If you lived where we live, with all this fracking stuff happening all around you, what would you do? Preemptive strike and get out before anything happens? Stick it out until something does happen? It's a crap shoot. I guess it depends on how much you like the area and how much you have invested in it. It is entirely possible that nothing will go wrong and that, aside from the obnoxiousness of all the trucks, ground shaking when the frack happens (even the drillers say the ground shakes. And why wouldn't it? They are BREAKING the rock below our feet!), noise from fans and influx of potentially very transient people, life will continue on in our quiet little hamlet without incident. But, with all those pitfalls just listed, plenty could go wrong and greatly affect our everyday lives, and THEN we would have to move. To what end? Will we be sick? God forbid (and I hate even putting it in writing, much less thinking it) something happen to the kids.
Crime will go up. My husband says: "But Beth, you lived in and just outside DC, in Virginia Beach, and IN Detroit. The potential crime that will come here will never rival what you've lived with, and yet you want to move BACK to Norther Virginia, where you KNOW the crime rate is higher". Yes, because that's where family is and I expect a certain amount of crime - a learning curve, if you will. But here, because of where it is and the type of community it is, there's an expectation of safety. The expectation that your neighbor is keeping an extra eye out for you. Does that mean that crime doesn't happen here? No (this whole fracking without unequivocal proof that nothing will happen thing is a crime, if you ask me). That we shouldn't continue to be as vigilant here as in Norther Virginia or Virginia Beach? No. Is there a false sense of security? Maybe. It's ingrained in me to be vigilant, especially of the kids. But, it is nice to know that there hasn't been (again, I hesitate to write this and jinx things) any gang related murders in the recent past. I don't even know if there's a crime log for this town. Where we just moved from, there was a website you could go on and find out the latest crime stats for a given street!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I will gladly eat my words when the fracking goes on and nothing bad happens. Do I want to be here if/when something happens? Not really, but where ever we would go, there will be problems of some sort there too, hopefully nothing as life threatening or altering; no place is perfect. As of this moment, we're staying here. God help us.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Frack This!
For those of you not familiar with horizontal hydraulic fracking, here's a more substantial "Fracking for Dummies" explanation than what the wiki dictionary might give you. Enjoy!
Let's start with a basic shallow vertical gas well.
This is a picture of what a typical vertical, shallow gas well looks like above ground:
http://www.newgeography.com/content/00342-gas-boom-ripples-through-pennsylvania-economy
http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2011/09/12/can-pennsylvanias-state-forests-survive-additional-marcellus-shale-drilling/
These, and similar looking ones, currently dot the countryside of our fair part of PA. Driving from my house to Walmart, there must be at least 15, probably more. There is one of these not a mile from my house. They do not appear to be intrusive and, if you didn't know what they were, you probably would think they were well water containers, or had something to do with watering the fields. Shallow gas wells tap the gas that is within about 3,000 feet from the surface (http://www.bairdpetro.com/shallow_gas.htm). Deeper gas wells, such as those that are needed to reach the Marcellus Shale here in PA, need to go down about a mile plus (http://www.earthworksaction.org/files/publications/OGAPMarcellusShaleReport-6-12-08.pdf?pubs/OGAPMarcellusShaleReport-6-12-08.pdf).
Many of the shallow wells have been around for decades, some even dating back to the 1920's. Many of the older ones have stopped producing and they SHOULD have been filled in; many are not. Many gas companies are holding the landowners to the original lease and will be horizontally drilling on their land (whether the land owners want them to or not), and may or may not be increasing land owner royalties from the original lease amounts - that's a whole other issue and not one that I am going to tackle. None of this is black and white, cut and dry. I am not an expert. I am a person very new to the whole concept of natural gas drilling and I am still trying to learn what I can and sort everything out. That being said, I want more people to know about gas drilling and the effects it can have on our environment and ourselves.
