Last Day of June

It's the last day of June

And feeling more May-like.

Pretty pleasant,

Not too hot,

Sunny days with a few rain bursts.

A photo I took of an Osprey

Clickety clickety clack, the Gaz people love to frack

Prices soar...

Sorry...first link was fussy...

http://addisonindependent.com/201606vt-gas-cost-pipeline-now-double-original-estimate

Another from Danny Shulman

Another by Danny Shulman

A Friend's Art

I finally photographed more of Danny's artwork. 

Thinking of you.

ONE ON ONE: Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams

From YouTube
Great!

Jerry Garcia Band-And It Stoned Me (11-12-91)

YouTube suggested this gem from Jerry Garcia, rip.

I added a sketch I did almost 40 years ago.

And it stoned me. :«)

Dave Brubeck - Take the A Train (Live in 1966)

Delbert McClinton - "Giving It Up (for your Love)"

Tedeschi Trucks Band- Midnight in Harlem- Jazz a Vienne

Beautiful...

Summer Sounds

Cat Morning

Tommy hunted all night,
Spurred by a successful hunt,
He caught one little mouse,
Then let it go once in our bed.
Then a constant vigil by Tommy.
Daytime snooze

Travelogue for the Universe: Father's Day

Travelogue for the Universe: Father's Day: I will remember that the one Sunday a year that Dad would answer the phone was Father's Day, As I held his thin frail hand, I rememb...


Dad...

Summer Travel

Lake Champlain Ferry Dock

Raven Ridge Conservation Area, Monkton,Vermont

Raven Ridge
a.k.a.



 Parking area Rotax Rd

 East side of Raven Ridge

Dean Mountain.

Conservation area.
They built a long access
Whatchamacallit.

Not ADA compliant,
Astute observations
Thanks to our neighborhood
Human services people.

Several photos for posterity.


And, can't forget..

Friday Night Musik

Tgiff!

Vermont pipeline protester pleads not guilty to charges

Vermont pipeline protester pleads not guilty to charges: A Montpelier man has denied charges stemming from when he spent six days up a tree in protest of the construction of a Vermont Gas Systems pipeline.

Summer colors

Tree Sitter Arrested #Fracking fighter

Update from Will...follows.
My thoughts and prayers are with Sam
And those who support him.
Meg

From Will:

Our brave tree-sitter Sam has been arrested and is currently being held at Chittenden County Correctional Center in South Burlington (conveniently located across from VGS offices!)

A small support team will be standing by to welcome Sam back upon his release, but he may be held over night. We will likely have to post bail, so if you haven't already donated to the action fund but are able to help out, please do so here: bit.ly/1RS9v0y

Feel free to give me a shout if you want to come support Sam. We might be there a while.

And so much thanks and gratitude to everyone who has supported/participated in the tree sit and week of action. We really threw a wrench in their gears this time. Let's al do it again real soon!

solidarity,

will

--

Will Bennington802.734.9642

-- 

The Playground

Legislated Irony. #Fracking breaking

Oh, Governor,
So green is your valley,
Where fossils will show,
Where the nuke plant did go,

While Addison county is Fra*cked.
The Governor forgot our backs,
Sons and daughters of pioneers,
With Fracking gaz so near,

We hope to stop the pipeline.
  Here's the only way we know how...


Shumlin will be 
signing the Solar Sighting Bill S.260 in Middlebury at 2 PM 6/13/2016
at 
the Addison County Regional Planning Commission. Sorry for the late
notice.   S.260 was just passed on Thursday after the legislature came 
back together due to the governor's veto of bill S.230.  Thanks to our group...
for seeing an article about the bill and tomorrow's Shumlin appearance 
in Middlebury in the online version of the Addy Indy.   In the article, 
the Governor states:

“This modified legislation will allow us to continue to lead the way on 
renewable energy while giving local communities more say as we chart a 
cleaner, greener energy future together,” he said. “I look forward to 
signing it."

As Mary (not.me. another Fracking fighter)pointed out in her voice mail message, it seems very bazaar that 
he will be signing this bill just a block or so away from where VGS is 
installing the fracked gas distribution pipeline.  The use of Fracked 
gas if a long cry from charting a cleaner, greener energy future.

I am not able to attend however others of you may be able to 
show up with some signs!!!

Knight Salve #6

After the new and improved knight salve #5,
I studied awhile.
Took Some notes and decided not to heat the ingredients at all.

I love this version.
My notes on left.
Recipe on right.
Enjoy!
Meg

Coloring Book

Was this comment censored by the local press?

We passed the pipeline builders,

Busy up and down our hilly valley,

Pipeline, pipeline,

Pieces here and there looks like everywhere.

Meanwhile,

My latest comment is still pending.

