I wasn't planning on writing a blog today but when I stepped outside, on the way to feed the animals and chickens, the quietness of Green Mountain was being disturbed by an unnatural din. It wasn't an all-night party that eventually ends with just a few people hearing gongs banging around inside their heads and their rumbling, grumbling stomachs. No, it was the sound of a machine slowly making it's way through a toothpick of a forest. I'd been approached by Hugo Fillion a few days before, saying that they would begin logging next door and he wanted my approval of the line his company had marked off by attaching pretty fluorescent pink ribbons to the trees that separates our land from Junior and Dougie Clark's. After trudging through the deep snow in a great deal of pain since my back had gone out on me once again, I wasn't entirely satisfied with the border line and could probably have put up a bit of a stink but in the very short end, it would not save the forest next door. When I think the pretty pink ribbons festooned around the trees along the edge of our property, there was a time when only the trees that were to be logged had a bright ribbon tied around them - now, the ribbons mark up to the point where the logging companies have to stop clear-cutting the forest.
I have to laugh, but it's a sad laugh, when I was told how much employment logging brings to New Brunswick. As I watched the machine drop the trees methodically and then buck them into desired lengths for the logging trucks to haul away, I could see, depending on how many logging machines were in use - only a very few and I mean only a very few men, if even a handful would be needed to log the neighbour's property. And curiously enough, I've been told that the company in charge of the Crown land belongs to a company in India - so our trees and our employment are actually being exported. And some other cheery news I heard, was that the smaller trees (which includes most of them) are chewed up into pulp at the mill, which only employs a handful of people. So much for lots of gainful employment - talk about a load of bullshit - it's right up there with our premier trying to convince the people of New Brunswick that fracking would be wonderful and great for the economy - who's economy - obviously not the Canadian economy. When the forests and the oil are basically owned by large Asian companies; whose economy is really benefiting from our natural resources? And, unfortunately, since the procedures of extracting oil and cutting down the trees have very little laws restraining the companies from destroying the land, every living creature on the face of the earth, including us will pay for our own ignorance, greed and complete stupidity.
I admit, I'm not a very smart man; not highly educated; nor do I understand or totally comprehend what a lot of people in charge of our country are telling me but I do have eyes and when I see first hand what is occurring around me, I'd have to be awfully dumb, very stupid not to notice that destruction without accountability is very detrimental, not only to the immediate landscape but to us personally. We all know the air we breathe and the water we drink is getting more toxic; our food being modified to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if a baby, not too far distant in the future, will be born with cloven hooves or a chicken wing for an arm. I've heard that some European countries have bought up huge tracts of land in Africa and China has done the same in South America for growing food. Food and water is a growing concern, especially for many overpopulated countries - it wouldn't surprise me if the big companies, the war warmongering ones especially; instead of causing wars to enlarge their already fat wallets will soon be charging outrageous prices for food.
My heart is heavy this morning as I listen to the neighbour's forest being logged. One of the big reasons we bought our place was because of it's natural beauty and very soon a distinctive line will be drawn on the surface of Green Mountain that separates our small forest from the destruction that is happening this very moment. And I guess what even saddens me more is that my life expectancy is not that long and I won't be able to protect our land - perhaps the next person that buys this place will have it levelled so they can shove some bucks in their pockets or pay some bills. It amazes me that the people who have lived in this area most of their lives, have had their properties, their farms passed down to them through the generations allow the prominent destruction of their land that they love to hunt in, go snow-shoeing, fish and all manner of other things relating to the area. When most people look at a tree; can't they see more than a dollar sign? Enough of ranting - my fingers are getting sore from angrily tapping on the keyboard, my back is aching, my mind is hurting and my heart is cracking - no cheers today - eh!
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