’s great problems won’t be solved by an single individual’s actions, but that of many Americans. We must learn to respect one and other, and realize how we treat one individual will reflect back on how we are treated by others.
Happy Thanksgiving! Make the most of it, enjoy your turkey and everything else.
— Andy
Many of your fellow neighboors are struggling to get by this thanksgiving. We are in one of the worst recessions in decades, with many parts of the market failing in ways that have not occurred since the thirties. Many people have lost their jobs and will not be having such a marry thanksgiving this year.
While some people will go in deep humility to the local food banks or be able to enjoy the holiday with family, knowing that one is without work and a victim of the current recessions must be painful. To know that one will likely be searching for a job for quite some time, and any job they get probably will pay less and not fully utilize their skills.
Others will have to work this thanksgiving and will not be home to be with their families. Those people while in many cases essential to our livelihood, won’t be able to enjoy the turkey at home this special day. Make sure when you pass them by not to forget to thank them too for their hard work and all they do for our society.
Eat your turkey. Have a good holiday. Just remember all those who aren’t having such a good one about now.
![Untitled [Expires December 3 2025]](https://andyarthur.org//data/photo_005974_large.jpg)
