Reclamation

Today while I was walking my favorite area of Mill Creek park I saw a big buck come down from the forest to graze on the acorns that lay along the roadway. Once aware of me he watched steadily as I approached up a steep hill.  While he never seemed alarmed he did keep some of the larger trees between himself and my line of sight as he stepped away.

I had been thinking about all the foolish things we do to the park, a place we claim to hold dear.  Either for purposes of access or revenue we've altered the park to fit our needs, without much regard to the effects on the land and water, or on the park's inhabitants.  And all the while the edges of the road crumble, the brush and small trees grow up in the disturbed places, and moss appears on the center of the blacktop.  Despite all our alterations, and in the tiniest of increments, the park continues to reclaim itself.