I am making an assumption when I say this: I am guessing that the shallow wells in this area are traditional vertical wells (straight down), possibly directional (drilled at a slant to access multiple pockets, frequently used in offshore drilling http://www.naturalgas.org/naturalgas/extraction_directional.asp). I assume this because it seems that modern horizontal fracking procedures are a relatively new procdure (horizontal drilling, not for gas, has been around since the 1890's). They simply didn't have the technology in the early half of the 20th century to create horizontal gas wells. Horizontal drilling allows for more access to more, previously unreachable with vertical drilling, resources with, presumably, less actual drill holes. Once the horizontal well has been drilled, high pressure shoots chemically altered water, called fracking brine, down the pipe to the horizontal area and the water shoots through holes in the pipe forcing the shale to fracture and release the gases within, simply put. The gas and the fracking brine are then pumped back out. The fracking brine is transferred to holding ponds to be taken by tankers to "treatment plants" or "injection wells" (the water is dumped down an old well and sealed in. The Marcellus Shale geology isn't conducive to receiving injection wells, so that method isn't used in this area. Brine sent treatment plants get "treated" (not really, there's no way all of those chemicals can be removed from the brine to give us our water back) and used as either road deicer or dumped back into waterways (http://www.marcellus-shale.us/drilling_wastewater.htm). Yum.
http://www.naturalgas.org/naturalgas/extraction_directional.asp
Remember what those shallow wells looked like? This is what is required to run a horizontal fracking well:
Well pad containing the well, and the numerous trucks to cart fracking equipment, chemicals and fluids, as well as the gas.
http://www.larsondesigngroup.com/2011/01/21/larson-design-group-develops-energy-group-to-meet-growing-trends/
Well pads with adjoining truck parking and containment ponds (for the fracking fluids containing "proprietary" fracking chemicals.
Both pictures from http://marcellus-wv.com/impacts/land-area
Lovely aren't they? Definitely not the unobtrusive shallow well containers, are they?
So, there you have it. Fracking in a nutshell. Take from this what you will. Do your own research, make your own opinions.
Next up: To move or not to move? That's the fracking question.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Our Childrens' Success
Watch this: http://youtu.be/NScs_qX2Okk
Sometimes, we forget. We get lost in the day to day: school, work, activities, fracking etc. One day, we are cradling our little ones in our arms, the next they are running excitedly to the school bus and then...well, I guess we'll find out!
When our son was born, I looked down at his little, sleeping face, held his tiny hand and wondered what he would be like. What would those hands do? Who would he look like? What would he be interested in? What kind of person would he be? He's not done growing and learning, but already he surprises me with how much he knows about dinosaurs, and math and reading and his imagination never ceases to amaze me. Like the mothers in the video, I watch him grow and learn and when he accomplishes something he has been working toward, the feeling of pride of being HIS mother brings tears to my eyes.
What those mothers in the video are experiencing is something every mother I know looks forward to experiencing. Maybe not on such a wordly scale (although it would be pretty cool to see my son in the Olympics or something along the same lines), but seeing their children succeed is central to being a parent. Whatever they do: a math test, a sport, getting along with friends, conquering a personal struggle - every little success counts. But, with every success, we have to let go of a little part of our attachment. We can share in their joy and celebrate their success, but those successes become part of who our children are as individuals. We have to let them grow. And that, is our job as parents. They will always be a part of us, because they are our children, biological, adopted or otherwise, but they need to become their own person.
Right now, my 8 month old daughter is sitting next to me in her big girl seat eating puffs. When she wants more, she leans forward towards me and slaps her hand on her tray. I'm trying to teach her the sign for "more". The first time she does it, we will celebrate her success, and she will continue to grow!
Sometimes, we forget. We get lost in the day to day: school, work, activities, fracking etc. One day, we are cradling our little ones in our arms, the next they are running excitedly to the school bus and then...well, I guess we'll find out!
When our son was born, I looked down at his little, sleeping face, held his tiny hand and wondered what he would be like. What would those hands do? Who would he look like? What would he be interested in? What kind of person would he be? He's not done growing and learning, but already he surprises me with how much he knows about dinosaurs, and math and reading and his imagination never ceases to amaze me. Like the mothers in the video, I watch him grow and learn and when he accomplishes something he has been working toward, the feeling of pride of being HIS mother brings tears to my eyes.
What those mothers in the video are experiencing is something every mother I know looks forward to experiencing. Maybe not on such a wordly scale (although it would be pretty cool to see my son in the Olympics or something along the same lines), but seeing their children succeed is central to being a parent. Whatever they do: a math test, a sport, getting along with friends, conquering a personal struggle - every little success counts. But, with every success, we have to let go of a little part of our attachment. We can share in their joy and celebrate their success, but those successes become part of who our children are as individuals. We have to let them grow. And that, is our job as parents. They will always be a part of us, because they are our children, biological, adopted or otherwise, but they need to become their own person.
Right now, my 8 month old daughter is sitting next to me in her big girl seat eating puffs. When she wants more, she leans forward towards me and slaps her hand on her tray. I'm trying to teach her the sign for "more". The first time she does it, we will celebrate her success, and she will continue to grow!
