Drainage

It was a beautiful film about a different time in California. When they poked and prodded,'till the earth gave up her oil. Some of my ancestry was a part of this decidedly greedy legacy. I've mentioned them before. My great great grandfather struck oil in Bakersfield in the 1880's. He became a wealthy man because of this, and he added to his wealth when he sold his tract to Standard Oil. They came through and bought much of that oil rich landscape. As did Union Oil and other very eager companies.


And we all know how that played out. It feels weird, knowing that my relatives played any part in creating the angry behemoth that is Chevron today. But as my wise older daughter said: 'It's o.k. We're 'poor' now, so the score is settled...' (I wonder.)


There was a cool moment when Plainview/Daniel Day Lewis is looking to buy up the land surrounding an oil-rich tract. He mentions the names of the families that own the tracts, and Blodget is one of the names. That'd be my great great grand-daddy, Hugh. They drank his milkshake.