A January of Small Stones 18

daily three or four times

deep booms and tremors

of dynamite

are followed by the long

waterfall of rock against rock,

the assault of the mountain

continues.

January 18, 2014

A January of Small Stone 17

That rare moment, just before dawn

between shifts, silence settles on the mountain,

and only the brook burbles softly

while the moon makes silver ships

of clouds scudding across an inky sky.

January 17, 2014

plumes of dust

Every time I go over Pine Mountain towards Harlan County (as I did this past Friday April 16) there's a point, just over the ridge of the mountain when it feels like the bottom has fallen out of the world, and there is a sick feeling in my stomach.



The cause that sense of impending doom is the huge strip mine cutting into the side of the mountains on the border between Kentucky and Virginia show in the photos above. Friday, the view was less obscured by the clouds of dust in the air. Dry conditions and stiff winds were filling the air with dust with every passage of the drag lines across the mine surface.

One the Google map below, you can see the great gray scar on the landscape that the mine makes. The photos I took (above) were taken when my car was at a point on US 119 just above the "SAT" and "TER" buttons (where you see the 119)in the upper right corner of the map. I was looking southward.

As you can see on the map, this enormous strip mine that runs for nearly two miles, is within the boundaries of the Jefferson National Forest, and there is an even larger mine to the south west.


View Larger Map

One Single Impression -- Fragrance

Contrasts

How welcome,
sweet stale
smell of
rain
on summer dust
and sizzling
pavement,
a sigh of relief
from summer
heat.

Sodden reek,
muddy debris,
when long
the rains,
and bare
the hills.

sgreerpitt
Sunday July 26, 2009

You can read and see a bit more about our Sunday flood in the post below. You can read more (and nicer) poems on the prompt "fragrance" at One Single Impression.

Mine is only one of thousands of families impacted by the negative consequences of mountain top removal strip mining. Please learn more about this devastating mining technique and add your voice to those asking for stricter controls, and an end to the most destructive practices. Check out the I Love Mountains website. This isn't a "tree hugger" issue, its a people lover issue!! My family is lucky, only our yard and driveway (and peace of mind) are damaged this time. Many people lose their homes and their health as the result of mountain top removal strip-mining.

the flood

A while back my insurance agent and I discussed cancelling our flood insurance and using the savings to up the valuation of our household goods, but I never got around to getting over to his office on the other side of the county to sign the papers. This morning I was glad I hadn't.

This is purely the consequence of mountain top removal and strip-mining above our holler. Nothing like this ever happened before the mining began. Our neighbor above us, observed the water pouring over the hill above his house directly off the stripped bare mountain. The brown river in the center of the first photo is suppose to be our neighbor's drive way!

The photos below show the rushing river of muddy water that is normally our yard.