Treasure Hunters

I can remember going to this little informational meeting at our local firehouse about 5 years ago that had to do with the gas wells, but at that point they were only going up in northern NY. So mostly, all I remember is getting some free mugs with little gas rigs on them, and some bouncy balls. I think there were doughnuts too lol. Also, I remember hearing stories of people who had gotten wells put on their land, and become instant millionaires. So we were like "oh, that'd be cool to get a well on our land" but it seemed very unlikely. However, the past year, a circle of wells have gone up around us, and the belt has kept tightening....and tightening. Until yesterday.

It closed. The belt actually closed. Right on us. This spring, our little niche of the woods will become utter mayhem as the gas company brings in hundreds of trucks, machinery, and workers. They will build a road into the middle of our field (when I say "our" I mean us, my grandparents, and aunt and uncle). We'll watch a huge rig go up as they drill deep into the ground. There will be blinding lights that will pierce through the night (probably right through my bedroom window, I might add), and constant noise, so we probably won't be able to sleep. And they will dig a huge pond to store all the water they will need to pump into the ground to replace the water they are taking out. They might contaminate our well we get water from so we won't be able to drink anymore. The whole thing might blow up. But I don't care.

Cause I am so darn HAPPY!!! I'm still kind of incredulous that it is really happening, and I half don't believe that they will do it even though they've withdrawn a permit and everything to make it official. But still, I'm quite excited. We've been praying soooo long that something like this would happen, even praying specifically for a gas well, and now its happening! It just seems weird that God would answer our prayer--like, such a major prayer as this one. Because, we don't deserve it. I guess that's love. :)

Another weird thing is that they place where they are drilling, is the EXACT spot we used to play with the Slack kids. It was under a big old tree (so old that my Grandpa actually cut it down a few months ago because it was dangerous), and we kind of made it our secret hide out place--one time we even threw Mariah a surprise birthday out there with balloons, cake etc. And while there, if we got bored, we'd search for treasure. Poke around in the dirt for treasure. Look under rocks for treasure. And, if we were lucky, we'd find an old bottle, pieces of chipped pottery, etc--stuff that was no more than 30 years old. lol But who knew that right beneath our feet was real treasure? A different kind then we were thinking of, but treasure all the same!!!