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

Moving On

Eleven years ago today, Halloween, we moved onto EarthNSky Farm. The beauty of Autumn was breathtaking, and I recall that I felt like I had died and gone to heaven-I was finally home. The sky was brilliant blue, the wind was crisp, and the leaf color was nothing short of spectacular. Before the moving truck was unloaded, George, our neighbor, came by on his old Ford 9N tractor to introduce himself and to visit. Throughout the years, we've had our ups and downs with George, but generally we get along pretty well, our only disagreement being about the type of fence that should go on the property line. He is our most immediate neighbor and I've learned a lot about homesteading from George and his wife. George taught us how to hunt and field dress a deer. Nancy taught me how to clean the meat and cook it. I recently bought the 12 gallon cast iron pot from him in which I learned to render lard. He's taught me how to raise and catch pigs, how to sight in a rifle, how to take care of horses, how to buck 70 pound alfalfa bales into a barn, and countless other skills. They were with me when I got my first chickens and they gave me my first ducks. Almost all of my current flock of chickens are from his Blue Laced Red Wyandotte rooster. His workmanship is all around me as he built this house from the trees on the land; his rockwork on my hearth is beautiful and everyone who comes into the house compliments the artistry. Over the years, we've been the beneficiary of his various hunting kills, wild goose (which looks and cooks like beefsteak), deer, turkey, and even bear. I'd eat bear again only if I were starving-there are much better meats to put on a plate. But tonight for dinner, I'll be enjoying native trout, caught this past Spring by George up in the Cohutta Wilderness. My son loved to watch George forge knives and other creations. He built wagons and learned to forge metal from Judd Nelson of Foxfire fame. He is a true artist, with skills in metalwork, woodworking, rocklaying, carving and painting. His wife is also an excellent wildlife painter and I have a beautiful walking stick with a carved and painted copperhead snake on the handle.

There have been a few times over the years that George has put up a for sale sign. I've never taken it seriously as he has family here and his wife and sister in law are the daughters of the original land owners, the homestead of which we now occupy. They have roots here. However, they have struggled financially over the years and most recently health issues have surfaced for both of them, making money even more scarce. A few years ago, after George recovered from chemo, his son sent him out to Arkansas on a fishing trip on the White River. George fell in love with the place, and his son bought some land out there. For the last two years, they've bantered the idea of moving to the Ozarks. While I know he would fit in there, he is what I would call a true, modern homesteader, I just could never see it happening, until yesterday when he told us he had a contract and buyer for his house and land. He was going to sell off, pack up the camper, and move to the Ozarks. I'm in shock. I'm trying to see this from their perspective in that it will be cheaper to live there and it will afford them a little financial breathing room.

In addition, there's always that anxiety about who will be buying in. All I know is that they are rather wealthy by local standards, have 3 kids, currently live in Atlanta, and will be using the cabin as a weekend home, a place where the kids can 'run free'. I don't know if they will appreciate the beauty and primitive nature of life out here or whether they will try to bring the city, and all of it's conveniences, with them. I'm sure they will be wonderful people, but it is hard to see the good side of anything when the loss feels so great. It is the first time in eleven years that I have even had a fleeting thought about moving away. I look out the window, and this Halloween is much scarier. The sky is overcast and foreboding. The Autumn leaves are wet and muted. Rock Creek will not be the same without George and Nancy.

To Living Life to the Fullest

Thirteen years ago or so, when we lived in the Atlanta suburbs, Jeff C.
entered our lives and we've never been the same. Jeff was a friend and
co-worker of Skyguy's older brother, who is a monk now, but who used
to work for Clyde Beatty Cole Brothers Circus with Jeff. They did
various things, but mostly worked in marketing and advance promotions, traveling from town to town ahead of the circus. Long after Brother Dave left CBCBC, Jeff continued on, and we remained friends with him. He would try to get us into the circus for free when the kids were little. My kids have ridden on elephants and petted ligers and had other really wonderful backstage circus experiences. Once, he not only took our family to Augusta, he took my best friend and her husband as well and put us all up in a really nice hotel. That was the kindness we loved in Jeff, the more the merrier, and the words 'more' and 'merry' definitely described him. Jeff weighed well over 300 pounds and was always the life of any party. He loved to describe himself as a flaming queen. Yes, Jeff was as gay as gay could be, and if you look up homosexual in the dictionary, his picture should be there. As I type this, I hear his voice saying " tell them this, or tell them that-you really should capitalize 'flaming' "... he was quite a character and would love the fact that I am writing this story.

Whenever Jeff would come through town, he would usually take us out to eat in a really nice restaurant. He was of Spanish heritage and he delighted in teaching us about real Spanish cuisine. Once, Jeff came to visit, and instead of taking us to dinner, he decided that he wanted to cook an authentic dinner. He went to Harry's Farmer's Market and came back with enough groceries to feed an army. As he started cooking, he realized that we would have more food than the 5 of us could eat. While he was making the sangria-real sangria, he told me to call some friends over for an impromptu party. He kept cooking and I kept calling the neighbors. We lived in a pretty diverse neighborhood, but even as open minded as people were, watching people meet and get to know Jeff was always entertaining. He had a unique way of making people like him, even the most homophobic individuals. As it turned out, half the neighborhood had dinner with us, and Jeff was the life of the party. The food was great, but the Sangria...oh my god...it was divine. The neighbors got drunk and Skyguy had to walk a few of them home. One guy passed out on our sofa. That Sangria was so good that you would not even know it was alcoholic, until you woke up the next day with a banging sugar hangover. Amazingly, we had some left over, and Jeff suggested that I bottle it and we could open the bottle in two weeks when he came back through town on his way back North. I found one of those fish shaped wine bottles, poured the sangria in-straining out the slices of fruit-and corked the bottle. Jeff left the next day and told us that he would call us in two weeks.

We did not make any plans, nor did a couple of neighbors as they wanted to come by and just hang out with him. He was just so interesting and always had a million stories to tell. You would laugh until you cried. Two weeks went by, and there was no call. Three weeks came and went. We had not heard from Jeff. Finally, on the fourth week, Skyguy's brother called and told us that Jeff had been killed in a car accident on the weekend when he was supposed to be on his way to our house. He was so physically large that he was crushed upon impact with another car and the steering wheel impact caused cardiac failure. The world lost a very special person that day.

