So apparently are many of us here. From a different time that is. I still have my ingrained habits and thoughts that are hard to abandon.
I earned my spending money from the age of 14 through 18 or 19 by mowing fields. We owned a small Ford farm tractor to deal with some land we subdivided and built houses on one at a time. I hired out at $7 an hour to mow for folks with a 6' bush hog. No roll cage. My clothing would typically be low cut sneakers, shorts, MAYBE a T shirt and a hat. Gloves also. I wonder if this would even be legal these days. And for those not in the know, in most states back then anyone of any age could drive "farm" equipment on the roads as long as you obeyed the driving laws. About 71 or 72 we had to start using those red/orange triangle signs.
In another vein, when we replaced our water heater last year, my wife of nearly 20 years asked why I NEVER called a plumber or other repair person. I thought about it for a minute and realized in my family we had never hired anyone to fix anything. We just did it. Of course our extended family of the time and my dad's circle of friends was very different than now. And now I take my cars to a good repair shop. Shade tree skills are no longer valid.
Getting back to the point of this group, attendance at the national parks is not growing even as the population grows. The speculation is that XBox, 24/7 cartoons on TV, etc ... are reducing the trips to the parks. And I'm firmly convinced that the way sports is covered on TV is killing off participation of all but basketball by most kids. Soccer is big K-6 but falls off fast after that. Baseball is almost a wasteland as far as kids participation and I blame most of that on the way TV covers it these days.
An old fart signing off for now. ;)
David Ross