Saturday, April 14, 2012
It's been awhile!
I apologize for not writing for so long! My monitor died on me on Easter Sunday (although we're reviewing the autopsy - it may not have been an actual death) so my computer has been sidelined since then. Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. It was a bit colder than I would have like it to have been, but it was nice to spend time with my husband and the kiddos. I'm still waiting for a really nice afternoon to put the kids in their Easter outfits and take some pictures outside. I may be waiting for awhile - the next few warmer days are actually supposed to be rainy.
First up: an update. The school board voted to pursue a gas lease for school property. Granted, they have several "demands" that must be included in their lease or they won't do it (supposedly), but still, my heart broke. Especially since they asked the Superintendent to research gas drilling/fracking/etc. and get back to them with a recommendation and she did: she urged them not to pursue a lease. They voted 8 - 1 in favor of pursuing the lease. Why ask her to do all that work if you already knew what you were going to do?! I liked what one board member proposed: get a vote from the people of the district on what they would like the board to do. That was, of course, summarily shot down.
Moving on. I'm a member of a "birth club" board for both my kids, and on the one for my daughter, someone asked the question "Would your child be an only child and why?". Funny thing is, we thought for a little bit (read: a week or so) of having just our son. Here's the back story:
When we got married, DH always said he wanted a baseball team with relief players! I told him it wasn't going to happen. He said he would settle for 4, I told him MAYBE 3. We had ODS in 2006, and I wanted to give him a sibling not too long afterwards. We realized there was no way we could afford 2 in child care, so we would wait until ODS would be going to kindergarten. Around when ODS was 3 or 4 (after he was potty trained, which was a pain and I didnt want to go through it again), I began to think that maybe having just him would be great! He was becoming more independant and I was back at school getting my Master's and, since he would be going to public school, we could start saving some money and paying off things and maybe, just maybe, go on a real family vacation! Then, the bug bit me. Our son would be going to school in the fall, and I wanted him to have a sibling. HE wanted a sibling. So, our daughter is 5.5 years younger than her brother.
Our daughter was a planned c-section, for many various reasons. While I was having the C (and was having a rougher time of it than with our son), hubby starts talking about #3! I think he was trying to make me laugh or something (which is really hard to do when you're numb from your chest down). Even our son is with him on having another one (funny - they say "Let's (= Let us) have another!", but who's REALLY having the baby?!). I swore I was done and happy with my 2 at that time. I mean, it makes sense: we have a boy, we have a girl; I was not a great pregnant person; delivery (C or other) terrifies me; it would be nice to eventually, sooner, pay off some bills and take a real vacation. So, why do I occasionally think I want a 3rd? I don't know, but I will consider adoption should the bug bite me again! :o)
First up: an update. The school board voted to pursue a gas lease for school property. Granted, they have several "demands" that must be included in their lease or they won't do it (supposedly), but still, my heart broke. Especially since they asked the Superintendent to research gas drilling/fracking/etc. and get back to them with a recommendation and she did: she urged them not to pursue a lease. They voted 8 - 1 in favor of pursuing the lease. Why ask her to do all that work if you already knew what you were going to do?! I liked what one board member proposed: get a vote from the people of the district on what they would like the board to do. That was, of course, summarily shot down.
Moving on. I'm a member of a "birth club" board for both my kids, and on the one for my daughter, someone asked the question "Would your child be an only child and why?". Funny thing is, we thought for a little bit (read: a week or so) of having just our son. Here's the back story:
When we got married, DH always said he wanted a baseball team with relief players! I told him it wasn't going to happen. He said he would settle for 4, I told him MAYBE 3. We had ODS in 2006, and I wanted to give him a sibling not too long afterwards. We realized there was no way we could afford 2 in child care, so we would wait until ODS would be going to kindergarten. Around when ODS was 3 or 4 (after he was potty trained, which was a pain and I didnt want to go through it again), I began to think that maybe having just him would be great! He was becoming more independant and I was back at school getting my Master's and, since he would be going to public school, we could start saving some money and paying off things and maybe, just maybe, go on a real family vacation! Then, the bug bit me. Our son would be going to school in the fall, and I wanted him to have a sibling. HE wanted a sibling. So, our daughter is 5.5 years younger than her brother.
