Land by Simon Winchester

I’ve been reading the above book on my kindle. It is all about land and how people use, define, and defend land all over the world. Very interesting; one part really sparked my interest. It was about public access to the private land in some areas like England and Scotland and other European countries. It turns out that in many countries there is a public right to private land for the purpose of walking, and some other non-intensive uses. That kind of blew my mind because here in the States it is really simple: If the landowner doesn’t want you on the property and you trespass they can call the police and have you taken off the land. That’s what I have grown up with and have followed my whole life.

I sparked up the interwebs to read some more about it. (No, no AI used in this post, in case you are wondering.) The right to access in England, Wales, and Scotland, originated with the concept of common land where people could graze their animals, cut firewood, and walk about from their farms to the village or other areas. All those old paths and trails are now enshrined in laws passed in the early 2000’s. I found an article about it here for England and Wales and here for Scotland.

Reading about it I was struck how the laws depend on reasonable people doing reasonable things. Your right to ramble does not give you the right to trample crops or go across somebody’s garden or too close to the house. Lots of authority is given to local authorities to straighten out conflicts. We don’t have that in the states. We look for the loopholes where we can drive a semitruck through a mousehole.

I’ve read lots of blog posts by Brits about their hiking across the country and lots of the trails they used went across private land and always kind of wondered how that works. I guess it works pretty well.

I think literally 99.9% of the trails I have hiked on have been either public land, or publicly accessible privately owned land owned by something like the Nature Conservancy who have trails but restrict access.

A trail open to the public on the JT Nichol Wildlife Preserve in southeast Oklahoma. Owned by the Nature Conservancy.

But wait, it is not that simple. From what I understand Americans have a right of access on beaches. Generally everything oceanward from the vegetation land is public property. Now getting to the beaches is another unless there is deeded public access. We got Orange Beach, Alabama on the Gulf of Mexico a lot. There are landowners who try and claim the beach as well. They’ll come down and tell people to get off. From what I understand, when push comes to shove they back off.

I don’t think we are going to have a big movement toward public access here in the States. Too many monied vested interests. The opposite is happening in many states where wealthy people want to buy public land and keep people off of it. I’m of the mind that we need more public lands and access, not less.

A county trail in Arizona along the Little Colorado River.

Heather and Logan on one of our hikes in New Mexico on Forest Service land.

I’m fascinated by the differences in lands and legal systems among the various countries that make up our world.

I am linking to “Through My Lens”

January 2025, on Turkey Mountain on a cold winter day at the Overlook Hub looking out over the Arkansas River and south Tulsa. I am hiking on Turkey Mountain at least once a week. I love the place.

In February I got a new right knee. Lizzie the cat immediately named herself Nurse Lizzie and stuck with me for months.

And making sure I am doing my exercises right. If nothing else she would crawl up on my knee and purr. Didn’t mind it to tell you the truth.

We got a new family member in March. Sadie we got her on St. Patrick’s Day and I named her. It fits. She is a sweet dog.

Gets along with well with everyone. It looks to me in this photo that Sadie and Heather are plotting something.

This is Heather with our pom Kodi. In addition to being my wonderful wife who took care of me during my hospital stay and recuperation. She also teaches a wide variety of fitness classes at different places and her students love her. (I would know, I take three or four classes of her classes every week). She immediately reads a room and tailors the classes to fit the needs of the students. She’s amazing actually. She teaches a wide range of people, young folks, older folks, people who are fit, people who are new to fitness. She embraces them all and they love her back.

By the time the daffodils bloomed I was out and about taking photographs. I even helped cut new trail for the Tulsa Botanic Garden.

In May, I went to a minor league baseball game with a friend.

During my recovery I had about two or three rounds of home PT and another four rounds of regular PT, plus daily homework. The day I was able to turn the wheel over on a stationary bike was one of the happiest in my life as that meant I could ride my bike again. I love riding my bike.

We had a nice neighborhood rainbow in June.

In September, Heather and I, protested on No Kings Day. We were amazed at the turnout in deep red Oklahoma. I think it amazed a lot of people that turned out on a chilly, rainy day. It was a typical genteel Tulsa affair. The cops showed up just to make sure people knew where to park so they wouldn’t get towed. People that drove by that didn’t agree with the protest just drove on through. Others waved and honked their horns. No tear gas, or angry counter protesters. Just people being themselves.

In August we went for a family vacation to our beloved Orange Beach, Alabama.

And, son Logan started work with a law firm as a paralegal in August. He had been studying and dreaming about that for a long time and it came to happen. He loves his job. We love that he loves it, and we love that he is out of the house during the week days! He also earned his drivers license!! A twofer!! We are so proud of him.

My sister Ellen came to check on our brother Bob. Next to Ellen is her husband Irv. Irv is the world’s greatest BIL.

In October I had a little relapse with my knee when I slipped and fell on a hike and my right ankle ended up being right by my right hip. I was able to walk back a mile and half to my car and drive myself home and get cleaned up. Heather drove me to the Orthopedic Urgent Care who patched me and set up an appointment with my surgeon’s office. His PA said that I might be sore for a while but I’m okay.

Sadly, our brother Bob passed in November after an illness of six years. We miss him terribly. Ellen and Irv jumped through a bunch of hoops to get Bob a spot and full military honors at the Pikes Peak National Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Brother Bob was a good guy. Physically tough, never complained and a laugh that could fill a room. A history nut, especially about the Presidents. Want to know who was in Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet? Bob was your man on that. Runner of over 50 marathons and over a hundred half marathons. He joined the Navy, saw the world. Decided he didn’t like ships so he switched over to the Seabees which he loved. Ended up his career after his military retirement as a civilian employee for the navy.

So our little family is at the end of 2025 and wishing all of you a great 2026!!

I went on a short hike on Turkey Mountain on Friday. I love this bridge across the top of a dam.

This is another trail elsewhere on Turkey Mountain going across the top of dam.

Earlier in the week I went on a short walk at Hunter Park. I love post and beam fences. Among other things, they make great shadows.

I had a lot of excitement yesterday at the No Kings Rally here in Tulsa. Time to settle the nervous system down and relax.

I’m linking with Shadow Shot Sunday. Great gang to chill with.