New York State’s budget deficit is projected to be a whopping $8.2 billion. Those are hard numbers for me to conceptualize, but it certainly drives home the fact that we need to do something drastic in order to stay afloat. But as I learn more and more about the specific cuts (and their corresponding tax, fee and mandate hikes), I grow increasingly bewildered by our governor’s strategy.

And believe me, I use the world ‘strategy’ lightly.

The latest, of course, was when I learned that Bowman Lake State Park in McDonough in back on the chopping block alongside New Berlin’s Hunt’s Pond State Park and dozens of other state parks and historical sites across the state.

This is a travesty on so many levels. Give me an hour or two and I’d be happy to list them all for you. But for the sake of brevity, I’ll forgo an emotional outpouring of what Bowman Lake has meant to me, my family and my friends over the years. I’ll also refrain from giving an impassioned plea about the intrinsic value of our state park system, and the opportunities it offers for the exploration and appreciation of our natural world.

As tempting as all of that is, I’ll focus on something with which our legislators and yes, even the possibly-soon-to-be-ex-governor, should be able to relate. And that’s economics. Because during budget time, dollars and cents are what its all about.