Once upon a time in the San Joaquin Valley

 

A recent photo converted to an illustration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These oddly shaped pinnacles are evidence of a world that existed 65 million years ago when they were near the shores of the Pacific Ocean.  The location is over 100 miles from the pacific ocean and above sea level.  Evidence of ancient aquatic life remains in the rolling foothills on the edges of the San Joaquin Valley.  How long did it take for the ocean to arrange those boulders?  I bet it had some killer surf.  The rocks are positioned in a manner indicating they were under great hydraulic forces for a long time.       

Giant prehistoric shark teeth are still found on the surface of the soil all of the time but often arrive with a deadly curse.  Mold spores in the earth are toxic and will cause severe illness and death when people or animals create dust by disturbing the fine silt and unknowingly inhaling the spores.  Known as California Fever, Desert Rheumatism, or Valley Fever, it is caused by cocci spores that infect the victim's lungs.  

The old school actor, and certified badass, Lee Marvin actually died from the fever, having contracted it in the American Southwest.  Lee Marvin served in the Marines during WWII as a scout sniper and personally participated in 21 island campaigns.  He was seriously wounded on Saipan and discharged after a year in the hospital.  Complicated by a few preexisting conditions, the Valley Fever disease caused him to die in 1987 at 63.   

 

After this prehistoric water world faded away, the organic deposits left behind yielded one of the greatest discoveries of crude oil in North America during the early 20th century.  In 1910 a gusher blew out of an exploration well that was so massive it required over a year to bring under control.  Literal seas of crude oil came freely flowing once the earth's crust became punctured. 

The gusher was eventually contained by a system of berms and levees, creating large storage ponds of oil.  Almost 10 million barrels escaped into the atmosphere while they attempted to subdue the situation. About half of the 10 million barrels were recovered and shipped by pipeline to the coast.  Remnants of this massive oil spill remain visible to this day.  

If you've ever seen the motion picture There Will Be Blood, it was sort of a caricature of the California oil boom. There was a reenactment of the creation of a similar pipeline, and the main character surveys the route by horseback.  

Even back then, oil companies tried to ship their product via pipeline to avoid using rail.  Make no mistake, these two groups of bastards have battled back and forth for so long that we actually have to pay five dollars a gallon for gasoline today.  Is this the best they can come up with? We might as well go back to horse and buggy days.    

Standing over a sea of crude and paying that much for petrol indicates intentional manipulation on both sides.  Follow the money.  The government doesn't control oil production or transportation any more than people control the planet. Just saying.  

Depletion of the strategic oil reserve actually exposes the fact that oil companies throttled production post pandemic to increase prices.  In other words, oil throws a little temper tantrum, and you get to pay the price for it, sucker.  Ultimately both sides make out like bandits, and you remain exactly where they want you.  You'll gladly pay 5 bucks a gallon for gas and ration water to irrigate trail mix while feudal lords and robber barons make billions.  Right?  

That's not what this is?  Then what is it?  

My car is parked and water from the tap smells and tastes like fucking poison... 

It is within the realm of possibility we could find ourselves once again at the bottom of a vast ocean, and all the noise will become silent like that ancient rock on a windswept hill.  Best of luck to you.  Consider my little art up there as a postcard from the planet reminding you it's fine. 

My advice is to buy property in the mountains.