| Miamisburg, Ohio |
Near the house where
I grew up was a stream and woods of about five acres. As a boy I played,
camped and hiked there with my friends. We got to know the woods and had
places we liked to go to talk and sleep out. Someone bought the land,
cut down all the trees, bulldozed the hills, laid culvert for the stream,
and erected apartment buildings. I still feel the loss of this place. |
| Phoenix, Arizona |
Just over the mountain
from where I live there was a corner of an intersection that was undeveloped
desert. It was nice to sit and look at it while waiting for the stop light
to change. It was a home for cactus and mesquite and Palo Verde trees
and for birds and rabbits and snakes. Now it is the home of the burgers
and fries. |
| Littleton,
Colorado |
South of
Denver, south of what used to be a rural farming town of Littleton, were
hundreds of acres of the last grasslands and farmlands: the actual inspiration
to the lyric "amber waves of grain." I knew it as a place where
the occasional cow would wander. Today, it is all victim to urban sprawl.
Suburbia on all horizons. |
| Phoenix,
Arizona |
At the
corner of the parking lot at work were two huge pine trees, 50 feet or
more high. Their shade in the 110 degree heat of a Phoenix summer was
wonderful. They were cut down to make way for a parking garage. Although
they could have been part of a small park, providing shelter and beauty,
practicality ruled. They were in the way. |
| Carroll Woods, Pasadena,
MD |
This patch of woods (mostly
conifers about, totalling around ten acres in size) was a haven for
me in my youth. This stand was home to woodpeckers, gray squirrels,
raccoons, opossoms, box turtles, mice and black racer snakes...not to
mention big, beautiful spiders(!) I remember walking these woods daily
as a boy, with my mother... and breathing deeply, absorbing the scent
of the pines. There was no trash, no development, no human evidence
there except for the well worn trail that led us through. These woods
seemed to me to delight in the presence of a child who felt the awe
of its beauty. Sadly, these woods, about ten years ago, were turned
into "wooded lots". While we still have the squirrels and
raccoons, I have not seen a box turtle, black snake or opossum since
the bulldozers came...nor have I heard a woodpecker. They are simply
gone...and yes, they took a large piece of my childhood with them.
|
| Portland, OR |
As I write now, I observe
destruction of a fertile old farm at the base of Mt. Scott in east county,
Portland OR. I struggled and have saved the 100 yr.old home, but see the
ruin of some of the most fertile earth I've ever known. When I moved here
14 yrs ago, deer were in my yard, pheasant, and multiple varieties of
birds. The birds and rabbits remained until a developer came in to destroy
this peace of heaven for the owners profit.
The spirits of those passed on remain here. There is a horsechestnut tree
in back of the house, its diameter is over 9ft. and it stands 60 ft, and
its canopy is home to many. In the heat, it offers @ 20 degrees cooler
shelter. It will go soon. My heart breaks since it has been here longer
than most of us. |
| Swansea, Wales,UK |
I grew up in an area
my parents believed was protected by 'green belt' legislation. We played
in the adjacent fields, which were so packed with bluebells you couldn't
lie down without killing them. When I was five, maybe six, the fields
opposite were lost to a monolith called the DVLA (Driver Vehicle Licensing
Association). Two years later, the adjacent fields got ripped up for a
housing development. I learned, later, that the adjacent fields were also
used to bury victims of a 17thC yellow fever epidemic, so I suppose it
was more than just bluebells that got torn up that day.
|
| Saratoga, CA |
The beautiful fragrant
orchards, vineyards and brush- covered hills around Saratoga, CA (this
is where my husband grew up). It was a paradise with mild weather and
amazing plants and animals. It's now an urban sprawl full of endless cars,
smog and ugly developments. |
| Glenview, IL |
The peaceful small
farms around Glenview, IL. Horses, cows, roosters, beautiful open fields
and streams, all replaced with huge flashy homes on tiny lots, ugly shopping
centers on every corner and cars, cars, cars. This is where I grew up.
|
| Illinois |
My family lived once
next to an abandoned quarry in Illinois. It was full of wonderful wild
plants and critters -- frogs, turtles, bunnies, etc. It was magical. One
day, without warning, big dumptrucks came and filled up the quarry, smothering
every animal to death. |
| Canoga Park, California |
I grew up in an area
below a rocky hill called Rocky Peak with rolling foothills, horse pastures
and reminent old orange groves around our neighborhood. We couldn't get
enough of the tall grasses, sweet orange blossom scents in springtime,
and companionable lady bugs and horses, praying mantis and birds all living
side by side. Now it is all stuffed with large homes and wide paved roads.
The homes go up to the base of ol' Rocky Peak...It is a very sad thing
to see the magic of childhood paved under. |
