I was lounging around in my living room, drinking tea after cleaning the kitchen, when I saw my friend, Jim Reacher, walking down the middle of Highway 3. That’s not unusual. We all walk down the middle of the road here. There just isn’t that much traffic.

Jim was walking a little crookedly and he was gesturing with his hands as if he were trying to convince somebody of something. Of course, no one was there except for the birds on the wires overhead and me watching out the window.

So I decided to go out and see what was going on. I admit I sort of snuck up on him, and when I called his name he jumped as if a car had just honked. 

“What’re you doing out here, Jim?” I asked. He stopped and turned around and I walked up to him.

“You really want to know?” he asked.

“Sure,” I told him. “It looked like you were carrying on with someone I can’t see.” I looked around in mock wonderment. “You got special friends?” I winked and raised my brow.

Jim exhaled and slumped a little, ignoring my joke. “Well, you know I voted for Trump. And I was pretty excited about how he was going to change things. You know, shake things up a little?” I waited. I knew there was more. “Well, I’ve got cows over on the Second Creek. And we’ve been working with the DEP so hard to protect the watershed.” Jim perked up a little bit, “I helped build a fence along the creek to keep the cows out of it. And we’re pumping water into troughs for the cows, and restocking fish, and planting trees along the creek.  And we think it’s important ‘cause it’s our responsibility and it all runs into the Greenbrier. And now they got this new guy at the EPA and I’m afraid they’re going to just throw out all the rules we’ve worked hard on for so many years.” Jim looked discouraged.

“You ever write letters?” I asked him.

“To who?”

“You know. The new guy at the EPA, you’re congressman, the DEP, the President.”

“You really think that’ll do any good?”

“Well, I think it has a chance, better’n just givin’ up. The more people who write, the more they know what we’re thinkin’.”

Do you write?” Jim asked me.

Well, no, as a matter of fact I don’t. But I’m willing, and I’ll help you if you like. Roger tells me he writes letters and signs petitions. Let’s go find him and get some coffee and figure this thing out.

(learn more about The Friends of THE Second Creek online)

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Looking forward to meeting you all at our little event

MEET THE COLUMNISTS

MARCH 9, AT THE ASYLUM IN LEWISBURG (5:30pm – 7:30pm)

– Larry Berger, Hashtag WV.  March 2017