Getting Away From it All

Uncle Ken's book report reminded me of something I discovered in my school bus driving days.  People move to the country to get away from it all, and then they bring it all with them.  They buy or build a house on a narrow dead end dirt road because they don't want to put up with a lot of traffic.  Then they want mail delivered, snow plowed in the winter, high speed internet access, good cell phone reception, and the school bus to pick their kids up right at their door.  Once they've gotten all those things, they complain that their taxes are too high.  I met a guy in a bar once who was really worried about urban sprawl ruining our area.  When I found out that he himself had just moved up here six months ago, I said to him, "Man, you are urban sprawl".  It occurred to me that might have been what happened to the American frontier.  Daniel Boone was always crying about "elbow room" but, as soon as he explored a new area, he would buy some land, subdivide it, and then blaze a trail back to town so the next batch of settlers would be sure to find the place.

Of course there were rules governing how states were admitted to the Union, but Uncle Ken asked me what the Constitution had to say about it.  The Constitution gave the power, with some restrictions, to Congress, and then Congress made all the other rules.


Here's a picture of three deer on a misty morning: