The Oil Field

Each morning, I have been driving to different wells and tank batteries.

I have been reading meters, checking pressures, climbing the stairs to gauge the oil tanks and the water tanks, oiling plungers, and circulating wells.

It has been a learning experience for me.

Dirty work for sure.

I was telling my buddies this evening…I had a system to mitigate the oil damage. I used latex gloves under my regular gloves to keep the oil and dangerous chemicals off of my skin. SUPER thankful for my latex gloves. 😍

Before going, I put my oil treatment on my hair. 😂

Showering BEFORE I ventured out into the oil field…was a big fat no. Showering AFTER I got back from the oil field each morning was a definite yes.

The hair treatment killed two birds with one stone. Giving my hair some love while putting a barrier on the hair to mitigate the oil smell. 🤣 I have smarticles. I felt like this idea…was brilliant. 😉

In addition…I always wore my rain gear. So thankful I did too. Those nasty chemicals would have been all over me. I am not the cleanest at pouring chemicals down the oil well pipes in order to do the circulating.

History

I grew up in a very small town. Population 90. One stop sign.

Both sets of my grandparents were farmers…along with a number of aunts and uncles.

We also had family members in the oil field. One of my cousins was killed as a teenager helping his dad in the oil field. An uncle nearly died from burns all over his body from a fire cleaning out one of the battery tanks. The fact he is alive…is a miracle.

The oil industry can be a very dangerous place to work. Having a safety mindset…is important.

As I worked…I tried to keep safety at the forefront of my mind. I have seen too much devastation in that industry in our history.

Photography

Over the weekend, the wells had to be circulated. At one well in particular…it was a 30-minute sit and wait period…so I took my camera along that day to put my wait time…to productive use.

I decided to try and play around with the camera and see if I could get some interesting shots. I was skeptical I could do it.

There isn’t really much that I felt like might inspire me with all the metal and grime…BUT…I was determined to try anyway. I wanted to see…could I get in some kind of creative head space.

Turns out…I feel like I did. I had fun at least.

These are a few of the shots I took that day while waiting on the well to do its thing. I like the angles.

I tried to think out of the box here and find angles I thought might be more interesting to me.

Also…I kind of wanted to memorialize my short career as an oil field laborer. 😂 Something to show my grandchildren when they get a bit older, I suppose.

Grandma is a woman of many strange adventures. I am constantly amazed at the things I find myself doing in life. I never know what I am going to be doing from day to day…year to year.

Traveling

For now…I am longing to travel. Man…I can’t tell you how excited I am about the thought of having a great big adventure. As I look back over some of my travel pictures out West a couple of years ago…I am longing to go again. I have the wantsies. BAD!

I have my atlases out and studying places to visit…goodness…I am ready to go. Getting super excited about the next season of my life. I believe it will be a good one.