Wyatt on Carbon Footprints

Working on my trail I get an opportunity to “chew the fat” with some pretty interesting folks, but no one is more colorful than Wyatt Fulton. Wyatt is known for three things on the trail, fishing for large mouth bass, telling you the name of every bird in sight, and chomping out his opinions. Wyatt brings his bird dog Buck, a yellow lab.

They live in Okeechobee, Florida during the summer and Minot, North Dakota during the winter. I tell him he has got it backwards and he just laughs. Replied, “Buck likes it up there, plus he makes for a good thermometer, when it gets -10 Buck just sits by the fire. Who wants to miss hurricane season anyway, especially in the fall when they let water out of the Saint Lucie Lock, the snook fishing is excellent then”. Wyatt, now retired made his money as a bridge welder in Northern California. On days off he would play golf with the dot com guys from the Silicon Valley. On the 15th hole or 16th hole, he can’t quite remember, at Half Moon Bay Golf Links he convinced the dot com guys to invest in a small winery he had his eyes on just north of Marin County. After a few years the winery was bought out by a pharmaceutical entrepreneur and he walked away with 1.2 million dollars.

Last time I caught up with Wyatt he stated, “We are under attack by environmental operatives, they have set out to throw monkey wrenches into our economy by claiming global warming. They already make me feel guilty for driving my Dodge Dually, say I’m leaving a larger carbon footprint then an entire village in southeast Asia. Fine by me, but wait to you start reading in the paper how many people were caught in a winter blizzard in their Toyota Prius because they traded in their SUV so they can feel good about themselves and save the planet. Tow trucks, search parties, helicopters searching for stranded Prius owners. Wonder what the carbon footprint is for search and rescue? Environmental operatives are distorting the Psyche of the American people, making us feel guilty about everything from the food we eat to how large our house is. Me and Buck have 3 houses and a combined 125 acres of land. Tomorrow I’m headed out to Lake O for a little Air boating, burning 8 gallons of gas an hour, while those eco warriors ride their bicycles to their next love in, I’ll fill up in Belle Glade, the city can use a little money since US Sugar will be pulling out.” I told Wyatt that it was not a done deal yet and if it goes through its good for Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. Tourism will increase and the big bass that left the lake during the drought will come back in.