Sheep's Graves:

Last month Sarah called from Farmington and said we need to drive out to Cynthia Dixon's and do a story on her lambs.  "What about her lambs," I asked.  "She just buried twenty-seven."  I hadn't seen Cynthia since Desert Rock seven years earlier.  At first glance she appeared as strong as I remembered, but her eyes couldn't hide her great loss.  She showed me twenty-five graves, each one marked.  Two of the graves had twins buried together.  Like Dub's calves in Oklahoma, they couldn't stand or nurse.  And like Dub she knew the culprit was coal.

To see and hear Cynthia's story click here

be strong, be safe, Carlan

Monuments and T-Shirts:

I received an invitation to join Barnett Harley-Davidson from Las Cruces (our corporate HD sponsor for Ride in Beauty) for a group ride through the beautiful desert landscape of New Mexico this past weekend. Part of the ride was a planned stop for the semi-annual "open house" at the Trinity Site. 

July 16, 1945 - Trinity Site New Mexico. "The effects could well be called unprecedented, magnificent, beautiful, stupendous, and terrifying."...Brig. Gen. Thomas Farrell

The story as we all know it began in 1942 with the formation of the Manhattan Project.

In 1953 the first visitors were allow to visit the site.  The Trinity Site was declared a national historic landmark in 1975. For two days a year, the first Saturday in April and October, the site conducts an "open house".

Trinitite, a green glassy substance, found in the ground zero area contains several radioactive elements.  When entering the site visitors are handed a brochure, which states: "Although radiation levels at ground zero are low, some feel any extra exposure should be avoided.  The decision is yours."

The ground zero monument marks the location of the tower that was used to hold the bomb.  The tower was vaporized in the blast.

It is a Federal offense to remove radioactive Trinitite from the site, but t-shirts can be purchased.

Hans Bethe one of the contributing scientists wrote, "it looked like a giant magnesium flare which kept on for what seemed a whole minute.  The white ball grew and after a few seconds became clouded with dust whipped up by the explosion from the ground and rose and left behind...a black trail of particles."

The stop at the Trinity Site was short...the memories long.  It took another 300 miles of open road for my thoughts to settle.

be strong, be safe, Carlan

The Cowboy Life:

When I first met Herman Talbert (also known as Dub) in Bokoshe, last year I knew I was talking to the real deal, as they say in Oklahoma. Born and raised on the ranch his grandfather homesteaded around 1890, he's raised cattle there since he was 16. For 40 years Dub's lived the cowboy life, which when explained to me, was living with the land, his animals and raising the next generation of cowboys.

Four years after Making Money Having Fun LLC (real name) began dumping coal ash 1/2 mile from his ranch Dub began losing calves, 4 the first year, 6 and then 10. They looked normal, but couldn't stand and struggled to breathe. In January 2011 Dub sold his herd.  "I couldn't take it, seeing those calves die." He'll stay and tend the ranch with his daughter and grandchildren, but their cowboy days are over.

Click here to see and hear Dub's story. 

be strong, be safe, Carlan  

Jim Mason and Landscape:

Jim Mason: at his hogan January 10, 2006

The landscape in Burnham, NM on the Navajo Nation has changed in the past 6 years since I first met Jim Mason in 2006.  On that cold January day he talked about how his hogan shook like an earthquake when the dynamite blasts at the mine were set off.  How he was concerned about the blasting causing Mother Earth to come apart under his home.  How his sheep could no longer drink the water.  Jim asked "who is doing this without telling us"?

Jim Mason: his hogan broken apart by mine blasting June 5, 2008

For 2 1/2 years I watched as the mine encroached on Jim's home.  In June of 2008 I stopped to talk with him.  I knew the blasting had greatly damaged his hogan. "Everything inside our home is falling down.  No one, the mine, or the Federal Government has contacted us.  No offer has been made to help rebuild our hogan.  The blasting continues 7 days a week, 24 hours a day". 

Jim Mason: remains of hogan destroyed by mine blasting August 22, 2011

That June day in 2008 was the last time I saw and spoke with Jim.  In August of 2011 I drove by his home.  The sheep were gone and a small pile of wood lay where his hogan and home had once stood.

The Oxford Dictionary of Geography defines landscape as: "An area, the appearance of an area, or the gathering of objects which produce that appearance.  The concept of the landscape as the expression of interaction between humans and their environment".

Jim was part of the interaction between humans and their environment. He had little choice on the outcome. 

be strong, be safe, Carlan

Coal Economics 101:

Sale Special! Limited Quantities Available! Deal of the Century! All of these slogans are normally associated with going-out-of-business sales, but they apply to the way our publicly owned coal is sold in the United States today.

The Gunvor Group recently purchased publicly owned coal in Montana for 15 cents per ton. One of the world’s largest trading companies, Gunvor is registered in Switzerland, though its principal owner is a Russian oil baron and one of the 185 richest people in the world, according to Forbes magazine.  When Gunvor purchased mining rights for the coal, it did so with a public announcement that most of the coal that was produced would be sent to Asian markets, which will pay more than $95 per ton. (Do the math: buy from US taxpayers at 15 cents per ton, sell in Asia for $95 a ton).

Proposed mining permits in Four Corners provide for shipping coal to China.

This is not an isolated incident. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, Congress’ auditing and evaluation arm in charge of safeguarding taxpayer dollars, prepared reports as early as 1983 highlighting the massive handouts given to large coal companies as public resources were consistently undersold.

be strong, be safe,  Carlan

Child-like Wonder:

Remember being a child and seeing snow for the first time, feeling the texture of a rock, the coolness of running water in a stream, or listening to the sound of the wind in the trees?  That is what "child-like wonder" is all about.

Last Wednesday I watched as Sarah White's 15-month-old grandson climbed to the top of a 65 million year old tree stump.  It was a moment of exploration, discovery, excitement..."child-like wonder". 

The tree will soon be lost to the blasting and mining of coal near Burnham, NM.  What will our children 7 generations from now have to experience for their "child-like wonder"?  I wonder...

be strong, be safe, Carlan

Fueling with French Fries:

The University of Central Oklahoma has recently developed a Biodiesel Fuel Program with the production capability to power many of the diesel engines on its campus. Recycling vegetable oil into biodiesel started with an idea and has led to producing over 150 gallons of biodiesel a month at the University.

Carl Shortt proudly displays biodiesel produced from used vegetable oil

I met Carl Shortt in Santa Fe.  He was from Oklahoma attending a photography workshop I was teaching at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops.  During a morning coffee break I over heard Carl talking about biodiesel.  He immediately had my ear.  Carl enthusiastically shared his story with me.  He extended an invitation to visit the University and see their operation first hand.  On my very next trip through Oklahoma to work in Bokoshe, I called Carl to accept his invitation.

Fueling with French Fries tells the story of three guys sharing an idea using recycled vegetable oil to help save and preserve the world we live in. Click here to view their story.  

be strong, be safe, Carlan