Oil and Water

OTERO MESAThis is not the ideal tourist destination. Mountain lions are infinitely more common here than humans, because there are no humans for miles except for an occasionally occupied cattle ranch. Two exploratory gas wells have been drilled, but there is a move afoot to call a moratorium on further work until the underlying water has been evaluated. In a water desperate country the possibility of contamination of good water by drilling makes just about everyone uneasy. Of course there is another issue that has galvanised the environmentalists. The mesa is an expanse of desert grassland spanning two states. Wild flowers, birds, mammals and reptiles abound, but most of the mesa is relatively flat and looks despairingly empty.
I had three flat tires on the mesa day before yesterday. I ended up driving nearly 200 miles on a tire meagerly inflated with a bicycle pump and a Fix-a-Flat can. Say no more. I made it home in serious adreniline deficit having used it all up in the process. There were DC environmentalists and a couple of political aides on the mesa. They clung to their cell phones trying frantically to find places where they would work so they could keep in touch with ongoing legislation. I was impressed. These people were real pros, not like the touchy-feely environmentalists of the outback.
Because my beloved eldest son was here last week, I visited just about all the geographic areas around, desert, mountain and also the mesa. It was a wonderful week. I will return to the mesa with my new tires to try and rephotograph some wild flowers because my photos did not turn out too well.