Course Reflection

It is so cold here and gets dark so early this time of year that I haven't been to get outside after work. I am going to try to get one quick hike in at lunch tomorrow if it is possible because I am missing my time outdoors quite a bit.  This course has made me reflect on my time outside a lot more, and I realized how much I treasure it. I am in great appreciation to the school and my professor for making the class so meaningful, especially for an online class.

Mining Companies

When I was reviewing the video on mountain top removal, I became very upset. This is always a hot-button issue for me, but it is even more hot for me these days. Not only are the mining companies ruining the mountains, but they have destroyed (sunk) two wells on the property my sister and I own in Virginia.  My uncle recently discovered this when he noticed a porcelain garden knome that was sitting atop his well cover had fallen to the ground. He looked inside and found the well was dry. He then checked our wells and both were dry.  After checking around he learned that other people's wells had gone dry also from coal removal deep beneath the Earth.

Unfortunately, our great-grandfather sold the mineral rights to all of the lands he owned, which was a couple of hundred acres.  We inherited around 30 acres where we grew up.  Later, our house burned down, and after a mistake allowing some relatives to do some minimal logging on the land, my sister and I let the forest take back over.  The mining company sunk our wells by removing coal beneath our land. I didn't even know they were doing this, and I had no right to know or even do anything about it.  In my reflection about nature, this is a complete injustice to me.  Our ancestors who had no knowledge of the effects of mining on the land have effectively given away our rights to decide forever. It isn't that I condemn all mining either, but I think we should have the right to control all of our land in fee simple without intrusion.

Sure, my sister and I might decide to sell some of the coal; however, we would ensure the practices were sound and did as little impact to the land as possible.  I think the biggest lesson I have learned from this is that we must always think to the future when making decisions. We cannot ignore the impact that our actions today will have on tomorrow.

Snow

I was so excited we got some snow this week. I didn't get a chance to take photos until today, and now it is almost gone, but I still love it.  We were going to do some late fall camping, so we pitched our tent to air it out, and it caught some snow.

Snow in my courtyard

Taos Mountain is snow capped again.

I love it when the tops of the mountains hold snow. It is so beautiful.  I can't wait to see even more snow.  My husband doesn't enjoy being outdoors in the cold, but I love it and can't wait to do some skiing and snowshoeing if my budget permits. I really appreciate this aspect of nature.