Our daughter was a planned c-section, for many various reasons. While I was having the C (and was having a rougher time of it than with our son), hubby starts talking about #3! I think he was trying to make me laugh or something (which is really hard to do when you're numb from your chest down). Even our son is with him on having another one (funny - they say "Let's (= Let us) have another!", but who's REALLY having the baby?!). I swore I was done and happy with my 2 at that time. I mean, it makes sense: we have a boy, we have a girl; I was not a great pregnant person; delivery (C or other) terrifies me; it would be nice to eventually, sooner, pay off some bills and take a real vacation. So, why do I occasionally think I want a 3rd? I don't know, but I will consider adoption should the bug bite me again! :o)
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Reminiscing with my addiction
Hello. My name is Beth, and I am a Shutterfly addict. I don't remember exactly how I came to know Shutterfly: it may have been through Pampers Gifts to Grow and browsing through the reward options, or maybe someone introduced me to it, I don't remember. I had heard about it, but I don't think I had ever used it until my sister made our son a book for his 1st birthday. Then I remember really looking into the rewards on Pampers. Then I signed up for their emails and that was it. I created my own share site, I printed pictures to put into actual photo albums. I created books and used my Pampers points to order them. They even sent me codes for discounted prints, photo gifts, prints, books and codes for free books! FREE books (S&H not included)! I have made calendars, magnets, shopping bags, mugs and an ornament, most of those were gifts. I'm working on our daughter's first year book right now. I have their app on my phone - I can upload pics right from my phone to my folders or even my share site! It's a photo junky's crack and enabler all in one.
Where am I going with this?
I just read with our son the book I made of his preschool-Pre-K years - his three years with the same teacher at her in-home preschool. She was practically his second mother. He was 2 1/2 when he started with her. I saw three years of his life and education right in front of me, and our son was able to read along with me, thanks, in part, to her. Reading the last few pages, of his last few days with her this past summer, I almost teared up. It's hard not to tear up right now. He has grown so much and it was hard knowing that when he went to school this year, she wasn't going to be his teacher. I wasn't going to go and pick him up after work and be able to talk with her about his day: what he learned, what they played, funny stories of what he did or said. He was one of 6. Now he's one of 21. Don't get me wrong: his teacher this year is very nice, and when I see her, she will pass on an anecdote of our son, or say how he's doing, but I don't get the daily report, or the closer relationship like I had with his preschool teacher. I miss that.
I'm looking at his spring school picture on my desk. So much has happened this year. I guess I had better go and get started on his Shutterfly book for this year.
Where am I going with this?
I just read with our son the book I made of his preschool-Pre-K years - his three years with the same teacher at her in-home preschool. She was practically his second mother. He was 2 1/2 when he started with her. I saw three years of his life and education right in front of me, and our son was able to read along with me, thanks, in part, to her. Reading the last few pages, of his last few days with her this past summer, I almost teared up. It's hard not to tear up right now. He has grown so much and it was hard knowing that when he went to school this year, she wasn't going to be his teacher. I wasn't going to go and pick him up after work and be able to talk with her about his day: what he learned, what they played, funny stories of what he did or said. He was one of 6. Now he's one of 21. Don't get me wrong: his teacher this year is very nice, and when I see her, she will pass on an anecdote of our son, or say how he's doing, but I don't get the daily report, or the closer relationship like I had with his preschool teacher. I miss that.
I'm looking at his spring school picture on my desk. So much has happened this year. I guess I had better go and get started on his Shutterfly book for this year.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
*WARNING: If you are easily offended by fracking opinions, or feel you could not respectfully appreciate someone's opinion on the matter, please stop reading now!* Thank you! :o)
*The statements made is in post are MY thoughts and opinions. You are free to disagree, and I won't hold it against you. However, in the words of many mothers, if you don't have something nice, or positively constructive to say, I don't want to hear it.*
My head hurts. It's spinning. This year has been crazy, and apparently I was sorely mistaken if I thought things would ever reach "normal" around here. Let's recap, shall we?
Since July 2011 the following life changes have occured:
- We packed up our home in VA (while I was 9 mos pregnant).
- Husband and brother-in-law drove the truck up to our new home in PA while our son and I went to NoVa to stay with my mother, where our daughter would be born, one week later.
- Husband drives to NoVa to be there for the birth of our daughter, then goes back to PA a week later.
- Two weeks after daughter's birth, my mother, our children and I drive to PA.
- A week after arriving, husband starts his new job.
- A week and a half after arriving, our son starts kindergarten.
- 8 weeks after daughter's birth, we come to the realization that there is no acceptable child care here - I have a new career: stay-at-home mom!
- October 2011 - we learn about "fracking" and how it will be affecting this area.
