Small Town Big News
@Angelwhispers (8978)
United States
March 29, 2007 5:08pm CST
For as long as I can remember there has been a livestock yard out on the outskirts of the small town I live in. The same man has owned this property since I was a young adolescent, and new to the area. There are three big barns, a feedlot, a pond and a country store where we could buy fresh from the cow milk and cream, and farm eggs.
Our town has steadily grown until the outskirts and the livestock yard are now nearly in town. There are a couple of major subdivisions now behind the yard. The problem is that the pond has attracted a migrating flock of ducks about 1000 at the least, for as many years. In the last 5 years it has become a major traffic hazard mostly to the poor ducks, who fly into cars or get run over by the passing trucks.
The neighbors that live in and around the yard, have demanded for this old man to do something, the complaints were that the ducks walked all over their lawns, ate vegetation, not to mention what a mess bird poop of this stature is.
We read about the complaints in our local rag we call a newspaper, like that really is going to help. Finally last spring the complainants banded together and formed an alliance to take the old man to court.
Now intelligent thinking folks of our town really understood there was nothing this poor fella could do, after all it was the growth of the town that was to blame not the birds, but take him to court they did. I attended the courtroom that day mostly out of curiosity, those of you who know me know I can not fathom stupidity. I was amazed at these people and what they were trying to lay on an old tired farmers shoulders.
When the attorney for the old man put him on the stand, all he said to the judge is "What can I a humble weak man do to change the migratory path of ducks?" The court room was in hysterics, the gavel rapping on the forum, the judge calling his courtroom to order.
It was over for the alliance. But what I find sad is that it was over for the old farmer as well. The Stockyard sits empty now and up for sale, the doors closed, no more baby goats, or calf's resting in transit. The pond is nothing more than a mud trough as it has been being filled in all winter long.
The Ducks they came, they died on the roads, but they left much sooner than they ever have. Maybe next year they will fly over our small town for good. Maybe they will roost for a night. Another chapter closed.
What kind of experiences have you to share of your home town, good or embarrassing I would love to hear them
3 people like this
6 responses
@weemam (13372)
•
31 Mar 07
We were the same , we had a livestock market on the outskirts of town , I used to be able to sit at my window and watch the cows and sheep being driven through the ton , It is on the outskirts of town now( now a very large town ) and they are all driven in by trucks , , Its not the same and I feel so many town children grow up and never really know what a cow or a sheep really looks like , It is a sad world sometimes ,xx
1 person likes this
@Angelwhispers (8978)
• United States
31 Mar 07
LMAO funny you say that... I absolutely loved smelling like one of my horses. We had 2, a pinto pony and a Tennessee Racker, a huge gentle horse. I would ride her and then not want to change my clothes of wash up because I just adored her smell. The pinto was my brothers He was a stallion and kinda spirited I did not ride him much, he like to bite me and buck me off at odd times.
1 person likes this
@Angelwhispers (8978)
• United States
31 Mar 07
Good morning my Wee friend :)) It is a shame, and truly I know shame on all of us. As I said in a comment above I own my share of the blame, and I wish I knew what I could do to make it better. Sometimes something like this makes us feel so small, weak and as if we have no control of our environment at all. It's sad that I have to take my grand kids to petting zoos and zoos in general to let them get up close and touch our animals that provide us food, and clothing and livelihoods. I guess I should be thankful that even these things exist!
1 person likes this
@HeavenUnaware (1757)
• United States
31 Mar 07
That is so sad about the farmer and the ducks! People amaze me really - their stupidity and ignorance.
I do not really have a story. I grew up in a small town that use to be surrounding by dairy farms and strawberry fields. I remember going with my mother and picking baskets of fresh strawberries - such a treat! I also remember a little place in town where we could go to buy fresh eggs.
The cows and strawberries and the egg place are all gone now - replaced by big homes, schools and businesses - streets full of cars and smog so thick it sickens me to even go down there anymore. Gangs have taken over most of my hometown. My father still lives in the house I grew up in but I fear for his safety at times - sadly he is stubborn about change and doesn't want to move at this stage of his life. I moved, about 100 miles east of that area to a town that isn't as built up but living here for 5 years now, I can see that is slowly changing here as well. How many Starbucks does a city need within 1 mile of each other!? Luckily my community is nestled against a rather large mountain/hill and there aren't many places to built up in my little corner of town so I think we are safe for now.
I'd rather have ducks than a bunch of businesses and homes that create smog and a number of other things.
