Mining Town

Mining Town

Once drove through a mining town. The tailings have to go somewhere. They say the Apollo astronauts used them for training to get a feel for what the moon would be like. Nothing wants to grow in crushed rock, for a while anyway. Nature reclaims everything in the end. On a flight at cruising altitude, looked down and saw vast acreages of tailing. A few rivulets were visible, I presume to keep the grit storms down and to encourage bacteria to get a toehold for loam and humus. Well, we wanted the minerals.

"In the year 9595
I'm kinda wondering if man
is gonna be alive
He's taken everything this
old earth can give
And he ain't put back nothing in" - Zager Evans