THE HOME was deserted.  The occupants had fled, no longer able to bear the industrial intrusion that turned night into day and muffled the sounds of nature that had called them to this place years ago.  Late September, after midnight,  I came upon this spot and saw an apple tree transformed,  shaking in the wind, illuminated by flames from a nearby methane flare.   The air was hot and smelled.  For some, drilling to explode gas to heat our homes and power our world is progress that promises vast wealth.   For others, it portends destruction and ecological demise.     

Apple tree, Forest Lake PA, 2011 from the series Fractured: the Shale play