Having all these huge, expensive chickens come home to roost is really a drag. Worse, there's no easy way to get rid of them.

But, it has to be said, having them around, crushing state and local budgets all across the USA, does have a thin silver lining, if only because they make us aware of the costs of flying blind through life. We're a nation that has lived on credit for far too long, and ignored all the usual warning signs.

Did you see that the State of Arizona, out of money, has decided to close all of its state parks? Apparently several other states are close to a similar decision.

Did you notice that New York State Park Commissioner Carol Ash recently said, "I don't see that we have an alternative right now," when asked if New York might be closing some parks?

First they close the parks. Then they close the schools. Finally, they close the Thruway. Is that how this goes?

Maybe that's what it will take for Americans to wake up and demand change. You know the Wall Street people have gone right back to what they were doing before the roof fell in. For some weird reason, there are actually politicians that don't want that system reformed.

Meanwhile, our schools are taking a huge hit. Worst affected in our area is the Pine Bush School District, for so long a beacon of what a good school system could be. Now, that district is cutting the wings off its programs.

Next year there won't be participation in Odyssey of the Mind, or junior varsity football, or a student senate in the high school, or a musical director. Gone too will be Mock Trial and the Math Team, the Spirit Club, and junior varsity girls' soccer.

And already, there are serious fears about 2011-12 budget years, when there won't be federal stimulus money to bridge the gaps.

Sometimes, you just have to connect the dots. When the kids are out on the streets at 3 p.m. because all the extra curricular activities are gone, just maybe we might wake up.

A few years ago, we blundered into a pair of wars in the Middle East. At the time we were told, more or less, that the total cost would be $50 to a $100 billion. Expensive, but in the wake of 9/11, the nation thought it was worth it. Total war-related spending has now reached $747 billion for Iraq and $299 billion for Afghanistan. Put together, that's a total of $1.05 trillion.

But these wars didn't involve a draft. They didn't affect society as a whole that much. A small volunteer military bore the costs in blood — 4,374 dead and 31,616 badly wounded, while the nation ran this item on its credit card.

That $1.05 trillion, though, could have paid for a lot of education, and some bridge repairs, or even a new sewer plant here and there. $1.05 trillion is not chump change for any economy, not even ours. Especially now that we actually have to pay for all the stuff we bought on credit.

We should've seen all this coming, but we didn't. Now, the best we can do is to stop the bleeding before things get any worse. But sadly, that wish is hopelessly naïve. The war credit card still works, so soldier on we will. In the end, at home, we'll just have to settle for closed parks, closed schools, and the thousands of other chickens on their way to a budget near you.