Rape in my back yard: RIMBY (not that we really need another acronym).

They were outside when I awoke — three muscular young men, hard hats, chain saws, a massive bucket hoist and a chipper. In two days, the closed-in, forested, pond-side oasis I knew so well was gone, transformed into a wide swath for the power line.

Trees with which I had been very familiar, a mass of scattered chips. Others, shorn of half their limbs and leaves. The backyard where I’d watched the sun setting behind tall foliage, now devastated … an open path.

Rape: the act of taking anything by force. Oxford English Dictionary, New Edition. Rape in my back yard, indeed. Reacting solely with my emotions, thus would I describe it.

However, emotion trumps reason, and these are times not only that “try men’s souls” but above all else, times that demand reason. Applying reason, I see it and feel it differently.

As disappointed as I am at some of the changes, I’d been through something similar before, in the Ice Storm of ’98 when I was without power for three weeks. To avoid that, I will pay the price of my changing backyard. I accept what I may not like, and I will adapt and prepare by removing those lovely trees as necessary so I may have the electric power I need.

Adapt to our changing climate or respond emotionally — decry or deny it. It is our choice.

Richard K. Jennings, Fayette