About twenty years ago, I bought five acres of Vermont woods. I spent a couple years pruning and trimming it into a woodsy but open picnic area. For eight years, it was a wonderful place to enjoy nature, complete with nearby swimming hole. In 1998, I made this parcel of land a permanent picnic area by donating it to the Brattleboro Retreat under the condition that it could never be developed.But I can still go there and collect rocks.