You Are Responsible For State Park Closures
Now I’ve heard everything. Vindu Goel, San Jose Mercury News, puts forward a new theory to explain why Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has found it so easy to propose shuttering the state parks. She says you’re responsible. Yes, you. That’s you - The guy reading this. What you need to do is shut down your computer and take a hike. Hold on! Read the darn thing first.
Just a short drive from the creative bustle of Silicon Valley are some of the most beautiful places in the country: the majestic redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the grassy hills of the Diablo Range, the marshy wetlands of San Francisco Bay and the sandy beaches that swaddle the coast from Santa Cruz to Pacifica. So how often do you actually shut down the computer, put away the BlackBerry, turn off the Wii and spend a day outdoors? Not often enough. Part of the administration’s logic is that Californians don’t spend much time in their parks, so who’s really going to miss a few?
Child advocate Richard Louv called the concept “nature deficit disorder” in his popular book “Last Child in the Woods.” Researchers Oliver Pergams and Patty Zaradic, who have done several statistical studies analyzing our changing recreation habits, prefer the term “videophilia.”
OMG! I don’t know which is more scary, the nature deficit disorder thingy or the videophilia. And I never even knew I had it….But seriously, there is a point here. If no one gives a rat’s ass about what happens to the parks, and no one except some fitness freaks and the occasional stray tourist wanders into the park, can you blame Arnie for trying to pull a fast one?
Look at these Canadian geese at the Tahoe City Commons. If they can do it, why can’t you? James, the guy who took this picture, says that birds are transitory creatures. They’re here for a while and then they move on. Whenever I see a bird, I wonder where it’s been, what it’s seen. I get jealous.
I get the same feeling whenever my girlfriend walks in….But seriously. You could learn a bit from the bees and the birds. Smell some flowers. Hoip from lake to lake. Take a walk. Go on a vacation. Go to Yosemite, or the Grand Canyon. Don’t park your butt. Butt into a park. Sitting in front of a luminous screen all day and night, tapping away at a keyboard and watcing the latest viral youtube vids is not exactly what is called a life. So shut down your computer, digg up those running shoes and let’s get rid of nature. Uh…The nature disorder, I mean.
And here’s some news which fits right into the nutty theme of this post. A hotel guest walked out with the hotel’s new 42-inch plasma television. This happened at the Whitelaw Hotel in South Beach, Florida.
Surveillance cameras caught the culprit who eventually reimbursed the hotel at least part of the $1,000 cost of the TV, which had recently been installed. Hotel guests steal up to $100 million of goods a year, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association. The Today Show’s travel detective Peter Greenberg reported that a man made off with an entire marble fireplace from the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel in California.
A frigging marble fireplace? That must have been one heck of a fireplace. Or maybe the guy was Santa Claus and got stuck trying to sneak in or out. Or maybe he was just drunk…
Posted on February 16th, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Travel News
hehehee…. Ok so I admit it, I took the shampoo! And I’ve never even used it! What a clepto I am! But a tv? Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Maybe that guy needs some outdoor therapy to get over his TV addiction.
I must say that one thing we noticed when we were in the U.S. was how few persons were walking there, comparing to in Sweden. Americans seem to take the car even if they’re only going a short way. Swedes walk more - and in the nature too, but sadly enough we’re heading that way too now.
About the Canadian goose I’m afraid that I haven’t any good to say, because they have invaded Sweden and in a real bad way - leaving their poop everywhere, taking over some of our beaches totally. We need to do something about them.
Maybe we should tell them that it’s time for them to explore the rest of the world…. *giggles*
I would go nut if some one I traveled with wanted to watch TV when we were there, instead of getting out and see some real stuff…
Americans are trying to avoid driving, especially with all the concern about global warming and energy conservation. But still, have to admit that Americans do drive a lot more than Europeans.
As for the Geese leaving behind their poop, maybe you can start fining them. :) Catch anyone pooping, and you just cook and eat them.
im a 19yr old college kid and im not sure were i stand in this situation, i understand the closing of the parks in Cali b/c the only people that go out to parks and beaches are homeless people and teenagers( all they do is drink, smoke, leave garbage, and crap everywhere) and those few nature enthusiasts of coarse. But i think for those that go out to parks and beaches to enjoy nature and animal life shouldnt be punished or anything stripped from them. im not in favor of closing the beaches. Surfing, Skimboarding, tide pool observation, and a realxing afternoon under the sun with no worries…….C’mon arnold!
If you don’t know where you stand, Anthony, maybe you could go and stand in a state park. If everyone unsure of where they stand started making use of the state parks, we wouldn’t have this problem. :)