So, in honor of Jeff, I've kept that bottle of Sangria all this time. I recall that when we poured it up he made a joke that it would be good in 100 years. I don't have a good place to store the bottle here, and I don't think Jeff would want me to keep it the way I have done. I'm afraid someone will come along, not knowing the bottle's history, and uncork it to see what it is. He would want me to open it, invite some friends over, and have fun. The question is, is it still good? Part of me wants to keep the fish bottle intact, but part of me wants that Sangria. If I knew that the Sangria was vinegar instead of wine, I might keep it in the bottle, but just thinking about how good that
Sangria was, and just knowing how much love Jeff put in it....I want to make a final toast to Jeff.

So I open this dilemma to a vote among those of you who read my blog. Let me know what you think I should do. To the best of my memory, this was made with 7 up, grain alcohol, red wine, rum, sugar, and lots of fruit. I remember lemons, oranges, peaches, and kiwi, and it seems like there was more, but I've forgotten. It was very, very sweet, almost syrupy, and wonderfully smooth. What would you do-open a 13 year old bottle and toast to Jeff, or find a place to store the bottle and keep it in his honor?

Future Shock or Just Getting Old

Alvin Toffler, in Future Shock, predicted this would happen, but he didn't tell me that I would feel old and worry about having early onset Alzheimers. You see, I'm having trouble keeping up with technology. I know I am not alone, but I feel alone. At some point in life, I must have decided to turn my back on it and I just haven't kept up with things. For example, I have no clue what Blue Ray is, or what 3G or 4G means. I don't suppose I'll ever own a cell phone, um, Blackberry or iPhone. I've never texted anything, never received a text. I've never surfed the internet on anything but my desktop computer, never had a laptop even. Never had a Mac or an Apple...brother in law partitioned a drive for me and I had Linux at one time, but there just weren't any apps for it back then, so I went back to Windows. It takes more than 7 minutes for my Facebook home page to load, and I can't chat from it. Point is, even my experience on popular sites like Facebook is not what others experience. I can't watch video - no YouTube. I don't have a web cam for Skype. I'm really not even sure how that works, or if it would even work, connecting as slow as I do. No iPod, no Mp3 music or podcasts, never done it because of my connection speed. It is getting to the point where I almost can't get updates for the programs I have. These companies forget that dialup users have a hard time downloading a 15 meg update. I just got a Windows update. Even leaving the computer online all night long, it took all day yesterday and last night and this morning...24 hours..I have no idea of how large the update was, but whatever. 18 kbps download speed....Woohoo!

Long ago, I stopped looking at vehicles. I couldn't tell the difference between a Honda or Chevy. All the cars kind of look the same to me. People say, "I saw you on such and such road and waved-didn't you see me?" Of course, I don't look at other cars, just the road, so I never see anyone. I'm really nearsighted, which also plays a part in not noticing friends or family in oncoming cars. If I do make them out in passing, it is too late to wave, so people think I'm snobby or angry.

I'm out of it in more ways, too. Just for kicks, I googled the Billboard top 100 and top 50 singles. Out of 150 entries, I recognized 28 artists(some duplicated like the Black Eyed Peas) and two songs (Boom Boom Pow, Kiss A Girl). This poor showing from someone who used to know even the most obscure group on the top 100. When and how did this happen? I swore to myself when I was 15 that I would NEVER ignore pop music-that if nothing else, I would at least know the most popular artists and songs, the top 40, etc.

At my last job, I worked with this boy genius kid who knew more about Excel and spreadsheets in general than anyone I've ever known. Today's 20 something kids have been taught about these useful programs and software apps in school, whereas, my generation was forced to learn on our own. It is no wonder that people my age can't find a job. We are dinosaurs. I'm a chemist, but even the periodic table is different now than it was when I was in school. Experimental physics and polymer chemistry has changed everything in industry and manufacturing. When I was in school, polymer chemistry was a chapter or two in your Organic Chemistry class. Now, you can major in polymer chemistry.

I kept my granddaughter on a recent Saturday. I used to think that I would have a lot to offer her in the way of knowledge and wisdom. I did graduate college with a 3.94/4.0 GPA. I consider myself intelligent, and yet, I wonder if my knowledge will be relevant by the time Jordan is old enough to understand things. Will she appreciate Nature, or will she become a city girl who would rather be shopping at the local mall? Will she care about what I think if, in her eyes, I am old and irrelevant and not 'with it'? Already, my advice to my daughter concerning finances doesn't make sense as I write checks and keep paper records and she banks and pays bills electronically. Will Jordan even want to visit me here, where there are bugs and mosquitoes? What do I have to offer? Will she be so bored she hates the place when she can't get her Tweets or Texts?

In a homesteading, subsistence lifestyle, one doesn't have a need to watch anything on Blue Ray. One doesn't really even need television. It is optional. My field peas don't need a podcast, and I can hear the rooster at 4 in the morning just fine without 4G. Still, I wonder.

Future Shock was written in 1970, I believe, but it is very relevant today. It is worth reading if you have never read it, and worth a reread if it has been a while since you did. If you are like me, you have forgotten a lot.

Non-trivial Science related Trivia

I have this list of useless, but interesting random trivia, so for something different, I thought I would share the list with you. As you might expect, most have a science bent....Big surprise on that one as you all know, Bev is Earth.

Pavement on land creates "expressways" for oil and other pollutants to run into the ocean. "Every eight months, nearly 11 million gallons of oil run off our streets and driveways into our waters -- the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez oil spill," --- from the Pew Oceans Commission in 2003

That's why I like my gravel driveway. Yeah, it is rut filled and gets the vehicles muddy, but at least I know that my pollutants stay here and do not become someone else's problem downstream in the watershed.

The quest of alchemists—to change base metals into gold—was achieved to a certain degree in Soviet nuclear reactors, where radioactivity transformed some lead nuclei into gold.

