That Damn Dam

Today, we have a guest author, Omnipotent Poobah. I love his writings and I hope that you will check out his blog here if you enjoy this one by him~Dusty

Page, AZ - I’ve always had a great love for travel. There’s something comforting about feeling the miles unspool under my feet. For me, the destination has no real point, I’m all about the journey.

Day-to-day life can be grinding. Too much stress and strife. It’s easy to forget - despite what may be happening - we are still a great nation. We live in a beautiful land of infinite variety. Our geography is perhaps some of the most beautiful in the world. But trips like this also help remind me that our people are as beautiful as our land.

An elderly woman asked where I was headed last night. When I explained nowhere in particular, she opened a conversation that was a nice break from the whole not-talking-to-anyone thing. Or the woman who helpfully offered two cents to the drugstore clerk when I had no change. Last night a waitress, easily 30 years my junior - called me “Hon”. If they weren’t so cynical, I think these small gestures would be the best thing about politicians campaigning.

The folks who offered these small pleasantries could have been serial murderers for all I know, but the things they said and did were still nice at the time. The point to what they said or did weren’t the real point, the journey that connected them with me is what they’re all about.

My motel room is only a few blocks from the Glen Canyon Dam. It’s wedged into a hole of incredible depth and sits there humming electricity and providing water for farmers and cities. Though not a WPA project from the depression, it carries the style and unmistakable grace of government monument building. It’s all sturdy concrete and decorative flourishes - what nature has joined together, man will cast asunder.

Some would argue this dam is an evil thing. They prefer a world in which water and electricity are second choices to the needs of man, or more correctly, appears without any footprint at all being imposed on nature. But, that cat was out of the bag long ago. Today there are millions depending on the dam’s water to drink and its electricity to keep things running. It’s going to be damnably hard to do what many environmentalists prefer - blow it up and let nature take the canyon back.

Man, like any other animal, always leaves a footprint. It’s impossible to do otherwise. We must have food and water and shelter, all things even the staunchest of environmentalists take for granted. The dam may have inundated the beautiful valley, but at least it’s a utilitarian act. Man built a beautiful structure and followed the ancient advice to build only that which we can use. The dam is curious like that. The destruction of beauty in the quest of utility. Making that decision repeatedly throughout our history, we have a mixed track record. Some things we killed for nothing other than greed or just because we could, but sometimes we did a bit of a good thing. We did some things that to the eye of the beholder are poxes on the earth, but we live in a country where you can speak out against it or in a country that sometimes values beauty, even the man-made kind. We could have done much worse. At least we did it with the best of intentions and to the benefit of many.

And that’s not so bad.