Looking Back for Tomorrow

 Except for an occasional visit with neighbors or a trip to the store, this computer has become our primary connection to the outside world where we can share our thoughts and experiences.   Attached is a short essay we can all relate to and ponder.

Map collecting has been a hobby of mine ever since my school days.   Remember those state maps you could get at the gas station back in the 1950’s and 60’s for free?   I still have some, plus maps from National Geographic, National Forests, Parks and my share of atlases.    Now we have Google Maps and Google Earth to find all those places we want to explore.    With no place to go these days I  can travel back in time by sitting and looking at the computer screen in search of  where we traveled, backpacked and worked over the years.    Some of those places are hard to find, especially the many forest roads I have traveled and trails I have hiked.   Some of those roads are no longer maintained, the clear cut units we used as landmarks are now second growth forests, some are over 40 years old and many places, including wildness areas, have been burned.   The natural topography is still there, the streams, the ridges and the mountain peaks, but not the way we remember them due to fires that have altered the landscape.   

In midst of a world-wide pandemic, a changing climate, political chaos and an unknown economic future we don’t know what is down the road of life.    There are no maps charting the future course.   History can be our greatest teacher as we look back in time and learn from our mistakes.    Humanity has survived two world wars, the Spanish flu of 1918-19 and the Great Depression of the last century.    The great question is did humanity make the right choices after all those events?  Were they good only in the short-term and harmful in the long-term?  

Hopefully we all survive this crisis and become more understanding of each other, our environment, and develop an economy that is more sustainable for future generations.    The natural world is constantly changing and we better adjust no matter how much we think we can change Mother Nature.    We have tried for generations with little success, causing more harm than good.  Who knows what the future has in store for mankind?   One thing for sure, I don’t think we will see those free maps at the gas station ever again.