Some 3.3 billion people -- more than half of humanity -- will be living in cities by next year, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday. By 2030, cities will be home to close to 5 billion. I noticed this trend years ago when I was stationed in Europe. So many people living in high rise apartments and jammed up on little lots with no yards. The country side was controlled with heavy restrictions on hunting and fishing and farms never went up for sale. Access roads to farm land were paved and had protected rail road crossing devices. Germany (then West Germany) was where I was getting most of my experience. It wasn’t bad, but just highly controlled and by necessity. So many people and no place to put them all.

I’m contemplating investing in about 10 acres or so myself in the beautiful rugged East Tennessee. Sounds like I better get my ass in gear. It is hard to believe so many people filling up so much land, but in my lifetime I’ve seen astronomical population growth. I’m not a big city fan, my little town of Huntsville, AL has doubled in size since the 2000 census and with BRAC bringing so many more Government jobs here it will probably triple by the next census. That just puts more pressure on the area. You can’t buy a new house for less then $200,000 now. They don’t build one story ramblers or split levels any more. All the new subdivisions are brick two story homes or brick patio homes with your neighbors 10 feet away from your bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc.

I did find a place last weekend that was away from it all. It’s hard to find a place where you don’t hear traffic, air planes or some other kind of man made sound pollution. But last weekend I was exploring Lincoln county with my main squeeze, Emily, when I stopped the truck and turned off the engine and just listened. Emily asked what I was doing with a perplexed look on her face. She lives in Fayetteville, TN which is still a small town where everyone knows everyone and actually has a town square you can park around. There isn’t enough population for a national food franchise outside the fast food offerings.

I said, “Listen. What do you hear?” She must of thought I had gone bananas.

“Nothing!” she said. She has that Tennessee country quality to her speech that borders on demand and insult. Comes from a life of hard times and saved energies I guess. {wink}

“Yea,” I said, “Only the wild life. No man-made sounds at all.”

I’ve lived in the country before, flat land where you can hear a car coming for 10 minutes then see it zoom by only to hear it and only it for another 10 minutes as it drives away. But this location was different. And this picture shows why.

Taken on the 23 of June 2007. We've been without rain for months and while the meadows are brown the land is still beautiful.

Yep, its ruggedly beautiful.

I’ve had ideas like this for some time. My daughter's equestrian activities have brought me back to the farm so to speak and while it is a hell of a lot of work, it is "labors of love". I don’t just want to be someplace where the horizon is just tree tops. This part of Tennessee has such rugged beauty. I’m not talking about landscapes out west where the mountains are beautiful treeless vistas. I love green. I love trees. I love wildlife. Emily has been told to “Look, there, it’s a . . .” so many times she thinks I never look where I’m driving. I can’t help it. I love seeing a gopher, bob cat, hawk, heron, polecat (see, not smell - LOL), you name it, running around in the wild. It just makes me feel privileged to be in this world. I feel a spirited kinship with the world when I have these experiences. I appreciate living here in the northern hemisphere of our little planet. It is far more than a stupid magnetic ribbon stuck on the ass end of a car can ever convey. (Just had to get a little political opinion in. LOL)

Yep, I need to get me some land. I’m such a dreamer!

Threats Force South Carolina Library to Cancel Summer Program

Threats Force SC Library to Cancel Summer Program


A South Carolina library system has closed down its summer programs for young adults after receiving threats and allegations that it was trying to promote "witchcraft" and "drug use."

The Pickens County Library System’s half-hour summer programs for middle and high school students were supposed to take a light-hearted look at the topics "Secrets and Spies: How to Keep a Secret by Writing in Code or Making Invisible Ink" and "What’s Your Sign?" Another program was to examine astrology, palmistry, and numerology; and others were to feature tarot cards, tie-dying t-shirts, how to make a Zen garden, and yoga.

The programs had to be canceled after a steady stream of hone and e-mail threats from the community, believed to emanate from a single local Baptist church. The astrology program was labeled as "witchcraft" by callers, while the Zen garden and yoga programs were objected to as "promoting other religions." The t-shirts workshop? "Promotes the hippie culture and drug use," callers said.

The stream of threatening 20 or 30 anonymous phone calls, plus e-mails, began two weeks before the canceling. Callers spoke of "picketing" the county’s four libraries and made statements such as "We’re going to get you" and "How dare you?"

A local reporter traced some of the signed e-mails to congregates of a Baptist church.

It is sad that some people feel they have to interfere in others fun because it offends their god. No one was being forced to participate. It is the "Halloween is evil " syndrome (Samhainophobia) all over. Weak minded people who fear they don't have the stregnth of their convictions to walk the straight and narrow when it comes to god. We all know that the hippy movement was born out of having too much dye and too many tee shirts. It nearly destroyed this nation with its followers professing "make love not war." God likes war but he hates sex, ya know. And heaven forbid that a ZEN anything should creap into our community. After all it is unreasonable to expect enlightenment can come through meditation and intuition rather than faith. Nope we need Christian acting like the mafia to keep our communities safe!