/ : do ; rN J The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, December 11, 1991 .85 | Lo Bal Ml fot ’, V4 STA JR W272 ES { Sry 7 (TTR avo Ab =, OVA > %, By ALENE M. CASE I suppose most folks who pur- sue a certain line of work admire someone who has been especially successful or influential in that field in the past. Those of you who regularly read this column might surmise that my favorite essayist would be Falph Waldo Emerson or Henry David Thoreau. Or perhaps John Muir. Or even Anne Morrow Lindbergh. But, Aldo Leopold? Who is he? Leopold was an expert forester and a college professor during the first half of this century. His first book of essays was accepted by the publisher a few days prior to his death in 1948. Although he was tsonally influential among con- ervationists, Leopold's writings were not popular until the 1960’s when they began to be redis- covered. And although he was one of the founding members of the Wilderness Society, his writings on that topic were not collected into one book until 1990. So, if you've never heard of Aldo Leo- pold, don't feel left out. Today is a yeat time to begin reading-the L¥ rks ofa man whodeclared “there are two things that interest me: the relation of people toeach other, and the relation of people to land.” Aldo’s first writings were letters from boarding school. His frequent letters home to Iowa were not those ofa typical teenager - he recounted in exquisite detail the discoveries made while on his daily “tramp” into the woods, fields, and swamps near Lawrenceville, NJ. Through- out his life, bird-watching, fishing, canoeing, hunting, camping, and hiking were much more than idle diversions. He and his family even- tually bought a tired farm in Wis- consin and spent weekends there planting thousands of trees and enjoying communion with nature. He wrote about all of these pur- suits and about his philosophy or “land ethic.” I respect Leopold most for his willingness to grow - to give up an idea when it no longer made sense. “There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot. These essays are the de- lights and dilemmas of one who cannot.” With those simple words, Aldo Leopold begins A Sand County Almanac - one of the most remark- able little books you could ever read, or reread. A few more quota- tions should whet your appetite. On being marooned by a spring flood: “I see our road dipping gen- tly into the waters, and I conclude (with inner glee but external de- tachment) that the question of traffic, in or out, is for this day at least, debatable only among carp.” On listening to a wolf: “Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf.” On the loss of wilderness: “Rele- gating grizzlies to Alaska is about like relegating happiness to heaver; one may never get there.” On the advantages of owning a farm: “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace...if one has cut, split, hauled and piled his own good oak, and let his mind work the while, he will remember much about where the heat comes from, and with a wealth of detail denied to those who spend the weekend in town astride a radiator.” Intrigued? Well, you should be able to find this treasure at the I>cal library. Or, if you need a gift for your favorite hunter, see if the bookstore has a copy of Round River, which discusses the social assets of “Goose Music” and other topics. Library news Mrs. Crump honored on her By NANCY KOZEMCHAK The Back Mountain Memorial Mbrary Book Club members and & ff were privileged to honor a very special lady on her 97th birth- ‘day. Mrs. Florence Crump cele- brated her big day on Monday, December 2, by spending an hour and a half in one of her most favorite places, the library. At noon on that same day, a few staff members were honored to have lunch with her at her favorite fast food restaurant for a good cheese- burger and were able to sing happy birthday to her. She is one very , special lady and this library has always been so very important to her. / We also had a special birthday ake at the November Book Club meeting and sang happy birthday to her then. Book club members, guests and staff also enjoyed that party. We feel so honored to share Hasay honored for attendance Rep. George C. Hasay was rec- ognized recently by the House Republican Policy Committee for his perfect attendance during the 1991 session of the Legislature. Hasay has been recorded on all 66 master roll calls, according to the House Journal, the official record of House proceedings. “Rep. Hasay has been one of the most dedicated, conscientious legislators in the House and is a valuable member of our caucus,” said Rep. John Perzel, House Republican Policy Committee chairman. “Not only has he been a hard- working legislator in Harrisburg, he maintains a convenient, acces- sible constituent office in the dis- trict to better serve the people of the 117th District,” Perzel said. More of the news you want The Dallas Post time with this lady and are very appreciative of her devotion to the library. Happy, Happy Birthday, Mrs. Crump! At this Christmas season, we invite interested community members to attend the Book Club Christmas Party on Monday, Dec. 16, at 1:30 in the reading room at the library. Mary Ann Ostrowski of Forty Fort will present a special musical Christmas program with vocal selections accompanied by an auto harp. There will be group carol singing followed by cookies, candies, coffee, tea and hot cider. All are invited to attend. The library will have a Christ- mas open house on Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 17 and 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the reading room at the library. Refreshments will be served. This is our way of saying Merry Christmas to our many patrons and friends. Come on in. Everyone is welcome to join in the 97th birthday Christmas festivities. New books at the library: “Fran- chising and Licensing” by Andrew J. Sherman is a book that includes two ways to build your business. The book explains in plain English how to successfully and safely build a franchise operation or licensing program. It explores the key struc- tural, management and opera- tional issues involved before the launch and how to sustain the program