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Cleanup, 1973
WE HAVE MIXED feelings about the 1973 spring trash cleanup in Rappahannock County — displeasure over the relatively small number of volunteers who turned out to clean up the winter’s accumulation of roadside litter, but admiration for the fine work done by those who did roll up their sleeves and pitch iri to get an unpleasant job done.
But the strongest feeling of all about this litter business continues ta. be one of disbelief. How could anyone — whether visitor or resident, but especially resident — do anything to spoil what is one of the most beautiful, scenic spots in the world?
John Muir, the famous naturalist who was so influential in establishment of America’s envied National Park system, once made an observation that may& contain a clue — although let us hasten to add that psychological speculation is not intended.
Muir thought that conservationists and naturalists commit a basic mistake in espousing their interests to fellow citizens: They assume that everyone shares their enthusiasm and high regard for nature. It’s not so, speculated Muir.
INDEED, MANY PEOPLE — city born and bred — not only do not get carried away with flights of inspiration by the Great Outdoors, they actively dislike it. Evidence of the validity of Muir’s observation can be obtained by a trip to the nearby Skyline Drive. Visitors aren’t prepared to enjoy “nature” until they can plug in their trailers to electrical and plumbing systems, and turn on their television sets. Some nature-lovers!
Maybe the litterbugs are cousins of the same people Muir was talking about. Maybe it isn’t a case of their being indifferent to the filth and eyesores they’re scattering about the beautiful landscape, maybe they do it on purpose, because they actively hate something which they may feel dramatizes their individual insignificance. As noted, no pretense at psychological expertise is made, but does anyone have a better explanation of why someone will spoil a county as lovely as Rappahannock?
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