The Same Old Zen

I was involved with the Boy Scouts of America as a child.  Every month, my scout troop and I would pack up the trailer and drive to some far-off location where we'd build fires, pitch tents, and hike through the wilderness.  Eventually, I became an Eagle Scout; the highest rank that a boy scout can earn.One lesson that was drilled into us at the start of every camping trip was the philosophy of "leave no trace" camping.  The idea was simple, the natural word was sacred and worthy of our respect.  We were guests in the forest, and it was our job to leave things better than how we found them.  So, campfires were built using dead wood that we found lying in the forest as opposed to chopping down trees.  We hiked on established trails to protect newly grown vegetation, and garbage we produced during the trip was bagged and carried out in the trunk of our cars.Obviously, it was impossible to have zero-impact on the natural world, but our hope was to enjoy it in such a way tha…