Quite a lengthy strand of bashing SUV owners
recently!. Hope you have all had your jollies out of it. Didn't see much of a
practical nature for one living out in the "boonies" finding an alternative.
Don't really agree that one must justify SUV ownership, either, but for the
record my driveway is two miles of poor gravel over gumbo,as are most roads
other than major state hiways and the interstate hiway in SD. I
frequently carry grandchildren and/or meals to a dozen cowboys (requires at
least one huge ice chest, a camp kitchen, 20# propane bottle, stove and more),
winter can last Nov. 1 through June 1 (we have had 12 inches of snow Sept. 15,
and more June 10), I must drive 32 miles to my county seat, family physician,
(120 miles for specialists), bank, actually virtually everything except the
mail, convenience store groceries, and a good locally owned lumber/hardware
store which are only 7 miles. BUT I do not resent those who believe they
need/want a SUV for whatever reason. I believe the market place will bring
better gas mileage and that farmer produced ethanol and biodiesel fuels will
also help that situation. There are far too many people who get too much
pleasure out of telling others what they should do and how they should live.
The old adage "one catches more flies with honey than vinegar" still
holds!
Re. using wood better.......what products have
improved in that way more than wood?????? All the chipping, shredding and
gluing back together.......always room for improvement, of course. BUT forests
in much of this nation and positively in the Black Hills of SD have far more
trees than ever in the past. Too many years of foolishly severely limiting
logging have not helped the environment, but led to the terrible fires. Yes,
there may have been poor practices in the past. But that is the PAST.
Sustainable logging can surely be beneficial to all concerned entities, and
especially when coupled with grazing when all are done in a proper manner our
forests will be more healthy and so will our wildlife. Those aren't called
renewable resources for nothing. We have seen this summer what happens when
they are not harvested (renewed) in a timely manner.
Conflagration!!!!!1
Maxine
Jones
