Read "Ice Beasts" and more short fiction, scripts, and very little poetry at Laugh at Yourself First.
pauljuser.blogspot.com
If you're here with me in Binghamton, you probably visited Finch Hollow Nature Center as a kid. I went there each winter with Cub Scouts to make lumpy candles from liquid wax and a string. Taxidermied wildlife adorns the walls, including a moose head with a wooden body you can climb. Behind the center were trails wrapping through the woods, into valleys and around ponds.
Over the years, Finch Hollow suffered flagging interest. I have to admit, while I still frequently drive past the little brown building with its Johnny Hart dinosaur in the parking lot, I've not been there more than once since elementary school. However, I was very sad this week to learn that Finch Hollow will be closing at the end of this year. Broome County has been struggling with upkeep for the center for decades, and have an interested party willing to take it off the county's hands. Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see a map that showed the intended purpose: natural gas drilling.
With each passing day, the outcome seems more inevitable that New York will be drilled, and as my father pointed out, I'd be paid whether I support the drilling or not. At first this made me feel like a hypocrite, until I realized how to make that money an even more damaging weapon. New York is desperate to drill due to the pressure of our current financial situation, which has been compounded in this state by the vast corruption in Albany. I don't agree our best option is to whore out our landscape to people that have shown time and time again to have no concern for even the most basic natural order. Have we already forgotten what happened in the Gulf of Mexico? Greed will turn New York black with soot once more. I would feel no guilt in accepting this blood money, knowing I'd done everything I could to oppose the measure. That's the down side of Democracy: the people always get what the people want, even if it's a bad idea. I'll take whatever money they want to throw my way, and I'll make sure not a penny is spent in New York. While we wait, you can write to Broome County Executive Barb Fiala at bfiala@co.broome.ny.us and tell her Finch Hollow Nature Center is no prostitute. Thanks for reading.
-Paul
printisbetter.blogspot.com
pauljuser.blogspot.com
If you're here with me in Binghamton, you probably visited Finch Hollow Nature Center as a kid. I went there each winter with Cub Scouts to make lumpy candles from liquid wax and a string. Taxidermied wildlife adorns the walls, including a moose head with a wooden body you can climb. Behind the center were trails wrapping through the woods, into valleys and around ponds.
Over the years, Finch Hollow suffered flagging interest. I have to admit, while I still frequently drive past the little brown building with its Johnny Hart dinosaur in the parking lot, I've not been there more than once since elementary school. However, I was very sad this week to learn that Finch Hollow will be closing at the end of this year. Broome County has been struggling with upkeep for the center for decades, and have an interested party willing to take it off the county's hands. Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see a map that showed the intended purpose: natural gas drilling.
With each passing day, the outcome seems more inevitable that New York will be drilled, and as my father pointed out, I'd be paid whether I support the drilling or not. At first this made me feel like a hypocrite, until I realized how to make that money an even more damaging weapon. New York is desperate to drill due to the pressure of our current financial situation, which has been compounded in this state by the vast corruption in Albany. I don't agree our best option is to whore out our landscape to people that have shown time and time again to have no concern for even the most basic natural order. Have we already forgotten what happened in the Gulf of Mexico? Greed will turn New York black with soot once more. I would feel no guilt in accepting this blood money, knowing I'd done everything I could to oppose the measure. That's the down side of Democracy: the people always get what the people want, even if it's a bad idea. I'll take whatever money they want to throw my way, and I'll make sure not a penny is spent in New York. While we wait, you can write to Broome County Executive Barb Fiala at bfiala@co.broome.ny.us and tell her Finch Hollow Nature Center is no prostitute. Thanks for reading.
-Paul
printisbetter.blogspot.com
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