In this essay, first published in 1968, Edward Abbey reminisces his days as a park ranger.
He describes how the environment is “booming” with mining, oil, and the tourist industries. He explains in both a close-up point of view and a distant point of view. As a park ranger, he was living in a small but cozy cabin, where he could sit on the porch and take in the atmosphere of the woods, and smell the pine trees before his morning coffee—nature was his thing, one could say. Abby strongly argues that the national parks shouldn’t be bombarded by paved roads, asserting that people are soon to take over the parks with cars and pure laziness. “It is the
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“Inside was three sunburned men, twill bridges and engineering boots, and a pile of equipment: transit case, tripod, survey rod, bundles of wooden stakes (oh NO!) (Paragraph 20). He knew right then his parks were threatened, and in a big way. Working in the parks for so many years, believing his story is the only ones who matters. What a waste of money. “The new roads to be paved, of course would be cost somewhere between half a million and one million dollars, depending on the bids, or more than fifty thousand dollars per linear.” (Paragraph 22). Abbey said “At least enough salaries to pay ten rangers for ten years. Too much money, the author stated. You could say that
Abbey enjoyed the finer things in life. Abby only being paid $1.95 an hour, but that wasn’t compared to the experiences that came with the job. As he states we need nature to “Startle the senses and surprise the mind out of their ruts of habits to compel us into a reawakened awareness of the wonderful-that which is full of wonder. (Paragraph 54) It can be difficult to find peace and quiet, but I think Abbey helps teach us that there is always some nature to take into perspective and embrace the