Look all around you

Daniel Boone was ill at ease

When he saw the smoke in his forest trees.

“There'll be no game in the country soon.

Elbow room!” cried Daniel Boone.

When he saw that smoke rising above distant treetops, Daniel Boone felt crowded. New settlers had arrived in the forest and it was time to move farther west.

Even though Boone couldn’t see the newcomers, the smoke from their stoves and fireplaces announced their presence and brought on a case of claustrophobia.

If that legendary explorer had been in the west rather than the east and Midwest, he wouldn’t have needed plumes of smoke to discover new neighbors; folks in the big sky country can see for miles and miles.

But here, in the former forest primeval, it’s hard to get the big picture. In the west, we seek higher ground for a vantage point from which to determine the lay of the land; in the east, you just can’t see the forest for the trees.

The view from my window features what appears to be the edge of a huge forest. But a Google Earth™ view reveals this “vast wooded area” to be a postage-stamp clump of trees. Houses and other objects are invisible to the ground-level eye, even though they may be plentiful and just a few hundred feet away.

News coverage of events in the east seems to feature urban vistas. Urban forests are not highlighted in close-ups of business and residential areas.

Only being here reveals the fact that the east is as much about nature as is the west. In one case, the natural element literally blankets the landscape and in the other, it’s spread very thinly over huge open spaces. Each has an appeal.

I love the trees; but I yearn for landmarks. I’m used to being able to spot the mountains and knowing they are to the north, or east. I long for vantage points from which I can see the valleys and shorelines that define the geography of eastern areas.

Google Earth™, mentioned above, offers a chance to get much-needed perspective. It is equally effective in less wooded areas and provides anything from near-ground level to bird’s-eye-view to a look-from-space.

When Google-like images become 3-dimensional and can be viewed as a “heads-up” display on one’s windshield, we’ll finally be able to look through obstacles and will actually be able to see the forest AND the trees.

You and I travel to the beat of a different drum
Oh can't you tell by the way I run
Every time you make eyes at me

You cry and moan and say it will work out
But honey child I've got my doubts
You can't see the forest for the trees

        -- Michael Nesmith