I kind of like the road, oddly enough.
I mean, I don't like the road per se. It'd be better if it wasn't there. We occasionally lose animals to it... although not as often as you might expect. Our urban deer are fairly road-savvy. Apart from that, though, it's noisy. It breaks the mood. You come out of the forest, walk a little ways, and see modern life coming back to smack you in the face. It's inescapable, the road. It reminds you that as much as you can pretend that you're off communing with nature, one turn in the path is all it takes to be in the city again.
That's actually part of the reason I like the road, though. It's a pretty good teacher.
I can take a group of kids out, teach them about some natural whatsit, and then show them that this is all still taking place in the city. That there can be nature in a city. That if things are managed properly, wildlife and people can exist in the same space. It's a darned good illustration of concept.
Things are managed pretty well for wildlife in the city that I live in. When the park system was created, each node (with one exception that they're still working on. Erm, somewhat) was connected by bike trails and green spaces. That's convenient for the people, of course, but it also means ways to get from place to place for the bigger wildlife, and that in turn means a lessening of the island effect on populations that you might see if a city's parks were all isolated spots with no interconnections. Fairly smart planning for the early eighties, I figure. Nature was taken into account, even in the middle of trying to plan a large, brand new park system. And as far as the road you see above goes, nature was taken into account there, too. When the road was extended and was poised to become a major thoroughfare, it was decided not to put any off-ramps down to the road that goes past the nature centre. This could, I suppose, just be looked at as a cost-saving measure, but the fact is that by not having direct access to our road from the main road, it's kept our road from becoming a huge shortcut to downtown. That, naturally, cuts down hundreds-fold on the amount of disruption traffic causes to the sanctuary. Sure, it also makes it very frustrating for first-time visitors who think that they can access us from the main road (I've talked to many people on their cell phones, giving them directions on how to swing back around as they watch the sanctuary go past them with no way to get down there), but shouldn't the wildlife come first in a designated wildlife sanctuary?
Obviously, I think so.
You may be interested to know (or not. This might be boring the snot out of you, for all I know) that the city hasn't forgotten to think about wild spaces as it grows. There's a plan in place for a huge expansion of the park system into some new areas, and if anything the wildlife side of the plan has become even more entrenched than it was originally. Buffers around wetlands, green corridors... it's all really neat to see, and I hope that it stays in place as the new parks are developed. It's nice to live in a city with a council and planners that actually take the time to realise that people aren't the only things that live there. Besides, people with ready access to nature, even in cities, are more likely to be healthier themselves. Don't believe me? There are an awful lot of studies out there, and all it takes is a quick google to find them. I'm not going to do it for you today, however. It's my holiday weekend too, and I've already talked too much about work stuff today. Poke around a bit on your own if you're interested, though, by all means. You might be surprised just how much being outside can help both physical and mental well-being.
And ADHD, even, depending on who you believe...
Aaanyway. Enough of this stuff for now. I'll try to be on a less preachy topic tomorrow (although, really? I don't think this was terribly preachy at all. Was it?), or at least post a photo of the daffodils that have decided to come up over by the dryer vent on the corner of the house. Do you suppose that they have the slightest clue that their artificial warmth has given them at least three weeks start on the rest of the yard, which is still half a metre deep (at least) in snow? Ah well, at least it's something springy-looking.
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