The largest reservoirs of gold on Earth, about 10 billion tons, are the oceans. Unfortunately, there is no practical way to get it out. Gold is also plentiful elsewhere in the solar system. In 1999, the NEAR spacecraft showed that a single asteroid, Eros, contains more gold than has ever been mined on Earth.

That's a WOW from me. I heard the other day on TV that all the gold ever mined in the history of human mining would fill only two Olympic sized swimming pools. Same show informed me that a gold bar weighs about 27 pounds.

Kevlar, superglue, cellophane tape, Teflon, Post-it notes, photographs, and the phonograph: All were laboratory blunders. Chinese alchemists were trying to make an elixir of immortality and made gunpowder instead.

Speaking of Kevlar... the International Space Station is covered with a foot-thick blanket of Kevlar to protect it from over 100,000 meteoroids that will slam into it over a 20 year period. Of course, every day, up to 4 billion meteoroids fall to Earth, most of them insanely small, but you never know when a killer rock might slip in undetected.

Life on earth began about 3.8 billion years ago, but sex did not evolve until more than 2 billion years later. Asexual reproduction is a better evolutionary strategy in many important ways, so it is unclear why sexual reproduction developed.

The hermaphroditic earthworm Dendrobaena rubida has both male and female genitalia. If it cannot find a mate, the worm doubles up so that its female bits and male bits can go to town.

Some fish and reptiles can 'change sex'. In marine environments near coral reefs, most fish change sex at least once in their life, and they can have both male and female organs at the same time, like the worm.

Homosexual behavior is found in at least 1,500 species of mammal, fish, reptile, bird, and even invertebrates.
In the animal world, there doesn't seem to be a choice, just an adaption. Nature wins.


Burials in America deposit 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid, formaldehyde, methanol, and ethanol, into the soil each year. Cremation pumps dioxins, hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide into the air.

Americans generate 472 billion pounds of trash every year, including 96 billion pounds of food trash—more than 300 pounds per person, wasted.

Food waste is only 2 percent of the total waste. The rest is industrial refuse, including mine tailings, agricultural waste, construction debris, and chemicals

One quart of motor oil, improperly disposed of, can pollute 250,000 gallons of drinking water.
WOW!


Each year, consumers in the United States spread 300 million pounds of chemical insecticides, including compounds that the EPA says may impair the nervous system, disrupt hormones in the body, or cause cancer.
Not me, not me-I'm getting greener all the time!


Landfills are actually the No. 1 human-generated source of methane, belching 7 million tons into the atmosphere each year.
Those poor cows and pigs have really gotten a bum rap.

Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island in New York, which closed in 2001, is the world's largest city dump, covering about 2,200 acres

Midsummer Garden Happenings

It's been a few weeks since I gave a garden update, and now I have to subject you to a really long post. I apologize. I'll try to get some pics up soon.

We've been quite busy around here with the garden, canning, dog training, etc. This past weekend, we also kept our granddaughter. I'm trying to take it easy and follow the doctor's orders, but it is hard. The sutures are gone, but I still have to elevate my foot 50% of the time, 30 minutes for every hour I am up. Worse still, I can't wear normal shoes yet and am still in the surgical shoe. The incision is healing nicely; there's a nice, raised, hard ridge at the site. The pain is really minimal, more in my pinky toe itself than in the joint for whatever reason. At least now I can take a shower, swim, etc. I've haven't done any heavy garden work, mostly picking beans and such. Skyguy has been picking veggies, watering, monitoring for bugs, staking tomatoes, etc. He tilled a patch and planted more okra, too. I'm really quite impressed with his gardening.
Anyway, I just want to ride my bike. I've gained back about 12 pounds of what I lost, and I am not happy about it. I really should have dieted, but dang, when you are laid up, you get bored, and boredom leads to eating!

Bed 1 is a hodgepodge of plants. I did not get cages around my tomatoes early, so they, like kudzu, have sprawled over the bed and they are taking over! I have about 3 romas and a serrano pepper, a poblano pepper, butternut squash, two eggplants and probably something else in that bed that is lost under the vines. At the east end of that bed, there are a few blue lake bean seeds that have not germinated. That raised bed is next to the chicken run, and in the foot wide space between the bed and the run I've planted sorghum which is about 12 feet tall and almost mature. I've already bend some of the canes over into the chicken run to feed the chooks on the fly.

Bed 2 just has dill in it right now after I pulled up and harvested all of the cauliflower that was in it previously. It was not a good year for cauliflower, but I did get a few meals out of it. I'll replant soon.

Bed 3 has a couple of toms, a butternut squash, and blue lake bush beans that are just coming up. There is a tomatillo volunteer and two Anaheim peppers.

There is nothing in bed 4. I'm hoping it will be ready to plant in the Spring.

Bed 5 has one very large and sprawling yellow crookneck squash and some Tendercrop green beans that are just starting to flower.

Bed 6 is empty and won't be planted until late 2010

Now, for the in ground plants:
Peanuts: I only had about 20% germination, but I left them alone hoping to at least get enough nuts to roast for a snack. If I am lucky, I might get enough for one jar of peanut butter. I had hoped to get enough for 4 jars, but a vole or mouse or something ate the nuts. They are just now flowering, so it will be a while before I can use that space.

I have another large crookneck squash in the ground, as well as a zucchini, and all of my squashes, both winter and summer, are doing great. I've been diligently killing squash bug eggs and it is paying off. For winter squashes I have planted butternut and acorn squashes inside and outside the garden fence in various places. I'm hoping to fill up at least one laundry basket of each type. For the summer squashes, we grill them fresh, I freeze some, and I make squash
casseroles and freeze those. I also make squash bread from both zukes and yellow squash-no use wasting the big ones, I just grate them up and then make and freeze the bread. It is a banana bread recipe, but I sub 2 cups of grated squash for the bananas. I make loaf pans and muffins that I can freeze and eat later for breakfast and snack food.

We are starting to get some okra(Dwarf Lee is the variety) and we have just planted Clemson Spineless. Since it is Skyguys's first year in the garden, he wanted to grow what everyone else grows, so we have hybrid corn, a hybrid tomato, and the Clemson Spineless....

