Meadowyards

The fog was hanging low over the Holyoke range on this rainy Friday afternoon, and I took a drive out towards the Meadows section of Northampton for a better look.



Unfortunately by the time I got out there and successfully negotiated through or around the massive puddles that lay along the dirt paths through the meadows, the fog had mostly risen again, leaving me out in the middle of the wide open farm land with little except overcast-overcastiness to observe.



But one curious thing I did notice on the way out there was an unusual abundance of man-made debris piles. Maybe the cornstalks and leafy greenery had hidden much of it during the summer, or maybe it's new, but here and there were small piles of...junk.

In one spot rocks, junk and debris was piled up and shaped into some kind of zen-balancing-formation...



...and in another place, bandanas and a small flag accompanied tire irons and smashed bottles in some bizarre lonely tribute to a recent nightime festivity, out here in the middle of nowhere...



Further on, there was more; here a few tires and a garbage bag.



A couple couches over here and oh, and some siding over there.





None of the dumpings were too large or too concentrated in any one area, compared to what I've seen in other un-monitored sections of woods or field; but they were just big and numerous enough to make you want to curse whoever was so lazy, drunk, and/or stupid as to drive all the way out here just to make such an annoying little mess for someone else to clean up.

To wit:

Shrubbery stumps..?



...really...stumps.



...or how about some video cassettes to round out the absurdity.



Is there any rhyme or reason to drive out to a farm field to toss this, when any trash barrel or dumpster would do?

Combine this kind of idiocy with all the other bad juju that's been happening out in this area, (a few mysterious deaths occuring nearby, and drug busts), and it might just be enough for the powers that be to bring the hammer down; shutting off these wonderful, wide open fields to more innocent Joe and Jane Publics.

That would be it for all the hunters...



...sky gazers...



...joggers, dog walkers, bird watchers and peace seekers.



All this wide open acreage would be soley for the farmer and his corn, as they'd probably prefer it anyway...



But, for the rest of us...