Just outside of Redwood National Park I talked to an expat from California now living in Idaho. Redwood National Park, by the way, does not have as many old growth Redwoods as you might think. The area was heavily logged well into the 20th century. Often when hiking through the park the most impressive thing are the massive trunks that line the groves like tombstones. Although this wholesale slaughter of trees certainly created a whole lot of jobs, it also deprived future generations the thrill of walking through an intact forest of towering trees that have stood since before Christianity’s birth.
Fire partially hollowed this Redwood but miraculously it survives. Climate change, however, is beginning to weaken these ancient trees.
Our friend credited Idaho’s low crime rate to it being a “constitutional carry” state. Not directly stated, but certainly implied, was that Chicago would be wise to do the same. This is a definite trend with us as people often feign concern about our safety when told we are from Chicago. Ironically this concern is often expressed to us while we sit around a fire, possibly surrounded by grizzlies, with a coming thunderstorm and wolves howling in the distance. I might tell them that if you measure safety by homicides per one thousand then Chicago is not even the most dangerous city in Illinois (that honor belongs to Rockford.) By that same measure Chicago is much safer than other mid-western cities including Milwaukee and St. Louis. But still they press on with their Fox News talking points and remain convinced that Chicago’s biggest problem lies with the liberal, politically correct, and mostly left handed establishment. Which makes you wonder how they would respond to me giving answers to problems they did not even know they had.
Feeling small in an ancient forest
Hennacornoeli Days 