I will bet it never is accepted.

While some asshole who calls himself "Say What?"

Tells me to love Vermont or leave it.

Meg

My pending comment:

Discussion on Addison Independent  0 comments

Editorial: GOP’s Turner sends anti-business message by politicizing S.230

Mary Gerdt  2 days ago

Pending

I wish Governor Shumlin cared as much about Addison County views as his home where he protested nuclear:http://www.rutlandherald.com/a... 
Mr. Lyn favors big business pushing big solar, big wind and a Pipeline to nowhere. This threatens aesthetics, ignoring financial impacts of allowing monopoly power, unrestricted ugliness called solar farms, and the inhumane vibrations of large wind turbines, interrupting those idyllic Green Mountain views. I support Don Turner. And I expect negative comments from some of your readers. You have set the stage that you dislike Republicans. I don't care. I support Don Turner and Property Rights.

Birds of Prey

Friday Night Musik

YouTube link 

One of my favorites,

Sean Costello

A Fracking Fighter's Dream

I found this article which found new life...

Mary Gerdt sent this old news story and I took the liberty of updating it to reflect what we are facing today.

History: NIMBY Governor

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120415/THISJUSTIN/704159925





BRATTLEBORO — More than
1,200 anti-pipeline protesters flocked to the Brattleboro Common on Saturday
and listened to three of the state’s top politicians — Gov. Peter Shumlin, U.S.
Sen. Bernard Sanders and Attorney General William Sorrell — take turns criticizing Vermont Gas (VGS).

Sanders said that fracked gas was a dead-end source of 
Regulators from the Regulatory Commission have never said no to the pipelines
wanting to keep operating, Sanders said. “Something is wrong,” he said.









On a picture-perfect Saturday afternoon, people brought “Defend Democracy”
T-shirts and anti-fracked gas buttons, listened to Afro-beat music and watched
street performer “Will Nukem” before the state’s political top guns took over. 

All three said Vermont was in a battle for state’s rights, and that Vermont
should be able to determine that it didn’t want a fracked gas pipeline within
its borders, safety issues aside.

And they said it was clear that the “power of corporations and their money” was
prevailing over what they said was grassroots democracy that wanted the project
shut down and dismantled.

Shumlin, a lifelong Putney resident who represented Windham County before being elected governor two years ago, said  VGS had broken promise after promise to the citizens of the state, state government and the Vermont Legislature since it started this pipeline project over 3 years ago. 

“Thank you for standing up to Gaz Metro,” Shumlin said. “We will retire Vermont Gas right now with your help.

‘‘VGS has gone back on its word time and time again, and its history in Vermont is littered with broken promises,’’ said Shumlin to loud applause. He said the state would continue to push to shut down Vermont Gas.

“If you do business in Vermont, you keep your word,” he said.

VGS applied for an extension of its original state certificate of public good
in 2013 from the Public Service Board, but that proceeding has been on hold for
more than three years 

The Public Service Board should reopen the case, and  start from scratch since much of the testimony is stale. But that didn’t stop Shumlin from rallying the crowd in favor of an immediate cancellation of the Certificate of Public Good (CPG).

How many in the crowd had Vermont
driver’s licenses, the governor wanted to know.

A vast majority held up their hands.

“How many would drive without their license?” Shumlin asked. Only a few held up their hands.

“That’s the situation with VGS, aka Gaz Metro/ Enbridge,”Shumlin said.

Shumlin said later that he had met personally with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo about New York joining the Vermont suit against the gas industry in
some way.

Cuomo has said publicly that he wants no fracking in NY state.

Shumlin, who made national news on Friday for his bare tale of eluding four
bears raiding his backyard birdfeeders, made light of the story, joking that
the bears “came from VGS.”

One protester held a “Bear Up Guv” sign in the crowd, while most of the signs
called for VGS’ immediate shutdown. Dozens of “VGS evacuation zone” signs were on the scene, a reference that the rally was being held within the 10-mile
evacuation zone that surrounds the pipeline..

“We are demanding justice for an agreement made 40 years ago,” said Sanders,
who drew the loudest cheers. He said the state had the right to determine a
“safe energy future for our kids and grandkids.”

Regulators from the Regulatory Commission have never said no to

the pipelines wanting to keep operating, Sanders said. “Something is wrong,” he
said.

Sanders said that fracked gas was a dead-end source of power, and that the
state should be commended for taking on a big state’s rights legal fight.

Sorrell, who is heading up the state’s fight in the federal court system, asked
the crowd, “Does democracy need defending?” 

“You bet it does,” he said.


The attorney general, who is running for reelection and faces a primary
challenge in August, said U.S. District Judge J. Garvan Murtha has set some
very dangerous legal precedents that went far beyond fracked gas pipeline
issues.


