American Adventure

North Carolina (enough already)

A very special thank you to my dear friends Rocky Haddock and Frances Graczyk.

Here on this page I wanted to express something that I had almost forgotten about. All over the continent on my trip I saw this everywhere. Our beautiful wooded areas are constantly being cleared to make way for progress and development.

One of the main reasons for this trip was to try to raise awareness of this never ending problem and try to make people think and possibly seek alternative locations for development. We can all grow here but we do need to be a little more conscious about the results. Sure we can clear and area and plant our own trees after we're done. That way it looks all organized and we have control of nature. But then that's not natural. I'm not sure what this area was being leveled for. It could be for a new shopping center. It could be for a new medical center. It could be an area for a new retirement center. Or it could just be for a new housing development. Or it could even be for a new fire station to help put out fires for the rest of the wooded areas. But it all boils down to the same problem. The more people we have, the more resources we need to house and support them.

I emphasize again that I am all for growth and change and a better way of life. But we do need to stop destroying all the beauty and wonders that make this life worth living. I am all for the growth of our families and understand the need and desire to have children. But we are growing and populating at rates with which we will not be able to support.

I definitely don't have all the answers, nor do I have very many at all. But we all can see the problems and must put our heads together and work to create solutions.

Through my trip I occasionally lost track of my agendas and goals but every time I turned around I was reminded. I stopped taking pictures of visions and scenes like these and tried to focus on the beauty but I feel like I need to throw in the occasional abstract for people to realize that it is everywhere.

Everywhere I went it was often very difficult to get a good picture of nature without having all the human aspects in the frame as well. Be it road signs, or power lines, or houses, or vehicles. Even in the most remote parts of my trip, there was always signs of progress and waste.

I say all this as I drove around the continent on my motorcycle, polluting and burning my fossil fuels, and contributing to the problem myself.

"Captain America", I am not.