Marcellus Hell

Good God, it's hot out.  I mean, really friggin' hot.  For those of you who do not know me, I do not do well in the heat.  I hate it.  I would take snow and -20 degree weather over a hot summer day ANYTIME.  I sleep better in the cold, I function better in the cold... I just feel better in the cold!  So, I sent Steve out to get a window unit AC for our bedroom.  Our house is quite warm with no central AC and the inability to open ANY windows (our current windows are ancient and crappy).  And I did I mention I have killed about 2,000 stink bugs and ants in the past 2 days???  Damn this hot weather!

Anywho, I digress with my complaining.  The whole idea of me going into the weather is to point out the simple fact that Steve and I are finally able to go flying.  We went yesterday and it was... an experience.  The weather was perfect and clear.  We wanted to fly over some areas where gas drilling is currently taking place. 

A little back story: Steve and I live in South Western, PA, specifically right over the Marcellus Shale hot spot.  For those of you who have NO IDEA what I'm talking about, get with the program and visit this link. 

Okay, so we take off and things are going well.  We fly over to Ohioville and take these shots of active drilling sites.

Active site in Ohioville



Prep site in Ohioville

 Then the nausea hits me.  Great.  I was hoping it wasn't going to happen, but it's hard to avoid when we are flying in circles in a small aircraft.  I decide to keep my head down and Steve flies south and is nice enough to land at the Washington County airport so I can pull myself together.  We land and I walk around, splash water on my face, and sit on solid land.  Ten minutes later we get back in the plane, and I'm still slightly nauseous. 

We fly over to Trax Farms and take these pictures (yes, they are drilling on Trax Farms).



See the site to the left?



It just blows my mind that I used to visit Trax all the time as a kid. And they totally sold out to the gas industry.

 Steve manages to get the plane in a nice angle so we don't have to circle, but still, the nausea comes back.  A lot of nausea.  As we fly back up north towards our home base, I'm getting sicker and sicker. 

Sh*t.  This is not good, I'm thinking to myself. 

Then I feel it.  I'm gonna barf.  I open the window in the plane (yes, tiny planes have windows that can open!) thinking I can puke outside.  Until I feel the wind hitting my face.  Um, yeah, that's not going to work.  I start gagging and heaving, and Steve throws me this random towel and tells me to puke in that.  Luckily nothing came up, except stomach acid in my esophogaus.  We finally make it back to the airport and we land safely.  I didn't actually throw up, thank God, but I came pretty close.  Needless to say, I was happy once we finally got back.

Yes, that was my big flying story from yesterday.  Aside from feeling sick, it was a good day.  We got our computer back and it is healthy and happy again!  We set up my art booth tent and it looks fabulous.  Now I am going to head upstairs and work on my art (and sweat).  I'm eagerly awaiting Steve's return so he can put our AC in our bedroom.  

Peacing out,
Nikki