On our fourth day of walking, we left behind the city limits of Artesia, heading north through the small town of Lake Arthur. We met lots of cows living their best lives in large fields, cotton farms, and the big beautiful open sky. We are grateful to be spending the night tonight with wonderful friends at a ranchette in Dexter, New Mexico.
Our fourteen miles today gave us plenty of time to reflect on our dinner with community members in Artesia last night. They hosted us with such love and kindness - the way humans do that for one another, even folks they have never met before, is humbling and heartening.
At the community dinner in Artesia, we also had a chance to dig into the purpose of our pilgrimage - the deep hunger for responsible care for our common home. People offered their own perspectives based on their own lived experience. A person whose career had been in water. An educator. A rancher/wrangler. All local people who are personally impacted by the oil and gas industry.
A few bits that stand out:
- “Some people say we don’t have to worry about the health effects of air pollution because the wind usually blows the other way.”
- “The legislators in this area will not listen to my concerns; we are counting on other representatives in the state to care about what’s happening here.”
- On produced water (fracking waste water): “If it were not related to oil and gas, it would be considered hazardous waste.”
- Pointing out that research on produced water was inadequate, “once it is released into the environment, it cannot be undone.”
We also wanted to highlight the history of the Artesia Illinois Well #3 that we walked past yesterday. Clara sent along some photos of a mural with that. As Rev. Dave Wilson Rogers texted us yesterday: “If my calculations are correct, you are within 12 miles of The Illinois #3 Well Site, which is the first commercially viable well ever drilled in New Mexico. That’s the well that started it all.”
More history on that here: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=235360
