By Staff
Resident misses access to wildlife
I am probably one of the few people qualified to tell you what most in this area have lost.
We have lost some of the most wonderful, majestic and breathtakingly beautiful sights and wilderness areas in our great state.
We've lost the beautiful white sands of Cedar Creek, its clay ravines, its cliffs, its grapevines, its flowers, its cedars, willow, pines, oaks and lush foliages.
We've lost the sand and rock bars, gravel lakes and natural lakes, shoals and shallows and depths teeming with fish of Murder and Burnt Corn creeks.
We've lost the ponds and lakes and beautiful waterways of Conecuh River. There are Forkner, Travis, Clark, Weaver, Wiggins, Williams, Maxwell, May and Mayo. There are Charlie Cole on and two, and Barnett. There's Pea Patch, Brackin, Lows, Parker and Cypress, to name a few.
Sure, a small number, a few still enjoy some of these sights and places, but most of us, especially the little people, some of whom have spent their entire lives in this area, are denied access.
When I was young, I spent nights camping on Burnt Corn and Murder creeks and the Conecuh River.
I've lay on the beautiful sandbars, looked up into the night sky with friends and relatives, some of whom are deceased, looking for shooting stars, having reels between forked sticks with a small fire burning, roasting marshmallows and weenies, drinking creek bank coffee and running water from springs.
How well I remember Randy Grantham, a very dear friend, as we walked a half-mile through the woods to the banks of Murder Creek to fish for white perch in the willows.
What a time we had as we walked the creeks and river looking for crayfish, frogs, mussels and minors to fish with. We didn't have liquor or drugs, or do any unlawful thing to enjoy ourselves.
But haven't you noticed the gates everywhere? Most of your children can't do these things in our area. Instead they sit glued to the TV, playing videogames or going on the Internet. They are out all hours of the day and night, doing God knows what.
Now let me make this quite clear: I'm not na