Paradise

science and art in place

Green River, Kentucky with its watershed (yellow). The headwater is near my home in Lincoln County.

You know how you can get a song in your head, or even one line, that plays on a loop in your head – over and over and you just can’t stop it?  After writing about the geode from Green River in August and taking you on a field trip to the Green River in Lincoln County, I could not stop part of John Prine’s 1971 Paradise “And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County, Down by the Green River where Paradise lay”. Being a bit lazy, I glanced at a map of Kentucky, but looked eastward from Lincoln County and just didn’t follow the river.

The Acting Director of the Kentucky Geological Survey took a precious hour a couple of weeks ago to guide me through some of the online map resources at the survey (https://www.uky.edu/KGS/). I need maps of my home county for a sub-project to my book. After looking at Lincoln County, I asked about the Green River and the song.

Using the interactive map on Zoom, Drew Andrews zoomed us right over to Muhlenberg County to Paradise down by the Green River. Wow! Although I’ve known that western Kentucky has coal, I never knew to what extent.

Maps generated at the Kentucky Geological Survey. The upper map shows the two major coal areas of Kentucky and the lower image is the western Kentucky coal fields. Red dots are boreholes for exploration. and the dark areas are a combination of mines, outcrops, etc which really show the areal extent of the coal.

Mr. Peabody’s coal train really did haul a lot of the county away – you can see it in the open pits now filled with water, the coal boreholes drilled to examine the spatial distribution and thickness of the coal, and the extensive grey lines delineating coal mines.

And the Green River is a big river down in Muhlenberg County, flowing northward into the Ohio with its headwaters upstream to the east in Lincoln County.

When I was a museum director, I would opine with other museum people that people just didn’t read signs. I laughed at myself when I was in the Charlottesville, Virginia Children’s Museum and kept pulling on a door that clearly said push. And I know I don’t listen to  - just don’t hear - songs’ lyrics – the melody and the rhythm and the performer’s voice are more important to me. So when I was guided down to Muhlenberg County in western Kentucky, I was a bit surprised. John Prine had clearly stated “When I was a child my family would travel, Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born”. And for years, I simply thought “eastern Kentucky” where I know there are major coal fields, a coal-mining culture.

So I learned three things that day. First, I felt stupid that I had not listened to the lyrics and looked east instead of west. Second, what a very fun, new toy now that I know how to maneuver through the online maps! And, third, Prine’s song is so based in place with it’s geology, economy, and culture. I have a new appreciation for the song and Mr. Prine.  

Listen to John Prine sing Paradise.

Why I Love this Rock

I know some of you hold your breath until the next episode of Why I Love This Rock. Hard for others of you to believe that. But, I’m skipping this month because there is plenty to think about above, and I’m working on a very cool episodes for the next few months. So listen to Paradise.

More about Earth to Susan

I am writing a book about how people experience the Earth in different ways. I will bring science, poetry, music, theology, literature, philosophy, history, geography, politics, and economics to these pages – all in relationship to Earth. 

This month’s newsletter is how we perceive the Earth through place and music - and a lot about maps and map data. .

I believe that helping people understand that we all see the Earth in different ways will open conversations to help find solutions for the many issues facing the planet we call home. 

I plan on one newsletter per month, although I’ve skipped a few months recently, and I hope you will continue to read this and share with your friends!  It’s free. 

Until next month, 

Susan

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