Hello everyone. I was asked to provide some follow up and clarification regarding my previous post.
About the oil rigs. I am sorry if I made it seem like there is an oil boom in my backyard. There IS oil along the Rudyard Road, and has been, I am told, for some time. As in, several decades. I have also been told that the work currently being performed there is maintenance related, and not new drilling.
I am told it is virtually inconceivable that a boom as large as the Bakken could take place where we are, due to short supply of resources and infrastructure necessary for drilling or fracking, and that furthermore, our formation is not nearly as big as the Bakken anyway.
What I am coming to terms with is that I now live in a state where oil production occurs, and indeed, I drive right by the manifestation of that on a nearly daily basis. Just like people, no place is perfect. If and when the time came when there literally was oil in my backyard, Jeff and I would sit down together and have a discussion about how our lives and business would, could, and should intersect with oil production.
Let me also be very clear that I really enjoy living where I do, and I really, truly love my husband. Marrying Jeff was the best decision I have made in my life. Period. End of story. I really hope that I have not posted anything on here that makes it seem otherwise. The fact that we get to spend our lives together in the beautiful place we call home only makes the thought of oil in the vicinity and all that oil production in its largest sense can bring, that much more frightening to me. I don't want it to mess up the wonderful place where I live, and with the Bakken being so big and fresh on my mind right now, it's hard not to think that what very little oil production we do have nearby could one day escalate into that.
On another note, this blog is about me trying to offer insight into this new place I call home, this new lifestyle in which I have chosen to live and work together, alongside Jeff, my husband, and his family. I often use this blog as a place to explore how I feel about something, and admittedly, I can be a bit prone to the dramatic side of storytelling, often not realizing when that is the case. My purpose is never, I repeat, NEVER, to offend anyone with anything I have written. I am still trying to figure out as I go all the nuances that make living where we do unique. I hope wherever you are, you are doing the same with regards to your own home.
I would like to point out as well the comments tool at the bottom of this page. If you ever have a question, comment, critique, challenge, or anything to say with regards to any of my posts, please leave it in the comments section below. Nothing is worse than hearing second or third hand that someone feels bad about something I have written, and often your message is misconstrued as it is passed from person to person.
Katie, I love your blog. I was just talking to Lynn Hybner this week about your post office write up. I check the weather daily in Rudyard and now have a place to see pictures and be updated on a regular basis. Thanks and keep em coming!
ReplyDelete30 yrs ago I worked in the south louisiana oil fields for two summers. It was back breaking work , dangerous and dirty, but the money was good. I imasgine it is still pretty good. Especially in areas like the Dakotas , Wyoming and Montana, that are still suffering in this Economy.
ReplyDeleteBut this financial windfall ,comes with risks and dangers. Pasrticularly in polution, cvorruption and crime. We are already seeing the effects in the Dakotas and eastern Montana. A lot of workers piling into an area looking for work, increasing the housing shortage, increasing drugs and alcohol usage. When the jobs are limited or the rigs slow down with the price drop in oil or gas. the fringe turns to crime.
The oil boom also puts pressure on traditional business, like farming, ranching local merchants ( who are displaced by the chains moving in to chase the out off state workers.
The bozeman Magpie looks at this issue in relation to Lewistown Mt
good points, chris. If there is anything I have learned since talk of Oil has entered the conversations among my friends and family, it is that the situation is always extremely complicated. Good and bad.
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