Humans can disappoint, and sometimes they can inspire.

We have lived an effort to conquer Mother Nature instead of playing by her rules.  She's a harsh mother and when we don't play by the rules, extinction inevitably follows.  Our public lands are under assault like no time in history.  I have personally seen in what should take centuries to happen, changes in the Sierra Nevada that are heartbreaking.  Millions of trees dying, glaciers disappearing, fires of unprecedented proportion, extinctions of species, and desertification of formerly lush forestland.  Soon, in order to preserve many of our forests we will have to treat them like museums, where you go to look but only behind a glass wall on a special walkway.  That is not experiencing nature.

It used to be, that you could head out and go camping pretty much anywhere in our western wildlands but now, if you don't make reservations months in advance, the campgrounds are full.  Camping used to be a spontaneous experience of serendipity and freedom.  Now, to take a camping trip you have to carefully plan and reserve for each stop, and often have to alter your route because one park or another is full.  

We humans are simply lousy caretakers of the gifts our Creator has allowed us to use for our moments of existence in this world.  What is happening to our parks in these days of unsupervised use is just one more example of how we treat this gift.  We have to understand we don't own the land.  We are only short term itinerant tenants destroying what our Landlord has allowed us to use with the understanding that we'd pass it on to future generations for their turns.  

..... well maybe more than a couple.

The "Golden Rule" - If we all followed it, we'd have a much better world.

Responsibility for our conduct - If we honestly evaluated our conduct and how it affected those around us, including our precious natural resources - our world - we'd find that we need to make some big changes.

Empathy and patience - When we put ourselves into the position of those whom we criticize or condemn, we often learn that maybe our views aren't the only valid views about any given topic.

Being honest with ourselves - most of the time we rationalize or justify our positions by lying to ourselves, or by being willfully ignorant, about the consequences of what we do.  We have a responsibility to honestly inform ourselves about the world in which we live and act accordingly.

Caretakers of our world - we have a wonderful gift from our Creator that we need to cherish and tend so that those who come after us can enjoy those gifts as well.  

This topic is important, but it also can slide quickly into a partisan political battle.  When I watched the video that David posted, the shutdown was not what came to my mind  Rather, it was the fact that some people simply don't care about the treasures of nature that we're privileged to enjoy.  That is truly sad.

Unfortunately, it does not take a shutdown to bring out the bad behavior in some people. There have been many campsites to which we have arrived that have had trash scattered around. What is particularly annoying is seeing a trash can with lots of room in it and trash strewn all around it. The deliberate vandalism I have seen in my lifetime saddens me. Recently, a public sculpture in Wake Forest was vandalized. I may not have particularly liked it (geometric metal shapes intertwined), but I respect the work that goes into something like this to leave it alone. Not so the vandals who left it a twisted mess on the ground.

The article from wthr.com is a reminder.