Last night as I went to bed, I looked at our recent, and first, snowfall of this year. The snow was a beautiful glow; white against the dark patches of grass and trees. The moon was out and full, and the sky was very cloudy and overcast. I looked off in the distance and noticed flickering; not just a small flicker, but a large one–taking up almost all of the horizon, and looking like a building was on fire. I realized then that about 2 miles away, a gas well was being flared. Flaring is what occurs after a well is fracked; fracking is the drilling part, and gas flows back out to the surface. The gas is lit, and a very large and tall flame flies up into the atmosphere. This flame burns for days, and sounds like a jet engine and shakes the ground. The purpose of flaring is to remove impurities from the gas, but in so doing, it creates impurities in the air and causes air pollution.
The orange glow through the clouds was ominous, foreboding, and I found it difficult to sleep. It’s hard for me to allow this to happen; to be forced to sit back and do nothing. But that’s what I have to do because my hands are tied. I am but a small speck in this “big bag of tricks” and I have to learn that there are some things I cannot change.
Today I worked hard at acceptance, and tonight I wrote a parody on my plight; a song to sing, because singing takes the fear away. So here it is: (to the tune of Walking in a Winter Wonderland). I envision someone taking up with this and making a parody; even elaborating more than I have here. Wouldn't that be great? Maybe then people would take notice. Oh the video!
Over the hill the sky is glowing
And down the road, flames are blowing
It’s a beautiful sight---
Our 24 hour daylight
Living in a fracking gasland
Gone away is the quiet
People here will deny it
It's a beautiful way
To get the money they pay
Living in a fracking gasland.
In the meadow they can drill a gas well
And forget about the people nearby
They can denude all the trees and forests
And ruin the soil and water supplies.
The sky was once a clear blue
You could see white in the clouds
But now the sky’s an orange hue
And the sun never seems to go down.
Tell me, are you willin?
To keep on with the drillin?
It’s a beautiful sight
To see radiation at night
Living in a fracking gasland.
