Jul 23, 2016 4 min read

It’s time to look to the future and forget the past. Time has a way of moving forward with or without our permission and dwelling on yesterday is a waste of time.

It’s better to prepare for tomorrow.

Never does that statement ring true more than when applied to Ryerson Park in Greene County. What makes this park so important to residents is the lack of recreation facilities across the area. Now the lake is nonexistent and residents long for a replacement.

There should be one built by a combination of private industry and state government. I tend to shake my head when the subject of Ryerson comes up and wonder if the powers that be know Greene County is a part of Pennsylvania and deserves to be treated like a member of the state.

For the last four or five years, I have spent a fall Saturday in Greene County celebrating its Outdoor Heritage Festival held at Ryerson Station State Park.

The festival is a good time to remind Harrisburg and county officials of the need to restore the park with the aforementioned money and maybe a bit more.

I’ll be there and will take my deer measuring equipment along with me. This is one celebration I look forward to. It gives me the chance to meet some wonderful people and visit with Ranger Alan Johnson and other old friends.

The celebration will be held at Ryerson State Park Sept. 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Anyone who wants to set up a table at this event should contact Jennifer Johnson at for.specialevents@yahoo.com.

• I once was told we are born with two built-in doctors, the left one and the right one.

Of course we are talking about legs and how we would benefit if we used them more often.

I often felt there is more to walking than just placing one foot in front of the other. It allows me to observe just what lies along the path I am traveling.

You might see an image of one in the living room, but will never see a red-tailed hawk gliding effortlessly across the sky while sitting in the living room. Nor will you feel the hair on your neck stand at attention as you look at the very large bear track and notice the earth on each side of it crumbling.

The animal that made it had just crossed the road. Perhaps it was in the willows watching and wondering what these hairless creatures were doing in its’ domain.

Walking takes me through the giant rocks along Meade Run in McKean County or even those near home at Slippery Rock Park.

Another unforgettable walk I once took was in Cook Forest. I stared skyward at the trees thinking silently what a cathedral.

It’s the spring walk along Enlow Valley or simply along Templeton each spring that taught me to appreciate the glory of the wildflowers.

The silence of the walk would be interrupted by the gobble of a love sick Tom turkey seeking a mate. Most walks are also serenaded by the machine gun like rapping of the downy woodpecker or the outrageous call of the pileated woodpecker.

Once it was said to me the vulture sure can be graceful while in the sky, but ugly on the ground. My answer is beauty is as beauty does and the vulture does mankind a favor as it cleans up the decomposing dead.

Taking a walk is good for your health is better yet when the walker is observant. You’re not the only creature out there.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.