Guilt of a Guide Book Author
Dear B & V, Have I contributed to the degradation of this place I’ve loved for so long? Maybe degradation is a hyperbole but this word expresses the depth of my feelings. However in reality, my favorite park hasn't been destroyed nor do I have the hand of god to cause her degradation. Change has occurred though to her natural space to alter my feelings about this place. Now when I hike the intimacy of her valley walls, my feelings turn to sadness, frustration and disappointment. Where once there was a single track hugging her stream banks, there is now a network of trails that spider, interlacing each other up and down her walls. Where once the species that make her valley home, she is now invaded by our lazy, man-made foot paths cutting through her living room. Where once there were blue, blazed trees standing erect adjacent to her trails, they are now toppled by the compaction of hundreds of daily tread strikes on her soil. Where once numerous wildflowers carpeted