Seriously, doesn't he look like a poster boy for the "Dog Days?"
AUGUST. The "Dog Days." Hot. Sticky. Too many bugs. No energy. Can't wait for them to end. That pretty much spells it out for most of us unless we are on vacation on a beautiful beach with sea breezes or maybe up in the mountains in the crisp morning air. Even that doesn't always help with all the changes to our landscape constantly on the march. But, suiting up to go to work when you are sweating even in the early morning is just not the cup of tea most of us enjoy. And, for East and Gulf Coast residents, the prospect of a hurricane coming with all the inconveniences and loss of power, sometimes for what seems like endless days, conjures up memories that we don't like to think about. Yet, despite all of that, on a bitter cold and dreary day in January some of us then yearn for the hot weather again because, let's face it, we are very fickle. We can change on a dime over anything that we see as being inconvenient. But whether it's too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry, perhaps we would be best served by admitting that we are largely responsible for where we find ourselves.
It really just boils down to this. When popular places attract huge numbers of people to locate there, we generate a course of action which strips nature's own ability to solve the problem or at least make it tolerable. And the last thing I want to be is negative, but when I think of the beauty that God has given us, it's pretty clear we have often made a big mess of it and I don't believe it comes anywhere near being responsible as God expected us when he gave us dominion over earth.
One need only look at some of the most popular places to live in these United States to see what happens over and over again. No place is more representative of some of the problems than the state of my residence, Florida. Here in the Sunshine State, as the overpopulation of South Florida continues to infringe on every square inch of undeveloped land, more and more continue to come and also to the less developed northern part of the state. Old Florida is disappearing with it, and as this happens water quality dwindles and the source of water finds itself under distress. Where shade from the sun tempered the sun somewhat in undeveloped and largely wetland areas, man continues to exert political pressure for new and massive roadways and development. The result is massive and often cookie cutter neighborhoods, devoid of trees and built so close together that it more closely resembles a ghetto than a nice place to live. And with it comes more of the same old, same old box stores, banks, gas stations, fast food establishments and small specialty stores, not to mention RV businesses and car lots. It won't be long before the only way you can take a raft ride down the Suwanee River will be at a theme park mock-up.
But it's not just Florida. Go north to North Carolina's Outer Banks. The once pristine shore is now a booming tourist trap with three to five story cottages jammed together with no way to see the ocean from a lower lever or catch a cooling ocean breeze or the soothing sounds of the breaking waves. Jockey's Ridge has now become a flattened out pancake and kids on the beach often spend more time playing with their smart phones as much as enjoying the natural surroundings. Thankfully some places have been preserved but if you haven't been there in recent years you will think you crossed the wrong bridge when you get there. Then there is the infrastructure, with no way to handle heavy water in the interior from beach overrides or rain, with a resulting toxic stew caused by stagnant water and made vile by sewer line breaks following large storms. So, community officials run piping from the interior to the ocean and dump the toxic water into the very body of water that is what is supposed to be the attraction for tourists. Meanwhile the over-development continues unabated until either total gridlock is achieved or nature finally decides to eliminate it with a catastrophe. Madness is alive and well in the management of the gasping islands.
But the granddaddy of them all in terms of mass overload problems is California and a land of feast or famine with droughts, floods, winds and fires of immense intensity now a routine situation. Heavily overbuilt canyon lands burn, then cause mudslides later and one or the other destroys many homes. Then they rebuild and repeat the cycle, never learning the lesson from nature. On top of that, state officials continue to violate both laws and common sense by welcoming everyone unfettered to their state with the result being homelessness, squalor camps even on some city streets, and disease running rampant from lack of sanitation or control of drugs. Again, madness on parade, this time on the West Coast, and it goes on and on in so many other places.
Will we ever learn? Now that I'm getting much older, I am beginning to doubt that we can and it might even be too late. I am more concerned, however, with what our Lord thinks and I can't believe this is what he intended for his earth. But, I'll just try to turn it all over to Him and pray that we as a society wake up. That is really the sum total of my plea today. Lord, let us wake up and live as you want us to, not as we decide when we don't consider our promises to exert proper dominion over the earth according to your will. We've done a very poor job.
It really just boils down to this. When popular places attract huge numbers of people to locate there, we generate a course of action which strips nature's own ability to solve the problem or at least make it tolerable. And the last thing I want to be is negative, but when I think of the beauty that God has given us, it's pretty clear we have often made a big mess of it and I don't believe it comes anywhere near being responsible as God expected us when he gave us dominion over earth.
One need only look at some of the most popular places to live in these United States to see what happens over and over again. No place is more representative of some of the problems than the state of my residence, Florida. Here in the Sunshine State, as the overpopulation of South Florida continues to infringe on every square inch of undeveloped land, more and more continue to come and also to the less developed northern part of the state. Old Florida is disappearing with it, and as this happens water quality dwindles and the source of water finds itself under distress. Where shade from the sun tempered the sun somewhat in undeveloped and largely wetland areas, man continues to exert political pressure for new and massive roadways and development. The result is massive and often cookie cutter neighborhoods, devoid of trees and built so close together that it more closely resembles a ghetto than a nice place to live. And with it comes more of the same old, same old box stores, banks, gas stations, fast food establishments and small specialty stores, not to mention RV businesses and car lots. It won't be long before the only way you can take a raft ride down the Suwanee River will be at a theme park mock-up.
But it's not just Florida. Go north to North Carolina's Outer Banks. The once pristine shore is now a booming tourist trap with three to five story cottages jammed together with no way to see the ocean from a lower lever or catch a cooling ocean breeze or the soothing sounds of the breaking waves. Jockey's Ridge has now become a flattened out pancake and kids on the beach often spend more time playing with their smart phones as much as enjoying the natural surroundings. Thankfully some places have been preserved but if you haven't been there in recent years you will think you crossed the wrong bridge when you get there. Then there is the infrastructure, with no way to handle heavy water in the interior from beach overrides or rain, with a resulting toxic stew caused by stagnant water and made vile by sewer line breaks following large storms. So, community officials run piping from the interior to the ocean and dump the toxic water into the very body of water that is what is supposed to be the attraction for tourists. Meanwhile the over-development continues unabated until either total gridlock is achieved or nature finally decides to eliminate it with a catastrophe. Madness is alive and well in the management of the gasping islands.
But the granddaddy of them all in terms of mass overload problems is California and a land of feast or famine with droughts, floods, winds and fires of immense intensity now a routine situation. Heavily overbuilt canyon lands burn, then cause mudslides later and one or the other destroys many homes. Then they rebuild and repeat the cycle, never learning the lesson from nature. On top of that, state officials continue to violate both laws and common sense by welcoming everyone unfettered to their state with the result being homelessness, squalor camps even on some city streets, and disease running rampant from lack of sanitation or control of drugs. Again, madness on parade, this time on the West Coast, and it goes on and on in so many other places.
Will we ever learn? Now that I'm getting much older, I am beginning to doubt that we can and it might even be too late. I am more concerned, however, with what our Lord thinks and I can't believe this is what he intended for his earth. But, I'll just try to turn it all over to Him and pray that we as a society wake up. That is really the sum total of my plea today. Lord, let us wake up and live as you want us to, not as we decide when we don't consider our promises to exert proper dominion over the earth according to your will. We've done a very poor job.
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