The strawberries are going like gangbusters, but they are a bit smaller than I would like. I think they need fertilizer and water. Even so, they are tasty and I'm picking a bit more than a pint a day. All 3 grapevines(Remailly seedless, Catawba, Mars seedless) have multiple clusters of grapes, and I've been picking blueberries for a week now. The blackberries are in the freezer already. It looks to be a good apple year, but I don't see but a few pears and no plums. In hills
around the garden, in addition to the winter squashes, I have a few pickling cukes, a couple of Georgia rattlesnake watermelons, and scads of sweet potatoes. I hope to have a laundry basket of sweet potatoes as well.

I planted a 10x12 patch of small, teeny-tiny red field peas the way my friend James suggested. I scuffed up the ground, hand cast the peas, and covered them with waste hay. The peas came up great, and they still look great. It takes about 100 days for these peas, and I am right at Day 85. Next year, I'll grow more peas and black beans this way.

I've got 3 areas of corn. The first group was sweet corn planted just after Easter. This corn really has not produced, tassled at only 2 feet tall. No one around here that planted corn early has any-it was a bad year for early corn-too much rain early on, I think. We got a few stunted ears which were delicious, but we only got a few meals instead of being able to load the freezer. However, as bad as the early corn was, the late corn was good. I had a beautiful stand of Bloody Butcher corn that was 6ft tall or more until late last week when a summer thunderstorm downburst flattened it. I'm crushed. I tried to stand it backup, but the canes just broke. I planted this corn deeper than usual, about 2 inches deep, just to prevent this problem, but to no avail. I'm hoping that there is enough corn left standing to at least regain my seed. Corn plot #3 is another plot of hybrid, Early and Often, that Skyguy planted in a dog kennel out behind the barn to keep the distance from the other corn and to protect it from the deer. It is doing well- about 2 feet tall now. This is not the first time I've lost corn to thunderstorms and lodging. I've planted deeper, I've hilled up around the plants..I've ruled out rootworms. I just don't know what else to do. Obviously, my garden spot, which is just a few hundred feet downwind of a ridge, is where the storms dump their downbursts. The storms are uplifted by the western side of the ridge, but once the storm crosses the ridge line, the mountain starts to break them up and in the process they dump wind in a downburst or straight lines. The ridge protects us from super cell storms, but this is the downside of it. Skyguy wants to try allowing the corn to grow up through cattle panel placed waste high, but I don't know. It seems rather silly-no one else does it, but, really, I'm ready to try odd things to save the corn. Maybe I should grow it in small plots and put posts on the corners and then run string around it and through it to support the stalks. Maybe growing it in hills would be better. At least with a 3 sisters style arrangement in a hill, I would not get the domino effect of toppling corn like I saw in the block. I'm open for suggestions. Help.

Sunday, I pulled up, peeled, blanched and froze carrots. I julienned some for salads and stirfries, and I used the small ends in some pickled jalapenos for color. I'm going to try and replant the tops, too. I need to now amend the 12 foot long bed and add some soil and in a few weeks I will replant more carrots. There are a few chard plants left in that bed, and I'll cut them back, too. In addition to more carrots, I'll plant some radishes and beets. Also next week, I'll move some cattle panels around and resow some snow peas, turnips, and English peas for the Fall.

Also on Sunday I canned some jalapeno peppers with some carrots. Soon, we will make cucumber pickles. I grew up with a certain kosher dill pickle recipe, but Skyguy wants to experiment to see if we can find something more crisp. We bought one of those Mrs. Wages mixes, and I'll make a pint plain, and then mix and match the ingredients to see what he will like and think works best. Some jars will have grape leaves, some will have garlic, some will have dill heads, some will have dill seed and weed, and some will have all of the above. I already know that the jars with everything in it will be my favorites, but he wasn't raised in a canning/gardening family and he is enjoying the experimentation of it all, so since we have plenty of cukes, why not? Some of the best discoveries in the world were accidents. Viagra did not help the angina of Welsh miners, but hey, we all know what is does help!

Beans...I've got a million beans, but because I was trying to get rid of old seeds, I have a little bit of a lot of things. Some were old and had poor germination, some just did not provide enough plants. Long story shorter, I haven't canned or frozen any beans yet, but we are eating good every night. I did give some away, too. We've planted the equivalent of a 100 ft row or more of blue lake bush beans and they are just now breaking ground so two months from now, I should be able to can beans. I'm still getting beans, but that should wane over the next few weeks. The wax beans are in a lull, the Roma II bush beans are waning, the KY wonder pole beans are hitting stride, the yard long beans are starting to flower, and the Royal Burgundy bush beans will be ready to pick within the week. It's a lot of beans.

And now, the tomatoes....finally, I am starting to get some ripe cherry toms. Some of the Romas are ripening, but only one of the slicing toms is getting ripe and that is Skyguy's Better Boy. However, in a week or so, definitely by two weeks, I will be canning and making tomato products. I expect to be doing that for the next month or so. I've started washing mason jars and getting everything ready. I washed and sterilized the Victorio strainer, a device I use to make the paste and sauces. It's a good thing. I don't even know how many tomato plants I have -more than 50- and probably 60% of them are paste types(Roma, Sausage, Oxheart, etc), 10% are cherry(Super Sweet 100 and Husky Red Cherry), and the rest are slicers/sandwich tomatoes (Brandywines, Caspian pinks, Mortgage Lifter, Abraham Lincoln etc.). I'll be making tomato sauce, tomato paste, tomato juice, V8 juice, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, chili base, and a bit of salsa in addition to stewed toms. I still have some salsa from last year, but I might make a bit if I get overrun with peppers. I'd really rather dry the serranos as I use those in guacamole.
Speaking of guacamole, I've started about 7 or 8 avocado trees. I know I won't get avocados here, but hey, they make nice houseplants and I can always hope for a miracle. Who knows what global warming will do, right? There's got to be an upside to it, and if I could grow avocados, I'd be super happy!