Saturday’s rally was the 40th anti-pipeline demonstration in Vermont in three years, but unlike a rally and march on VGS corporate offices, no one was arrested.

Organizers from a new coalition of about a dozen anti-pipeline groups in the region, said it was important to show that people are unhappy with VGS’ operation of and its continued abuse of public rights. Organizers estimated the crowd at between 1,500 and 2,000 people.



mary martin

CNN (Cornwall News 

Quick Ledges and Rocks research

I'm obsessed about the ledges as natural phenomena as old as dinosaurs.
These close by rocks seem to be worth over 500 k.
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/vermont/places-preserves/raven-ridge.xml


http://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=VTCAm;0

The value of Monkton Vermont rocks:

https://prezi.com/m/yizzi918wo6t/monkton-quartzite/

For Mother Earth. We oppose #Fracking, #fracked gas pipelines

In Monkton,Vermont, 

We voted against#fracked gas

Then came the Gas Men.

And the town said, come on.

And the state said, no problem.

The people said No!

And the Gas Men said blow up the ledges.

The people said No!

And a friend of Mother Earth kept a vigil.

Update from the group,

Posted yesterday, June 8th...

Please help if you can.

Meg

Hi friends,

Early this morning, Sam Jessup climbed 60 feet into the treetops above an active pipeline construction site in Monkton. Sam has put his life on the line, as his platform is anchored to the hydraulic arm of a dynamite drill rig. Any tampering with the machine or the rope puts Sam in immediate danger.

His support team has been removed from the area but he remains in high spirits, with enough warm clothes, food, water, and reading material to last him for many days. We do not know whether or not the County Sheriff will try to forcibly extract him. Due to the nature of the blockade, extraction would be complicated and involved. Sam's courageous action is preventing VGS's hired destruction crews from blasting the hillside away and building the fracked gas pipeline. Support these crucial efforts!

Tomorrow evening, June 9th...we're gathering as many people as we can to give Sam a parade and some song, and to let him (and VGS, and the police) know that we're all paying close attention to his powerful and effective actions. If we have enough people, we might be able to get him a care package. Can you make it out to Monkton at 6pm tomorrow (Thursday)? We are meeting Nate and Jane Palmer's place at 986 Rotax Road. Let me know if you can make it or support.

Onward,

Alex

Breaking #fracking News... Occupy the Earth

Hello again!

The week of action against the pipeline is continuing strong, as Sam Jessup has scaled a tree on an active VT Gas work site to begin yet another indefinite delay. Sam, a timber frame carpenter and Montpelier resident, is the third person in the last ten weeks to have stopped construction through a tree top occupation. This time, he has tied the support line of his platform to machinery meant to blast open the hillside where Vermont Gas Systems plans to build the fracked gas pipeline.

Sam said that he took this action because he understands that the climate crisis is already deadly, and it's only getting worse. "Each passing month there are new records set for heat and drought across the planet, and with each passing year, fossil fuels kill five million more people. We simply can't afford to let this pipeline get built." [1]

His blockade begins just two days after dozens of pipeline protesters delayed work for 8 hours at three different construction sites on Monday, ending in five arrests. [2]

This movement is growing, and it needs all of us. If you can support Sam by coming out to Monkton today or throughout the week, call us at 831-535-2261. If you can’t make it in person, but would like to support financially, please donate to the action fund.

With inspiration,

Molly for Rising Tide VT

1) Sam was referring to a 2012 study by the research group DARA International: http://daraint.org/climate-vulnerability-monitor/climate-vulnerability-monitor-2012/report/

2) http://www.wptz.com/news/5-protesters-arrested-at-pipeline-construction-spots/39926412

--

Rising Tide Vermont

risingtidevermont.org

Facebook: http://on.fb.me/QKouYY

Twitter: @RisingtideVT

Mary Gerdt's notes: blasting ledges 

About Monkton's Geologic Resources:

• Monkton, Vermont - the Chapin Marble Prospect (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

  “The same dolomite marbles crop out between the two quarries last described, on the farm of L. O. Chapin, of Bristol, Vt. ”

• Monkton, Vermont - the Columbian Marble Co.’s Monkton Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

  “The Monkton quarry of the Columbian Marble Co. is 0.6 mile S. 32° W. of the Vermont Marble Co.’s quarry, on the south side of the east-west crossroads in the same township. The opening is about 20 feet square and 5 to 10 feet deep and has been long disused.

  “The marble is identical with that of the Vermont Marble Co.’s quarry. The weathered parts have a muddy gray color. The beds strike north, dip 45° E., and show many minor fractures along the bedding.”

