Davenport, IA to Ogallala, NE

Last night I stayed in Ogallala, Nebraska. I’m about three hours from my destination. The Ogallala Aquifer has its site locality here and runs under eight states in the Great Plains (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer). The aquifer is being depleted at ever-increasing rates. I learned about it in a college environmental-issues class and was shocked at how much worse the situation has become since. What will happen when the aquifer is empty?

Yesterday, I passed a few windmill farms in Madison County, Iowa. I’ve never seen so many windmills and none so large. I have a question. Although it’s billed as green energy, how much do these windmills affect the amount of wind that remains beyond? The wind is energy and the windmills harness some of that energy. Are there any negative implications here (other than the hapless birds that wander near)?

Lastly, I’ve been following the case of the boy whose mother ran away with him to avoid chemotherapy. They prefer alternative medicine. Don’t get me started. My brother, a highly intelligent engineer, shunned chemo, radiation, and PAIN meds in favor of the homeopathic methods. With lung cancer, his prognosis was poor, but he put his faith in the skewed success rates that the “doctor” published. He died last year.

Wyoming Trip 2009

Home to Davenport, IA (May 29, 2009)

Davenport, IA to Ogallala, NE (May 30, 2009)

Literature and Landscape Writers’ Retreat (May 30, 2009)

“Lollipop” (June 1, 2009)

Pictures (June 2, 2009)