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Newt
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PostSun Mar 16, 2003 6:13 pm 
that's the end of that. For over 35 years I've been going to Camano Island State Park. The wife and I would go to have a romantic walk on the beach. When the kids came along we would go there to have a little picnic and find those pretty rocks and small pieces of drift wood. Some times fly the kite. After the kids got older the wife and I would go back on occassion for those romantic walks. You know, holding hands, kissing and hugging. Feeling the wind blow in your face with the smell of the sea air. I'm a wind and water type of guy. I head for the beach when the wind blows good. After my wife passed away I frequently revisited the beach. It was kind of a power spot for me to get my sh## together, make some plans, get some new bearings and just plain keep my sanity. So today I'm feeling down and out. Looks like it raining hard above Granite snd sunny to the west. I head to the beach. When I get there I find those new nifty little signs that tell me it's a parking fee area. There are even little boxes to stash my cash in for them (no photos). I knew this was in effect but...... All I wanted was to walk the beach, sit on a log, watch some people and birds & maybe get my head straightened out enough to get out of the dumps. Maybe 1-2 hours worth. I must say that those new nifty little *Parking Fee Area* signs and cool metal strong boxes crashed my heart to pieces. All at a little poopy butt park. I know $2.50 an hour isnt much, but..... So I done realized that this State Park and all others will not be visited by me for any reason. I have no need for them. As BPJ would say, *Turbo Bummer* So right now I see the light. Times they are a changin'. Nothing is free. And if you have money someone wants it. Too bad I'm 54 and have been so naive. A song writer by the name of Fred Neil had a line in a song that has always stuck in my head. Its from The MIidnight Cowboy movie. "Goin' where the weather suits my cloths". I'm thinkin more along the lines of "Goin' where the environment suits my soul". Just wish I knew where that was. Right now I want some smoke and a bottle of Patron, against my own better judgement of course. Sorry for the rant but I'm saddened and pissed. NN down.gif mad.gif bawl.gif frown.gif

It's pretty safe to say that if we take all of man kinds accumulated knowledge, we still don't know everything. So, I hope you understand why I don't believe you know everything. But then again, maybe you do.
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MCaver
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PostSun Mar 16, 2003 6:29 pm 
frown.gif

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Alan Bauer
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PostSun Mar 16, 2003 6:48 pm 
Your feelings go deep, NN...and I can't express like you how much I too am bothered over it. Not mad. That won't help me. Just sad. How am I supposed to feel when I show up at a snowy Northrup Canyon "natural preseve" but it's "managed by Steamboat Rock State Park across the highway...it's 7am on a Tuesday in January...all I want to do is watch the bald eagles fly-out in the morning sunrise to feed (dozens roost back up the canyon in winter)...and I'm greeted even THERE with a sign and permit system setup that likely cost more than my first car did? $5.00 to park and watch eagles from within 100 yards of the parking area? Sigh.....

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polarbear
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PostSun Mar 16, 2003 7:17 pm 
This sign can be made with a cereal bowl and a red and black marker in about 2 minutes. Modify it for the appropriate fee area or make it universal and display it boldly. With April 15th approaching, I have to wonder if soon I will be charged for each library book I check out. The philosophy is that if someone wants a service then that person should pay for it--who cares about the public good or that not everyone can afford the user fees or that or that user fees fly in the face of certain types of recreation to begin with.

