"Progress" in Ferndale

I went for a long run this morning throughout Ferndale, the town in which I currently reside. I went out merely with the desire to move and feel healthy. But I got much more than I was looking for. On my run, I received a view of the progress of Ferndale. The truth is, I moved here knowing that it is growing, and thinking that my house had a lot of potential to sell for more someday, as the town grew. But honestly, I never thought about what it really means when we talk about a town growing.

There used to be two different ponds that I ran by when I first moved here three years ago. Both are now gone. One has a housing development on top of it, and the other has been covered in gravel and mud, and the small bit that was left was fenced-in and has literally been filled with scrap wood and debris, making it a sick cesspool with no natural inhabitants. Ironically, as I ran today, three different massive groups of geese flew over me. None of them flew in their usual "V" formation, and I realized that they were swooping and circling overhead because they were looking for a place to land and rest. They were looking for the places they have always rested in. As I ran through the typically wet December streets, with rain pouring down, I had to watch and think about how we no longer have wetlands. Not even Western Washington has wetlands! And so the birds circle and circle, and I ultimately see some land in a sick drainage ditch outside a housing development. The water was less than three inches deep, and the birds sat silently in it, and I swear they were looking at me with eyes that said something along the lines of "What the hell?"

Ah, but it gets even better. Directly outside this particular housing development has always been one of my favorite secrets. Surrounded by housing development literally on all sides, there was this one (maybe two?) acre of land, with shrubs and small trees and tall grass that everybody always drives quickly by without looking. Fortunately, I always looked. And what I see is two doe deer, occasionally with young ones. Perfectly camouflage, they have hidden in the heart of Ferndale for who knows how long, and may have continued on just as long as the geese migrated through that same region. Instead, in the four months since my last run through the neighborhood, two monstrous steel frames have gone up for a new school. Don't get me wrong, I strongly support schools. But I wonder if anybody ever asked about those deer. Where did they go? Where could they go? Is this right? Why can't we have undeveloped places in our cities and towns that aren't parks? Is it not a real community until everything has been paved and "developed" so that anything that is unknown, such as animals and nature itself has been pushed out?

Honestly, I'm just really sad about all of this. I wish we would ask better questions before we do what we do. I do not want to "progress" in the way our society progresses. I do not want to "develop" in the way our culture chooses to develop.

Peace,
Matt