Somewhere In the Middle of Nowhere

12-1-17

Dear Reader,

The American West is a great, sprawling, untamed wilderness.  Unexplored, undocumented, and unmapped, it presents those who dare to enter it with constant danger, hardship, and more often than not, death.  My name is Peter M, and I came here ten years ago with nothing but an axe, and the clothes on my back.  The first two years of my time here were spent traveling.  I moved from area to area looking for the perfect site to construct the rest of my life.  And on the seven hundred and thirtieth day after my arrival, there it was.  I crested the final hill of my journey and looked out over the most beautiful landscape I had ever seen.  It was a small, wooded valley, completely cut off from the rest of the universe save for a meandering creek that seemed to blink out of existence the moment it’s waters brushed the tree line.  The valley was surrounded by mountains whose peaks vanished into the low lying clouds of the morning.  A lone deer startled as I grew nearer, and it disappeared into the underbrush. With every step I took, I grew more connected to that place, and I knew it would be my home.  In the years since, I have lived a hard, but fulfilling life.  I built a cabin, climbed every mountain within view, faced down countless bear, moose, and mountain lion, and mapped the surrounding area down to the last pine tree.  It has been a good life, and I would not have wanted it any other way.  You see, the reason I am writing this is that I fear my escapades have finally caught up to me in my old age.  This old trapper won’t be around for much longer.  And that is exactly why I write to you now, whoever you may be.  I am entrusting you, and all of humanity, with my last wishes.  First, keep the wild places wild, for when we lose such places we are living upon a dead Earth, and that is a life no longer worth living.  Second, remember that you are not a greater being than the smallest of insects.  When humanity thinks itself above the rest of nature, that is when we begin to think ourselves above the Creator.  And when humans elevate themselves above God, terrible things tend to follow.  Finally, treat each other with respect.  Everyone, no matter who they are, deserves to be treated like they are valuable.  No matter the circumstances.  And so I write this to you, dear reader, in the hopes that you can do what I never had the strength to do.  Change the world.

Good luck,

Peter Mac