Have you ever known a place so well that tresspassing there seemed more your right than the actual people who owned it? I never thought of it as tresspassing when I went to Abrams Falls, whether I went there to get tadpoles, to sit in the dry cave area under the falls itself, or to walk on the path that goes above the falls and deep in the woods. Many people in my region have come to Abrams to find a space in nature, to zone out their thoughts against the roar of the dumping water. Some find the falls area frightening, others approach it fearlessly. When I went with my Mom and dog to the parking area yesterday, my jaw fell open at the two men digging into the creek with heavy equipment, a pump and bulldozer. They actually stopped their dozing so Mom could ask them some questions. Who were they working for? Sam who owns the gun shop on Volunteer Parkway. How much land does he own? 200 acres including the falls. What are they building? A house for Sam.

As simple and reasonable as that sounds, my inner environmentalist is screaming, my secret Indian inside is saying that the land owns the land. What is this about 200 acres? What is he going to do with the falls itself? Aren't there environmental regulations protecting 50 feet waterfalls and their creeks (with natural mussels). Why must all conservation easements be initiated by the land owner themselves? I know very few people who agree with me on this, but I really think the land deserves rights beyond any one Sam or Joe who has bought the land or who has owned it for years. Things are changing at Abrams falls, and it is a real microcosm.

When we learned we could not go to the falls, Mom and I went down the road some and crossing the creek, we tresspassed in a place that Joey has been before probably up about as far as we went. It is a beautiful place with an untouched feel with high growth and a moist gully. There is a way to cut over towards Abrams falls, but we took the path to the right so as not to cause trouble. (There is mild tresspassing and then their is major tresspassing...)

I want to talk about how this Sunday walk helped me, and certainly it did bring peace into my life to walk up that beautiful gully. But on the other hand, I would have preferred to keep ignorant about Sam and his gun shop and his ownership and employees.

But I did leave with the good image of the two men digging out the water with one shovel (when the pump gave out). Glory! Nature prevails in the end.