Mount Jeff Davis

“You’re off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting,

So… get on your way!”

― Dr. Seuss

On the drive home yesterday, I looked off to the north and grabbed my phone so that I wouldn't miss it.  I wanted to capture the grandeur of the majestic peaks of Mount Jeff Davis, the highest elevation in Jefferson Davis Parish.  It has warmed up in the past few days, so the snow-capped peaks have melted.  Admittedly Mount Jeff Davis may not be granite nor as tall as those mountains you'd find in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Mount Jeff Davis is a recent geological phenomenon and can't compare with the age of the Great Smoky Mountains.  We love our mountain, though, don't we folks?

Our mountain is actually the Jeff Davis Parish landfill.  If you drive closer, you can see heavy machinery working, digging, covering all day long.  You can also see flocks of seagulls scavenging food from the tons of garbage delivered each day.  Sometimes I wonder how we are able to manage all of the garbage we as a society create.  Do you ever think about that?  We live in a rural area.  Our town's population is 12,000 yet we create mountains of trash, literally.

We're living in a disposable age.  If it doesn't work, throw it away and buy another.  It is cheaper to buy a new gadget than fix it.  I can remember being a kid and going with my Dad to the dump.  There was always a guy at the dump who kind of supervised.  He had an "office" that was surrounded by treasures he'd discovered amidst the rubble - things that people had thrown out that still had some use.  I guess folks like that still exist, but with a Dollar Store on every corner, it is often cheaper and easier to just buy a new widget and use it until it breaks and then let its plastic, Made in China parts become a component of Mt. Jeff Davis.

In the past, things were built to last.  There was quality construction and people passed along things to the next generation.  Things weren't quite as disposable back then.  Hand-me-downs were more common.  I consider myself a conservationist and try to reduce, reuse and recycle as best as I can.  We are, after all, called to be stewards of God's creation.  We can't control the litter that people throw out of their car windows, but we can sure do our part in keeping "our neck of the woods" clean.

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