Last month, I had a chance to drive up to Lubbock at mid-day. I've made the tip once or twice - or a zillion times! - before, and everything was pretty much as I had remembered it ...
... except for the rigs. There were A LOT of rigs on one side or the other of the road north, especially on the first-half of my drive, from Midland to Lamesa. I counted 19 along that stretch of road, and another one just on the north side of Lamesa.
And consider this, mine was a quick dashboard survey. Being the only one in the vehicle, I had to keep my eyes on the road at least half-the-time, so I probably missed some. There's also a stretch where a low ridge runs close and parallel to the highway for a number of miles ... not all that high really, but high enough to block any view of the countryside to the east.
Sure, a couple of the rigs I saw were pretty small ... probably devoted to work-over rather than making new hole. But even those small rigs represent business ... some company is leasing them from another company, and paying a crew to work them. In all cases, money is changing hands, goods and services are being produced and consumed, people are being employed and royalty-owners probably found their Christmas stockings to be a little fuller than they had expected.
I know, I know, I know ... a majority of our local punditz - at least those who focus upon the state of our local community and its economy - insist that everything pretty much sucks. Yet, in spite of all that, as a result of my December Dashboard Survey through Midland and Dawson counties - no matter it's lack of thoroughness - I can't help but feel some optimism. I have hope that things are going alright in our little corner of the country, and getting better ... and I have in mind a prayer of thanks for what we have, and that our good fortune might spread.
... except for the rigs. There were A LOT of rigs on one side or the other of the road north, especially on the first-half of my drive, from Midland to Lamesa. I counted 19 along that stretch of road, and another one just on the north side of Lamesa.
And consider this, mine was a quick dashboard survey. Being the only one in the vehicle, I had to keep my eyes on the road at least half-the-time, so I probably missed some. There's also a stretch where a low ridge runs close and parallel to the highway for a number of miles ... not all that high really, but high enough to block any view of the countryside to the east.
Sure, a couple of the rigs I saw were pretty small ... probably devoted to work-over rather than making new hole. But even those small rigs represent business ... some company is leasing them from another company, and paying a crew to work them. In all cases, money is changing hands, goods and services are being produced and consumed, people are being employed and royalty-owners probably found their Christmas stockings to be a little fuller than they had expected.
I know, I know, I know ... a majority of our local punditz - at least those who focus upon the state of our local community and its economy - insist that everything pretty much sucks. Yet, in spite of all that, as a result of my December Dashboard Survey through Midland and Dawson counties - no matter it's lack of thoroughness - I can't help but feel some optimism. I have hope that things are going alright in our little corner of the country, and getting better ... and I have in mind a prayer of thanks for what we have, and that our good fortune might spread.
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