- March 2012 - our school board votes in favor of looking at leasing school property (including the campus here in town where our son goes to school) to the gas companies for "fracking" purposes. Much concern, debate, speculation and somewhat restrained (depending on who you talk to) panic ensues.
I feel I need to make myself clear: fracking scares the bejeepers out of me. I don't like it, I don't condone it, I think there are too many hazardous "what ifs" that go with it. I don't know the future. If you can, without a shadow of a doubt, promise me that there will be no environmental or health repercussions from fracking, then go and get the damn gas. Until then, stop hurting the land and people. I am not a confrontational person. I don't care for politics. I don't consider myself a particularly religious person, but I do pray. Therefore, what I am about to say is pretty much out of character. If you have leased your land, that was your choice and I hope you seriously prayed about it and considered current and future implications fracking will have on your land and the land/people around you. I know people who have leased their land. Do I not associate myself with them? No! What kind of a friend would that be? But friends don't always have to agree. We can agree to disagree and just not bring it up when we're spending time with each other. In the end, if this all works out and no one or thing gets hurt, then I will gladly eat my speculative words. I don't want anything bad to happen to anyone. But, as my husband stated before we got pregnant, knowing he might need to find a job and we might end up having to move when I was due: we can't live our lives on "what ifs". I don't know if staying around to find out what could happen is something I'm willing to risk my children's, or mine and my husband's, health on. I guess only time will tell. I'll just keep on praying.
Oh, and for the record: I don't think any public school lands should be leased. It shouldn't even be an option. There is too much at stake and I don't think it is right for any one person, or group for that matter, to make potentially detrimental decisions about the health and welfare of another person's child/children in a public educational setting. Most people do not have the means or options to pull their children from public education and send them to a private school, or home school them if they do not like what is happening in the public school. If it could even remotely be potentially dangerous to children in a public setting, it should not even be considered.
My head hurts. It's spinning. This year has been crazy, and apparently I was sorely mistaken if I thought things would ever reach "normal" around here. Let's recap, shall we?
Since July 2011 the following life changes have occured:
- We packed up our home in VA (while I was 9 mos pregnant).
- Husband and brother-in-law drove the truck up to our new home in PA while our son and I went to NoVa to stay with my mother, where our daughter would be born, one week later.
- Husband drives to NoVa to be there for the birth of our daughter, then goes back to PA a week later.
- Two weeks after daughter's birth, my mother, our children and I drive to PA.
- A week after arriving, husband starts his new job.
- A week and a half after arriving, our son starts kindergarten.
- 8 weeks after daughter's birth, we come to the realization that there is no acceptable child care here - I have a new career: stay-at-home mom!
- October 2011 - we learn about "fracking" and how it will be affecting this area.
- March 2012 - our school board votes in favor of looking at leasing school property (including the campus here in town where our son goes to school) to the gas companies for "fracking" purposes. Much concern, debate, speculation and somewhat restrained (depending on who you talk to) panic ensues.
I feel I need to make myself clear: fracking scares the bejeepers out of me. I don't like it, I don't condone it, I think there are too many hazardous "what ifs" that go with it. I don't know the future. If you can, without a shadow of a doubt, promise me that there will be no environmental or health repercussions from fracking, then go and get the damn gas. Until then, stop hurting the land and people. I am not a confrontational person. I don't care for politics. I don't consider myself a particularly religious person, but I do pray. Therefore, what I am about to say is pretty much out of character. If you have leased your land, that was your choice and I hope you seriously prayed about it and considered current and future implications fracking will have on your land and the land/people around you. I know people who have leased their land. Do I not associate myself with them? No! What kind of a friend would that be? But friends don't always have to agree. We can agree to disagree and just not bring it up when we're spending time with each other. In the end, if this all works out and no one or thing gets hurt, then I will gladly eat my speculative words. I don't want anything bad to happen to anyone. But, as my husband stated before we got pregnant, knowing he might need to find a job and we might end up having to move when I was due: we can't live our lives on "what ifs". I don't know if staying around to find out what could happen is something I'm willing to risk my children's, or mine and my husband's, health on. I guess only time will tell. I'll just keep on praying.
Oh, and for the record: I don't think any public school lands should be leased. It shouldn't even be an option. There is too much at stake and I don't think it is right for any one person, or group for that matter, to make potentially detrimental decisions about the health and welfare of another person's child/children in a public educational setting. Most people do not have the means or options to pull their children from public education and send them to a private school, or home school them if they do not like what is happening in the public school. If it could even remotely be potentially dangerous to children in a public setting, it should not even be considered.
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