For the Greater Good

The Land Exchange Bill is stalled in the Senate and it doesn't look like anyone can bring about a resolution for Resolution Copper before the new administration comes in. For all of the questions and strife it has caused for some in this tiny town of Superior, one thing is clear. Superior and its residents NEED this copper mine. They're not going to survive without it. Any why they are not getting it, is not clear.

What is CLEAR is that a lot of hanky panky and Big Money is going on behind closed doors regarding the legislation that could make this new copper mine a reality. Three years ago, Arizona's Governor Napolitano was for this bill. Now, she's distanced herself to no help at all. And why would that be? Since if the mine goes through, the fiscal impact on Arizona's economy would be between 600 and 800 million a year, for upwards of sixy years. Isn't that saying something in this economy that's bordering on Depression when jobs, - any jobs - are scarce to come by? Wouldn't anybody who is leading a state be proud to sponsor some legislation that would bring those kinds of Buckos into their state's coffers? Guess not.

Why not? Well... evidently, personal gains have gotten in the way. There's an environmental bigshot, with Big Money (he's married to a DuPont... and you know what? I've NEVER been a Jeff Gordon fan!) who has put up over a quarter of a million dollars the past two years to politicos to defeat this proposed land exchange that would make the copper mine a reality. The environmental bigshot is Bill Roe and he is highly regarded in Arizona's environmental community, like the Nature Conservancy. He has donated money to Janet Napolitano's PAC groups and others as well as big donations to Obama's elections and the Democratic Party. The man is determined to stop the mine. He claims he only wants Resolution Copper to add another choice bit of land to the bill, that along the San Pedro River near San Manuel. That's what he claims. But Resolution Copper doesn't own the land Mr. Roe is interested in having. It is owned by BHP that owns part of Resolution Copper but they are not a bit interested in taking that out of their pocket to make the Resolution Copper mine a reality. And why should they be? It sounds like political blackmail from where I am.

At first, I have to admit, I wasn't Gung Ho for the copper mine to move into this town. I've been worried about water quality and the fact of a mine going in two miles down that might implode the mountain. But there's a heap of technical stuff I don't understand and won't live long enough to begin to understand. So I have to hope that the Right Things will prevail to mean there won't be a huge environmental disaster around here. What is Paramount right now is what is the Greater Good? I believe it is for the young families around Superior and Pinal and Gila counties that don't have jobs or a good enough job to provide for their livelihoods. It's for this super little mining town of Superior that is hanging on by her darned fingernails as she slowly slips away brick by brick because there isn't enough business to sustain business in what could be a bustling little town.

What I'm saying is this: It's time for the politicians to stop thinking of their damned personal gain and start thinking about their constituency and get the Lead Out and get this bill moving through the Senate and House again, - before this next Administration starts all over again - and make this Land Exchange a reality. Forget the dealings of these "do-gooders" Environmentalists and these politicians who aren't looking out for anybody but themselves and do something for this corner of Arizona. We need this mine. AND WE NEED IT NOW!

Message Received

The evening the kids left for Dillon Beach, I retired early, settling down in bed at seven with a book and my bad cold. I left Bill and the puppy in the front room watching TV. Tad and Erin departed at three that morning, saying they hoped to get as far as Bakersfield or Los Banos to spend the night before going on to Dillon Beach the next day. (It's a sixteen to eighteen hour drive from here to the beach, for those that don't know. One extra long day in the car.) Erin promised she'd call when they got home, so I wasn't expecting a call that evening.

Earlier in the week, Bill had changed the ringtone on his cell phone. All summer long he's been having "In The Summertime" playing whenever someone calls in. But this week, he'd gone through a lengthy process and was having it play Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldiers". I guess because it put us in the mood of Caribbean vacations. We've always taken our trips in October and November and even though we're not traveling this year, it's that right time to do it, you know?

