The Jumbo Oil Boom

I just met a man at a party who apparently knows all about Kentucky geology. I told him that my daddy had an oil well when I was a child. We would drive down to Jumbo on occasion, climb the metal stairs on the side of the oil tank, lift the small cover, and smell the dollars - would we be rich? I still love the smell of unrefined oil. Needless to say, the oil of Lincoln County never made the international news, but did you know it is still pumping.

Yesterday, my cousin and I took a drive down to Jumbo and, surprise, there is a pumping well right out in the pasture! I am on an exploration to find out more about this shallow oil field...if you visit the Kentucky Geological Survey, you can see how many barrels of oil were produced over the years from this county. Or you can wait a couple of weeks to see what I've come up with. If you have an oil story, please write to me at susan.eriksson@gmail.com.

How this got started

In mid-March 2009, I gave a talk at the National Science Foundation to accompany a newly installed exhibit of my art in the 3rd floor gallery. It was hard to find a theme for the talk, and I struggled - right up to the last day. I had a lot of images - geology, art, travel, and lots of things to say. Finally it all came together with the geology of Kentucky framing the introduction and the final comments.

Who knows what influences a person. Davis McCombs's Ultima Thule is a collection of poetry examining the caves beneath south central Kentucky - but to the west of Lincoln County. Wendell Berry's poems of walking the land certainly speak to the processes which modify the surface of the Earth - those that we all recognize who's roamed the fields. The Springs and The Dance are two particular poems which are process based. So, I started my talk with where I came from - the rocks and landscape where I grew up.

Although I only learned a few years ago that a major fault ran through our farm, it influenced my life - where I played, when I could go to school in winter, the walk up the hill after school....

Geode

This morning, August 2, 2009, I remembered that a geode from Jumbo adorns my front 'flower' bed. I'm not much of a gardner, but there are rocks from my many travels. I've never cut this one open - perhaps I'm afraid it will be disappointing. It brings back memories of Mrs. Short's frontyard and Green River gravel in our driveway.

To learn more about these geodes from south central kentucky, visit the Kentucky Geological Survey site click here