Some woodsy words of wisdom for the weekend

Do you remember Woodsy the Owl? "Give a hoot and don't pollute."

Or how about that crying Indian from the Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom? You know, the one who shed a tear when he saw litter along the road? Well if he had been with me recently, he would have cried a river.

I took my bride and son camping to Magee Ranger Station. If you don't know where that is, Google it and do yourself a favor and go there. It's about 60 miles off I-90 but well worth the drive.

My bride and I started making a game out of picking up the trash alongside the road - about a five or six mile stretch of it to be more precise. We ended up with half a pick-up bed full of cans, trash, old and broken camping equipment, etc. What's worse, on the drive home we came across a bonfire, still burning and shooting flames about five feet in the air, and not a camper to be seen to attend the fire. We decided to put it out and upon getting closer we could see - cover your eyes, Indian dude - that someone had taken two cans of Great Stuff expanding insulation and shot the cans with a firearm. The mess that caused was huge and we could only clean most of it. Thousands of little pieces of that stuff were everywhere.

Along with putting out the fire, cleaning as much of the Great Stuff mess as we could, my bride and son and I picked up an old burnt camp chair, several empty bottles of booze and beer and lots of other trash.

With Memorial weekend soon upon us and many people planning their camping trips, I would like to send out a friendly reminder to all you campers, which I will be one of. Please remember why you went out into the woods in the first place - hopefully to enjoy God's creation and get away from the hustle and bustle of town, not to be confronted with trash, vandalism and reckless, irresponsible behavior.

I'm not saying don't have fun. If you drink, I hope yours is the coldest most refreshing drink ever. If you have ATVs, I hope you have the safest and best ride of your life. If you build a fire, I hope it's the most comforting fire you've ever built. But please, I beg you, be considerate of the others around you who are trying to enjoy the same things you are. Please be respectful of the forest and the things living in it. Please have enough dignity and self-respect in your behavior that nobody can say anything against you. And please be careful. I know that the hundreds of beer cans I picked up with my family along the road weren't dropped there by hikers. Drunk drivers can kill themselves and others out in the woods just as well as they can in town, and the nearest ambulance is a good one and a half hours away.

Anyway, happy Memorial Day to you all and please give a hoot.

Robert Artis is a Coeur d'Alene resident.