South Messenger - October 2nd, 2022

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PAGE 4 - SOUTH MESSENGER - October 2, 2022 Government meetings •Lockbourne Village Council meets the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 7 p.m. Council meets at the Lockbourne Municipal Building, 85 Commerce St., Lockbourne. •Hamilton Local Board of Education meetings are held at 6 p.m. at the Hamilton Local Education Center, 775 Rathmell Road, Columbus. For information visit www.hamilton-local.k12.oh.us. Letters policy The Messenger welcomes letters to the editor. Letters cannot be libelous. Letters that do not have a signature, address, and telephone number, or are signed with a pseudonym, will be rejected. PLEASE BE BRIEF AND TO THE POINT. The Messenger reserves the right to edit or refuse publication of any letter for any reason. Opinions expressed in the letters are not necessarily the views of the Messenger. Mail letters to: South Messenger, 3500 Sullivant Avenue, Columbus, OH 43204; or email southeast@columbusmessenger.com. eastside Messenger (Distribution: 6,100) Rick Palsgrove................................South Editor southeast@columbusmessenger.com Published every other Sunday by The Columbus Messenger Co. 3500 Sullivant Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43204-1887 (614) 272-5422 Keep tabs on the news in Obetz and Hamilton Township Look for South Messenger on Become a fan! BIRTHDAY • ENGAGEMENT • WEDDING • ANNIVERSARY • GRADUATION • RETIREMENT IN MEMORIUM • ARMED FORCES Say it with an announcement ad in the Messenger and spread the word. You can download the appropriate form from our Web site or stop by our office Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Columbus Messenger 3500 Sullivant Ave. 614-272-5422 www.columbusmessenger.com Small decisions and timing can have big impacts. Recently out of the blue I decided to take a day off on a beautiful September Tuesday. A mid-week day off is special because it feels like one is playing hooky while everyone else is working. There I was, just hanging out while postal carriers delivered mail, workers replaced sidewalks, and people busily going about their day. A day off allows one to have a slower pace to notice things. For example, I sat under my dogwood tree in the backyard and marveled at the fleeting sunlight illuminating the red and gold leaves still hanging from the tree’s branches. That slower pace also enabled me to see a praying mantis in distress. The praying mantis is one of the coolest insects in the bug world. Not only do they look great, but they are to be admired for their ability to catch prey. They can remain still for long periods of time waiting for unsuspecting prey to happen by or they can slowly, stealthily stalk their meal and then strike quickly and efficiently. A cosmic day off Editor’s Notebook But even a creature of praying mantis’ capabilities can face a struggle and need a helping hand as I discovered while walking around on my day off. As I strolled along, a slight twitching movement caught my eye at the edge of the sidewalk where the concrete meets the grass. I bent down for a closer look and saw a Rick Palsgrove praying mantis trapped on its back with its hind legs entangled with a small bit of stringy plastic. At first I reached down to free him and set him right, but then I thought how terrifying it would be to be trapped and have a giant reach toward you with hands that could www.columbusmessenger.com crush you in an instant. So instead I picked up a small twig and let the praying mantis grab it with its forelegs. I lifted him up and placed him in the grass upright by a tree. Once there he released the twig, which I then used to gently unravel the stringy plastic from his hind legs. He stood still while I did this and was soon free. I told him to, “Carry on,” and left him there in the safety of the grass and tree cover to live his praying mantis’ life. Later in the day as I thought about this encounter, I pondered this question: what if, in the whole scheme of things, the purpose for me taking a day off was not to relax and recharge? What if, instead, my decision to take the day off came about because the cosmos needed me to be on that sidewalk at that time and place to save that praying mantis? A small act for me, but a monumental and timely one for the praying mantis. Thoughts like this keep life interesting. Rick Palsgrove is managing editor of the Messenger Newspapers. The changing face of the land A parable for today: “Tall timber stood here once, here on a corn belt farm along the Monon. Here the roots of a half-mile of trees dug their runners deep in the loam for a grip and a hold against windstorms. Then the axmen came and the chips flew to the zing of steel and handle—the lank rail-splitters cut the big ones first, the beeches and the oaks, then the brush. Dynamite, wagons, and horses took the stumps—the plows sunk their teeth in—now it is first class corn land—improved property— and the hogs grunt over the fodder crops. It would come hard now for this half mile of improved farmland along the Monon corn belt, on a piece of Grand Prairie, to remember once it had a great singing family of trees.” Those words were penned by Carl Sandburg in 1922 in his poem “Improved Farm Land.” This was life at the turn of the 20th century. Forests gave way to farm land as a growing nation continued to push its boundaries into areas once populated with mighty timbers. Within a few short years, the dominance of rural America was quickly usurped by the lure of city life and industrial progress. Farm lands giving way to streets and towns, trains rolling across the