LJ Idol, Week 13: Current Events

[vaudy]

There are places of great beauty here. Right here in Illinois. You heard me.

No, we do not have spectacular mountain vistas, or far-as-the-eye-can-see ocean horizons, or roaring waterfalls, or stark desert landscapes. We have a lot of cornfields.[ 1] Soybeans, too. But we also have forests and wetlands and prairies--we are the Prairie State, after

Comments

Footnotes

[vaudy]

[ 1]True story: one year, I traveled back to Illinois from my annual Arkansas visit with my aunt and uncle and cousins, who were driving up for a family reunion/50th anniversary party for my grandparents. One of my cousins, who was six or seven at the time, was absolutely rapt at the sight of all the cornfields. She’d grown up in the mountain landscape of the Ozarks, and had never seen anything like our miles and miles of corn. One person’s commonplace is another’s exotic.

[ 2]The cultural misappropriation that I grew up with in this organization makes me more than a little uncomfortable, and yet it saddens me that the YMCA has decided to purge its parent/child organizations of its Native American association, rather than try to rework it to be more culturally sensitive--you know, make it about learning about Native American culture, instead of just imitating it.

[ 3]I don’t care if it’s a useful culinary herb. It. Must. Go.

[ 4]Our state government may have its issues, but it’s not stupid enough to let anyone mess with the park

[theafaye]

One person's culinary herb is another person's really invasive weed. Mint can be an absolute nightmare if it gets hold and there are all sorts of plants you're not allowed to grow in NZ because of their impact on the biosphere, despite their uses.

I am dubious that any mining can take place anywhere without impacting on the local biosphere. In your place, I'd be visiting ASAP too.

[lawchicky]

Really interesting stuff here- thanks for sharing!

[jem0000000]

...They can't mine farther away? Right outside just seems like a bad idea....

[pixiebelle]

I was afraid that they might try to ruin it. I was hoping the entry wouldn't go in that direction, but sadly that seems to be the way of the world. What a great sounding place. I'm from Missouri and people are often amazed when I say how beautiful parts of it are. My boyfriend had no idea until he saw for himself.

I hope they don't ruin Starved Rock :/