Story Info

Blackburn
Julia Blackburn
Longmont, CO
2012

Story & Experience

My friend Shelley and I invited one of the families most impacted by proposed hydraulic fracturing wells to join us at Union Reservoir, which is a recreational area east of our city. Chris, Sheila, and their son Jack live on the edge of the reservoir, but have recently sold their house (with deep regret) in order to avoid the noisy disruption and the possible health risks of an oil well so near their home. We met at 7:00 AM and shared stories about our hopes and fears for the reservoir and the wildlife. We brought two vials of healing water, one that a shaman had blessed and another from the Delphic Oracle in Greece. These we poured with blessings into the reservoir. Then we made a bird out of twigs, pine cones, and grasses before leaving the bird and this beautiful, threatened spot respectfully and returning to our regular lives.

My friend Shelley and I invited one of the families most impacted by proposed hydraulic fracturing wells to join us at Union Reservoir, which is a recreational area east of our city. Chris, Sheila, and their son Jack live on the edge of the reservoir, but have recently sold their house (with deep regret) in order to avoid the noisy disruption and the possible health risks of an oil well so near their home. We met at 7:00 AM and shared stories about our hopes and fears for the reservoir and the wildlife. We brought two vials of healing water, one that a shaman had blessed and another from the Delphic Oracle in Greece. These we poured with blessings into the reservoir. Then we made a bird out of twigs, pine cones, and grasses before leaving the bird and this beautiful, threatened spot respectfully and returning to our regular lives.

Longmont, CO

RECENT STORIES

  • Beck 2010

For the Gulf Coast

Our beaches are being bombarded almost daily since the end of the first week of the sinking of the Deep Water Horizon with gatherings of people or all stripes: protests, prayer groups, volunteers, rallies for [...]

  • 2023 Kadonneiden Lajien Muistopäivä Helsinki

Remembrance Day for Lost Species in Helsinki 2023

On November 30th, there was first a session organized by the Finnish social and health sector project about eco-anxiety and eco-emotions (www.ymparistoahdistus.fi). This “morning coffee roundtable”, a hybrid event, focused this time on ecological grief [...]

  • 9442542D 86F2 44DB B000 C8EBDAB10152

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest is an area of natural beauty in West Sussex, England. It is also one of the very few remaining areas of extensive lowland heath left in Europe. This rare and threatened landscape is [...]

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER

Radical Joy Revealed is a weekly message of inspiration about finding and making beauty in wounded places.