Taking A Stand

In the past I have written a few posts voicing my opinion on mountaintop removal. This year I’m going to act as well as talk. I could be like most people and just ignore this but I can’t because I saw the destruction, I saw the diesel fuel spilled by the gallons right on the ground. I’m going to ramble a little bit… when I first saw the diesel puddles I couldn’t help but think of the future of that piece of land. This is what I thought while standing there.

There was a ridge that formed a half circle around the entrance to the site… I’m in the future and I’m standing on the ridge with my grandson. We have just come out of the woods and are standing on the brink of a very large expanse of dead earth. Small locust trees trying to catch a foothold here and there but mostly just crab grass, spiders and snakes. It was a sad place. My grandson asks,”what happened here grandpa?” I look over at a big patch of dirt and think about a puddle of diesel fuel. Then I tell him the story about how, once upon a time, this whole areas ecological system came under attack and lost…

The sad part is, there will be a day I can tell that story. So I have joined the movement to help try and stop the destructive process of mountaintop removal. There has to be more community involvement.

On another front… I’m also supporting the ASPCA in the fight to prevent animal cruelty. I adopted two Himalayan Persian cats from a shelter one time that were badly abused by their previous owner. When I got them home, they went under the couch and didn’t come out for three weeks. Not while anybody was awake anyway. I set food out for them and they ate it but it must have been during the night. It took a long time to really gain their trust. But once they realized I was harmless they just did what cats do. They just lay around napping all day. I couldn’t imagine why someone would mistreat them.

Two things I feel strongly about… our mountains and our animals.