Hummingbirds and Trailer Parks

There’s a crispness about the evenings, now that I’m back in the heart of Pennsylvania. Butterflies of all kinds are visiting my zinnias, and now the hummingbirds are stocking up for their migration. It seems easier for birds and butterflies to move to more congenial climes than the majority of humans, even those supposedly on wheels. I live near State College a bustling metropolis that welcomes campers and RVs by the hundreds for football games. Yet on the other side of town, two trailer parks have just sent eviction notices to their residents. The land under those wheeled homes is far too valuable to be taken up by people who mow lawns, mend clothes, feel the elderly, and perform tasks many of us are unwilling or incapable of doing. The dilemma is that once removed, their homes will have nowhere to go in the Centre Region—the area covered by public transportation and within bus or walking distance of their jobs. They are being told that the land under their homes is literally more valuable  than they are. In the early days of State College, laundresses and refuse haulers lived on Pickle Hill. Forced out by demand for student housing and even more stores, they created new communities at what was then the edge of town. Affordable housing has been gobbled up by opportunists. No wonder America has a homeless problem.

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