Before we left Missoula, Montana, we took a walk down town and snooped around the old railroad depot, which is now converted to use by the university. The old tracks have been covered with asphalt and made into a walking/jogging/bicycle path along the river that runs through town. Placed in the center of the gardens, now planted where once people waited with luggage and dreams of travel, they have erected what has been named Millennium Circle Monument. Large brass plates with Theodore Roosevelt quotes are set into the stonework, for all to read as one walks the path around the monument. I had never really studied Roosevelt nor read any of his speeches, but since we've been doing so much traveling, I have learned that he is majorly responsible for the establishment of many of our beautiful national parks and preserves. That alone, of course, would be enough to find the man endearing, but now I find inspiration in much of what he had to say. Without getting too political here, let me just interject that the more I learn of Roosevelt, the more I am offended by some peoples likening President Obama to him. I have yet to see any way, shape, or form of similarity. O.K., enough...What I would like to share is one of President Roosevelt's quotes, spoken in 1910, which seems to have very contemporary application. "I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us." In that same vein of thought, in 1916 he said, "Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying that 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method." I think 'Teddy' would not have entertained the idea of ceasing oil drilling and exploration, but he sure would have used every possible means to monitor and avert such a catastrophe as we have had here on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. I think our leadership has been much too slow to answer the call for action in finding a solution to such a global cost of our resources, not limited to the spilled oil. Yes, we all agree that since BP owns the rig, they are financially responsible for this epic disaster. But the solution to ending the hemorrhaging of oil into the ocean should not have been limited to their actions alone, nor should the ensuing clean up.
Wow! I started off thinking I was just writing another 'travel' column this week, with tidbits about the weather and beauty that I've witnessed lately and really got wrapped up in this distressing rant about 'the oil spill' that we are all worried about. Sorry, I know you have had plenty of exposure to its long reaching mental anguish into all of our daily lives.
With that said, I now see more than ever the need for escape and the importance of appreciating our natural resources and environment...so, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is where we are now, on our way over the Cascades range of mountains, having already conquered the Bitter Root Range of the Rocky Mountains. My greatest challenge right now, is deciding which photo to submit that you might imagine the exquisite and glorious vistas we've witnessed. For those of you with internet access, I will continue to post photos we've taken along the way on my Facebook page...but for now, I guess this one will have to do. I hope it gives you a little peek at some of the stunning countryside there is to behold. Of course there's nothing like the "3D" experience of it all. This photo was taken while traveling along Hwy. 2 above the little Bavarian village of Leavenworth in the Cascade foothills, of downtown.
Wow! I started off thinking I was just writing another 'travel' column this week, with tidbits about the weather and beauty that I've witnessed lately and really got wrapped up in this distressing rant about 'the oil spill' that we are all worried about. Sorry, I know you have had plenty of exposure to its long reaching mental anguish into all of our daily lives.
With that said, I now see more than ever the need for escape and the importance of appreciating our natural resources and environment...so, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is where we are now, on our way over the Cascades range of mountains, having already conquered the Bitter Root Range of the Rocky Mountains. My greatest challenge right now, is deciding which photo to submit that you might imagine the exquisite and glorious vistas we've witnessed. For those of you with internet access, I will continue to post photos we've taken along the way on my Facebook page...but for now, I guess this one will have to do. I hope it gives you a little peek at some of the stunning countryside there is to behold. Of course there's nothing like the "3D" experience of it all. This photo was taken while traveling along Hwy. 2 above the little Bavarian village of Leavenworth in the Cascade foothills, of downtown.
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