On our own property in southeast Salem [Oregon], two stately old oaks suffered dearly from bearing their burden of ice. Nearly a dozen large branches fell to their premature deaths, meeting their end laying across the sidewalk and intruding dangerously into the street in front of our home.

In spite of the bitter cold, neighbors gathered together or stopped briefly to chat in the middle of the street where they were safely away from the tall trees, constantly being interrupted by the loud cracking sounds of huge limbs falling to their deaths off in the distance.

“Are you alright? Is your home OK? Do you want to borrow my chainsaw?” were phrases mixed within the conversations as everyone reached out to help and console each other. We watched in awe and sadness the virtual destruction of trees long protected by law from the axes and saws of contractors and uncaring homeowners, tall evergreens that were decades older than the eldest among us.

Although historic storms like this can be extremely damaging, creating some danger and inconvenience to many of us, we must understand that what we are watching is all a part of natural processes, somehow fitting into the grand plan for our own survival. We can do nothing but watch and listen in awe to the power of wind and water, realizing how helpless we really are against the unyielding will of Mother Nature.

I guess when it comes to weather, we just have to “go with the flow and enjoy the show.”

Some people wonder why I don’t miss the hustle and bustle of Southern California.  Yes, when I lived there I actually had views of some beautiful snowpacked peaks like Mt. Baldy way off in the distance – four or five days a year.  Yes, I also had easy access to the freeways and tollways that were practically in my back yard.  Also true that there were literally dozens of shopping centers just minutes from my condo.  What more could anyone want?

I guess I should miss all that I left behind in Southern California.  But I don’t.  I really don’t.  There is one reason that I doubt that I will ever miss that life again.  That reason is called Oregon.

Just a few weeks before, this same scene took place in nearly the same place on Mt. Hood.  Dozens of police, search and rescue teams, and military helicopter pilots risked their lives and limbs searching for three other hikers.  In spite of weather forecasts indicating possible storm conditions and extreme temperatures, this group of people decided to make the hike anyway and several lost their lives.

I believe in personal choice and if someone wants to take a hike and risk their lives dealing with bad weather, slippery slopes and rabid wildlife, then by all means they should be allowed to do it.  But when it costs hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and puts both paid public servants and unpaid volunteers at risk, I say that a different approach needs to be taken.

I base this opinion on the fact that I spent several years as a volunteer member of a search and rescue team in Southern California.  It’s one thing to send a group of volunteers out to find a missing child or an aged adult who might have wandered off, but saving otherwise healthy adults who put their lives in jeopardy in the face of potential bad weather or dangerous mountain conditions is entirely another issue.

Local governments and forestry departments need to rethink giving permits to climbers and hikers who want to test their mettle against nature during the winter months.  The waste of taxpayer money aside, is it really worth the lives of volunteers, law enforcement officers and the national guard to save the lives of those who are so willing to risk their own for a little weekend outing?  I don’t think so.