It is time to plant and plan for the Fall crops, and I started that Saturday. I planted the following in those little peat pots to be transplanted later:

72 broccoli plants-Green Goliath-a new variety I am trying
25 cabbage plants-Danish Ballhead-seeds are from 2007-yikes
25 Brussel Sprouts-Catskill-it's the last time I'll try growing Brussel Sprouts..I mean it this time.
22 Red onions, with more to be planted in the ground in mid August

Next week, I'll plant Snow peas, English peas, radishes and carrots. The other big job I need to do is to dig potatoes. I have different varieties in multiple places that would amount to about a thirty foot row. I really hope that the Yukon Gold produced well.

Mid August, I'll plant more carrots collards, kale, beets, salad greens, spinach, turnips(both the root and the greens), Osaka purple mustard, and of course the brassicas and plants I sowed today will go to the ground. Neither of us have ever eaten kale, but I'm hoping it will be a green we can harvest all winter. Skyguy is the one who wants all of these Southern greens...I personally don't care for collards or turnips(the greens are okay though), and I like beet greens better than mustard, but we are trying to find things that we can harvest in the winter that we both like and that would be healthy for us. At some point after that, I will sow some Aquadulce Fava beans as a cover crop in the spot where I'll grow corn next year.

A month or so ago, I planted a seed packet of Artichokes. There were 8 seeds in the pack, and I got 7 plants to transplant size. Unfortunately, between the heat, the puppy, the chicken, and just bad luck, I only have one plant left. I'll be sowing more, I think. I've grown fond of artichoke hearts and perennial vegetables are king!

The other major garden venture that we have in the works is a plan to expand the asparagus bed. Now that Skyguy eats it, we need more, so I'll be tilling and double digging an area near the water line to the barn, along the outside of the garden fence-essentially a 50 foot double row. The water line presents a problem in the initial dig-I'll have to be super careful, but it should not hamper the asparagus' growth and the extra mulch feeding in the fall should help insulate the PVC water line from the cold.

So that's the plan!

The impact of drug addiction

This is a rant about all manner of things-mostly drug related- that piss me off. Click away now if you're not interested. Rant mode: ON

Today, we went to Walmart, which I detest, but almost everyone goes there at some time or another. I dislike their business model of putting the Mom and Pop stores out of business by buying second quality goods from countries that are not friendly to the US. Whatever happened to Sam Walton's Made in the USA pledge?? What about their commitment to the environment? Are they more loyal to the Chinese than to the US? So many questions, no answers. But I digress...

I'm in Walmart (did I mention that I'd rather shop elsewhere?) and remember that I need the antihistamine, Zyrtec-D. I walk over, pick up the card, and wait in line at the pharmacy to swap the card for the meds. The clerk, who was older than me and should know manners, was extremely rude and unfriendly. She stated that she could not sell the Zyrtec to me without a driver's license. This stop at Wallyworld was after we had an impromptu picnic, and I had not brought my purse, therefore, no ID. She asks me if I have ever bought drugs from them before and I answered in the negative. She looks at me suspiciously and with disgust, like I was scum of the earth for not having a driver's license on me. She thought she was better than me because I did not have a driver's license on me and she worked at the pharmacy at Wal-mart! Give me a break! Some people, when given positions of authority, really abuse it, and she was an abuser.
So after she refuses to sell me the Zyrtec, one box of Zyrtec I might add, I finally get Skyguy over to produce his license for the witch. She must have entered every bit of information from his license, which really must be illegal-or ought to be illegal, because I think you just have to sign for Zyrtec, not face the Inquisition. I mean, really, I have all my teeth and I am 20 pounds overweight. Do I really look like a freakin' meth-head? GRRRRR!

The picnic....I've been bored with cabin fever since my surgery, so Skyguy decided we should go up to the old mountain campground(only 1.5 miles away) for a picnic-it would be a change of scenery with no chance of getting my foot wet, no hike required to get there, etc. It really was nice up there-very quiet, and the knowledge that not a soul was around within miles, was pretty cool. We ate our cold KFC leftovers, some grapes, and chips in the middle of the woods. We practice Leave No Trace, but obviously others do not. The Forest Service closed this primitive campground a few years ago, tossing the picnic tables into a ravine(good neighbors with tractors pulled them out and now all of us who live here in the valley have a souvenir picnic tables probably made by the CCC in the late 1930's) and capping off the hand pump well. However, the the tent pads are still there, and people still use the campground. Before we left, we walked around and looked at the trash. At first glance, the place looked pretty good, but as you walk around, you see plastic and metal and all kinds of trash that had been overlooked in a cleanup. I honestly do not understand why people can't clean up after themselves. They couldn't just throw their junk away on their own property, so why do they not care about Nature? As soon as my foot is better, I am going to go up there with some trash bags and clean. One reason that the campground closed was that it was used for parties and illegal activities by the locals. It was also the local "lover's lane", for everyone, but right before they closed it, there was a lot of homosexual meetups out there. I personally could not care less what people do in their private lives. My only complaint about the activities that took place at the campground was that it increased traffic on the road and people were dying as they drove out drunk. At any rate, my anger was over the apathy that people show towards Nature and natural areas. With government cutbacks, who do they think will clean up their messes? GRRRRR!

Why is it that one or two idiots can mess things up for everyone? We have warning labels on things because some idiot had no common sense. We have our privacy violated because some dope head couldn't put his joint down long enough to go to college and become a real chemist. Oh no, they would rather make drugs in their car, or in their apartment and endanger the lives of innocent kids next door, or anyone else within the blast zone. They are too interested in partying with their weed or meth to pick up the beer bottles or bungee cords or tiki lights or condoms or bottle caps or whatever. Because of this, there's a whole generation of people who don't know what real freedom is. The really sad thing is that people who are old enough to remember freedom, like the Walmart pharmacy tech, now are apathetic and don't care about anything, as long as she's getting a paycheck every week. Everyone is so taxed and beaten down, that people are becoming thoughtless drones who only know one path. The crooks and bad guys are never affected as they don't play by the rules. The only ones inconvenienced are the law abiding citizens, those that still care about freedom and nature and the right thing to do in this world. GRRRR!

Rant mode: OFF

P.S. I wrote this while on prescription pain meds. I overdid it a bit on the walking today and now my foot is swollen. In keeping with the Title and Subject matter of the post, I thought it only fair to inform you of my hypocrisy. Hypocritical or not, I think I have a point.

It's All Good

The Fourth of July has come and gone. The year is flying by. Like many of you, I had a very nice family cookout for the holiday. My foot is good-I must say this is the easiest surgery I've ever had, and I can't wait until the stitches come out and until I can get it wet. I long to take a shower again, but I suspect it might be another week before that happens. This afternoon, the doctor called me to check on my recovery. That was definitely a WOW moment as they just don't do that anymore. So, if you need a good foot and ankle surgeon in the Rome, GA area, I can provide a recommendation!

Bingo is wonderful still, he hasn't chewed anything he shouldn't, and he is just all puppy. You remember in Charlotte's Web that Charlotte wrote 'Some Pig' in her web to tout the specialness of her friend, well, here, I write "SOME DOG" for the same reason. Day before yesterday, he helped
my daughter and I catch some chickens and put them back in the run. He herded/chased the chickens around the perimeter right into my hands. When I caught the bird, I continued to hold it at Bingo's level, and he just sniffed the bird and did not try to bite it or act aggressively at all. This was very surprising considering what a rambunctious pup he is. I read into this that Bingo has excellent herding instincts, not so aggressive as to hurt stock, but aggressive enough to install fear in the animal. His eyes are very different than Bear's eyes. Bear has normal dark brown doggie eyes, but Bingo's eyes are more hazel, a weird light brown color that is more piercing and intense. I hope they don't change as he ages. I like his eyes. Jordan loved him, too. She could say his name and sing the melody for the song, and by the end of their visit, she was telling him "No!" so that he would not jump on her. After she got tough, he did not jump on her anymore.

Today it is raining-the first rain here since June 4. It is not raining much, but it is a slow, light rain and that is the best thing for the garden. Yesterday, Skyguy reinforced the pier under one of our rainwater tanks, so it is filling up again. The support pier is made of scrap 4x4's and 2x8/2x10's on the side. Over time, some of the joints had weakened and the tank and pier had started to lean. If we have a good downpour of hard rain, it can fill in about 15 minutes but since we only have a light rain, it might take all day, if it fills at all. We use rainwater for watering the garden as well as for watering birds that are kept in the old coop (roosters or turkeys or whatever). The purpose of the pier is to elevate the 350 gallon tank to provide head for gravity flow to the garden.

Also of note this weekend are a couple of more Facebook reunions with college friends. I am glad to be back in touch with Donna and Susan. I am fortunate to have such good friends-to know so many who are "good people", people who have huge hearts and work for the benefit of others.

I Survived

I survived my bunionette surgery (a bunionette is on the pinky toe whereas a bunion is on the big toe) and while it is only the second day, I can say this is the easiest surgery I have ever had. They gave me two Xanax, be even so, I was awake and conscious the whole time. I think taking RA meds has increased my tolerance for pain medication. I told the Doc while he was cutting on my foot that I've be drunker after two glasses of wine...lol...It did not hurt, but I could feel things, like the vibration from whatever kind of grinding tool that was and of course the numbing injections. Oh, and he let me keep the bony parts he removed. Part of it was ground off and lost, of course, but he even told me how I could permanently save it. (Bleach it, dry it, drill it, cord it for a necklace or charm...LOL. The largest chunk of bone is still rather small, about half an inch square, so probably a charm would work better than a necklace. I came home and slept about an hour and half-maybe the Xanax finally kicked in, then got up for dinner and to take a pain pill, which I did not feel that I needed, but was coerced into taking because the local anesthetic had not worn off. I can bear weight and all I need is a surgical shoe. It is a pain though because I can only be up for 5 minutes every 30 minutes and the rest of that time my foot has to be elevated. There are so many things I want to do and need to do that 5 minutes just isn't long enough. At bedtime, I took my normals meds and no Lorset/hydrocodone for pain. It really did not hurt that bad. However, I woke up at 4 am and felt it, so Skyguy went for the pills. It says to take it every 3 hours, but I just don't to be all doped up with a new puppy. He's very sweet, but has still bonded to Bear more than to Skyguy and I. I'm hoping to remedy that today by leaving Bear crated more and letting the boys outside to walk, poop, and play at different times. Bear still continues to amaze me with the abuse that Bingo dishes out. He will tolerate it, then finally, after 30 minutes or so of a seemingly endless barrage, Bear will snap and get serious, but then, a minute later, it is like he feels guilty to he initiates the play, and of course the cycle begins again. They do love each other, and Bingo had parked himself with Bear in Bear's crate a couple of times. Now, I make them both sit in front of the crates and say Bear Go Bear Crate, Bingo Go Bingo Crate. It is too cute.

At any rate, I have to be careful until my stitches come out in two weeks. I have 20 or so in 3 layers. 2 will dissolve on the inside, 9 in the middle layer, and 9 larger stitches on the outside. The incision is about 2 inches long. The good thing about being awake is that you can see what it looks like before the bandages go on! I'll get the bandages changed on Monday. It really hasn't been bad at all so far, but it is going to drive me crazy to stay off it and not exercise. I want to ride my bike so badly! But for now, we are all resting.

Bingo, I win!

I just returned from the vet's office where Bingo Baby was the main attraction. As it turns out, he is really healthy except for the worms(whips, hooks AND tapes). He was treated and released. The vet thinks he is between 10-12 weeks old, younger than our first estimates. Not only has his tail been docked, but his dewclaws were also surgically removed, leading her to believe, as I do, that he is fullblood Australian Shepherd. I just can't believe my luck. What a catch! In a few weeks, he will return for booster shots and neutering.
He threw up in the crate both on the way there and on the way back, so I have a mess to clean up. Puppies are fun!

Making the most of life

What a sad day. It was expected to lose Farrah, but the day ended with Michael gone as well. It just doesn't seem real. I was never a huge Farrah fan-I thought she gave blondes a bad name (Kate Jackson was my favorite Angel) and over acted, but I did have one of those posters in my room, and I'm not a guy! For me, Farrah lives on in her hair. I still have layered wings like Farrah popularized. I did like the two movies she did where she played battered women. I read a mean spirited article an hour or so after her death about how her death was a result of her own risky behavior-having unprotected anal sex, and contracting the Human Papilloma virus. I spent the next few minutes educating myself on HPV, especially HPV-16, which is the strain responsible for most anal cancers. I actually had not known that this type of cancer is almost always related to HPV-16. Farrah, the sex symbol, dies from complications of a sexually transmitted disease. Ironic. I give her huge props for her documentary, and especially for going public and making all these reporters overcome the snicker factor from saying the word anal. The guts of this guy's article may be factual, but we don't know for sure that Farrah even had HPV-16, let alone whether or not she had anal sex. For all we know, she may have been raped as a teenager and contracted the virus. I just thought it was crass to insinuate crap like that -just for sensationalism and to tear someone down. Even if it is true, I admire Farrah for going public and providing a chance for Americans, especially teenagers, to talk about HPV in a mature way and make a decision about Guardasil, the vaccine which protects against contraction of the virus. Perhaps, with a history or practice of anal sex, doctors should recommend an anal pap smear?

Michael. Wow. Like everyone my age, I grew up with Michael. As I entered my teenybop years, I was in love with Michael Jackson. Remember that it was a different world then, and it raised eyebrows when young white girls swooned over young black men. Yeah, I also had posters of Donny Osmond and later David Cassidy, but Michael was my favorite. I had Off The Wall in college, but it was stolen. I listened to Thriller and all of his other hits. Later, while I stayed home with the kids, I watched spellbound as he dealt with the molestation charges. I believed he was guilty. He lived a sad life. He was a sad person. His attorney, Oxman, drew a parallel between Michael and Anna Nichole Smith, and I have to say that I believe it is a good parallel. I can't remember the last time I saw an interview with him in which he appeared sober. I always thought "Man in the Mirror" was about addiction and pedophilia, but tonight, it is about any kind of change you make for the positive.

I'm Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It's Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . .

And then there is "Heal the World":

Heal the world, Make it a better place
For you and for me
And the entire human race.
There are people dying, if you care enough
For the living,
Make a better place for you and for me.

So long Farrah, Sing on Michael....No more Pain

Say what??

What the heck is wrong with this country? What is wrong with people?? These questions are often asked, at least in my neck of the woods, and yet seldom answered. I think, however, I know..

People are often demonized or attacked for placing importance on morality. Do-gooders and truth-tellers get bad reputations as troublemakers or party-poopers. Good people with deep convictions on issues will remain silent, afraid to voice opinions that might not be seen as politically correct. I'm generally conservative, and I don't want anyone to think that I believe my ideas are right and absolute, to that point I will remind readers that all people, even liberals, can have deep convictions about what they believe to be morally correct or morally wrong as the case may be, and many are just as silent, just as paralyzed to act as Conservatives. Sometimes people are afraid to stand up for others because they fear becoming a target themselves.

Politically correct is now socially correct, and once a person crosses the line, they become a social pariah. There is an unspoken rule in many workplaces that one should not work too hard, because that would make others look lazy. Very often, the bottom line is money, and in business, the ends justify the means in many companies. As long as a company maintains a certain image, its' true character can be hidden. Image is everything. Employees are often apathetic because they don't see one person's immoral actions as something that will affect themselves. If everyone takes a long lunch, or if employees come in late frequently, productivity is lost and non-profitable companies eventually have to make cuts. If a student cheats on an exam, he may position himself for awards that he doesn't deserve, awards that might make a real difference to someone who actually earned distinction. The mentality of apathy or tolerance of immoral acts has weakened us as a society. It seems that modern life is a series of scandals, in politics, sports, business, education and even in religion. It has become so commonplace that it seems normal and people are desensitized to scandalous behavior, almost like it is a rite of passage that comes with fame, fortune, or power. Bad-boy athletes or hot-shot Navy pilots laugh, drink, and take advantage of women and there is an element of society that envies that lifestyle. Women are seen as objects because families are dysfunctional and parents aren't teaching their children to respect others. In many families, there are no 'fathers', no male role models, and mothers are absent and non-nurturing because they are working two or three jobs to survive. The result is an entire generation of people that believe that society owes them something, that they are entitled to things without working or sacrificing for them. Self indulgence has become a lifestyle to be proud of, and sacrifice is something only poor, stupid schmucks do. No one is patriotic anymore. Only a few young men and women feel obligated to pay their dues by military service. They are called heroes when they are killed, but when they enlist, they are often seen as rejects, kids that can't afford college or who are otherwise underprivileged. It infuriates me.

Well, that is enough for starters...

Touch the earth, rest your spirit

The lettuce is almost ready to be cut for salads. I am still cutting chard for greens which is lucky because my NZ spinach isn't growing very fast. Yesterday, I cut some beet greens and pulled up 4 beets. Since I have 3 heads of cabbage in the refrigerator, I think I will grate the beets and saute them with some shredded cabbage. That ought to make a nice purple veggie for something different. I also have peas, carrots, yellow squash, cauliflower, chard, beet greens, and broccoli in the fridge. It is a garden bounty! I think I'll put together some shishkabobs with some marinated chicken and the squash, carrots, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. I'm thinking it will be quick and easy on the grill. I've got some garlic flavored olive oil for 'kabobs.

I've left a few broccoli plants to go to seed. I'll do the same for the cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. One of my cabbage plants is snail bait, so I think I will collect the seeds from it. It is a nice, big plant, too. I have already pulled up and hung the mustard pods. I have the stems with the pods hanging upside down inside of a paper grocery bag. I can hear the seeds rattling in the bag, so I know this is working. I'll do the same for the rest of the brassicas. I was trying to clean out a few of the raised beds enough to plant some bush beans, but lo and behold, the Brussels sprouts appear to be doing something. There are some marble sized sprouts!! This is the best result ever so far! Most are pea sized, but I think they are actually growing! We've had so much rain that my garlic is done. Usually, it is ready in July, but the stalks are yellowing so I pulled them. They are now curing on the picnic table, AKA Bev's breakroom, next to my little Malabar spinach vine (haven't decided where to move it) and my 7 artichoke plants (there were 8, I guess a bird grabbed one??).

