DON’T MESS WITH TROY! or...“I HATE BEER TREES!”

One fine day in April, after the accumulated snows of winter had melted and the brooks were full and rushing, I was offered the rare opportunity to join an ambitious hike out in the deep woods with Bob & Judy Hall and two Descoteaux brothers, Tom and Richie, who grew up in Troy and still live nearby.  A particularly scenic local area was chosen, and we set out in Richie’s truck with 4-wheel drive that got us pretty far along an old Class 6 road to “Base Camp,” from where we set out on foot. 

With an early morning start we made good progress.  The deciduous trees, brush and ground cover hadn’t come out yet, so along the trail you could see pretty far in every direction, with excellent visibility.  It was inside that “sweet spot,” after much of the mud had dried sufficiently for good footing, and the May flies had not yet made their annual appearance. But a fairly new species seems to have invaded our formerly [more or less] pristine ecosystem: the dreaded “Beer Tree.”

Some folks claim it’s a freak of nature caused by “global warming,” or the more politically correct “climate change,” but I’m not sure. They say the northern reach of this invading species’ habitat has been advancing by about twenty miles per year, on a regular steady basis, and has begun to creep up into New Hampshire from Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Others say it’s a “genetically modified” strain that escaped out into the open wilds from secret test plots planted by big corporations down South, searching to extend their activities into new profitable avenues.  Maybe they call that “innovation.” I’m not so sure.

Some people don’t believe it, when I tell them about these “Beer Trees” though, so it’s a good thing we took our cameras along, just in case, to collect “evidence” if anything unusual should appear along the way. Well, something did!  Aside from sets of fresh tracks, one that looked like moose and another like bear, and a couple of fine old cellar holes where folks had lived, once upon a time, and in places where we least expected...

There they were!  All along our pathway!

Without further ado, I’ll leave you with these two images of “progress,” of “civilization” pushing out into the deep woods. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but this is one sort of “change” I really don’t like! 

Sure, we can watch our weight with “Natural Lite,” but is this the result we want?

I grew up being taught if you took something out there that didn’t grow out there and didn’t belong out there, then you brought it back with you when you left!  You didn’t leave your mess to spoil the landscape for others!  Are we not teaching our children the importance of this valuable lesson?  Apparently, someone wasn’t paying attention!

C’mon, folks, let’s try and keep our environment clean!  It’s the only one we have  Help keep Troy clean!  DON’T MESS WITH TROY!