A Time to Heal

Larry and I had the unique opportunity to spend an entire recent Sunday afternoon at the former site of the Badger Army Ammunition Plant on Highway 12 between Baraboo and Sauk City, Wisconsin.  The parcel of over 7,000 acres is in the process of being cleaned up, with buildings deconstructed and prairies planted and tended.  Our tour guides gave us an intersting glimpse into the history of the property when it was owned by farm families, then when it was transformed into an active ammunition-manufacturing plant for World War II, and now that it has been retired and the land offered a chance to heal.  Now is indeed a time to write a new chapter in its story.  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is in the midst of making decisions for the land's future.  In my humble opinion, we have one opportunity to get it right, to do the right thing for now and for generations to come.  I recently read a book of writings by numerous Native Americans about their view of the lands on which they have lived. I seem to be connecting the dots from those historic writings to today's decisions and opportunities and even to Biblical scripture.  As is stated so eloquently in Ecclesiastes 3 (New Living Translation), there is a time to heal, a time to build up, a time for peace.