But I Go On Forever

  
Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

The Brook
I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorpes, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret
By many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow-weed and mallow.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

I wind about, and in and out,
With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling,

And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me, as I travel
With many a silvery waterbreak
Above the golden gravel,

And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers;
I move the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,
Among my skimming swallows;
I make the netted sunbeam dance
Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars
In brambly wildernesses;
I linger by my shingly bars;
I loiter round my cresses;

And out again I curve and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

I spent most of yesterday in northeastern PA, including a few minutes taking some pics at Hillside Farms and along Toby's Creek, above. The primary goal of our journey was to spend time with our parents, visit a local skilled-care facility...and take a side trip on the way home to get some of Angelo's incredible pizza.  All missions were accomplished, and a delightful repast was enjoyed while driving south on Rte. 476.

My time at what some would call environmental activism spans ~35 years. I was a member of the WCCCE while at Wilkes in the mid-1970's. That group helped start the successful initiative to preserve and protect the Seven Tubs Natural Area. I lectured about the geology of northeastern PA over 30 years ago. I've done dozens of tree-plantings, stream clean-ups and have truly lost count of the number of letters sent, blogging posts, phone calls made and miles driven in support of environmental issues. Many feel I was an integral player in the successful effort to stop the proposed inflatable dam on the Susquehanna River which was championed by a 12-term US Congressman who had almost every local politician riding his coattails and almost every businessman in his pocket.

I have a plaque on my home office wall from American Rivers for my efforts to protect the Susquehanna, and even made the darn centerfold of their magazine in further recognition of my RESULTS. 

With all that being said, I think I can speak somewhat credibly to the state of current activism against the onslaught of the natural gas industry in the Marcellus Shale zone; disorganized and almost completely ineffective. 

Folks, sometimes the loudest noise is not the one you should be listening to.

But hey, what do I know?