Saturday, June 27, 2009

Pokagon State Park and other Politics by Governor Daniels

I love my blog site. I started it over five years ago and do my best to keep it up-to-do, full of pictures, trendy, upbeat and colorful.

Today I break all of my rules. Since I am on Ocracoke Island in North Carolina for the summer, my Internet is a bit fuzzy. I have to pack up my laptop and other office paraphernalia to walk through the sandy lanes to the small library. I love this library, always people to talk to and a cozy room that I share in the back as an office space. I usually share it with my friend James who is working on his PhD.

I check the local news every couple of days to keep up with my Angola, Indiana home town, my friends, community etc. I was not prepared for today's headline, however.

The gist of the headline was that the State Parks in Indiana would close on Monday if the state legislature could not come to a financial agreement. It was comforting to know (I say this with tongue in check) that the prisons would stay open, however.

Governor Daniels, we need to talk. It is all backwards, you know. If we spend the money for our state parks as we should and usually do with qualified staff for children and families to participate in and encourage them to learn about our environment, etc., the need for prisons might be smaller, could even be eliminated. Who knows?

The children in Indiana are currently under the umbrella of obesity, yet we close the state parks where they can run and play?

The children in Indiana spend much of their free time watching television and working on the computer which also leads to the above subject, and less interaction with the environment. How can we possibly save an environment that isn't used and/or appreciated by children and adults alike? Is that the old adage, out of site out of mind?

And Governor Daniels, in this economic downfall, and do not tell me that we are in a recovery, my neighbors are unemployed and doing whatever they can to keep hearth and home (which means digging up their yards for gardens, etc.), the state park is still an inexpensive outing for a family. Where I live in Angola, Pokagon State Park offers swimming, kayaking, hiking, the Nature Center, and the lovely Inn. It also offers families time to talk, walk, and be together as a family.

So, Mr. Daniels, what will you do? I have had little confidence in you and now I have even less.

Sincerely submitted,
Lou Ann Homan for my State Park

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