Update from Sarah: Heres the latest edition of Roland Micklems Scrap Paper about his one night in jail. He went into the hospital soon after, stayed over a week, and is now out and feeling better. He will be staying with my sister in Virginia. THE SCRAP PAPER #325 Thurs., 4 Dec., 14 FROM FRYING PAN TO FIRE..... Well, good people, your loyal scribe here is somewhere hed never dreamed hed be less than a couple of days ago—in Geneva General Hospital, attached to a saline solution dispenser. I came here due to some extremely reluctant bowels which have been—as elegantly as I can put it—somewhat parsimonious in releasing their content. But I dont need to go there and Ill move on to a subject less distasteful and more in keeping with what youd care to know about. As most of you may know by now, I spent the night of Nov. 19 in the Schuyler County pokey in Watkins Glen, and it falls a bit short of surprise to reveal that its no Waldorf Astoria. Because of a pair of bruised ribs, suffered as the result of a fall the previous day, I couldnt lie on my back and had to sit on my cot overnight with my back to the wall at a 90 degree angle. Id been in my cell less than 10 minutes when another inmate, who had the run of the walkway outside the row of cells, introduced himself, and the first words he said to me were “I lay pipeline and Im for fracking,” My inward response was “its going to be a long night,” but it turned out that Basil, my new acquaintance, was a pretty decent guy and we passed the time of day (or night) in pleasant chit-chat about some entirely neutral subjects. He, like many others, was there for drug infractions, and suspects that once released, hell be back again for the same reason. Another inmate, Andrew, was perched on a stool to the side of the walkway reading the Gualag Archipelago, a gift from Dwain Wilder, one of our stalwarts who was released after serving 8 days or so of a 15 day sentence. After surviving the night on my cot, I was escorted to the nurses office to ascertain the state of my health. Given my complicated medication regimen, including eye drops and an array of other medications requiring daily assistance by the house caregiver, plus a somewhat compromised sense of balance leading to occasional falls, the sheriff declared me unfit for jail and secured my release. Before my departure, the good sheriff---and Sheriff Yessman is a good guy---complained he was getting beau coup flak for arresting an 87-year-old man (Im 86) and that our action was taking up the time of his people at a cost to the taxpayers. But I just wouldnt buy it. As I pointed out, its not we who are at fault. We will not accept for what amounts to an invasion and occupation of our homeland by a corporation from a state (Texas) with one of the nations worst records for environmental protection. Crestwood is here on a self aggrandizing mission that puts at risk our water supply and the geological stability of a salt cavern, which should it collapse, would release many cubic feet of methane into the atmosphere. And methane, in addition to its volatility, is 20 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide. Factor in the additional truck traffic on the local roads, its hard to see how Crestwoods presence is a plus for anyone except their stockholders, their employed minions (non local), and their ruling honchos. Its the cumulative consequences of projects such as this which, if left unchecked, spell disaster for the global biosphere. Our witness on Seneca Lake will hopefully be duplicated the length and breadth of the planet. And may the Divine One be with us... Post Script: I was discharged Wed. Dec 3 and am staying temporarily with my friend Richard Corichi in Savannah, New York (not the one in Georgia).
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 12:27:26 +0000
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