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Smoking marijuana has led me to many of my favorite out-of-doors places. My first hiking and smoking experiences were necessary to avoid parental supervision. The folks were far more likely to encourage me and my friends to get outside and play in the woods, than they were to encourage us to smoke a fatty. So we did a little of both, heading out to the woods, parks, nearby streams and rivers. Walking and talking with friends, smoking out, we couldn’t help but interact, notice and be overwhelmed by the natural surroundings. We had escaped to the woods to avoid detection, but ended up staying for long periods simply because there was so much to check out and it really was a worthwhile trip.
I’ve spent, what seemed like, lifetimes starring into the canopy of windblown trees, searching for fish in the clear holes of a stream, stoned, struck still and silent, listening to the mad beating of my heart and the rushes of wind in the branches, leaves and grasses. I’ve had moments of revelation, marveled at the immensity of my surroundings feeling variously out of place and other times enveloped by nature.
Unfortunately, my stoned wanderings through the ravines, parks and riversides have become increasingly a study in tolerance and my ability to maintain in the face of horrible circumstances. Years ago, while walking Glen Echo stream, I was struck with the utter lunacy of past generations who had placed sanitary sewers within the stream bed and had also poured concrete over the sides of the ravines to slow down erosion. What had once been an incredible example of local geology and biology is now horribly marred, maybe forever, in the name of what is expedient, cheap, and easy. Nature suffers and we are led to believe that we have gained something, hardly. Everywhere I walk around the campus area, from Tuttle Park, to Whetstone, to Iuka, Glen Echo, Walhalla, and Big Run Ravines, I am struck by how fragile our natural environment survives in tiny strips of land. Nature is the exception not the rule in our urban environment. Nature, it seems, is only tolerated and allowed to hang on, where people cannot build houses or shopping centers.
There used to be a ravine at North Broadway and High, but it has long been filled in an built upon. Iuka Ravine’s stream has long since been put into a pipe and buried underground- it still flows today- you can hear its rush from the manholes in the ravine. The Iuka Creek was the creek which fed Mirror lake, nevermore. All of the ravine streams which flow into the Olentangy have aging sanitary sewers within their stream bed or flood plain. These sanitary sewers were poorly placed and designed. They overflow after moderate to heavy rains, spilling human waste into the streams. All of the ravine streams are full of biological toxins and human created pollutants. What was once beautiful and inviting, is now a cesspool and should be avoided, how sad!
We need to develop a new environmental consciousness, one which nurtures and protects what little nature exists in our urban areas. We need to become vocal advocates for preserving and enhancing our natural areas. We need to walk lightly and think how our efforts and actions will impact what is left for the next seven generations. Here are some simple rules we can all live by and which will go a long way in preserving what is left of the natural environment in the urban areas of Columbus:
Walk Lightly; stay on the trails. Remaining wildflower areas are at risk from people, dogs and bike riders. The ravines are experiencing tremendous erosion from folks who walk, bike and sled in off trail areas.
Clean up after yourself, your dog and those less considerate. Litter and animal waste are now serious problems in all of our urban parklands. We all need to be responsible for keeping them clean. If you pack it in, pack it out! Take a bag with you and help clean up after other folks.
Keep out of the ravine streams, never let children swim in them- they are horribly polluted with human sewage and are full of fecal bacteria and viruses. Dogs should not be allowed to drink from the streams and if they swim in the streams, you should bathe them after each swim. The pollutants in these streams have been known to cause cancers and lesions in pets.
Never plant non-native plants in the ravine parklands or adjacent private property. Many non-native species have become invasive and are creating monocultures which overwhelm native plants. Do not take plants out of the ravines, if you want that type of plant either collect its seeds and try to germinate them or buy the plant from a local nursery.
Keep dogs on a leash, I know this sucks, but dogs harass wildlife and have destroyed many native plantings both with their urine and by playing in them.
Keep cats inside. Both feral and domesticated cats are a serious threat to wild birds, reptiles, amphibians. Having a pet is a responsibility, not a right. Control your pets!
If you want to party in the woods, do so quietly. Don’t play loud music, it wrecks the tranquility of the area and disturbs the critters.
Next time you want to smoke out, head for one of the ravines, creeks or rivers, marvel at what remains, but also try to look more deeply and see how you can be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Unfortunately, my stoned wanderings through the ravines, parks and riversides have become increasingly a study in tolerance and my ability to maintain in the face of horrible circumstances. Years ago, while walking Glen Echo stream, I was struck with the utter lunacy of past generations who had placed sanitary sewers within the stream bed and had also poured concrete over the sides of the ravines to slow down erosion. What had once been an incredible example of local geology and biology is now horribly marred, maybe forever, in the name of what is expedient, cheap, and easy. Nature suffers and we are led to believe that we have gained something, hardly. Everywhere I walk around the campus area, from Tuttle Park, to Whetstone, to Iuka, Glen Echo, Walhalla, and Big Run Ravines, I am struck by how fragile our natural environment survives in tiny strips of land. Nature is the exception not the rule in our urban environment. Nature, it seems, is only tolerated and allowed to hang on, where people cannot build houses or shopping centers.
There used to be a ravine at North Broadway and High, but it has long been filled in an built upon. Iuka Ravine’s stream has long since been put into a pipe and buried underground- it still flows today- you can hear its rush from the manholes in the ravine. The Iuka Creek was the creek which fed Mirror lake, nevermore. All of the ravine streams which flow into the Olentangy have aging sanitary sewers within their stream bed or flood plain. These sanitary sewers were poorly placed and designed. They overflow after moderate to heavy rains, spilling human waste into the streams. All of the ravine streams are full of biological toxins and human created pollutants. What was once beautiful and inviting, is now a cesspool and should be avoided, how sad!
We need to develop a new environmental consciousness, one which nurtures and protects what little nature exists in our urban areas. We need to become vocal advocates for preserving and enhancing our natural areas. We need to walk lightly and think how our efforts and actions will impact what is left for the next seven generations. Here are some simple rules we can all live by and which will go a long way in preserving what is left of the natural environment in the urban areas of Columbus:
Walk Lightly; stay on the trails. Remaining wildflower areas are at risk from people, dogs and bike riders. The ravines are experiencing tremendous erosion from folks who walk, bike and sled in off trail areas.
Clean up after yourself, your dog and those less considerate. Litter and animal waste are now serious problems in all of our urban parklands. We all need to be responsible for keeping them clean. If you pack it in, pack it out! Take a bag with you and help clean up after other folks.
Keep out of the ravine streams, never let children swim in them- they are horribly polluted with human sewage and are full of fecal bacteria and viruses. Dogs should not be allowed to drink from the streams and if they swim in the streams, you should bathe them after each swim. The pollutants in these streams have been known to cause cancers and lesions in pets.
Never plant non-native plants in the ravine parklands or adjacent private property. Many non-native species have become invasive and are creating monocultures which overwhelm native plants. Do not take plants out of the ravines, if you want that type of plant either collect its seeds and try to germinate them or buy the plant from a local nursery.
Keep dogs on a leash, I know this sucks, but dogs harass wildlife and have destroyed many native plantings both with their urine and by playing in them.
Keep cats inside. Both feral and domesticated cats are a serious threat to wild birds, reptiles, amphibians. Having a pet is a responsibility, not a right. Control your pets!
If you want to party in the woods, do so quietly. Don’t play loud music, it wrecks the tranquility of the area and disturbs the critters.
Next time you want to smoke out, head for one of the ravines, creeks or rivers, marvel at what remains, but also try to look more deeply and see how you can be part of the solution, not part of the problem.