I was (and still am) moved by Hugh Rogers’ poem: "Christ in the Mountains, the Buddhas at Bamiyan." Poetry speaks best for the heart, and that’s where the truth dwells, near as I can tell.

Regardless of one’s religion, or lack thereof, we are spiritual beings, who know some things instinctively. One thing we know is that the Garden of Eden symbolizes our living, breathing natural world and that it’s beautiful, a gift beyond what anyone could dream up and ask for. My Dad used to say, "We are presumptuous to imagine Heaven, as if this isn’t."

I believe we do ourselves spiritual and psychological harm when we slice mountains as if they were apples, shaped for our consumption and ripe for a pie. We diminish ourselves when we cut roads through forests as carelessly as mowing a swath through a backyard lawn. We commit sacrilege and we know it and I thank Hugh Rogers for saying so, far more eloquently.

Betsy Reeder

I am a member of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. I thought you or someone there might be able to help me. I have been on a quest for quite awhile to find a quiet, rustic cabin in West Virginia within 3-4 hours of D.C. I’ve found some cabins but they sit on a road or are in a less than scenic area, often less than peaceful. I was hoping you might know of someone who rents their place or who has cabin rentals for someone desperately in need of some R&R and tranquility.

My intent other than merely selfish reasons is to spend some time scouting out a chunk of land to purchase and donate to the WV landtrust. I have been working with Jamie Sorvino at the WV Nature Conservancy to find a parcel, but nothing has turned up yet. So, I’d like to do some of my own scouting. Anything you can provide would be great and, of course, feel free to pass this on to relevant folks.

Keep up the good work!

It’s good to see some successes in this time of Bush excess.

Thanks,

Letters to the Editor, High Country News [sic]

Michael Zierhut, author of the petition, says lots of effort went into getting signers at the beginning and now it’s up to "us" to email friends, family, and others who object to Fee-Demo.

Madison Brown
25 South Washington Street
Staunton VA 24401
540-886-5979