sprawl

Nobody much notices the forest at the edge of town until the bulldozers move in and it’s gone. It’s a force we sometimes feel helpless against. | Before Phones Movement | Our supporters | Our adversaries | Main campfire

Forgotten forest
fondly remembered, only too late

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It’s the type of forest …

Nobody cares about until it’s gone.

Ugliest Forest, the Song

And if we’ve seen it once we’ve all seen in a thousand times. It’s that patch of trees that looks pretty enough, although it may be infested with invasive trees, and littered with trash. And no it’s never that big patch of woods, just a remnant of a larger contiguous mass or woods that got gobbled up by housing developments of various types.

Ugliest Forest, the Interview

Why and how that patch of woods escaped development is anyone’s guess. Maybe it got held up in a real estate dispute, or maybe the owner was holding out for a higher price, or maybe the zoning laws were still being hashed out. Whatever the case, the patch of woods survived, and even thrived as judged by the birds and the bunnies and the mice (and maybe even a bobcat). And then just like that, in move the bulldozers …

And the woods are gone.

Swindler’s tale
Coming clean at the campfire

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You don’t get through life …

With a couple regrets.

A swindler repents

And then there’s the ones you can’t get past, that you just dwell, and no matter what you do you can’t shake. In retrospect, it was all so clear. But at the time, going back, you would have walked into the trap every time. So what’s the solution. Sometimes the only solace is to talk it out in front of the campfire, if only to yourself, or whoever’s there to listen.

This swindler knew better until he knew he threw it all away. Or is there a new path forward. Thank God for the Cowboy at the Campfire lighting the way, even if that only means listening. Sometimes listening will do.

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Quote: “Every swindle is driven by a desire for easy money; it’s the one thing the swindler and the swindled have in common.” — Mitchell Zuckoff

Tear Down
And why the dream lives on

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What happens when your life’s work …

Is all but set to be torn down?

Stay on to hear the interview after the song

There’s no question about it: It’s a heart breaker, both to think about and even worse to see first hand. Probably the anticipation is the worst part. To see all the glamorous mega-houses moving in on all sides all the while knowing its a glimpse into the future of the fate that awaits your house. Then there is the stark reality: the place you worked so hard to maintain over the decades is nothing but a shoebox compared to the new houses moving in.

And so all is lost. Or maybe not. At the end of the day (and one’s life), it’s the memories that mean the most. Or in other words, don’t fret about materialistic things. There’s a saying that you can’t take it with you. The comfort is the memories you left behind in other people’s hearts.

Bobby Angel channels Merle Haggard in this song.