Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
I will briefly respond to letters about my views on the Nara Visa borehole project, and then move on:
The German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck observed, “Politics is the art of the possible.”
I bow to this reality, as two county commissioners and Logan School Superintendent Dennis Roch did on Feb. 13.
I accept defeat but do not stand corrected.
Here is a quote from Franklin Orr, the U.S. Department of Energy’s under-secretary for science and energy, about the borehole project, which he leads:
“Importantly, no nuclear waste will be involved in this field test, nor will the Department use any selected site for the actual storage or disposal of waste in the future.”
You can read the rest of his article here:
If I had the land and a reasonable lease, I’d host the borehole project in a heartbeat.
As it is, my neighbors wouldn’t tolerate the noise and traffic.
Enough said. The people have spoken.
• • •
I have about 200 words to get myself into more trouble, but I’d rather lighten up.
I’ve been doing a little traveling lately in Texas and New Mexico. Here are some observations:
• Land is bumpier north of the Caprock than south and the view on northbound descents is spectacular, even if they end up in places like San Jon (population 306) or Quitaque, Texas (population 411).
• Speaking of bumpy, the straight country roads are old and faded in both states, at least between Clovis and Wichita Falls, Texas.
• Travel in both states makes a good argument against the idea that the world is overpopulated. Most of the roads in both states travel through vast, empty spaces.
• Rural folks are nice. When we stayed with our U-Haul trailer near Lubbock while others in our travel group went to find parts, lots of people stopped to ask if they could help. Later, in Moriarty, Police Officer Montero (he wouldn’t give me a first name) expended time, effort and ingenuity so I could retrieve the keys from my locked car.
• Like the planet it’s named for, Earth, Texas, may be a little smaller than you’d expect.
• It takes more stuff to raise cotton than cattle. Most of the towns in Texas cotton country have farm equipment dealers with new tillers and harvesters gleaming in the sun. You see gins and special structures to shelter massive piles of cotton. In cattle country the main needs seem to involve horses, trucks, fences and water. Only windmills and an occasional corral interrupt the view of open land.
Steve Hansen writes about our life and times from his perspective of a retired Tucumcari journalist. Contact him at: