Astronomy and Astrology and Changing Zodiac Signs

Referencing all this astrology stuff, I feel like Luke Wilson in the movie 'Idiocracy'...C'mon people this isn't new stuff! Some poor guy somewhere was trying to explain axial precession and the difference between astronomy and astrology and the 'students'-whoever they were-obviously there was a reporter in the bunch- misunderstood and somehow this makes the news as something 'new'. OK, I've been suckered in and I'll try to explain this in a less scientific way.

I was horrified by what I saw on NBC news last night, the anchor said 'precision' instead of 'precession', and referred to Ophiuchus as an 'unpronounceable constellation'. Off-e-YOU-kuss, if anyone is interested. Why he did not Google it and learn how to pronounce it is beyond me. I usually watch ABC, but for whatever reason NBC was playing on the tube. I know that today some media outlets are also trying to clarify this 'news', but I thought I would also give it a shot. We are the first group of humans who have lost touch with the reality of the night sky. We struggle to learn and see and understand, whereas just over a hundred years ago, everyone knew the constellations. Runaway slaves navigated by them, as did sailors. We have lost this in modern times and it is sadly no longer part of our culture. Most places are so light polluted that you can't even see the stars at night, but I digress.

Astrology is based on the idea that the Earth is at the center of the solar system and that planets and the sun and the moon revolve around the Earth, and have a influence on life here. Astrology uses the positions of the the solar system objects relative to a fixed Earth to try to explain Earthly events and predict the future. Most astrologers today use a system based on the ideas of Ptolemy, the Egyptian astrologer, astronomer and mathematician who lived almost two thousand years ago in the first century AD. In those days, the science of astronomy and the art of astrology were mixed practices. Today astronomers go to great lengths to separate themselves from astrologers.

Astronomy recognizes that the sun is the center of the solar system. People become confused because the two use most of the same constellations. Think of constellations as road maps for the sky. The plane of the solar system is the ecliptic and it is across that ring-like path that we can see the other planets, as well as the Sun and Moon, seemingly move across our sky. This is why people used to think the solar system was Earth-centered. Think of the constellations that fall on the ecliptic 'ring in the sky' as cities marking an interstate map. We call the group of them the zodiac constellations. Astrology recognizes only twelve for simplicity, but like the boundaries of cities, scientists have also changed the boundaries of constellations over the past several thousand years. Everything changes in our universe because everything is moving...The Earth is moving, the Sun is moving, the solar system itself is moving..The Earth is tilted and has a slight wobble. Over thousands of years that wobble causes us to see and view the stars differently. Today, in our time, Polaris is the north star or more properly, the pole star, but due to the Earth's tilt and wobble the imaginary pole line has not always pointed to that star. Around 3500 BC, the star Thuban or Alpha Draconis was the pole star. Around 400 BC, the pole star was Kochab in Ursa Minor. You know this star as the second brightest star in the Little Dipper. It is in the ladle of the dipper whereas Polaris, our current pole star, is the end of the handle of the dipper.

Imagine that the Earth is wearing a hula hoop in a fixed, almost level location near the equator. Over time the Earth wobbles and tilts, the hula hoop also tilts and 'moves'. If you were on the Earth, you would see the hoop change positions if you lived long enough. The ecliptic is an imaginary line representing the average plane of the solar system, but if you could look up and see it as a giant roadway or hula hoop, you would see that thousands of years ago it ran farther north than it does today. It moves. It takes almost 26000 years for the Earth to make one full circle in its wobble, and that is called axial precession or precession of the equinoxes. It is pronounced like 'pre-session', not pro-session or pre-cision.

Ophiuchus is and always has been a constellation in the sky on the ecliptic above Scorpius (and there's another difference, Scorpius v. Scorpio). At this moment in time, the constellation of Ophiuchus doesn't really lie on the ecliptic-neither does Aries, but they have in the past and while Western astrologers don't count Ophiuchus as a zodiac sign, astronomers do because it is what is known as a sidereal zodiac constellation. There are several other small constellations that also might touch the ecliptic at a given point in time. Western astrology just generalizes and keeps the zodiac at 12 tropical constellations by convention. Ophiuchus was once called Serpentarius. If you remember Greek mythology, you will recall that Hercules fought a great serpent, and in the sky, Ophiuchus the serpent bearer is next to the constellation of Hercules. To our eyes, the brightest stars are in the shape of a large coffin, so some people call Ophiuchus the Coffin.

Again, modern Western astrology is based on a fixed system-an Earth that doesn't move-that , whereas things move around it. the changes they recognize are those dealing with the seasons, how an area of Earth is oriented to the sun.

Astronomy understands that everything moves and that things change over time. Precession is slow, but we can actually see the movement as it is almost one degree for every 70 years. (360 degrees in a circle-remember the imaginary line at the pole wobbling makes a big circle in the sky-70 times 360 equals 25200 years. It's close. )

Now, has your sun sign changed??

Yes in astronomical terms and no in astrological terms.

First, understand what your sun sign is in astrology...it is the constellation on the horizon at the point where the sun rises on the day you were born. As the seasons change, the constellations change. Above, I used the analogy that a constellation was like a city with its borders changing. In 1930 the International Astronomical Union set a uniform standard for the borders of constellations. Not all constellations are the same size and the sun would spend less time rising in Aries(small constellation) than it would in Aquarius(large constellation) The IAU just defined the borders of the constellations as they were and took no consideration of astrologers needs for something uniform and regular.

Astrologers fixed the dates that demark a sun sign, but in reality, because of precession and because everything is moving, sidereal astronomers know that the Sun, for example, actually rises in Taurus from about May 16-June 5, not from the fixed April 20th to May 21st. About every seventy and a half years, it changes by a day. The May 16 start date is based on IAU calculations for the year 2002.

Ptolemy died in the year 168 AD.

2002 AD minus 168 AD equals 1834 years.

1834 years divided by 70.5 years equals 26 days.

April 20(the fixed astrological date) + 26 days = May 16 (the approximate actual date that the sun begins to rise in Taurus)

In our lifetimes, this hasn't changed appreciably. My birthday is May 13th so sidereally, actually, on the day I was born, the sun rose in the constellation of Aries, not Taurus, but astrologically speaking, I am a stubborn, earthy Taurean. Anyone who knows me knows that to be truer than you could believe. However, the fact that I am writing this note is an act very characteristic of an Arian.

In sidereal astronomy, the sun also rises in the constellation of Ophiuchus between November 29 and December 17. In modern Western astrology, this overlaps the sun signs of Scorpius and Sagittarius, and therefore is not used in order to simplify things.

One system, astrology, is fixed. The other, astronomy, changes.

If you believe in astrology, then your sun sign has not changed. If you were a Taurus, you are still a Taurus.

Peace

In 1958, Gerald Holtom, a British textile designer, created a symbol that today is known as the Peace sign. While we generalize it's use in modern times, it was originally intended to protest nuclear weapons in England. A group called the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War first used the peace sign on their banners during a 52 mile march from London to Aldermaston, a town known for atomic weapon research. In the 52 years since, that sign has been officially known as the CND logo. CND is the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Most folks call it a peace sign, but I've also heard it called a 'chicken's foot logo'. The idea came from Holtom's knowledge of semaphore signals, a visual method of communication using flags. The signal for the letter N is to hold the arms downward at the 4 and 8 o'clock positions. The signal for D is to hold one flag vertically overhead, and one flag downward, making a vertical line. These letters, for Nuclear Disarmament, are combined in a circle and the result is the international peace sign.

I think it is also interesting that the hand signal for 'Peace', where one holds up two fingers with the palm facing outward, was originally the 'V for Victory' sign used by Winston Churchhill during and after WWII. The idea of using a 'V' as a psychological rallying symbol originally came from Victor de Laveleye, the Belgian Minister of Justice in 1941. Laveleye, on the BBC, stated "the occupier, by seeing this sign, always the same, infinitely repeated, [would] understand that he is surrounded, encircled by an immense crowd of citizens eagerly awaiting his first moment of weakness, watching for his first failure." In modern times, this same sign has been modified, originally by the military, but in pop culture by Robert Deniro's character in 'Meet the Parents', where the two fingers point to one's eyes and then outward to mean 'I am watching you'. But somewhere along the way, back in the 1960's, hippies and counter-culture elements transformed the hand symbol to mean 'Peace'. It is a good mental stretch to think about how a war's victory sign comes to mean 'peace' worldwide.

A friend of mine has the following quote as her signature file: "Peace doesn't require two people; it requires only one. It has to be you. The problem begins and ends there." That is pretty thought provoking, I think. I searched and found that those are the words of Byron Katie, or properly Byron Kathleen Mitchell, a California woman who, in a time of despair, reached a point of enlightenment and ended up writing a book (The Works) about it. She claims that she doesn't belong to any religion or tradition, but from what I have seen of it, it is most similar to a Buddhist path, in my opinion. My thinking contrasts the two ideas: If peace means being submissive to a bully, and not striking back, then that certainly is different than the 'victory' message. Perhaps that is not a fair example of how things would begin and end with one person, but I believe that is the reality if one did nothing in the name of peace. I'm not sure where the line is. What would the Dalai Lama do? How much violence would he absorb before striking back? The answer just might surprise most people. While the Dalai Lama practices ahimsa, the avoidance of violence, he readily admits that it does not always work. He believes that war can bring positive outcomes and that ahimsa cannot conquer terrorism in the world. I believe it is reasonable to practice ahimsa, almost all martial arts are defensive and teach avoidance first, but it would be naive to think that peace can be achieved solely by non-violent techniques. Perhaps Roosevelt was right when he touted that one should walk softly and carry a big stick. Ronald Regan revised this idea in his era, but does military might really make peace, or just subversion where violence erupts at a later date? Many believe, rightfully so, that today's terrorism problems can be traced back to the policies of the Big Stick era.

Things just aren't black and white-they are not clear cut and you can't always know what method to use to bring lasting peace in the world, if it is possible at all. Perhaps Byron Katie's quote is better suited as a mental exercise, that we should find peace within ourselves. I suppose in the end, it's a personal thing and we each have to decide for ourselves how much responsibility to take in our own lives for our own peace.

Peace Out

Holiday or Holidays: A Greeting for the Season

So many Christians today are opposed to the phrase "Happy Holidays!" or "Seasons Greetings" and while I suppose people have a right to feel any way they want, I hope to provide some additional food for thought from another perspective.

One's religious beliefs are a private matter and you simply don't ask a stranger or acquaintance, someone you meet in a store or at the park, what their beliefs are. They may be Christian, most people in this country are indeed Christian, but they may be Jewish, Muslim, or perhaps they are Native American and observe the traditions of their ancestors. You simply cannot tell by looking at someone what their beliefs are or what their religious faith might be. You may even think you know, but never assume. My beliefs are so personal that I rarely even share them, in toto, with my family. In the absence of knowledge, saying 'Happy Holidays' is a friendly way to let the person know that you wish them well, without invading their privacy.

I have friends of many faiths, including some of no faith. If I say 'Merry Christmas' to everyone, that ignores and disrespects the people who are non-Christians, as a reverse example, 'Happy Hanukkah' would have little meaning to my Christian friends. Some people celebrate more than one holiday already, and some even celebrate two separate religious holidays, for example, I know someone who celebrates Hanukkah because she is Jewish, and yet her husband is Christian. Their son is being exposed to both holidays. I have friends who celebrate Kwanzaa and Christmas. I also have friends who consider themselves pagan and even a few friends who claim to be atheist. Atheists need love and attention too, it is just that their intellectual side suppresses their spiritual side, and well, I still think they deserve well wishing along with everyone else, even if they don't celebrate anything but the moment. I strive to be tolerant of everyone and be all-inclusive.

December and early January historically support many feasts, holidays and festivals. St. Nicholas' Day, Yule, St. Lucia's Day, Virgin of Guadalupe Day, Hanukkah, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year's Eve, New Years Day, Orthodox Christmas, and Ashura among others. I'm sure I've forgotten a holiday or two. As Americans, we take pride in being the world's melting pot, and as a predominantly Christian nation, we should also show tolerance. To preach, Christ said "love thy neighbor as thyself". Follow His lead. He befriended and respected many non-believers. To that end, we should also respect the beliefs and practices of others. Of course we don't have to join in their celebration, but to indirectly recognize their celebration and practices with a simple "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings!" is what Jesus would have done, I think. Political correctness is about what society expects. This issue is not about political correctness, but about respect for all mankind, regardless of ethnicity, religion, country of origin, sex, race, etc.

To Christians, I make an additional argument for the use of Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings. There are three branches of Christianity: Orthodox Christianity, the first Christians, Roman Catholic Christianity, and Protestant Christianity. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on or close to January 7th. The difference in dates reflects the Orthodox church's continued use of the Julian calendar as opposed to the modern Gregorian calendar. It is interesting to note that Orthodox Christians prefer saying "Christ is born" over "Merry Christmas". Catholics and Protestants recognize multiple holidays during this 'season'. St. Nicholas' Day on December 6th was the original day of gift giving. St. Lucia's Day on December 13th celebrates light. In Mexico, the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12th. In the Philippines, Midnight Mass begins on December 16th and continues until December 24th. It is called Misso do Galo-Rooster's Mass. In many Protestant churches, Christmas Eve is celebrated with communion, nativity re-enactments, the lighting of advent wreaths, caroling, and prayer. In many European countries, the day after Christmas, St. Stephen's Day, is celebrated and is even a paid holiday. Saint Stephen, for those unfamiliar, was the first Christian martyr. In fact, Christmastide is a Christian season lasting 12 days-the 12 days of Christmas-from December 24th to January 5th. In addition to all those Christian holidays in December and early January, there are also the secular holidays of New Years Eve, New Years Day, Boxing Day, and Kwanzaa.

As you can see, this 'season' which has become a melting pot unto itself, even for Christians, is more than just the one religious holiday of Christmas. Saying 'Merry Christmas' is appropriate when you KNOW the other person is a Christian and when Christmas is truly near. Saying 'Merry Christmas' the day after Thanksgiving just doesn't have the same feel or impact. "Happy Holidays" seems more appropo, especially when you are greeting virtual strangers in a mall store. I hear so many people say that the 'reason for the season' is being lost. In my opinion, saying 'Merry Christmas' out of season demeans the holiday and adds to the problem. This special day in the Christian faith is lost to convention, a convention that is the dream of retailers-to draw the Christmas season out longer to line their pockets. Ironically, Christians themselves literally buy into this, and the long term effect is that now Christmas Day is a denouement to shopping season. That's what it is, really, Shopping Season. It starts two weeks before Halloween and ends January 4th or so. If Christians want others to realize the devoutness of the day, then they should start watching their own speech and behaviors. If they feel that 'Happy Holidays' is not special, and that 'Merry Christmas' is special, then relegate tidings of 'Merry Christmas' to the proper time, place, and people, and don't over use the phrase.

'Happy Holidays' is both secular and religious. 'Seasons Greetings' is both secular and religious. 'Merry Christmas' is religious, but becoming more secular. The retailers would love to hear 'Merry Christmas' in October, secularizing the holiday even more, but I don't think this is truly what Christians, those Christians who have a problem with 'Happy Holidays', really want. 'Merry Christmas' was intended to be religious, specifically pertaining to Christianity, but over the years the celebration of the birth of Christ has expanded to include practices of gift-giving(from many festivals, especially St. Nicholas' Day), decorating Christmas trees (a pagan ritual), mistletoe kisses (pagan), Christmas lights (both pagan and St. Lucia), feasts and dinners(both pagan and religious origins), Santa Claus (again, from St. Nicholas' Day), etc. Santa's helper elves are pagan, too, as they originally were helpers of the Scandinavian god Thor .

In Rome, December 25th was a holiday celebrating the rebirth of the Sun god, Sol Invictus, who had died three days earlier(on the Solstice). The Roman holiday of Saturnalia was also celebrated after the solstice. It was a time of wild parties and gift giving and Mummers dances. Mummers sang and danced from house to house spreading cheer. It sounds a bit like what we would call caroling. Christmas was not celebrated by the Christian church until Constantine's rule, 300 years after the death of Christ, and while the Catholic Church calculated the birth of Christ as nine months from March 25, (the Feast of the Anunciation ), the exact date of his birth is unknown. Some modern Christian astronomers believe that Jesus may have even been born in September of 3 A.D. when Jupiter and Regulus were close together in the sky and might have seen as the Star of Bethlehem. For the Roman Catholic Church, aligning the Christmas holiday with other holidays already in existence made sense (the pagan masses were used to their festivals and traditions and did not want them to be forbidden), so slowly the Christmas holiday began to incorporate many traditions that did not originate in Christianity. The evergreen Yule tree, the Christmas tree, was a sign of fertility and life. Holly and mistletoe were also fertility charms. The huge Yule log burned brightly, celebrating the rebirth of the sun.

There is a resounding theme apparent to me in all of these December holidays, regardless of faith, they celebrate life-birth and rebirth, light, miracles, gifts, and historical events. They are all positive and cheerful, uplifting days. To recognize only one of those days with a ubiquitous 'Merry Christmas' greeting clouds what Christians like to call 'the reason for the season'. In our interconnected world, we no longer isolate ourselves and live only with those of like beliefs, we live in a worldwide community. To show respect for the traditions and faith of others is to show the love of thy neighbor, and a simple way of doing this is to say 'Happy Holidays' or 'Seasons Greetings' to others during the season of festivities if you don't know their faith.

Peace Be Unto You.

Going Green

My employer, a few months before I was hired, quietly initiated an voluntary environmental management system known as ISO 14001. This past Tuesday, after a week long audit, we have been recommended to be certified as ISO 14001. That is usually just a small formality-for the most part, we can say that we are ISO 14001 certified, or at least, we soon will be, but for the purposes of this blog, I will assume we already are.

We are now the only commercial flooring adhesive manufacturer in the US to be ISO certified. This is HUGE, and I am proud to say that I intend to play a more important role in this program in the future as anyone who knows me knows how much I care about the Earth, the interconnected nature of living things-Gaia, and environmental issues in general. Our environmental policy is straight in line with my personal belief set and green goals-conserving energy, reducing my footprint, becoming self sufficient and striving to live in harmony with nature. I also hope to become more active in the GreenBuilding community in the coming years.

http://www.usgbc.org/
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=222

My dream home is a passive solar earth sheltered home in the back pasture at the ridge line. Green Building, rather, sustainable building, is not new to me. It is a rare find to work in a place where your personal ethics and environmental concerns are shared by upper management. One day soon, our company will be building a new lab and office. I saw the architect's plans and WOW, would you believe that the building will be a LEED certified passive solar building with louvers to control the light and other energy saving features?!? How cool is that?

For those who aren't familiar with ISO 14001, you can learn more from the links below, and hopefully, for the sake of our planet, you can convince your employer and/or your community to follow suit. It can make a real difference, both for your organization, and for the Earth.

http://www.iso.org/iso/management_standards.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_14000

To quote Wiki, "The aim of the standard is to reduce the environmental footprint of a business and to decrease the pollution and waste a business produces."

And this could only be the beginning. We, as a business, could go even further, making even more voluntary changes that would benefit the company's bottom line and the environment. In fact, one such program that we could probably benefit from is called Six Sigma. Motorola invented this strategy for consistent business improvement back in the 1980's, and since then, other large, successful companies like GE and Honeywell have developed Six Sigma programs. It is really all about statistics-(I really, really wish I had taken more statistical studies in college). The Greek letter sigma, "σ" or "Σ", is equivalent to our "s" or "S". Sigma is the mathematical sign for standard deviations and there is a mathematical model that states that if there are six standard deviations between the process mean(the average in a data set) and the nearest specification limit, practically no items will fail to meet specifications. It is a process, and if your business operates within the process, then you will make less errors, 3.4 errors per one million opportunities, to be exact. In other words, if you put a system like this in place, and you make a million products a year, you can expect less than 4 product issues as a result of production or business error per million units. It is actually pretty interesting how far math can take you these days. Who knew that statistics would ever be so important in something other than baseball? ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma
http://www.ge.com/en/company/companyinfo/quality/whatis.htm

It is an insane world. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but it sure is nice to work for a company that morally and ethically tries to do what is right. They get it. In a world where no one can agree on the cause of global warming, whether or not it exists, and what should be done about it, if anything, I have found an oasis of green common sense in my workplace. It is refreshing. I only wish I hadn't wandered around in the desert for so long.

Confucius and Lao Tse

A while back, my son asked me about religions, and I looked around the web and sent him a few links on various things. We in the West consider Buddhism as a religion, but it is more of a lifestyle than a religion, and in fact, someone can be a Christian AND a Buddhist, or a Muslim and a Buddhist, or an atheist and a Buddhist, etc.
Here in the South, there are a lot of misconceptions about religions other than Christianity. For that matter, there are a lot of misconceptions about Christianity. Most folks can't even list the types of Christians, and no, I don't mean denominations, I mean the three types of Christianity: Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant. So over the next month or so, I intend to write micro-primers on some of the world's religions. It will be in no particular order.

Confucianism

Confucianism began about 500 BC. K'ung Fu Tzu, better known in the West as Confucius, was born in 551 BC in China. Siddhartha the Buddha had just died, Darius was King of Persia, and all those famous Greeks like Pythagorus and Herodotus were doing an awful lot of thinking back in Greece. Confucius traveled China advising rulers and teaching. He dealt with individual morality and ethics, as well as the proper exercise of political power. He was the original supporter of what we call 'family values'. He emphasized: LI: ritual, propriety, and etiquette HSIAO: love among family members YI: righteousness XIN: honesty and trustworthiness JEN: benevolence towards others, which is the highest virtue and CHUNG: loyalty to the state, etc.

Confucianism is primarily an ethical system with rituals at important times during life, such as birth, reaching maturity, marriage, and death.

For more information, you can read Analects of Confucius
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Q65fgetAJM&isbn=0486284840&itm=1

Or read the Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius

Taoism

Taoism was founded by Lao-Tse, who lived at the same time as Confucius. Taoism began as a combination of psychology and philosophy. Lao-Tse tried to end feudal warfare and other conflicts of his day. His writings, the Tao-te-Ching (which means Classic of the Way and Virtue), describe the nature of life, the way to peace and how a ruler should lead his life. Nine hundred years later, in 440 CE, Taoism was adopted as a state religion.

Tao, roughly translated as path or the way, is a force which flows through all life and is the first cause of everything. The goal of everyone is to become one with the Tao. Tai Chi, a technique of exercise using slow deliberate movements, is used to balance the flow of energy or "chi" within the body. People should develop virtue and seek compassion, moderation and humility. One should plan all action in advance and achieve goals through minimal action. Yin (dark side) and Yang (light side) symbolize pairs of opposites which are seen through the universe, such as good and evil, light and dark, male and female. The impact of human civilization upsets the balance of Yin and Yang in nature. Taoists believe that people are by nature, good, and that one should be kind to others simply because such treatment will probably be reciprocated. In my opinion, I'd bet that George Lucas borrowed heavily from Taoist ideas when he wrote about the Force.

Over the years, other philosophies and ideologies have merged or become part of Taoism, things such as ancestor worship, qigong, feng shui, various martial arts styles, and even what the west calls Chinese medicine has all melded to some degree with Taoist thought.

There are Ten Precepts of Taoism which are of note:

1. Do not kill but always be mindful of the host of living beings.
2. Do not be lascivious or think depraved thoughts.
3. Do not steal or receive unrighteous wealth.
4. Do not cheat or misrepresent good and evil.
5. Do not get intoxicated but always think of pure conduct.
6. Maintain harmony with ancestors, family and never disregard kin.
7. If I witness a good deed, I will support that with joy and delight.
8. If I see someone unfortunate, I will help him recover with dignity .
9. When someone harms me, I will not harbor thoughts of revenge.
10. As long as all beings have not attained the Tao, I will not expect to do so myself.

You can learn more here:
http://english.siutao.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism

Taoism and Confucianism are often seen as being closely related. Lao-Tse may have been Confucius' teacher, and Tse's book may have evolved from idea's expressed by Confucius. These two men who lived 2500 years ago have been greatly influential in Chinese history and culture, and increasingly in Western culture and thinking.

Food in the Future

My new friend Dave has asked my opinion of the prediction of higher energy and food costs, possible shortages ahead, etc. All I can say is that I believe that to be true with every ounce of my being. I've long believed that we would see much hardship in my lifetime. I've tried to prepare by living simply, learning skills, and being frugal. I grow and preserve what I can, we hunt and fish, and we try to live close to the land. I've tried to learn about native plants and herbs in the event that medicines are scarce or non-available. For a while, I raised dairy goats and learned to make cheese and process milk. We've raised rabbits, pigs, goats, sheep and all manner of critters except cattle. Many people have asked why I don't sell my farm products, and the simple answer is that people will not pay enough to offset costs. I justify my own costs with the knowledge that I know what I am eating, how it was grown or raised, etc. I think I eat healthier than most people, even though I eat a fat-laden diet. I know that I am not poisoning myself with pesticides or herbicides.

The plight of farmers is all over the news. California may have happy cows, but the farmers are going out of business. Equipment costs, testing, transportation, and the cost of growing food for the cows all add up to drive the cost of a gallon of milk through the roof. Patented seed and chemicals have made Monsanto et. al. rich and left farmers poor. The rising price of oil and fuel has put a hurtin' on large agribusiness farmers who need specialized equipment to grow and harvest crops, and on the the truckers who transport the food to the processor and then on to grocery stores.

It is a no-brainer that we are headed for hard times. When I was born, the world population was about 3 billion, the US population was about 180 million, and the population of the county that I grew up in was 114,000. Today, world population is 6.6 billion+, US population is about 300 million+, and Cobb County has about 700,000 people. My local population increased five fold, and the world population doubled. By contrast, natural resources are diminishing, not growing. It is a train wreck that will have a gory outcome, and no one wants to think about it. To make matters worse, I believe there will be people, an elite class, that profit from the suffering of the general population. I believe that the decline has already begun. And no, I don't think it has much to do with politics or any particular politician. It is a global problem that no one is trying in earnest to solve. The only thing I can do is to try to reduce my dependence on utilities and purchased goods and live close to the vest. The Earth cannot afford too many of us living extravagantly, and far too many people in this country live above their means, which in the end will only increase their suffering. We have chosen a home away from city conveniences, a home that is modest and heated only by wood. Our water is from a well, and we protect the well because it is the life-blood of this land. Georgia and Tennessee are already battling over Georgia's claim to a spot on the Tennessee River, and that is child's play compared to western states' battles over water. I think, in my lifetime, we will see wars fought over water rights and development rights for production of electricity. Water rights are already a key issue in solving the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. It is a problem which will only get worse. Yeah, I believe that food shortages are coming.

This N That

Monday I went to the doc to have my bandage changed, and while I had hoped to convince him to remove the sutures in my foot, I will have to wait another week. Note to self, work on powers of manipulation, cast magic manipulation spells, and perhaps sex up requests using the word 'please'. Yeah, that's the ticket.

While in Rome, we checked out the new Cycle Therapy bike store. They've moved to the center of town and are sponsoring a local Sprint Triathlon, the second annual Navigator Triathlon to support Cancer patients in our area . Kate and Jon have decided to attempt the triathalon in September, so it should be a lot of fun to watch. Skyguy might even try it. I can't because my foot won't be well enough to train in time for the event. This is an abbreviated competition consisting of a 500 meter swim, a 12 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run.

http://www.navigatortriathlon.com/

It's being held at a nearby state park. We are already riding 12 miles over hilly terrain, so that would be the 'easy' part for us. Running would be the hardest leg, and these races are almost always won on the run. A good runner can make up for being a mediocre swimmer. Skyguy and I decided it would be a lot of fun to complete one of these things, but we would have to take it slow and train well, making sure not to overtrain and risk injury. Neither of us deals well with high impact activity like running, so it would be a risky venture, but don't you think it would be a cool thing for a couple of geezers like us to do? I do! Anyway, we went to the bike store to look at road bike tires and I noticed that they had all of their womens apparel half off. I'd been looking for a pair of riding shorts since before we went on vacation. They are padded, and wick moisture away from the body. The tight fit compresses muscles, reducing recovery time and bruising. I'd been looking at the various styles of riding shorts, but finding them in my size is daunting. I'm still overweight, and in case you had not noticed, most serious cyclists are rail thin. Usually I see Small and X-Small, maybe a Medium, but nothing designed by Omar the Tentmaker. However, I suppose it was my lucky day at Cycle Therapy as I found a skort in an XL that will be great for riding. (I'm 5'11 and 190#) It is a Shebeest Cycloskort like the one on this page:

http://www.bikesomewhere.com/bikesomewhere.cfm/product/391/3743/31592

Don't freak on the price...no way I could afford that, and I paid less than half of that price. Anyway, for a woman of my age and shape, I think this was a good choice in shorts. If I had to, I could swim in it as well. But for now, I can't ride or swim or run. I can do tai chi though. The doc said I could ride a stationary bike on Monday. Woot!

Tuesday, in addition to my David Carradine Tai Chi tape exercise 'workout', I clipped more herbs from the herb garden and hung them to dry. I harvested some more oregano and marjoram, as well as lemon balm and horehound. I also tore up and jarred up some mullein that was dry. After washing and hanging the clippings, I decided to make a cough syrup from the fresh horehound. I stripped the leaves and buds from the stems and put it in the food processor to chop it and bruise the leaves. I probably had 2 cups of crushed horehound leaves and 1/2 c of mullein leaves. Both are expectorants. Then, I added it to about a cup of lemon juice and a bit of water. I brought the concoction to a boil, then allowed it to steep for a few minutes. I separated the plant matter out by straining it, and then added 2 cups of locally produced honey to the 'tea'. When the time comes to use it, I'll probably doctor it up with cayenne pepper and garlic, too, depending on how I feel. Adding some dried lemon balm might make it taste better, too. Horehound is good for making cough drops, too, but I don't have a candy thermometer at present and I did not feel like standing at the stove all day. Mullein is a great herb that grows wild almost everywhere. Not only is is a good expectorant, but it is good for the respiratory system in general. It can be smoked in a pipe to counter asthma or pneumonia. Some companies use it in their herbal cigarettes, replacing tobacco.Its tall yellow flower spikes and fuzzy leaves make it easily visible on roadsides for wild collecting. These pages have a lot of good info on mullein, but they are by no means complete:

http://www.herbcraft.org/mullein.html
http://www.prodigalgardens.info/march%20weblog.htm

While I am no expert, I do consider myself somewhat of an herbalist. Additionally, while I would not characterize myself as a person of faith, I do believe that there is great wisdom in the Bible. I found this quote from Psalms: "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man" Psalms 104:14a Pretty cool. I really like the Psalms. Another of my favorites is: "The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display His marvelous workmanship." (Ps. 19:1,2)

Yesterday, my friend Ava and I picked the last of the blackberries from Patch #1 on the mountain, and we both ended up getting chiggers for our trouble. New bites, and I still have sores from the last time I picked berries before my surgery. I did get enough berries for a cobbler or pie, but there is yet another patch, my Secret Patch, of blackberries to pick, and hopefully I can get another quart or two. It has been so dry lately that the yellow jackets are sucking the juice from the berries. I'll need to start picking blueberries soon before the wasps suck them dry, too.

Speaking of berries, I got about a quart of strawberries from my plants yesterday as well, and we enjoyed them mixed with some sugar and a few blueberries over angel food cake last night. Berry good!

Wishful thinking doesn't make it so...

After my 'Say What??' post, my friend Rob posted a comment suggesting an essay along the same vein, that is long but that I believe is worth your time to read.

http://www.securityaffairs.org/issues/2009/16/peters.php


This line sticks with me, "Even the most successful war yields imperfect results." His example is the Civil War, where slavery was abolished, but equal rights did not come along for another hundred years.

Sotomayor, Strike One for President Obama

It's been a while since I blogged about Obama and politics in general. I know most of my friends and readers just love the guy, so I try to hold my tongue, but every once in a while, I just have to talk about it. His recent nomination of Sotomayer to the Supreme Court requires discussion, a lot of discussion. First though, I thought I would see how my views aligned with the rest of the country. I took these latest poll results from Real Clear Politics:

President Obama Job Approval
Approve 60.5%
Disapprove 32.5%

Congressional Job Approval
Approve 35.7%
Disapprove 54.7%

Direction of Country
Right Direction 45.0%
Wrong Track 47.7%

I find it interesting that people support Obama, but not Congress. I wonder why that is? They are all the same party-all pushing the same agenda! In this case, Congress is the hand of the Presidency...he speaks, they 'make it so'!

Before I get to Sotomayor, I read a few days ago that the Obama administration and the Pentagon are now saying that troops will stay in Iraq for as long as ten more years, despite the agreement with Iraq that said all troops would be home by 2012. Of course, we all remember Obama's pledge on his trip to Iraq last summer-to bring the troops home in 16 months. That's what he told the troops-that they would be home in 16 months, in other words, by Christmas of 2009. If you cut him slack and start the 16 months from January, then the homecoming will be in April of 2010. Obama is still saying that combat forces will be home then, but that other troops might have to stay until 2012. I think this is a promise broken, but we will see. I'm not fond of his word games. "Troops" become 'combat forces', "new jobs" becomes 'saved jobs", etc. We now have 139000 soldiers in Iraq an 52000 in Afghanistan. Obama will send 21,000 more combat forces Afghanistan this year. In one breath, he says that he doesn't expect to send more to Afghanistan after that, yet in the other, he claims that's where the fight is, that Afghanistan is
more important than Iraq for troop victory. He also said he would close Guantanamo, but 5 months after that announcement, he is now backing up and reinstating some Bush Admin orders, contradicting his own executive orders issued right after the inauguration. Closing Camp X-ray at Guantanamo Bay was one goal in which I supported Barack Obama. I'm not sure what the answer is now, but surely we could figure out a way to maintain security and meter justice to those being held. The months tick by, and Camp X-Ray is still holding enemy combatants.

I read an AP article about Obama's plan to create jobs. The results are rather scary. This is a good example of politics affecting how quickly the economy recovers. The Associated Press reviewed 5,500 projects nationwide and found that the government will spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment rates than in places with the highest. For example, The AP says Elk County, Pennsylvania, which has about 14 percent unemployment, is getting no money. But Riley County, Kansas, which has a jobless rate around 3.5 percent, will get $56 million to build a new highway. The reason is because Riley County already had a plan. The worst hit areas don't have the finances to set up projects in advance, so only the municipalities that have not been hit too hard and have projects ready for the bulldozer are getting funded. There is still a lot of pork in the system, but I'm sure it will all spin out looking rosy.

The Obama administration is spending money right and left. There is no way to know if the programs will be effective. Much of the spending seems to have nothing to do with economic stimulus or recovery, but it seems to have been on a Democratic Wish List for decades. However, I will say that Wall Street seems a bit more stable and I heard that housing sales are increasing, so perhaps he has at least stopped the panic over the economy. Much to my surprise and joy, he has reversed his position on raising taxes, and now has moderated his plan to basically sound like John McCain's. LOL! Who would have thunk it?

I think what has happened is that he was a bit naive in the beginning, thinking that is popularity would allow him to change everything. As he finds out that change isn't quite as simple as he thought, he has to back away from his initial promises(Guantanamo, taxes, new jobs, etc.). He's doing a lot of backtracking. In some ways, it is moderating action in a way that I actually approve of, but it is only a matter of time before he angers his adoring populace. One of the reasons I did not like Obama to begin with was that I thought him horribly naive, and yet people bought into that. His naivety extends to his foreign policy decisions, and in that arena, I think he is walking on thin ice and putting the country at some risk. I dislike Dick Cheney and never thought I would be agreeing with him, but I do think Obama is not showing the world that America is strong by his constant apologies and his lack of a firm stand on torture-the interrogation/waterboarding issue-I mean, is he or isn't he backing Pelosi? I fear that we will soon be tested in a way that we never have been before. If we appear weak, there will be enemies that will take advantage and test that weakness. I hope I am wrong, but I fear that I am not.

I'm about tired of the word 'historic'. Everything Obama does is historic. If race really did not matter in this country, the word historic would have been put to rest months ago. Now, he has announced that Hispanic Appellate Judge Sonia Sotomayor is his choice to replace Souter on the Supreme Court. He says she has 'empathy'. I am not sure I would call it that. In 2001 at the University of California at Berkeley, Sotomayor said “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” She doesn't think that a judge should try to rise above race and gender, and she is on the record that there should be more women and Latina judges. Sotomayor is a very well educated and qualified woman. Obama is right in that her story is definitely compelling. There is no doubt about that. What bothers me is that she is doing the very same thing that is criticized if a white person does it. I really think the effect will be a disservice to women and minorities of all backgrounds due to the backlash from her comments. If a Caucasian American judge, or even a African American judge, said that her own experiences would allow her to reach a better judicial conclusion that a white man or a Latino man or a Hispanic Woman or whoever, we'd call that bigotry and it would be condemned. If a White male judge said the same thing, that the richness of his experiences would allow him to reach a better conclusion than a Latina woman, we'd call that racism. Obama doesn't seem to call it bigotry or racism though. Instead, he paints it positively with the word "empathy" and that bothers me. It seems to me that to Sotomayor, gender and skin color are more important than intellect, experience, compassion and education. This is the exact opposite of the lessons we teach our children about equality for all. Maybe there should be more women judges. To remedy that, we don't need to appoint the unqualified, we need to encourage little girls to learn critical thinking and analysis, we need to encourage teens to become politically active and care about SCOTUS decisions, and we need to encourage young women to go to law school instead of getting master's degrees. We are making progress-it is certainly better now than when I was a kid, but we still have a ways to go. As the Hispanic and Latino populations grow, so will the number of judges representing those ethnic groups. When Sotomayor promotes her own gender or ethnicity in this way, talking about seats and positions that should be filled, she is saying that not only does ethnicity and gender make a difference, but she thinks it actually makes her better than other genders or ethnicities. In my opinion, that's wrong. If you think I am reading in too much, I challenge you to read some of her quotes. IMO, she clearly thinks that she, as a Latina, is better than a white man, not because of her education or experience, but because she is a Latina. The sad thing is that I believe she is qualified for the job and would probably serve justice well in spite of her bigotry. As a woman myself, I'm quite sure she has fought her way into this position and put up with a lot of abuse over the years. My hat is off to her for that. I also read that she may have trouble in the confirmation process due to her combativeness and emotional responses. I feel for her in that regard as well. I, too, become combative and emotional when on the defensive.

I got a call from the NRA about Sotomayor the other day. It seems that Obama’s nomination Sotomayor is being painted as a declaration of war against gun owners and the Second Amendment. You will recall that Washington DC banned all guns. Recently, there has been much debate as to whether or not the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, applies to states. The Bill of Rights was meant to limit the Federal government, not states or cities or other local governments. If a part of the Bill of Rights is part of the Fourteenth Amendment, then it would apply to the states. There are a couple of other judges who have made similar rulings, and in fact, the split is about 50/50 for those who think states have the power to ban guns vs. those who think that states do not have the power to ban guns. Judge Sotomayor thinks city or statewide gun bans are perfectly acceptable. President Obama has said that he has nothing against guns, however, soon he will be taxing ammunition and serializing it. If you fire a round at a tree, the powers that be will be able to determine what kind of round it is, who purchased it, when and where it was purchased, etc. The Second Amendment says nothing about ammo, does it? Gun owners, in their fear of the future, have created a ammunition shortage that has not eased in the last 8 months. If you need a job, try to find an ammunition factory, because they are working around the clock trying to keep up with demand. I can only hope that Sotomayor doesn't get approved, but I see nothing to stop her. Democrats are in control of Congress. That was my biggest beef as to voting Obama into office. The US Government operates on checks and balances. With Obama in office and a Democratic Congress, there are no checks and balances. With this appointment, the Supreme court will take a left turn as well.

If I sound a bit ambivalent, criticizing one moment and 'empathizing' another, well, I am. When I take various quizzes and such, I'm always labeled very conservative, way right of center. However, I don't think I am that far to the right. I do believe in personal responsibility and accountability and that usually registers as anti-entitlement which puts me right of center. But, I am not totally against entitlements. There are people who need disability and unemployment, but there is so much abuse and misuse in the system that it is distressing. I am definitely pro-choice, and I definitely believe there should be separation of church and state. I don't want to see the Ten Commandments hanging in the lobby of the courthouse, but if a judge wants to display them on the wall of his private chambers, I have no issue with that. I say all of this as a counter to the notion that I am a right wing nut job. I actually think I am rather moderate. I'm not a fan of Obama, but then, I wasn't a fan of Bush either. I believe that I have been very critical of every president since Reagan, and then I was more or less following his wave of popularity in the way that so many younger folks are cheering on Obama today. I just want everyone to take a hard look at what is really going on. Sometimes what we personally want or believe is not what would be best for this country. I may not agree with the decisions that left leaning Supreme Court Justices hand down, but I believe that those justices are needed in the Court. We have to have balance. We have to try to represent as many views as possible. It is by understanding and listening to a viewpoint different from our own that we grow as a nation and as human beings. I want fairness. I want my Justices not to necessarily agree with me, but to look at all sides and consider people as equals, because we are all equal. I'm afraid that Judge Sotomayor doesn't think we are all equal. I believe that she thinks that Latinas are superior, and that belief has no place in the SCOTUS. Of all people, our President should understand the dangers of bias based on ethnicity and gender.

Snakes, Chickens, Sex, and Sermons?

We were able to get the jungle under control this past weekend, but we crossed paths with 2 additional snakes..that makes 3 snakes in two days...one King snake and two red rat(corn) snakes. I was down at my friends house this morning and she showed me a single winding track through the grass-the track was muddy, the grass was green, so it was easy to see. The track was several inches wide. The only thing that would make a track like that is a big rattlesnake, or a monster king snake that just ate the monster rattlesnake(like the one we saw in SC). This track definitely has a Wow Factor associated with it. The snakes are definitely out and about.

We have a few more roosters to dispatch, but in doing that, we will end the great 2008-2009 hatching project to replace chickens lost to predators. I started with 6 birds, and now have 6+ roos that need to be dispatched, 30 hens and 1 rooster in the main coop, and one poor battered hen in the chicken tractor. There are 2 or 3 birds in the 30 that might be roosters, too, but right now they are just androgynous pullets. I have a beautiful partridge rock looking roo that I am thinking of keeping. He would be part Partridge Rock(mother) and Blue Laced Red Wyandotte(father). Currently, I have a RIR/BLRW roo. I've forgotten the number of hens a rooster can service, but I think it is somewhere close to 15. I doubt I will keep all the pullets/hens, but I can always raise two flocks separately. I wonder if two roos will fight if there are sufficient hens for both?

I'm quite amazed at the percentage of pullets I hatched vs. roosters/cockerels. I think I've maybe a dozen+ roosters in all the birds I've hatched since Thanksgiving and with close to 70 total birds, that's rather amazing. Even at 15/75-that's only 20% roosters, and I believe the actual percentage is closer to 17%. It's got me wondering about evolution and the role temperature plays in determination of sex and embryo development. I know that with some reptiles, noteably crocodilians(alligators, crocs, caimans,and gavial), temperature of the eggs during incubation does influence gender. I believe that it must be true with some birds, perhaps in my case, the chicken eggs I hatched. The incubator temps were kind of high, 100-101F. In some reptiles, higher temps can switch off male expression genes and create females. The embryo starts off as a male, but when the egg is exposed to higher temperatures, the embryo undergoes a gender switch and the hatchling becomes female. In addition, some animals that appear female are actually male and visa versa, i.e. their sex is ambiguous;they are intersexed. Could this have happened with my chickens? I think it is possible. Birds are descended from reptiles and the sex change thing is related to a changing environment. Perhaps during warmer eons, more females are produced to expand the population, but during colder eons, the embryos remain predominantly male. The planet is currently experiencing a warming trend as we all know....is it Nature's Way-the ultimate survival technique-the Master's Plan- to turn males into females to expand the population while it is warm and to prepare for the cold eon to come? Are my ambiguous, androgynous looking pullets really male?

If this interests you as much as it does me, read this:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/sex2.htm
References are listed at the bottom of the page, but consider this:

"Sex is relative. Among animals, especially cold-blooded ones, males
can be turned into females by increased feeding or a change in
temperature. In the case of warm-blooded creatures, it can be done by
extracting ovaries to turn, say, a hen into a cock. In many species,
sex reversals happen naturally. Quahogs (hard-shell clams) are born
and grow up male, but later half of them turn female. Slipper shells
and cup and saucer shells do this too; they commence every season as
males, but nearly all of them later pass through a phase of
ambisexuality and turn into adult females.
Fish have evolved the quickest sex-reversing capacity of any animal:
some species not only change from male to female as they grow, but a
few, like groupers and guppies, develop the ability to switch
sexually back and forth within seconds. [ I intentionally picked an image of fancy guppies-quite 'flamboyant', huh?] If two female guppies meet
while feeling amorous, one is likely to start turning into a male so
he can mate with the other. Occasionally both shift at the same
moment, which usually results in a furious fight, with the winner
emerging as a female who somehow forces the other to stay male."

If you want a good mental exercise, think about all of this with respect to human evolution, global warming, homosexuality and gender identification. You've probably already figured out that I believe homosexuality, intersexuality, as well as heterosexuality to be natural phenomena. I realize that many of you believe otherwise due to your various faiths, so I don't mean to be disrespectful to your beliefs, but I do believe that there is sufficient scientific evidence and sufficient Biblical contradictory passages to suggest that perhaps we all should have a more open mind to things we don't fully understand or know. I suppose the middle ground we meet on is this:
Matthew 22: 36-40
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Vacation Post #3: Eco-Diatribe

I’m not one to think that ‘Global Warming’ is 100% man-made. I actually think that we are experiencing natural cycles, terrestrial and solar. That doesn’t absolve humanity from taking responsibility for polluting the Earth, it is just a statement of belief. I know that mankind pollutes every environment possible, but I am not so vain or arrogant to believe that we are more powerful that Mother Earth, Gaia, herself. I believe that Gaia can correct, in time, whatever abuse we dish out. In many ways, the Earth itself acts as an That correction may involve oxidation or crustal subduction, but given enough time, that Gaia will repair herself and erase our very existence if need be. Even if we blow ourselves up and blow the Earth apart, She will reassemble the fragments and life will reseed the planet. Extremophilic bacteria are everywhere, even in the magma of volcanoes and in the irradiated upper atmosphere, and they will begin diversification. Life will continue, it is a Force-an Energy, but it may not be recognizable or intelligent as such. For Earth, that might even be a good thing. It probably happened in the past. If so, the Earth that existed before a Mars sized body impacted and carved out the Moon did not resemble the Earth of today. We are complex beings, but you could say that we are the embodiment of bacterial diversification and have infected the planet. Whether or not we are a beneficial, benign, or destructive bacteria, we can not know. Whether we are an accident of evolution or have been molded via Intelligent design, we can not know. But I digress….

While on vacation, we visited Hunting Island in South Carolina. It is a state park, located between Edisto and Hilton Head. Native Americans once used the island for hunting, hence the name. It is several miles long and has a lagoon that runs about a third of the island's length. It is beautiful. Like many state parks, there are rental cabins, and on Hunting Island, some of these cabins were near the beach. Were. They are gone. In recent years, there has been so much coastal erosion that the cabins were washed away. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see not only the remains of palms and 250 year old live oak trees, but also the concrete corner of an old septic tank-the remains of a cabin. All in all, this only proves that the ocean is changing the face of a barrier island, which is a normal part of island evolution, but it sure gives one pause to think about how we continue to view our changing planet in a snapshot mode and how appropriately powerless we are to subdue the power of the ocean, the power of Mother Earth. Instead of working in concert with her ebb and flow of energy, we continue to selfishly think only of our own pleasure-we continue to take and try to stop natural Earth changes without thought of the future. The Hunting Island Lighthouse has been moved once, and it may need to be moved again. Without human intervention to restore jetties, install groins and reclaim beaches for recreation, many would have already disappeared and or would have been recreated elsewhere. Perhaps it is time to retreat to the mainland and allow the barrier islands to do their jobs unabated? We often forget that hurricanes and storms are beneficial to the planet as a whole, distributing the heat of the tropics to the temperate regions. If we try to change these processes, then we are ultimately creating our own demise. Humans just need to live more in sync with Nature and stop trying to control it. Click on the pictures to see details. The septic tank is visible in the last picture, and the first image is of the almost tropical lagoon. All of the erosion pictures were taken at low tide. At high tide, the waves would have practically lapped my feet as I stood just above the high tide line.

Life is a Salad

Pardon my absence from this space-it is a busy time of year, and we've had some real life interruptions that have taken us away from normal doings. I couldn't decide what image to display so of course I take that as an excuse to be a grandmother and brag about how wonderful my Jordan is by displaying a pictures. I titled this first picture "I love you this much", the second one is "Bear kisses", the third one is "Luvin' Jade"

Saturday, we spent the morning butchering chickens and cleaning up around the farm, mowing grass, etc., and then Saturday evening we had a NWGAA star party. It was a good meet-up, with two new members and their families visiting the field. The clouds dampened the viewing, but the company was good. I now have about 50 pounds of chicken in the freezer and about 38 birds left, 17 in the main coop and 21 in the old coop. I still have a few roosters to dispatch when they mature a bit, and I'll probably sell some more hens, but I envision a flock of about 25 birds or so when all is said and done. Today, I got 11 eggs, several were pullet eggs, which always amaze me. Soon, I will be awash in eggs. I hope I can sell them. On the way to town last week I saw a sign that read "Fresh Eggs $5 dozen" I hope *that* price holds! I usually sell mine for $2 dozen.



Sunday, we visited our daughter and granddaughter, and from her house, headed south to visit my father in law in the hospital, down to the Atlanta area. He had his cancer surgery and is recovering as expected. I've also had two doctor's appointments since I last blogged, saw my PCP today and my rheumatologist last week. I got some refills for our epi-pens, an appointment with a podiatrist, and of course a general checkup. I'll be waiting on my lab results, but the good news is that I am losing weight. The dietary changes I've made are working! I'm hopeful that as we ride our bikes more, even more pounds will come off. Since life has been a bit stressful, my RA has been flaring more than usual, but at least my allergies are not as distracting as last year. I'm trying to stay positive about things as I am finally believing, I mean truly believing, that attitude affects health. I suppose I've always believed that, but have never actively made a conscious effort to NOT be negative or to not worry about things. With no immune system to speak of, I could worry about all sorts of things, like catching a cold from being at the hospital, a re-emergence of MRSA in my body, or catching swine flu, but I'm making the decision to focus on all the positive things I am doing-eating healthier, losing weight, getting the right mix of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants, and exercising.

Last week, while Skyguy was in a waiting room reading a newspaper, he saw an ad for a local breeder of shelties. After a brief discussion, it appears that we may have a new sheltie baby before 2010 rolls around. I contacted the breeder and we will be headed over the mountain to meet with her and see her dogs tomorrow evening. We will also need to discuss pricing so we can start saving money to buy the pup, etc. She will be breeding two of her bitches in the late summer and fall, so we are hopeful that between the two litters, the right puppy for us will be born. Take a few minutes to Ooh and Aah over the Shelties:

http://hornmtnshelties.com/

The remaining block of time has been spent gardening, planting flowers, watering in the seeds I've already sown, weeding, harvesting, etc. The Michihili cabbage is no more as I either ate it, froze it, or gifted it. I needed the space in the bed for peppers. It never did head up properly, but the quality was good nonetheless. I've eaten about a third of the Pak choy, taking two heads to my daughter. It looks like flea beetles are starting to attack it, so I need to cut the rest of it and bring it in. I love the stuff, so I will definitely plant more for the fall garden. I really wish I could freeze it and have it retain it's texture after being frozen. We are eating salad every day, mixing all the lettuces and spinach and greens. I throw in a few violet leaves, and soon I'll be adding nasturtiums and other flowers. To round off the salad I add asparagus shoots, broccoli florets, radishes, carrots, alfalfa sprouts, black olives, and we split a boiled egg. I'd love cheese and meat in it, too, but I'm staying away from that. I do, however, have some leftover grilled chicken, and since that is a healthy meat, I'm tempted to slice it and add that to tomorrow's dinner salad.

I got distracted there and started talking about food instead of gardening, but it is hard to grow food without talking about how good it is to eat! At any rate, I do have some sweet corn coming up, as well as about half of the pole beans. My tire stack is 4 tires tall and the potatoes are growing like mad. I sure hope they produce well. It is nice to be able to water the garden. With the old well, we barely had enough water for household use, but since we got the new well 16 months ago, the supply is more than I could have dreamed. I still don't waste water. I water by hand and only in the planted areas, not the paths, and I try to reduce the evaporative loss. I watch the weather and I won't water if there is a chance of rain. I have a rainwater catchment tank that I used to water from-it's a 330 gallon tank that catches water from the barn roof-but right now I need a new hose for it. I need to come up with a way to poke holes in a hose that will allow gravity fed water to seep from the hose. I think using some kind of metal straw to puncture the hose would work, but I have no idea of what I would use for that or practically how to accomplish what I envision.

We are going on a short vacation soon, and I have to get the rest of my tomatoes and peppers and squash in the ground and the pole beans strung before we leave. I started running string this evening, and tomorrow my friend is coming over to help with that. Maybe she will take some Pak Choi as payment. In a garden, there is always some task to do, and my vacation clock is ticking away. Last night, we spent time weeding Bermuda grass from the herb bed. While we were out and about this past weekend, Skyguy bought me a very nice lemon verbena plant. I'd been wanting another one since I stupidly killed the first one I had 20 years ago. That happened when I was first getting into herb gardening-a friend gave me a 3 foot tall shrub and I did not realize that it was a *deciduous* plant/tree and tossed it mid-winter thinking it was dead-DOH! This one is small, only about a foot tall, but it definitely has that heavenly lemon scent. We also bought salad burnett, summer savory(to go with all the beans), tricolor sage, purple sage, chocolate peppermint, horehound and anise hyssop. The herb bed is starting to come together. Seeds have sprouted and the seedlings are growing. The seedlings are small, two inch tall chives and basil, for example, but they will mature quickly.

Planting the Summer Garden

Today and yesterday were all about gardening. I am a week late for Good Friday, but not too late to plant. Gardening by the moon is out the window for summer crops-well, it is not horrible to plant in Capricorn or Aquarius, but it is not ideal either. It is better than average, I suppose. Monday the moon goes into Pisces, which is much more favorable for planting, but the weather is not cooperating with the moon signs this year. I've had good enough results over the years to convince myself that there is something to this lunar agriculture thing, but it is not like I am superstitious about it. I believe a garden can be good and productive regardless of what moon sign it was planted, under the right conditions and care, of course.

Yesterday I tilled the entire garden, laid out the plan, marked the ground, and planted sweet corn in blocks. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the blocks on the right side of the image. The footpaths between the 5x5 blocks are marked with flags. I worked all day. Today, Skyguy and I got up early, took a few extra anti-inflammatories for sciatica and again worked in the garden all day. I went back over some areas with the tiller while he lashed together some bamboo frames for pole beans. He wanted to try various designs, so we have A-frames and we are experimenting with a new design. Poles are secured to the ground with rebar 'staples' and the sting will be tied around the ground pole and the ridge pole. While he erected the bean trellises, I erected the tomato fences and laid out the tomato cages. I also made one bean tee pee, mostly for argument's sake as that is my preferred way of growing pole beans. We planted asparagus beans, Roma II bush beans, Kentucky Wonder pole beans, and Dragon's Tongue pole beans. Later, in a month or so, I will plant some Blue Lake bush beans. I also have 3 other varieties of corn to plant over the next 6 weeks. Today, I also planted my sweet potato slips, although I might be rushing things a bit. Sweet potatoes like warmer soil, and I just found out that the forecast low for Tuesday night is 37. Woops. I'll have to protect those slips now. I spent most of the morning planting peanuts-another warm soil crop. I laid out the feed bags on either side of the wide row, and shoveled soil onto the feed bags. Then I covered the bags with partially composted waste hay and covered the seed bed with wheat straw. It is not much to look at now, but it was a lot of work moving the soil away, laying the bags out as a weed block, then putting the soil back on the bags, etc. Oh, and I should add in the trip over the the neighbor's pasture to fork the rotting pile of hay into the truck,then unloading it and forking it onto the bags, onto the potato vines in the tires, and around a squash plant. It was just one of those days where you stayed busy but at the end it becomes almost impossible to remember exactly what you did. Getting all those feed bags out of the greenhouse freed up some space, and that sparked a mini cleaning session in the greenhouse. I'll finish it up tomorrow when it is raining. It will be nice to have all that junk out of there(junk that is not really junk-stuff like hummingbird feeders that need to be in use, a lawnmower that was stored over the winter, tools that really need to be elsewhere, etc.)

Other gardening type activities we did today include plant rice (Wells) in large plastic tub of stagnant water, create a few hills for the cucumbers that I will transplant after the rains, cut a grocery bag full of Chinese mustard and prep the leaves for dinner tomorrow, harvested several heads of Michihili cabbage and a few florets of broccoli for dinner, mow the front acre of the pasture in preparation for the arrival of the Paulownia trees that are due any day now, weedeat the high grassy areas of the yard and garden and barn areas, cultivated around plants in areas too small for the tiller/cultivator, and probably more stuff that I have forgotten about. Oh yeah, and I took a few pictures this evening, just to show the 'guts', the skeleton, of the garden if you will. In a few months, it will be like a jungle, a maze, but now, everything is barren looking. I'm glad the day is over. I feel like we have passed a major milestone now.

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain so I won't be doing any planting. I still need to transplant my tomatoes, peppers, squashes and cukes to the garden. I suppose I will spend some time tomorrow figuring out how I will fit all the tomatoes inside the fence. I may need to till/cultivate near the moat fence-remove the grass and weeds, to make room for all the tomatoes and peppers. If worst comes to worst, I can use the area of the chicken moat.

I'm really thankful for Skyguy's help in the garden this year. I haven't had a garden this nice since 2000 before I contracted RA and when the kids were home to help. It is actually rather exciting to think of the possibilities. It is great to have a partner in crime.

Salads, Flowers, and a Mystery

I was reading the Garden Path website, looking for information on nasturtiums and got sidetracked by the article on violets, sweet violets. I learned or relearned (that's what happens when you get old-you aren't sure whether or not you are learning something for the first time or the second...lol) that the smaller leaves were edible raw. I knew that the flowers were edible, and I recalled that the plant could be cooked as a green, but I did not remember that the leaves could be eaten raw. I have an area near the garden that is literally all violets, about 20x50 in size. The area is just covered with gill 'o'er the ground and violets. At any rate, this evening, I was a bit short on lettuce, so I went out and picked some fresh lettuce and mesclun from the garden. I also grabbed some spinach, and on the way back to the house, also tried a violet leaf. To my surprise, it had a good flavor, not bitter at all, so I picked a handful of heart shaped violet leaves for the salad, along with some flowers. Needless to say, we had a great salad this evening. I even added some chopped ham, asparagus tips, and boiled egg.
It amazes me that eople put herbicides out to kill the violets in their yard not realizing how great they are to eat! BTW, you can also eat mouse ear chickweed, portulaca(purslane) and of course dandelion, but y'all probably already knew that. I've also planted a bunch of peppery nasturtiums for salads, and tonight I learned that nasturtium seeds can be put in a pepper shaker and ground as fresh pepper. Apparently they did this in war when they could not get pepper. The nasturtium seeds are also used as a substitute for capers. When it comes to edible flowers, don't forget borage. Don't forget too that you can candy flowers. Pick a borage or violet flower or even collect rose petals and with a small, fine paintbrush, paint on someegg white. Then, lightly sprinkle on superfine sugar and place the flower on wax paper to dry. It may take a day or two to dry, but once they are dry you can eat them out of hand or use them as garnishes on a plate or even as cake decorations.

I had seeded several herbs last month and yesterday we planted some of them into the new herb bed. One of the new herbs was rue. This is the first time I have ever had rue or tried to grow it. The plant was about 3-4 inches tall with several true leaves. We planted it on the edge of the bed, near the corner, oriented so that as it grew it would make a nice background plant. To make sure we did not accidentally pull it as a weed, I set it out with a plant marker about 2" from the plant. Now mind you, there was also a 32" tall metal garden fence at the edge of the bed to keep the dog from cutting through.

This morning, as Skyguy left for work, he noticed that there was a plant marker laying on top of a landscape timber. He walked over to discover that it was the marker for the rue. He also noted that the plant was missing, and there was a hole where the plant had been-just a 4" deep hole.
Now what would eat or take the whole plant, roots and all?? Deer? Raccoon?
What would pull the marker out and lay it on the landscape timber??

Now, here is the really weird part....upon researching rue to try and determine what animal might have eaten it, I came across this passage in my Herbs book by Norma Jean Lathrop:
"Greeks also believed that the secret of getting rue to grow well in your garden was to steal it from a neighbor."
What the...??? Can you believe that?
Fact #1 No one knew I had rue
Fact #2 I am the only person around here that likes growing herbs, and I can not imagine someone stealing a plant as obscure as rue. If I have to mark it, it is not exactly a commonplace herb.

I'm having a hard time believing that someone stole it, but what animal would neatly dig up only the rue, leave no tracks, and lay a marker on a landscape timber?
I am considering two other possibilities...
1. That I sleepwalked out there and dug up the plant-God only knows what I would have done with it....it is nowhere to be found
2. A ghost dug it up

Now, if you don't believe in ghosts, then you mostly likely will believe that I sleepwalked. I'm almost 1000% sure that I did not. The original owner of this property loved gardening. Two of my neighbors are his daughters. They believe that his spirit is still here, and in the past they say there have been unexplained happenings in and around the house. I happen to believe in ghosts, and while I have not seen John, I have felt his presence. I know he likes what I've done with the place. As a fellow gardener, I seriously doubt John would have pulled up the rue. What would he have done with it?? LOL I just don't think that is the answer to the mystery either. I keep coming back to an animal...

This is the kind of stuff that drives me crazy wondering what happened. Oh well, life needs a bit of mystery now and again, I suppose.