In other Westside news this week, such as the Buena Vista Montessori or the Pleasant Valley traffic island renovation, though
privately I might be rooting for their success, I still remember my old journalism teachers lecturing about how a news reporter
should stay “distanced” from the subject matter. That is, as they might have elaborated, one should not get emotionally involved,
thus making it possible for one to write a clear and unbiased story.All well and good. The downside about distancing, though, is that if one spends one's entire life that way, one is nothing but an observer and has no life of one's own.
Not an issue for this one reporter, certainly in one regard. As some of you out there know, I've spent a fair part of the last 18 years working on the Intemann Trail. That doesn't make me an expert, by any means, but at least I've learned from some pretty solid people the basic concepts of how and where to build a trail. So when this “outlaw trail” news emerged during the past few days, I can tell you that if there was any “distance” between yours truly and the subject matter it could only have been measured in millimeters. The very idea that an unschooled clown thinks he can waltz into some of the prettiest country for miles - Section 16 and Red Rock Canyon - and build trails in drainage beds, mark out a personal campsite and hack away at any old trees he wants just burns me up.
There. I've got it off my chest. It's at least a relief to find that our government parks planners are dismayed too. But are they dismayed enough? Whoa, gotta keep that distance.
- K.J.