Exactly that, in the midst of chaos. Absolute chaos, insanity run amuck!
Not too far back in the relatively recent past, there was a time when it was an absolute joy to drive down SR 429. The road that connected the hidden gem of a place called Winter Garden to the significantly populated APOPKA and its surrounding areas of Altamonte Springs and Maitland, being a toll road, was never, ever busy. The moment one joined the road at APOPKA, it greeted you with a thick forest of pine trees, standing tall, stately, thick, and thriving as a robust army of green standing tall, proud, and strong. I loved seeing that sight as I followed the road, usually to join the Turnpike and sometimes all the way to I-4, especially when we were going to Tampa.
There were fields and open sky if it wasn't flanked by trees and pastures with contented* bovines. Beautiful, blissed-out open sky, with clear, crisp air, which again seemed to rule the space mile after mile, maddeningly distracting with its views far into the horizon. I once missed my exit going to the airport because the sunset was so spectacular that I couldn't take my eyes off it. I may even have missed two exits because, by the time I realized my position, it was utterly impossible that I would be at the airport in an acceptable timeframe.
But alas, alas, alas, Alas! It brings tears to one's eyes to see the devastation and the rape of the landscape in so brutal a manner that I find it revolting and repulsive. The trees have been butchered down deep to the root, as concrete in all shapes and fashion take over. This butchering happened at such an alarming and accelerated pace that there's not even a memory of the transition', just an annoying feeling of constant construction, construction traffic, and more construction, closer and closer to the road. The poor suckers, retirees paying top dollar for a golf course under the Florida sun.
To now add further insult to this butchering and devastation of the landscape, a tall wall is going up with concrete pillars already erected for the wall to snugly fit inside them like fences, so we don't see the new residents, and they are not bothered by the traffic. That would be hard to believe because the constant hum of traffic by day and night must never be quelled to sleep, irrespective and irreversible t as it is to the comfort of the humans living along this road.
That's not all; hordes of apartments have sprung up, and one wonders who will occupy them. Are there so many people moving down here? And what of the jobs? In the guise of hospitals, two major 7-star worthy properties have sprung up, creating a bonanza of jobs to keep the apartments well-satiated. Oh, well! Well! Well!
All this so-called progress is more like a landscape ravished without a squeak heard outside its immediate vicinity. Maybe no one is complaining? Perhaps they have no say in the matter? Maybe no one even notices the lack of shade provided by the canopy of mature, aged Florida oaks. Maybe folks are so used to the planned landscape greenery that they miss nothing?
Adding to this chaos is the crossroads of juxtapositioning factors on this corridor. At its southern end are fields of a wildly spread-out solar farm! While that is a good sight for sore eyes, it's still a travesty squandered opportunity. The developers could easily have left a slim corridor of forest and untouched landscape areas as a mark of respect to the Earth, which provides selflessly. It would be a view to enjoy by the golfers and the people in cars whizzing by. But of course, not much thought was put into developing this area.
The mighty dollar leads, and greed follows the dollar signs. Forests are felled in the name of development; the Earth, our maternal home, gives in to its children, and life continues.
Veenu Banga
2/25/2024
12:43 am
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