The Noland Trail

Last Friday I took a trip to the Noland Trail for the first time in several weeks. When I arrived there I was surprised to find my favorite spot on the beach had been blocked off for environmental reasons. Being a natural juvenile delinquent, I decided to ignore the signs and walk out on the beach anyways. Within a few minutes of my admiring the gorgeous sunset on the water, a park ranger walked up from behind me and rather forcefully asked me to leave. When I asked him why this area was closed off he told me people had been throwing trash in the area and it now needed to be cleaned/rehabilitated. This deeply saddened me for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I recognize that I go to school in Newport News, and that nature is already rare in this region. So therefore seeing the one place I could escape to while living here being disrespected like that filled me with a sadness. Secondly I realized after my time spent in Religion in Ecology how sacred nature is in terms of Christianity. Being a Christian myself it upset me to see God's creation in an area already riddled with pollution being treated in such a manner. I hope we can learn from these mistakes and in turn make better decisions in the future.