Skip to main content

They're paving my paradise

 Today is my day off, so I went for a walk. Which is what I do any day I have an hour free and it's not either 900 degrees out or blowing at tornado velocity or below zero.

I am fortunate to live in an area close to some open space. The space is roughly the shape of a big balloon, and its perimeter measures around 3 miles, which is a perfect distance for me. For the 27 years I've been walking this beautiful open space, I've appreciated myriad birds, coyotes, lizards, silly dogs, ever-changing foliage colors, all with the backdrop of the giant Sandias. 

These beautiful, simple pleasures of nature I've taken for granted. This morning I was reminded that taking anything for granted is a really bad idea.


At the bottom end of the balloon of desert, I saw this. And many large trucks. And a portapotty. They were leveling and creating a big space into which who knows what will go.

My heart clogged up with sadness. I had seen survey stakes over the last months, but hadn't really worried about them because...denial, denial is a great place to hang out.

So I backtracked, not being able to move forward through what used to be open space with a nice path grooved into it. And I started processing the fact that one of my simplest, most revered activities, going for a peaceful goddamned walk through the desert has been sullied by progress.

Now I need to adjust, and to figure out a new path that incorporates as much of the desert as possible but avoids the construction.

Progress is inevitable, but I really don't have to like it.

Have a great day, and a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,
Stevie


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hello there 48

And where on earth did 35-47 go??? But I'm being overly dramatic. Again. See, four dozen? Not such a bad place to be when you're me. I've done a lot, I've seen a lot, I've raised a family and landed airplanes and docked yachts and landed (then released of course!) a marlin and climbed mountains and run a LOT of miles and loved deeply and long and hard and felt..so much that, surprisingly did not kill me..that I feel stronger and more centered and energized than in a long time. And I'm blessed with more than one person can ever rightly expect in one lifetime. And I now possess the wisdom to observe a nanosecond longer than I would have 20 years ago before jumping headlong into a new adventure. Which means many less mistakes but still the desire to stretch and grow and be better and more open and generally less judgemental and overall more accepting and mostly, mostly, knowing that this gift of life is precious and special and mine to experience any way ...
2 comments
Read more

It's been a minute

Oh, what a summer it's been! Heat, the likes of which we have never seen seems to be enveloping the planet. They told us this would happen, and it is.  Now what? Is it time to think underground bunkers? To really explore moon colonies? To continue, on an individual basis to do what we feel we can to help the greater effort? We bought a hybrid two years ago. We'll probably buy an electric car once we feel like the infrastructure is in place, but right now, it's not.  We recycle. Glass ( WHO is drinking all of that wine?! I ask myself each time I toss the bottles into the big bin.). Food. We compost all but animal products, and use it in the garden.  Cardboard/cans/plastics go in the recycle bin each Tuesday. My husband thinks the whole recycle thing is a big scam, and that all of the recycling and trash gets taken to the same place - the dump - because there isn't adequate staffing to sort and really carry out the recycle process.  I feel this is a cynical view, but ...
Post a Comment
Read more

More angst on the unfinished book

Bear with me here, as I'm nearly at a decision point with this project. Really, I am. As I've reread and contemplated writing the finish, then going back and scrubbing and editing like crazy and generally attempting to update a piece I began so long ago, I've become exhausted. Repeatedly. Last night, in a text exchange with Daughter, I explained I'd picked up the manuscript again and was seriously thinking of finishing it. And she replied, 'Mom, you should just start something new. That thing is almost 20 years old now, and you're a completely different person than you were when you started it. Just know that I look forward to a finished project out of you one day, and really, why not go for something more current and stop wasting time on the old stuff you'll practically have to rewrite anyway? ' Out of the mouths of babes, right?
2 comments
Read more