On the occasions that we visited our West Virginia family throughout my childhood, we would regularly pass the Friary, a magical place in the eyes of a young boy. I experienced first hand those green rolling hills, back when a property kept a family’s name long after it had passed through other hands, if ever it did.

Everyone who has commented upon the development in the Morgantown area appear to take offense at the urban sprawl — the housing developments, the strip malls, the restaurant chains, etc, as if they or we have no part in it. What these writers do NOT have in common with most of the local people is that many of the locals welcome this development, even if they have some reservations about the impact on the “wild” in WVa. What we all have in common, former residents, new transplants, old timers, etc. is that we are all cooperating in dismantling a marvelous world primarily for one reason — our refusal to take population growth seriously, and personally, as individuals and as a now WORLD community.

REPRODUCTION IS NOT A VIRTUE. ©

Our informed, or uninformed, decision to reproduce coupled with our addictions, our greed and our consumption habits (all of us, me included), we are turning a healthy environment into an incubator…for more competition, conflict, environmental degradation, all the while exporting our consumption habits and patterns to other countries.

There is an aphorism that applies to this issue, and in all cases,

“The only thing lacking in any situation is what I am not giving.”

And, I might add, “If nothing changes, nothing changes”. So, what can we do, or not do, individually, that might likely have a positive impact on the direction we seem to be taking?

CHOOSE not to have children, and encourage everyone we meet to consider how each of us might put our energies to more creative ways of serving our common humanity, rather than complaining about “them that’s doin’ this to US” and (perhaps) selfishly insisting on our right to breed ourselves into extinction.

Forgive my “pentecostal tendencies” — my mother is a highly “convicted” minister, and the apple (that would be me) does not fall far from the tree. However, I stand on the opinion that I offered here. It is useless to decry the orgy of building happening everywhere — Oregon, California, Ohio, you name it, even in the midst of a real economic crisis — if we are the source, supply and justification for the sprawl…

I ask myself, “How can I help?”

It use to be you could walk around there - no problem. The last time I was there, the place seemed to be falling apart. I would think it is going to take a lot of money to fix it up. The castle downtown is also for sale - across from the parking garage.

I grew up in Weston, and now live in Buckhannon. While I’d like to see more economic development in Weston, Buckhannon is doing just fine. The last thing I want to see is Corridor H completed and the cookie-cutter dwellings and shopping centers start marching over the mountains via that road.

Here it is again just in case you missed it.

Little Boxes

It is a song that is one of my current faves. It is also the theme song to the TV show Weeds. This version is Pete Seger.

I can’t help but sing this when I see these developments.

Oh, and Bryan, where you live is not bad at all. These new places, when you look down a street, it looks like some sort of illusion done with mirrors. I mean, they all have the same light post, the same mailbox and so on. Check out the development that is behind Northpointe plaza. That is the strip mall where ManPower and the Chinese Food place and a bunch of other shit is. It is at the top of Easton Hill just before Cafe’ of India.

If you have time, drive into that lot. You will see Guardian Auto Glass located on the side of the big building. Go towards it and look down that street. Like I said, it looks like some sort of trick done with mirrors.