Dennis just got home from a work-related trip to Florida. I had a bad week while he was gone. For some reason this past week I was in a bad place, just super irritable and then feeling crabby and hormonal. I didn't sleep much while he was gone, and that never helps. Finally I got caught up on my sleep and felt much better this morning.
So now I feel energetic and a little snarky.
Today we went for a bike ride along the Windsor-Greeley section of the Poudre Trail. Dennis had never been on it before so I took him out there to see the scenic part, and we turned around before the ugly part.
Dennis was noticing all the oil tanks out there, and the number of huge homes sprouting up along the bike path near Greeley.
We were wondering, who would be living in and building such huge monstrosities, in this economy, and in Greeley of all places, and with poison ivy in their back yards.
Serendipitously, this morning there was an article in the Denver Post about the frackers.
Frackers refer to the people who are making a very comfortable living off of fracking- hydraulic fracturing of the land in order to get oil out. I don't mean the paycheck to paycheck living of the people who do the hard work. I'm talking about the people who are raking in big bucks.
Frackers pump water plus a special mixture of chemicals into a well to force more oil out.
The frackers don't want to disclose the contents of their fracking fluid.
So the fracking industry doesn't want to share it's secret recipe with the world. I liked Hickenlooper's comment about Coca-Cola. Cute.
It's a big deal here in Colorado. We don't know the effects on groundwater and whatever other toxic environmental effects might result from it. The industry is wanting to frack the area around Windsor. Windsor has a growing residential area, and it also happens to be scenic and has great potential for outdoor recreational pursuits. Look at this gorgeous scenery along the Poudre River Trail, where we rode today.
Looking up at the huge homes overlooking the poison ivy corridor of the bike path, we decided that this must be where the frackers live. Who knows if they do, but it sounded plausible.
I tell you, some people will frack anything. Hey frackers, Frack this!
It's starting to cool down in the mornings and evenings, the days are still hot. Great cycling weather, but in another week it's going to change. I'm returning to running slowly and I'm going to tough it out and wear tights and more clothing to keep cycling as long as I can. No long runs for a while. I've been enjoying the days, having energy to do other things besides just working out.
I feel great when I run, instead of running on fatigued legs they feel strong and flexible, and I feel light, even though I haven't lost any weight. I've been doing a lot of cross training, not just cycling but weight training and other balance, flexibility, and strengthening work. I forgot what my body felt like before I started training for all these long ultras!
Our house is still a wildlife sanctuary for Einstein, but not for the squirrels. The squirrels are losing to Iris the squirrel hunter. I should see if she has a license. Sadly, she has eaten at least 3 more baby squirrels. I find carcasses in the yard when I get home from work. She stalks them. Even my neighbor told me he yelled at her over the fence because she had a squirrel.
As you can see, with 20 minutes of daily running, I don't have much to report right now, if I'm resorting to writing about fracking. I hate thinking about politics anymore, dreading the onslaught of the approaching ugly election, I find it all so depressing and overwhelming, and mostly it just brings out the snark in me.
Tomorrow is the annual running club picnic and 4K run, in which I am actually going to participate. And I'm off to Arizona in November for a visit with my dad and stepmom. And that's the extent of the news in my world for now.
5 comments:
Alene, this fracking issue is gonna get big. It seems to be cropping up in many places. The pictures you posted look amazing, so it sucks to think that that might be off limits, or worse, ruined. Glad to see you still enjoying the cycling and getting back to some easy running!
Mike, same old thing repeating itself, same shit, different day. We are all hurting, and nothing is solved. Bang our heads against the wall to convince them otherwise and people will still stick their heads up their own oil wells and say that the fracking will bring them jobs, etc. as they vote against their own best interest. And it goes on and on. Just the latest in a long string of scams. I better not get started...
What gorgeous shots! I'm living in South Africa at the moment, and fracking is a big issue here, too. It's been proposed in areas with low human populations (one area is called the Karoo), but that doesn't negate the other harms it could cause! I'd never heard of it back in the States, but I am sure there are some battles ahead...
I majored in geology in college (so I'm a technology guy - go figure). Fracking is so extremely deep, IF any contaminants ever reach the surface, it will be decades away.
What I don't like about fracking is that it's exactly like the economic behavior which has created one wave after another of boom and bust, only fracking can ruin areas ecologically forever. Basically, they're borrowing from our future, realizing they won't be stuck with the bill.
Reckless GREED!
No doubt, they have to report their recipes. It mustn't be a choice. Even though its a very slim chance it will ever get into our surface water, its possible. So they shouldn't have the choice to hide it.
Our grandchildren shouldn't have to pay the price.
We're rats in a cage and the cage is getting smaller each day.
We don't know what will happen down the road- in a few years, or many years. We could be leaving a mess for future generations to clean up. It all comes down to money, power, and greed.
Post a Comment