landscape, cars belching out fumes and, in the air, birds on the precipice of losing their supremacy. Turn the clock ahead 100 years into the future–our present–and borrowing liberally from Sandburg, albeit with a few tweaks, this is today as I look out the living room window of my Hamilton Township home: Improved farm land stood here once, here where concrete bunkers now house the trappings of 21st century life along the Chesapeake and Ohio train track. Here the Places roots of corn, wheat, and soybeans dug their runners deep into the soil for a grip and hold against drought and groundhogs. Then the developers came and the asphalt poured hot in the summer like a black river of tar–for the cars that brought the people to work in the warehouses to satisfy the insatiable hunger of consumers across the land. Linda Dillman Concrete, asphalt, and trucks covered the crops and made an early grave of farm land that once fed the hungry. Exhaust now perfumes the air where corn stocks stood board straight in military rows leading to the horizon. It would come hard now for this 1,000-acre plot of concrete bunkers along the railroad, on a piece of the Ohio heartland, to know it once held the heart of family farms. According to Ohio lore, at one time a squirrel could hop from a tree at Lake Erie and never touch the ground until it reached the Ohio River. This was the world first pictured in Sandburg’s “Improved Farm Land.” While the poet questions the improvement of land where trees are uprooted and replaced with fields of tilled soil, it still remains within the natural world. There is nothing natural about warehouses, diesel fumes, and high wattage lights creating an artificial noon at midnight. This is our “Improved Farm Land” where the trees are but a memory and the sun kisses pavement, not soil. This is our legacy, our homage to the growing need to feed a machine consuming rural plots, parcels, and acres in the name of bigger and better cars, clothing, and technology. Progress is inevitable and people need jobs, but how many warehouses does it take before the Big Bang of consumerism begins to implode on itself? Retail and commercial arms continue to spiral outwards, but vacant shells of stores and warehouses gather dust as economic inertia changes with the times. Do we really need more shopping centers and the complexes that support them? When will we reach the black hole of development where improved farm land gets pulled into a vortex so strong, there is no more to support what we really require? Rural homes and family farms perched on the border of big cities are aging dinosaurs as municipal boundaries and borders swallow up land. Whether through threats of eminent domain, aging owners, or the lure of offers too lucrative to pass up, houses are plowed under, like the crops that once covered the terrain. Their existence masked by bulldozers and plastic drainpipes resculpting the landscape as workers in yellow jackets hoist signs stopping motorists while massive earth movers crisscross the roadway. Will our “improved farm land” be as sad a legacy as Sandburg’s was to him? Time will tell. Linda Dillman is a Messenger staff writer.
www.columbusmessenger.com Senior Services levy Voters will decide on the proposed Franklin County Senior Services levy renewal on Nov. 8. The proposed five year tax levy renewal is for 1.75 mills, $0.175 per $100 of valuation, commencing in 2022. Officials state it is not a tax increase. The levy provides funding for Franklin County Senior Options and its services designed to help seniors remain safely at home. These services include meals-on-wheels, transportation to doctor appointments, and emergency response buttons. The existing senior services levy will expire at the end of 2022. The senior levy is the main funding source for Senior Options programs. Library School Help Centers The Columbus Metropolitan Library’s School Help Centers for grades K-12 open Aug. 22 with staff and volunteers are ready to help. These after-school spaces give your students access to technology, resources and the library’s catalog of books and materials. Visit columbuslibrary.org/school-help for information. Hours vary by location. Local library School Help Centers are: •Southeast Branch, 3980 S. Hamilton Road, Groveport. Monday-Thursday from 4-7 p.m. and Friday from 3-6 p.m. •Canal Winchester Branch, 115 Franklin St., Canal Winchester. Monday- Thursday from 3:30-6:30 p.m. and Friday from 3-6 p.m. •South High Branch, 3540 S. High St., Columbus. Monday-Thursday from 3:30- 6:30 p.m. and Friday from 3-6 p.m. Stormwater Awareness Stormwater Awareness Week in October is a regional effort encouraging communities to raise stormwater awareness via newsletters and social media posts, or with fun and educational events. Visit ohiostormwaterweek.org for information. Help keep water clean by: planting native plants and trees; properly disposing of chemicals and hazardous waste; keeping storm drains clear of debris; picking up and throwing away pet waste; and volunteering or organizing a stream cleanup. Blood drive Book a time to give blood or platelets by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or by calling 1- 800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Upcoming blood donation opportunities : •Oct. 12: noon - 6 p.m., BrockStrong Foundation at X Church, 6600 Bigerton Bend, Canal Winchester. •Oct. 15: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 6500 Fox Hill Drive, Canal Winchester. October 2, 2022 - SOUTH MESSENGER - PAGE 5
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South Messenger - October 2nd, 2022

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