By Thomas Thorspecken
The Lake County Studio used to have a lush undeveloped lot full of tall pine trees and underbrush. In a matter of days that lot was cleared with all the trees cut down and the roots ripped out using large machinery.
There was a backboard set up at the edge of the studio property with a bench in front of it. The bench was rather worn, needing replacement boards. Most important, this section of the yard got plenty of shade. That is no longer the case, now this corner of the yard is exposed to full sun. The backboard was destroyed because the root system of a tree caused it to get knocked apart. Boards now are at odd angles. A section of the black cattle ranch fencing was also destroyed.
At first the developer only wanted the first 80 feet of the yard stripped barren. But on this day more trees were removed and the underbrush stripped bare. A canoe was found which had a bullet hole and some decking. The canoe was ripped in half by the jaws of the machinery. Fence damage in the back yard is now highly exposed, looking out on a barren war torn landscape.
Development in the area is encroaching fast. Large farms are being bought up to be turned in to lifeless home developments stacked with ticky tacky box homes wall to wall.
I am now researching French and German cities my father fought in at the end of WWII. Entire rural towns resembled the lifeless lot next door, flattened by 50 ton bombs, artillery and tanks.