Sitting Ducks

Nineteen - 19 - quakes this past week, all due to fracking.  Last night was a big one.  It shook much longer and harder than last weeks'. I kept waiting for it to stop shaking, the noise and popping and cracking.  

After the one last week, the Corporation Commission shut down 37 disposal wells near the quake site (there are thousands) and shut down drill sites within a 6 mile radius.  

This quake happened in Cushing, where a major pipeline runs and the Keystone Pipeline from Canada was going to hook up on its path to the Gulf.  They also store about 10% of the US stores of crude oil in Cushing.  Major spot.  There, the electricity went out when the shaking began.  Partial, old buildings collapsed and they are assessing the damage today.  Glad winter hasn't arrived yet.

I don't know what the Corp. Comm. will do after this larger one.  As I mentioned before, the industry slipped this by us.  We had no idea what fracking entailed nor the results of it.  I don't think we could have stopped them anyway as our state's economy depends on the oil and gas industry.  Civil services, education and on and on are hurting from the collapse of gas prices.

Meanwhile Boo the cat, wanted out of the house.  All the animals were aware of the quake.  He's been in the city for nearly 3 weeks as he was sick and needed attending.  He's an outdoor cat, but I've been too afraid to let him outside as he isn't familiar with the territory and might get lost.  He is going home tomorrow.  He has clawed up the edges of my new powder blue modern sofa and OMG the cat box thing has been horrible.

Though we've not had a freeze yet, the cottonwood leaves are falling - all over the lawn and flower beds. Last week I had to catch a rat.  This week, a gopher has made a hill next to my goldfish pond and the sand has sifted in the pond.  That, and the filter/pump froze up.  I, who can tell the difference between a flat or phillips head screw driver, but that is it, had to take the whole filter and motor apart to clean out all the sludge and matter.  Even with tweezers.  Aye yay yay.  

Oh how I wish I was the Queen or at least could afford assistants.

And Another Quake

I couldn't sleep last night and was in bed reading.  About 11:30, I heard what sounded like a strong wind outside my bedroom door which moved around the house and went down the other side.  The cat looked up and I knew what was happening within a second.  Cracking and popping.  The last one was a 5.8.  This one was a 4.5.  I don't know if this crack was there before or not.  

Remember, very few in Oklahoma have earthquake insurance.  It is too high and the deductibles are 20%.  

Damn frackers.

Oklahoma Shakes

It happened about two weeks ago.  My weenies woke me and we were on the couch in the living room.  At about 7:00am, the sound of a jet's engines began and the weenies started to bark.  Then the shaking began.  There was a whole lot of shaking going on. Unbelievable rockin' and rollin'.  A 5.8 on the Richter scale.  This time I knew what was happening.  My first thought was that it was the New Madrid Fault rupturing.   Last time that happened, it caused the mighty Mississippi River to run backwards.  The last New Madrid quake was huge (7 or more) and occurred about 100 years ago.  It is past due for a repeat and will be terrible.

Ours lasted for one minute, but seemed longer.  I jumped up and ran to the back door to see what the lake out back was doing.  It jiggled like a bowl of jello.  As the shaking slowed, I heard the sound move away to the south then vanish.  It was a trip.

I looked around the house for damage. They say look at the chimney as that will show damage first.  I'm looking for cracks in sidewalks and patios and walls etc. A couple of days later, I noticed the overlapped wood on the chimney had fallen loose. Our rooftop is steep and with varied pitches; I don't know what you call it, but we (hubby, as I would have rolled off the roof in seconds) had to borrow a ladder tall enough to get up there and screw the wood down.  Not much damage that I have found, but the town at the epicenter had lots of damage as did many houses in my city.

This quake was caused by greedy oil and gas czars, fracking our state to death.  They dispose of the chemical filled water by-products from the drilling process deep underground, which has caused Oklahoma to have more quakes than California.  A few years ago, we had two quakes.  The last two years, in the thousands.  The oil companies won't (with help from politicians and lobbyists) divulge what is in the noxious chemical mix, but groundwater and aquifers are being poisoned.  I could go on, but won't.  They did shut down some of the disposal wells, but that was after the fact.

Insurers will sell us quake insurance, not covered on homeowners policies, but the deductibles are 20% of the cost of the house.  Can you imagine?  I believe that this is just one of the reasons our country is facing such a political mess.  The masses have had enough. 

Heart of Hearts

A reprint from 2 years ago.  I get Whoops! error messages all over my blog so I am trying this.

My little five year old sweetheart, Isobel, is staying with me until the Christmas holiday is over and school begins again, hence the cherry heart-shaped lollipops; easy to buy and greatly appreciated.   I had to show you how a Dad or Grandad showed his love for a child a long long time ago.  Hand hammered and forged  from iron over a crucible and anvil, this little stirrup with a cutout heart is just the sweetest.  Imagine a little girl galloping her pony across the fields of prairie grass, not a care in the world...

Oklahoma's On Fire

As I mentioned, this summer is hellishly hot and dry. Wildfires are starting  up. Oklahoma is the example for climate change.  The last two summers have been unbearable; hotter temperatures than ever and drier.  Our dubious Senator, Jim Inhofe, rails against scientists and anyone else who has studied climate change; likens the theories of global warming to the liberals and their ilk.  Of course we know Inhofe is no scientist, nor a statesman, he just likes to pad his pockets with monies from the energy companies and whomever else he can get money from.  Inhofe, a career politician, really is an embarrassment to our state.  Recently, for the energy companies benefit, he tried to get the House and Senate to relax the rules for acceptable levels of mercury being dumped into the environment.  Now, anyone who has grandchildren or is pregnant knows that their doctors advise them not to eat tuna etc. because of high mercury levels.  Duh... When will Inhoff get his comeuppance?  He needs to be voted out of office like years ago - at this point I don't care if it is a democrat or a republican - just anybody besides him, (okay, I take that back, tea bagger people need not apply).

And after 367 posts dear folks, this is my first political post.

This wildfire photo was taken from behind my house looking south a few years ago.

The Last Hurrah

I make no bones about it.  I don't like winter and a cold wind is howling tonight. Winters in Oklahoma are hard and frigid. Last winter, Oklahoma recorded its coldest temperature ever at 29 degrees below zero.  I'd much rather be at the beach. Okay, the summers are hotter than you know where; our temperatures were the highest on record this summer at over 115 degrees.  There were terrible wildfires and we are still in extreme drought conditions.  In fact, our state has had crazy weather of late.  Just yesterday, Oklahoma had tornadoes, flooding rains, snow and earthquakes.  Yes, we are having quite a lot of earthquakes.  We've had small ones before; usually they aren't even noticeable.  Three in the last three days have been noticeable.  I never hope to be an earthquake stronger than the 5.7 one Saturday night.  It took me a minute to figure out what it was.  The roar was the first thing I noticed.  I thought a jet was going to crash into my house.  I never knew an earthquake made noise.  I heard today that the roaring was sound waves emanating from the earth.  Who knew?  Then the house started shaking.  I could even hear and feel it as it moved away.  Weirdest thing I've ever encountered.  Made the hair stand on end.  I don't know how anyone could make it outside during an earthquake.  I sat there mesmerized; an earthquake was the last thing I could have imagined.  I'm not superstitious, don't believe in the messianic end times soothsayers, but something strange is going on.