• Monkton, Vermont - the Jimmo Marble Prospect (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

  “The Jimmo prospect is in Bristol Township 1 ¼ miles west-southwest of the Bristol bench mark. (See map of Middlebury quadrangle, U. S. Geol. Survey.) Owner, Harry Jimmo, Bristol, Vt.

  “The marble (specimen D, XXXI, 67, a) is a quartzose hematitic dolomite marble of deep-pink color, differing from that of the Monkton quarries and prospects by its less conspicuous mottling and deeper shade. It has films of sericite. The thickness exposed is 8 feet.”

• Monkton, Vermont - the Vermont Marble Co.’s Monkton Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

  “The dolomite of Monkton has been described on page 45. It belongs apparently to the dolomite which underlies the calcite marbles. The only quarry operated in recent years was idle in 1910.

  “The dolomite of Monkton has been described on page 45. It belongs apparently to the dolomite which underlies the calcite marbles. The only quarry operated in recent years was idle in 1910.

  The Monkton quarry of the Vermont Marble Co. is at the west foot of the so-called Hogback Mountains, really the west flank of the Green Mountain range, about 1 ½ miles north-northeast of East Monkton and 6 miles N. 10° W. of Bristol, in Monkton Township, Addison County. (See map of Middlebury quadrangle, U. S. Geol. Survey.) The opening is 30 by 15 feet and 5 feet deep. The quarry is not now used, the company having withdrawn the marble from the market.

  “The beds exposed consist of about 270 feet of dolomite. The marble, “Ruvaro” (specimens D, XXXI, 63, a fresh; d, weathered), is a mottled pink and white quartzose hematitic dolomite marble. It contains thin beds of sericite and quartz (specimens D, XXXI, 63, b, c). Descriptions of these will be found on page 45.

  “The dolomite strikes N. 25° -30° W., dips 30° -40° W., and is crossed by slip cleavage dipping 40° E. and in places by close east-west joints dipping steeply to the north. About 315 feet east of the dolomite is an outcrop of quartzite, slightly calcareous in places, striking N. 15° W. and dipping at a steep angle to the west, crossed by cleavage dipping 60° E. A little farther south, at the head of a brook flowing southward, dolomite and quartzite are in contact, both rocks for the depth of a foot dipping steeply to the east, whether by faulting or minor overturned folding is not evident.

  “This marble was polished by the company and sold for decorative use.”

-- 

Locust Morning Revisited

3 years ago 

I captured some photos of our

Blooming Black Locusts.

Today the trees are shedding their petals,

Appearing for a moment

More like snow.

Mom's favorite Kahlil Gibran poem excerpt:

Mom's Dad died when she was 5.

86 years ago today.

Pipeline protestors block Williston sites #Fracking updates

Pipeline protestors block Williston sites: At least one person was arrested in an early morning pipeline protest.

Blogging Forward: Working to Improve Cancer Care for Patients | PCORI

Working to Improve Cancer Care for Patients | PCORI


because patients know best...meg

Mountain Man Lodge

Another memory
Out of thin air

Mountain Man Lodge

Lightnin' Hopkins - Woke Up This Morning

Come One, Come All, Stopping #Fracking is our Goal

***Please Forward Widely***

Hey all,

We hope we'll be seeing many of you this weekend for the action training, and on Monday for the big action to shut down VGS and their dirty fracked gas pipeline!

Directions

The training will be held at Common Ground Center in Starksboro. It is located at 473 Tatro Road, Starksboro VT. Here are directions from many locations. There is plenty of parking available on-site; let us know if you need a ride, or can offer one. You can call 802.448.2122

Schedule

Saturday begins at 2 with an Intro to Direct Action Training. Sunday will have some more technical training, role-specific training (legal, police liaison, media/spokesperson, etc.) and action role-playing.

Monday we'll take action to stop the pipeline and stand up for our communities!

A full schedule can be found by clicking here

Action on Monday

It's going to be fun! If you can't join us Sunday in Starksboro, meet at Vermont Gas' offices, 85 Swift St, South Burlington at 6 am.

Housing and Food

We have cabin and tent platform space available in Starksboro. Please bring your own sleeping bag, pad, and anything else you need to be comfortable.

We will be serving lunch and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast, lunch and dinner Sunday. And, of course, something for breakfast on Monday!

Also, we'd greatly appreciate any financial contributions you can make to help with the costs of this weekend. But everyone is welcome regardless of ability to pay!

You can donate online here: http://bit.ly/1RS9v0y

Or you can donate at the training when you register!

Solidarity,

Will B.

-

YouTube link for Friday Night Musik... Rhiannon Fleetwood Mac Live 1976

Beautiful...
Tgiff
Meg

Great Youtube link...Rosanne Cash on Dylan's "Girl From The North Country" (Oct. 21, 2009)

Tommy