Hmmm, when did resting and relaxing become a regulated activity?
Fair warning: This is going to be a gripe and bitch post. If you are not in the mood to listen to me vent, feel free to stop reading now. But some of the things I am going to gripe about might be on your bitch list as well.
The crappy spring weather we’ve had up to this week has been frustrating to say the least. So when a warm, sunny weekend finally presented itself, I headed out for a hike at Mountsberg Conservation Area. A few hours to unwind and decompress – or so I thought.
I pulled into the lane leading to the ticket gate only to see several cars stopped and people outside conversing. Then I noticed the billboard: New Automated Reservation System!
This is not a self-serve with your credit card situation. You now have to register online and download a bar code. There was no one at the gate to bargain with. All of us were disgusted at the notion of making a reservation to enter a conservation area.
One man went online on his digital device to register. I said: Well, I’m screwed. Can’t do that on my old iPhone. The gentleman was nice enough to register for me so I could get in. A big thank you to this considerate individual for helping me out.
I know what some of you are thinking. You are still using an iPhone? Time to upgrade! But I was raised in an era when something that cost good money to buy was used until it stopped working and was too expensive to repair. It was considered wasteful to do otherwise and that ethic still has value for me.
But wait. I am not done bitching yet.
I swallowed my frustration and started my hike trying to put the bad start behind me. But there was more to come. Mountsberg has a barn and an animal petting area. There are the usual Be careful around the animals. They may act unpredictably. and Don’t feed the animals signs.
But a new sign had been erected. Please sanitize your hands before and after touching the animals. A jug of hand sanitizer sat on stool beneath it. Seriously?
What message is this delivering to children? You may have a deadly disease on your hands that you could pass to the animals or vice versa. So keep your hands in your pocket and do not touch anything. Danger lurks around every corner. No wonder our children have anxiety issues.
But wait. I am not done bitching yet.
I like to go off trail and kick around in wildflower meadows to see what insect life is waiting there. There are a couple of nice meadows at Mountsberg that I use for that purpose. But both have been razed to the ground and plowed under with mulch dumped on top. Apparently deadly hazards wait in wildflower meadows from which I need to be protected.
If the manager of a conservation authority happens to read this post, let me explain something to you. People like me go to conservation areas to relax, unwind and tune out our helter-skelter, technology mad, rules and regulations up the wazoo society for a few hours. If you put technology barriers in my path and impose a list of do’s and don’ts on me, you have defeated the purpose for my going there.
Mother Nature and are close personal friends. Trust me when I tell you that she is not pleased that you are turning her into a check-in first, don’t touch that, overprotective and neurotic old lady that would rather you observe her only from a safe, authorized distance.
~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .
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Tags: make a reservation · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Mother Nature · Mountsberg Conservation AreaNo Comments