1 person likes this
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
30 Mar 07
There is a town north of me that has a pig farmer. He has been there for years. Well a fancy smancy houseing development went in and now people who chose to move in there are complaining about flies and smells. Who do you think is suffering.
There are a couple of farms near me that have posted signs that post about noise and smells as if to make notice and that people do not have brains about farms.
A very sad chapter in our lives with the farms should be nurtured and given every opportunity to thrive. An important part of our humanity really.
1 person likes this
@Angelwhispers (8978)
• United States
31 Mar 07
I agree Willow, our farms should be nurtured. Our young boys even if they have grown up on farms here in the south are opting not to carry on with the family business, its just not profitable enough. Almost all of the corn and wheat fields that you would have seen in and around us even 5 years ago are disappearing.
@mfpsassy (2827)
• United States
30 Mar 07
Mine isn't a farm story, but it is one that makes you wonder. The guy who use to own our property also owned the canyon that seperates our property from the school on the other side. He never had a problem letting the school take kids down there to learn about nature and what not. He had decided to clean up some of the trees that had fallen. Well as we all know you have to have a permit to do almost anything with your own property. So he went to get his permit and was told he couldn't do that and he wasn't allowed to do anything with the canyon since the school was using it and there is a creak that runs through it. After doing the run around for awhile he gave up and donated everything on the other side of the creak to the school. You would think that would be about the end of it, he'd get a nice tax deduction and wouldn't have to fight the county anymore. That was not the case. He got his tax deduction, but the school had snuck into the contract that he could not make any improvements or repairs to his property. He didn't find this out until he went to get a permit to repair a roof on one of his houses. After doing another run around with the county, he just quit paying his property tax until the county fixed the problem. Surprisingly this actually worked. A month before we bought the property the county fixed the problem in the contract and dropped the late fees and penalties for not paying his property tax.
@Angelwhispers (8978)
• United States
31 Mar 07
Sassy it just goes to show you that the very system would should be able to have faith in and trust is out to screw us. I hate to be pessimistic about things like that, but you just gave a very good example of why this is true.
1 person likes this
@66jerseygirl (3877)
• United States
31 Mar 07
That poor old man.People can be such jerks sometimes.Reading about the way the townspeople got mad because of the ducks reminds me of people down here in Florida. They keep building houses and taking up land where the animals live,then if an animal comes in contact with people,they have the "viscious animal"killed.they don't stop to think that it's their fault in the first place.
I also used to live in a small town. We lived in a nice working class area.I loved how well the yards were kept,how green the grass was. There were meadows around us and a small patch of woods.Right in back of our houses,there was a ditch.In the winter when it froze over,we would go sliding on top! Oh,what fun we had!In the spring we would go catch tad poles and in the summer we would go in with our bathing suits. It never ceased to amaze me becasue instead of the bottom of the ditch being mushy,it was nice and firm. The memories that I have from there.I wouldn't trade for a million dollars.
Alas,It all came to an end.the meadow began to fill with vile housing developoments and we slowly began to watch the crystal clear water turn a murkey brown. We had people from Philadelphia and Camden move in and we watched these city people turn our wonderful child hood ditch into the resident dump.Our hearts were broken and sore .We wanted our ditch back,our getaway,our place of solice but we watched it disappear in front of our eyes
@Angelwhispers (8978)
• United States
31 Mar 07
What scares me the most Jersey, is that my grandchildren and great grand children are not going to able to experience any of this outside of protected national parks. My Sons did not have the opportunity either of living with in nature, not like I did.
I really feel that they missed out, and if my Sons missed out how much worse will it be for the next generations.
I know we humans have to live somewhere, and that even my husband and I have to own our share of the blame, but I think we have to find a medium some place, before we are all living in cramped concrete jungles where trees and animals become gods because of the scarcity.
@seamonkey (1976)
• Ireland
9 Apr 07
We have a shameful story from our town. We have a little pond, and for some reason swans have decided to take up residence, and each year they come back and raise their signets. Everyone knows swans mate for life, or you would think they would here anyways as they are our sort of little mascots.
Teenagers being teenagers, I think one year several of the signets were killed, and every year smething happens to one or the other. If they mate for life, I would imagine they are also quite fond of their offsrping. It's sad to see them die at the hands of idiots.
@Angelwhispers (8978)
• United States
9 Apr 07
Thats a shame Seamonkey. I have always wondered how Ducks and Swans of that type of migrating birds pick what stops they make. Seems like once they pick a spot they return to the same ones year after year. I also wonder why they don't move along when tragic things start happening to them on that pond. Like I wonder now that the pond in our town is filled in how long it will take the ducks to move on.
