Need to Relax? Make a Reservation

Hmmm, when did restingand relaxing become a regulated activity?

Fair warning: This is goingto be a gripe and bitch post. If you are not in the mood to listen to me vent,feel free to stop reading now. But some of the things I am going to gripe aboutmight be on your bitch list as well.

The crappy springweather we’ve had up to this week has been frustrating to say the least. Sowhen a warm, sunny weekend finally presented itself, I headed out for a hike atMountsberg Conservation Area. A few hours to unwind and decompress – or so Ithought.

I pulled into the laneleading to the ticket gate only to see several cars stopped and people outside conversing.Then I noticed the billboard: NewAutomated Reservation System!

This is not a self-servewith your credit card situation. You now have to register online and download abar code. There was no one at the gate to bargain with. All of us weredisgusted at the notion of making a reservation to enter a conservation area.

One man went online onhis digital device to register. I said: Well,I’m screwed. Can’t do that on my old iPhone. The gentleman was nice enoughto register for me so I could get in. A big thank you to this considerateindividual for helping me out.

I know what some of youare thinking. You are still using aniPhone? Time to upgrade! But I was raised in an era when something thatcost good money to buy was used until it stopped working and was too expensiveto repair. It was considered wasteful to do otherwise and that ethic still hasvalue for me.

But wait. I am not donebitching yet.

I swallowed myfrustration and started my hike trying to put the bad start behind me. Butthere was more to come. Mountsberg has a barn and an animal petting area. Thereare the usual Be careful around theanimals. They may act unpredictably. and Don’t feed the animals signs.

But a new sign had beenerected. Please sanitize your hands beforeand after touching the animals. A jug of hand sanitizer sat on stoolbeneath it. Seriously?

What message is thisdelivering to children? You may have adeadly disease on your hands that you could pass to the animals or vice versa.So keep your hands in your pocket and do not touch anything. Danger lurksaround every corner. No wonder our children have anxiety issues.

But wait. I am not donebitching yet.

I like to go off trailand kick around in wildflower meadows to see what insect life is waiting there.There are a couple of nice meadows at Mountsberg that I use for that purpose.But both have been razed to the ground and plowed under with mulch dumped ontop. Apparently deadly hazards wait in wildflower meadows from which I need tobe protected.

If the manager of aconservation authority happens to read this post, let me explain something toyou. People like me go to conservation areas to relax, unwind and tune out ourhelter-skelter, technology mad, rules and regulations up the wazoo society fora few hours. If you put technology barriers in my path and impose a list of do’sand don’ts on me, you have defeated the purpose for my going there.

Mother Nature and areclose personal friends. Trust me when I tell you that she is not pleased thatyou are turning her into a check-in first, don’t touch that, overprotective andneurotic old lady that would rather you observe her only from a safe,authorized distance.

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

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