Okay, so now I've set the scene for you: I'm in the far bedroom down the hall dozing over my book (it's real boring and I should just put it down and start something else, but I'm determined in my old age to finish every book I start - something I never did when I was younger and working) and Bill and Chuy are in the front room watching C.S.I. when all of a sudden, the television and satellite go blank. Bill looks at the TV wondering what happened when the stereo next to his couch lights up and the song "Buffalo Soldiers" wafts out. The song plays a few bars and Bob Marley's voice fills the room when just as suddenly, it turns off and the TV magically comes back on with Bill's show on it.

Bill came in to tell me about it. "You're not going to believe this..." He told me the story.

"Was it a message from your dad?" I asked. Whenever we experience unexplained electrical disturbances we tend to think it's a Sign from the Other Side that our loved ones are trying to get us a message.

"If it was, I don't know what They're trying to say," Bill shrugged. "That They're aware I changed my ring tone? Why should that matter?"

"I don't know either." But I shivered. His story was "cweepin' me out!" as Sage would say.

Not ten minutes later, the land line phone rang. It was Erin. She sounded exhausted but happy. Tad had driven them home in one fell swoop. They'd been home for an hour or so but she wanted me to know they were fine.

I hung up, considering. Was Bill's message from his dad who wanted Bill to know Tad had arrived home safely? It was one way of getting us to take notice. Or was it just one of those unexplainable Freaky Things that happen now and then? But why "Buffalo Soldiers"? I prefer to think we had a Sign from the Other Side.

Behind The Times

Sorry for the long delay in Blogging. It feels as though I've been stuck in slow hardening concrete while I've waited for the Writing Muse to strike me. But she hasn't dealt any blows lately, so I thought I'd better write something anyway.

We've had a fun visit with our son, Tad and his new wife, Erin and the effervescent three year old Ronnie. It was a week of Fun and Activities but Ronnie left us with a souvenir of a dandy cold so I'm still blowing and hacking. That's part of the charm of living with a Preschooler, a new cold or flu symptom monthly. When our kids were small, we tended to have one Sickie at least every two weeks. It took roughly ten days to feel well again and in that four day window, another bug would bite and another kid (or parent) would go Down For The Count. My dad used to chide me for not taking enough vitamins to ward off the frequent colds, but I didn't listen then. Well, I do listen now and Bill and I take enough Vitamins to build a small wall daily, but still that wasn't enough against the California Cold Ronnie brought to us. HA!

So days are chugging along here, now that the election is behind us and Thanksgiving and Christmas are looming. There's a Toy Run (motorcycles) going on in Globe, Miami and Superior today to benefit seven families for the holidays who have fallen on Hard Times. Santa driving a side car with a winsome maid just zoomed up our street for the first stop of the Run (a local bar). So that's a Sign of the Times. Bill and I weren't participating in that ride for our local Free Dump Day is going on out at the dump and we were volunteering for that instead. As it is, I'm staying indoors with my cough and he went out in the blustery thirty m.p.h. winds blowing off Apache Leap on this not cold but thoroughly Windy November day. My neighbor came out and told me, "You know, in Southern California, they have the Santa Ana winds. Well, they are mild in comparison to ours. These are known as the Apache Winds and the Apaches are much fiercer than Santa Ana." So there! Definitive proof it's worse here! (But thank God, no fires for us here in AZ.)

And I'm sewing like mad, trying to get enough shirts made for a craft sale my sister and I are doing in Florence in three weeks. So every spare moment I have, I'm huddled over the sewing machine or cutting out another shirt. I watched Ronnie one afternoon last week while his folks were out playing golf.

"What are you doing, Grandma?" he asked.

"I'm cutting out a shirt for you, Ronnie. I thought I'd sew you a shirt," I answered.

"I don't want a shirt." (Typical Three Year old.)

He left and returned in a few minutes. "What are you making, Grandma?"

"I'm making you a shirt, Ronnie," I answered. "The same shirt I was working on a few minutes ago."

"Well, I'm still not going to wear it!" He turned and went back to his toy trucks.

"Well, I'm still going to make it!" I countered.

That's it from this end. When I quit coughing so much, I swear I'll Blog more.