The magic tree has sprouted new fruits again. This time it is even more unusal. To me it is a reminder that summer is here, the long weekend is coming up, and it’s party time. Perhaps this is also a good time to suggest that there are two sides to that story.

Weekends are getting busier and noisier. One person counted over one hundred quads and dirt bikes racing by his place in one day. I’m sure many of those were repeats though. Indeed, people going back and forth, kicking up dust, is one of our perenial problems here. I guess we’ll just have to live with it.

I’ve never liked adding more rules to control our society. The more people sort things out by themselves the better, and to my mind, the more civilized. However I do notice more and more complaints about noise. We don’t have a noise bylaw in Area-H, but judging by the number of times it gets mentioned, my feeling is that there is support for one. I guess the up side is that even though rules like that don’t always get enforced, there are usually also a few people who take them seriously.

There will always be a few rowdies around. I think we have to live with a bit of that. Many people like to party and celebrate once in a while. We also have to realize that the huge number of off road vehicles that we see is the reason that most people come, and why some residents moved here. However, there are times when things get over the top and the rest of the community gets involuntarily volunteered to participate in a way they didn’t want. I notice that the ambulance comes by a couple of times every long weekend. That’s when fun gets to be not so fun.

I also notice the police have been to town a few times recently. I don’t know the details of the issues involved but maybe it’s better that I don’t stick my nose is some of that business anyway. I’m probably not the only person who thinks that way, but I’m probably also not the only one that wishes the police were here when we really need them. My thought is, you can’t win that one, but that there is not any more crime here than elsewhere. It is mostly during the weekends that there is trouble. There is always a problem with drinkers and yahoos on long weekends.

Most visitors are quiet and respectful. There is usually a nice crowd over at the Granite campsite. Some have been coming for years. We also see campers in odd places sprinkled around on crown land. Of course, there is no knowing what they get up to, and we can only assume that they are respectful of the area.

To me the only real solution is to be the best person you can, and encourage others to do the same. Only then can we actually move forward as people, and as community. §