after. The book is filled with practical help to keep you on track, including checklists to fol- low, case studies to examine and sample contracts. “The Waste Lands” by Stephen King is Book III in the epic saga ‘The Dark Tower’. We again enter the realm of the mightiest imagi- nation of our time. Roland moves ever closer to th Dark Tower of his dreams and nightmares—as he crosses a desert of damnation in a macabre world that is a twisted mirror image of our own. A novel- istic mastery. Sere El NET pg Now Open Back Mt. Vacuum Cleaners Sales & Service ® All Makes & Models Free Service Call also 1 Room 12 x 12 Shampoo $14.9 Reg. $29. also bags for most all vacuums service - small appliances Call 675-0605 f IN EXETER an TT IT MIGHT BE COLD 77 IN THE MOUNTAINS, BUT «Cr 2% 17's SUMMERTIME %=& DOWN IN THE VALLEY AT J 00010) 18S) OY: CTO CH Eo) Bo 03 81): SO GET OUT AND PLAY A ROUND! WEEKDAY SPECIAL GOLF & CART 655-8869 JW.J. U.S. is on wrong road with cheap oil By J.W. JOHNSON Historically, asking Americans to set self-interest and short-term expediency aside is akin to asking former President Jimmy Carter to stop building houses, and former President Gerald Ford to stop hit- ting errant golf balls while falling down...oris that falling down while hitting errant...anyway. Now our very future as a world political and economic power is dependent on Americans doing precisely that: settng aside self- interest and short-term expediency while embracing a notion that Japanese own as a cultural im- perative: those who fail to look long-tern, indeed, those who fail to plan also plan to fail. We must, in fact, specifically ask President Bush to stop mort- gaging our economic future in championing a neec for cheap oil, - along with tying the lives of our young men and women, to the short-term expediency of attemp- tion to sabre rattle away an oil price rise...if indeed that’s the real objective. We should, in fact, be paying $3 per gallon for gasoline...or higher...before you run out to buy me a one-way bus ticket out of town, here's why. —In the bigger picture, it's not worth one human being bleeding into a Middle Eastern desert to keep oil at $20 a barrel. —More to the point, if we con- tinue to establish policy based on cheap gasoline, then we will al- most certainly become, and some- time in the next century, a third- rate economic and political power. I recently talked with an oil field engineer who provided some his- tory: From the beginning of this cen- tury, the world’s oil supply and its price was controlled by what is known in the oil industry as the Seven Sisters, a loosely knit group of oil companies who received only lip service from those in charge of monitoring monopolies. At the same time, it was perhaps neces- sary for both supply and price to be controlled by the suppliers, or the world's economies, desperately dependent on the black gold, would - fluctuate wildly. Along came the 1970's and OPEC, an acronym for a chiefly Arab consortium called the Oil Producing Export Countries. Two steep price hikes in the 1970's proved the temporary wisdom of supply and price control as the world, most notably the United States, went into price shock and economic recessions both times oil prices were raised. We survived, largely through reducing dependence on foreign oil by reducing consumption, by dramatically improving our over- all energy usage intelligence through massive education pro- grams, and through experimenta- tion and real werld use of alterna- tive energy sources, complete with tax incentives. I was personally involved in one such use, retrofitting a former home for solar heat and rot water. The system worked quite well, and in four years, heat and hot water were essentially free at my house. What's happened since the 1970's is that, in the 1980's, oil prices have dropped dramatically. This was caused, in part, by re- duced consumption from the 1970's, along with a sluggish world economy reducing demand. Now along comes Saddam Hussein in 1990 and the U.S. decides to become modern day Hessians, hiring out our military forces for the dubious benefit of having our young people die in the Saudi sand when the real solution is implementation of simple mar- ket forces. Remember the $3 a gallon mentioned earlier. We need to increase the price of gasoline to a point where consumption will be reduced and the rewards of the free enterprise system will rise to discover, manufacture, distribute and promote alternatives, i.e., a viable electric automobile. At the same time, we need to realistically and with environ- mental consciousness, examine our own oil resources as yet un- tapped along our coast lines. About the only thing Saddam Hussein's invasion has done is prolong the illusion that this coun- try can and shcula continue its primary economic activity as a military industrial complex while being paid under the thinly veiled guise of defending America here and freedom abroad when, in fact, it is disguised socialism providing The horrible irony is that while we have applauded the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe for its abandonment of communism in favor of free enterprise, we find our economic system glued to the Defense Department for the sur: vival of an inordinate number of American citizens. A Don't kid yourself: our presence in the Middle East has as much to do with keeping profits flowing and defense industry jobs intact as it has to do with trying to maintain stable oil prices. ay war. i We shout about the Japanese invasion while buying their cars, selling them our real estate, and: not following their example of $3 per gallon for gasoline. al And unless we're prepared to take on the entire Moslem world, by forcefully taking all the Middle Eastern oil fields, then all current rhetoric by the Bush administra- tion and citizens alike is dust in the hot desert wind...or, as Nikita Krushchev put it: als Tele “Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.” Seen any rivers in that Saudi sand? : fr \ Christmas Special Sonic Jewelry Cleaner $31.80 tax inc. Electrosonic wave action and special formulas takes your jewelry from dull to dazzle in minutes. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers