COAL DUST IN THEIR HANDS: Last Days of Production at Energy Fuels Mine (Short True Story w/Photos)

This Visceral History* is a short account of overwhelming grit founded on values passed from father to son, both called Tom Shelnutt. The story features a coal mine and a group of never say quit miners who wouldn't give up the ghost until the spirit rose up into the sky. The essence of this history was lifted from conversations with my husband over meals at our kitchen table, with him telling me about events of his just finished shift at Energy Fuels Coal, in Florence, Colorado. Our home is in Rockvale, 5 miles from Florence, population 400 (possibly including goats, donkeys, rattle snakes and scorpions, along with some true human characters). In our cottage there, the surfaces don't always sparkle as brightly I'd like them to, but the living is deep, and it's home. The house especially feels so when I'm listening to Tom's work stories as he's eating supper or breakfast, depending on what shift he's worked. Maybe it feels even more so when he's out on our back 5 acres, toying with heavy old iron, rearranging it, or staring at sunlight slants on rust spots. And, it feels so when we drift into dreams at night, in a quiet town on the prairies, at the base of the foothills of the Wet Mountain Range of the Rockies.

*VISCERAL HISTORY is the term I use for true stories told from the gut, usually featuring the perspective of the author in addition to one or a small number of individuals. I'm developing a code for this type of true account shared in a small collection of short works, mostly relating to the coal mining industry.

This is a prime story in that collection which features my husband and his mechanic cohorts, updated 2015. From my point of view, these are male human beings at their best.

With Respect,
Linda Shelnutt and
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