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Stories From the Heartland (Pt.1)

Every River Tells a Story


Every River Tells a Story

The next time you begin a journey or fishing expedition on one of your favorite rivers or streams, take the time to look at the surroundings (I mean REALLY look), and listen closely, as each one has it's own unique story to tell.

As we begin our journey, we may see a typical farmer out in the field plying his trade, doing his best to put


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food on your table and eke out an existence that was handed down to him over generations.

Coming around the bend, we notice the billowing white smoke of a local power plant churning out electricity to make your life comfortable and secure. As we turn our head to look at something perhaps more aesthetically pleasing on the opposite bank, we notice that elusive red fox we've been hoping to see for the longest time on this particular waterway.

Watching the vixen run back and forth delivering food to the underground shelter of her cubs tells you that they are around 2 weeks old, and you can't help but think to yourself that wildlife go about the

Food is any substance, usually comprised primarily of carbohydrates, fats, and/or proteins, that can be consumed by animals (including humans) for nutrition or pleasure. Almost all foods are of plant or animal origin. Many cultures have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of cooking traditions, preferences, and practices.
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business of living not much unlike that of each and every one of us on Earth. Every living thing needs to eat the food and
In economics, business is the social science of managing people to organize and maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular creative and productive goals, usually to generate revenue.

The etymology of "business" refers to the state of being busy, in the context of the individual as well as the community or society. In other words, to be busy is to be doing commercially viable and profitable work.
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drink the water that this planet provides in order to survive.

Perhaps the hardest facts to consider are those of how we, as humans, go about existing in this environment.

The river provides drinking water to the local residents, who in turn pay for this service by going to work at the plant that treats the water to make it palatable and

The word drink is primarily a verb, meaning to ingest liquids. As a noun, it refers to the liquid thus ingested. It is often used in a narrower sense to refer to alcoholic beverages (as both a verb and a noun). Drink is also slang for a body of water, such as an ocean or a water hazard on a golf course (e.g. "He hit that one into the drink."). To drink in is also used metaphorically, as in to drink in the scenery.
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healthy enough to drink in the first place.Like the fox and her cubs upstream, we too are characters in one long story of life along the river.

Let's take a closer look at a few of the characters involved as our journey continues:

With the sight of the power plant just a blur on the horizon, we come upon a neighbor of ours.

This man (or his predecessor) had long ago cut down his woods opposite mine, and is on his riding mower cutting his grass to within an inch of its life. This lawn exudes a bright green color that can only come from a bucket of chemicals designed for such. His mission for himself on the land, from our perspective, might be expressed as 'clear, drain, mow, spray, control. For him the story of a property owner features an actor at war with his surroundings, which can be beaten and shaped and maintained by constant vigilance. A piece of property such as his can only be described as a great place to practice with a pitching wedge before holing out a 25 footer on the putting green, all the while considering this to be a piece of recreational paradise on earth. The neighbor fully believes in his heart that he has the best that nature provides, and uses it to his full advantage.

Around yet another bend in the river we come upon the work crew that is clearly pouring every ounce of energy they can muster into the project at hand.

Their story says a person can draw a living from nature without harming it. One can move steadily through the workday and through one's life, chopping and digging, sawing and clearing, earning an honest buck and sleeping the good tired sleep of the farmer or stone mason. They wish nature no harm, and believe they have enough knowledge about proper and improper behavior in the field. Like our forefathers, they are forging ahead towards a bright future among fresh new land, only much more efficiently with their expensive

Health is a term that refers to a combination of the absence of illness, the ability to cope with everyday activities, physical fitness, and high quality of life. In any organism, health can be said to be a "state of balance," or analogous to homeostasis, and it also implies good prospects for continued survival. Wellness is a term sometimes used to describe the psychological state of being healthy, but is most often used in the field of alternative medicine to describe one's state of being.
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trucks, backhoes and graders.

The end of a reflective day is nearing as we tie up the canoe at the modest dock we've

A truck (lorry in British English) is a motor vehicle for transporting goods. The word "truck" comes from the Greek "trochos", meaning "wheel". In America, the big wheels of wagons were called trucks. When the petrol engine driven trucks came into fashion, these were called "motortrucks" and the Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV)). The British term is, however, only used for the medium and heavy types (see below), i.e. a van, a pickup or a SUV would never be regarded a "lorry" . Other languages have loanwords based on these terms, such as the Malay lori and the Mexican Spanish truck (or pickup in north
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fashioned at the edge of our 3 acres of wetlands and natural prairie with a simple pathway made of stone leading up to the house.Our guiding story is that of someone with conservationist knowledge and instincts, who is willing to stand up to his neighbors for those goals. Our aesthetics embrace woods and wildlife. Thoughts turn easily to how we may better protect the species of fish we are after and the quality of our water.

Like a sudden bolt of lightning in the night, a knock comes at the door and we are snapped backed to reality in an instant.

Two men from a local governmental unit have come to explain the details of their latest plan to dredge and straighten the portion of river in front of our house. It is explained that our woods and the neighbor's property get flooded during times of high water, and a very generous consortium has offered to pay for the work to its completion.

They go on to mention something about mosquito control and such, but we're not really paying attention at this point, as our attention is fixed on the sight and sound of some birds working feverishly to build a nest in the tree just beyond the door.

In each case stated above, the actors are guided by personal stories directed by specific attitudes and behaviors.

Attitudes perhaps prescribed to by our own personal environmental heroes: golfers, loggers, naturalists.

Spontaneously and without con

The term fashion applies to a prevailing mode of expression. Inherent in the term is the idea that the mode will change more quickly than the culture as a whole. The terms "fashionable" and "unfashionable" are employed to describe whether someone or something fits in with the current popular mode of expression. The term "fashion" is often used in a negative sense, as a synonym for fads and trends. In this sense, fashions are essentially a relief from bourgeoisie and petit bourgeoisie boredom, or a distraction from important matters, for the idle rich. The term is also frequently used in a posi
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science we go about our life standing by our beliefs and traditions.

I'll leave it to all of you to decide if there is a moral to the story this river has to tell.

I'm certain your favorite stream has one of its own, unique in nature but common in its entirety.

Until next time, I'll leave you with this to ponder:

"The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value."~Theodore Roosevelt

By: Mike CliffordHeartlandOutdoorsman.Com

Mike is the owner/operator of HeartlandOutdoorsman.ComThis most comprehensive website offers a unique look into the Great Outdoors.Photo Contests, discussions and reports from across the country fill out a great online experience.

Science in the broadest sense refers to any knowledge or trained skill, especially (but not exclusively) when this is attained by verifiable means.[1] The word science also describes any systematic field of study or the knowledge gained from such study. In a more restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism, as well as to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such research. This article focuses on science in the latter sense.
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