Are you awake? It's Friday!

I have decided to start a special blog on Fridays. Monday through Wednesday can really drag sometimes, and then we get to Thursday and the anticipation can be more than we can bear and then finally FRIDAY!! We are awake, but are we? Fridays I am going to awaken you to things that you may not know about. I decided my first Are You Awake post would be something that is near and dear to me. I have seen it first hand and have been touched by it's aftermath. If you don't already know I went to High school in Ohio. I lived in a small town called Jackson and I was only minutes away from the West Virginia border. I lived and breathed the foothills of the Appalachians and I loved every minute, ok it was high school, I loved living there for the most part. The scenery out our back door was amazing. In the fall we were blessed with blazing colors of reds, yellows and orange. And in the spring the hills were full of blooming red bud and dogwood trees. My roots are deep in the Appalachians as my father was from a smaller town in Kentucky called Virgie. The stories I heard will forever stay with me. One day I hope to venture that way and see this place I heard so much about as a child.

On to the point. Mining. It's a way of life there. Just down the road from where I lived were salt mines. I had friends who's dad were coal miners and they too followed after high school. Mining is a dangerous profession. There are two major ways to mine. One is underground and the other is mountain top removal. Mountain Top Removal is destroying land and lives. The creeks and streams are being filled with rock, dirt and poisons, causing illness and flooding. Folks are shook with explosions daily, their wells are polluted with poisons such as lead and arsenic. Living in southern Ohio, the cancer rate in my opinion is very very high. I'd hate to see what the statistics are on the other side of the Ohio River. Sure, we are all touched by cancer, but here is my example of too high:

The woman across the road from us was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, a few short months later my friends grandpa was diagnosed, then my father, then her grandmother, then another friends aunt, then our neighbor, then my 1st friends neighbor, and then my other friends other aunt. all of this in a 3 year time span. Sadly 3 lost the battle, 2 are in remission and the other 3 still fight. If this is normal please, someone let me know.

So I am here to awaken you today on MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL. Please read the following link. Watch the trailer to the documentary and think about ways we can make a difference. I have ordered the DVD of the documentary and will be hosting a screening in my home. If you wish to join us please let me know.

First watch this:

Then read this:
Mountain Top Removal

And then fill this out:
Let Mr. President Obama know how you feel

And finally go here and listen to Coal Miners Dream :o)
Mountain Music

Thanks! Good morning!!! It's great to be AWAKE!