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Karen
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PostMon Mar 17, 2003 9:51 am 
Newbie, I know how you feel
I've been reading your posts for a long time and always enjoy reading them. I appreciate your depth of feeling and I am sorry for your loss. I have lost loved ones as well (cancer) and as you already know, being outside in nature is the best cure for feeling down. So it feels like an insult to go to a favorite place and see that you have to pay. It's like having to pay to say a prayer and thats wrong. Because hiking or being out in nature is like a state of prayer -- and I can say this as an agnostic. The only place I have ever felt anything remotely spiritual is outside ... on the beach, in the woods, in the mountains. Outside, the world makes sense, nature makes sense, the cycles of life and death make sense. The last few days I've really been down in the dumps -- not for a personal loss (at least, not right at this moment, my loss was further back in time than yours) but because of what we have come to in this life: man against man, man against nature, watching the news and seeing young men gearing up (for a war of which the lasting consequences cannot be understood or measured) and I am trying desperately to find peace and meaning. I don't want to go into politics at any length in this post but these are dark days, regardless of anyones political beliefs. It is hard to be happy when the world grows dark. Being out in nature helps a lot. Like last night. A friend dropped by the pet store where I work part-time. We had planned to do a short hike through Discovery Park before it got dark. And I didn't want to go. My heart wasn't in it. I felt like I wanted to dive under the blankets and sleep for weeks and wake up like Rip Van Winkle (perhaps to a better world?). But I stuck with it and we did our little walk ... and I felt better. Despite the pain of the world and the pain of losing loved ones and the fear of the unknown ..... it was healing to see the Indian plum in bloom, the flowering shrubs, the big, peaceful trees, and to notice how good the woods smelled. The smell of earth, the blue of sky, the reflection of ponds from days of heavy rain. And people were out. Runners on the trails, people with dogs, people with children, old folks, lone souls .... all of a part of a great, flowing river of time. By the time we got back to the car my spirits were higher. No, not happiness, but peace and quiet and hope -- if birds can sing in such a world, if flowers can bloom, if the sun comes out -- there is hope and renewal or at least the possibility. Fort Worden is fee-free (other than the expense of getting there via the ferry or a long drive) but at least you don't have to pay to park there. No fees this year. If you have time it's a nice place to go. I'm sure you've already been there but it's a nice place to come back to. Happier trails, Karen

stay together, learn the flowers, go light - from Turtle Island, Gary Snyder
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Newt
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PostMon Mar 17, 2003 7:01 pm 
For now it's a turning point in life. As with so many other times, this will rank up there with the majors. Time for a new direction, a new spot, whether it be a rock, stump or mountain. It all has the color of what I call *The End of an Era*. At least for me. Regrouping will take place as will the peace of mind. It always does. It usually puts a new and clean perspective on the meaning of life. So, onward, upward, outward and inward. Checked out Fort Warden. Free indeed thanks to the local community. Nifty neato. Karen, you're right about the dark days getting darker. I think it's having an effect on folks whether they want war or not. I would blame things on midlife crisis but I don't like to place blame and I find it hard I would live to be 108. But who knows? Peace and Happy Trails NN smile.gif

It's pretty safe to say that if we take all of man kinds accumulated knowledge, we still don't know everything. So, I hope you understand why I don't believe you know everything. But then again, maybe you do.
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PostMon Mar 17, 2003 9:46 pm 
Another familiar place that now costs $5. I wonder if TC is still free hmmm.gif

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Malachai Constant
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PostMon Mar 17, 2003 10:05 pm 
confused.gif What do you expect if you vote to cut taxes yet still want services???

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Stefan
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PostTue Mar 18, 2003 11:08 am 
I know you are talking the state government and not the Federal Government in this particular instance. But lets not forget we are literally spending billions each each year on this new "strategic defense initiative" which is basically the modified star wars. Billions. And of those "billions" they could not spare a couple hundred thousand for parks or trails.....or schools.....

Art is an adventure.
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MCaver
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PostTue Mar 18, 2003 11:41 am 
The White House is asking for $90 billion for the Iraq war alone. But tax cuts will fix it, right?

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Sore Feet
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PostTue Mar 18, 2003 1:31 pm 
Talk about fiscal responsibility. Whatcha wanna bet that Bush consulted with Arthur Anderson before writing his budget? biggrin.gif I was thinking last night though. Maybe there is a minor upside to this budget issue. If Shrubya is cuttin spending in all sorts of "unimportant" projects to fund his little war games, maybe the FS funding will be reduced enough that the rangers won't be able to patrol the parking lots, and thusly won't be writing as many tickets.

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Stefan
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PostTue Mar 18, 2003 4:34 pm 
Sore Feet wrote:
Talk about fiscal responsibility. Whatcha wanna bet that Bush consulted with Arthur Anderson before writing his budget? biggrin.gif I was thinking last night though. Maybe there is a minor upside to this budget issue. If Shrubya is cuttin spending in all sorts of "unimportant" projects to fund his little war games, maybe the FS funding will be reduced enough that the rangers won't be able to patrol the parking lots, and thusly won't be writing as many tickets.
That's like asking the Washington State Patrol to cut its budget and from their cutting they wouldn't have enough officers to issue speeding tickets. Yeah, right. In my opinion they would hire more officers for more tickets for more citations.....

Art is an adventure.
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