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Man defaces landscape
By Wan Lixin |
December 18, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Editor's note: This is part of a package titled "In search of nature in 'America the beautiful'" published in Shanghai Daily A6 page on December 18, 2009. Your opinions are welcome.
Dear Mr Summers,
I am really grateful to you for digging up such detailed and relevant information for me.
The 45-mile trail that can ultimately afford a view of the Piedmont of the Appalachian Mountains is really tantalizing, for I have been studying that mountain range lately.
I know it is not very far from here, but how to cover that 45 miles can be a problem, for we do not have bikes.
As for the trail that leads to Alexandria, we tried that the next day we arrived here, and after about 30 minutes's walk we decided to give up because the trail runs parallel, athwart, or underneath several motorways and railways, and sometimes the trail was so narrow that it can allow for only one person to pass at a time.
In addition to the motor and rail traffic, the noises from planes landing and taking off at nearby Reagan National Airport is constant. I guess the trail was created too late, when the "commons" had already been over-exploited and over-designed to accommodate for motor, rail, and air traffic.
Lost wildlife
Undeterred, two weeks later I tried the trail again, and found that it would take about an hour's walk for one to escape the noises and smell from racing cars, when I found myself in the waterfront of Alexandria.
It was from a plate erected there that I learnt of the deplorable condition of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay, and their former glory (home to wolves, cougar, buffalo and other wildlife). It said that once it took oysters in the Bay three days to filter the whole body of the bay, but now it takes a year.
You can also refer to David Gargill's article on Harper's titled "The General Electric Superfraud: Why the Hudson River Will Never Run Clean", for a glimpse of the terrible state of the Hudson River.
The Alexandria waterfront is a good escape from the all pervading cars, and the only regret is that nearly every a couple of minutes there was a plane roaring to Reagan National Airport.
I have also been considering the trail leading further to Mt Vernon, but at the beginning it shared the trail that leads to Alexandria.
Best wishes.
Dear Mr Summers,
I am really grateful to you for digging up such detailed and relevant information for me.
The 45-mile trail that can ultimately afford a view of the Piedmont of the Appalachian Mountains is really tantalizing, for I have been studying that mountain range lately.
I know it is not very far from here, but how to cover that 45 miles can be a problem, for we do not have bikes.
As for the trail that leads to Alexandria, we tried that the next day we arrived here, and after about 30 minutes's walk we decided to give up because the trail runs parallel, athwart, or underneath several motorways and railways, and sometimes the trail was so narrow that it can allow for only one person to pass at a time.
In addition to the motor and rail traffic, the noises from planes landing and taking off at nearby Reagan National Airport is constant. I guess the trail was created too late, when the "commons" had already been over-exploited and over-designed to accommodate for motor, rail, and air traffic.
Lost wildlife
Undeterred, two weeks later I tried the trail again, and found that it would take about an hour's walk for one to escape the noises and smell from racing cars, when I found myself in the waterfront of Alexandria.
It was from a plate erected there that I learnt of the deplorable condition of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay, and their former glory (home to wolves, cougar, buffalo and other wildlife). It said that once it took oysters in the Bay three days to filter the whole body of the bay, but now it takes a year.
You can also refer to David Gargill's article on Harper's titled "The General Electric Superfraud: Why the Hudson River Will Never Run Clean", for a glimpse of the terrible state of the Hudson River.
The Alexandria waterfront is a good escape from the all pervading cars, and the only regret is that nearly every a couple of minutes there was a plane roaring to Reagan National Airport.
I have also been considering the trail leading further to Mt Vernon, but at the beginning it shared the trail that leads to Alexandria.
Best wishes.
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