Friday I picked some large leaves from the cabbage plants. I used them to make cabbage rolls. I have a lot of ground venison in the freezer, so I mixed up some meat. I season it, add rice and special ingredients for special dinners and cook it. I used 4 pounds of ground beef, 3 pounds of venison, and 1 pound of ground pork, onions, ketchup, rice, garlic, soy, worchestershire, etc. This time, however, I wasn't thinking-I usually use more venison than beef, but this batch is beef heavy because I got distracted. At any rate, I made 3 batches of meatballs, a meatloaf(with just me and Skyguy, I get 3 meals from a meatloaf), two batches of seasoned meat for stuffing Poblanos, and of course, the cabbage rolls . That's 9+ meals from 8 pounds of meat. One day I will look up all the nutritional data on my meat mixes. The cabbage rolls were okay-a bit tough and chewy because I did not steam them first, but edible. I think I will try this with grape leaves next. I have plenty of those as well. I went out this morning, picked a few dozen leaves, washed them, rolled them, blanched them, and preserved them in brine in a pint jar. Today, I planted a few more okra seeds, as well as a pack of royal burgundy bush beans. I went through all of my seeds last night and I need to continue downsizing. It is still early in the season, so I am going to try to grow some gourds and some pumpkins. I found some Aquadulce Fava beans from 2000 and did a germination test on them. Would you believe that more than half of them germinated??!!?? Wow. So I will use them as a cover crop and chicken feed this winter.

In the meantime, I thought I would share some garden pictures I took yesterday. The first two pictures are related. I've named them, Spot the Butternut and Spot the Cukes. You should probably click on the pics for a larger image if your eyes are like mine. The third image is a skinny image of one of my Brussels sprouts' stalk where you can see the little sprouts beginning to form. The fourth image on the page is of course, my breakroom/workarea . I've been getting a head or two a day from my Cauliflower bed (last picture on the page). I probably should pull up the plants once I harvest the initial head, but I have heard that if you leave it, it will grow small heads after a few months, so I am leaving the plants in the bed. The sixth one I called mixed veggies. In that picture there are potatoes, yellow squash, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage. I planted the Bloody Butcher Corn directly behind that bed, and you can't see it in this picture, but back where that scrawny looking Brussels sprout is, top center, I have planted a row of okra on the edge of the bed. I wanted a little height to help as a pollen block. As it turned out, the other two varieties of corn did not germinate, so the pollen block is unnecessary, but for the record, there is also okra in this picture, they are only 3 inches tall though. :) Image #5 is one of my yellow squash plants. I have two, one in the ground(picture #5 ) and the one you see in the bed of mixed veggies (picture #6 ). I am experimenting and waging war on squash bugs. The separation is part of the plan.

Yesterday, we cut back some Chinese privet that had become trees. It was starting to shade out my elephant ears and the fig trees. Skyguy cut them back to 6 foot trucks with the chainsaw, and next week, I will be chipping the tops to go to the compost bin. We also mowed this weekend, watered the Paulownias, and messed around in the garden some, staking tomatoes and whatnot. I saved some of the larger branches/trunks from the privet and hopefully I will make a few more trellis' for various things. I think we will also make a ladder, and maybe a rustic table to go between the Adirondack chairs.

This evening, we went back to the lake and paddled. We got an earlier start this time, and we paddled for over an hour, almost constantly. We discovered a few scratches and places on the keel that need work, some sanding, varnish, etc. and Skyguy wants to replace the decks and move the seats, so we decided that this will be the last paddle for a few months until the canoe work is completed and my new bent shaft paddle is completed and when my foot is healed. I hope we will be able to get back on the lake by the first of August. In the meantime, we will be biking more.

I got some sun this weekend, partially from working in the yard in a tank top. Skyguy said my shoulders were already sunburned before we left, but I did not feel it. I put SPF30 on at the lake, but I still burned. I'm so pale. There was no sunscreen when I was growing up other than zinc oxide. I just wore shirts over my bathing suit. As many times as I was sunburned as a kid, it will be a miracle if I die without having skin cancer. If I get skin cancer, it will truly piss me off, because I've never really laid out or tried to tan like some people do, I just burn easily. The best tan I ever had was accidental. It was back in 1981 when I was running over 50 miles a week. I was living in western Arkansas that summer, and it was a scorcher. Even though I ran in the evening, it was well over 100 degrees. I really enjoyed running. If only my joints were not screwed up,,,,it would be great to run again, but it won't ever happen. At this point in my life, it is paddling, pedaling, and tai chi. We won't count the walking and the yard work and the gardening.

Touch the earth, love the earth, honour the earth, her plains, her valleys, her hills, and her seas; rest your spirit in her solitary places. -Henry Beston

Science moving at the speed of light

I have no idea of how many times a day I google for information, but it is more than I should admit to, as I am a person of above average intelligence. I'm old enough to remember when calculators became a handheld device, and people warned how it would cripple our brains and make us lazy. Well, it did, and it didn't. I have a calculator within 2 feet of me, do you?(consider cellphones, etc.) Fast forward to Google and googling information..I used it to remember what movie I saw last-how crazy is that? It just seemed to have better odds of success and faster than looking through my memory box ticket stubs, drawers, calendars, etc. The next generation for nerdy people like me is going to be WolframAlpha.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/

You ask a question, it answers...

If we have the knowledge of all of humanity at our fingertips, what is the next step? The next step is probaby wi-fi chips in your brain that allow instant knowledge. Just today I read an article about an implantable GPS chip with optional cyanide that could be released with a few inputs. Track terrorists, child molestors, criminals, but terminate them before they commit crimes.....of course, that would mean that Big Brother is not only watching, but controlling and manipulating the future by taking out people BEFORE they act, akin to Minority Report. But for now, we just have Wolfram at our fingertips.
It is in the Alpha phase of operation, but it seems to still have Beta like problems. A few minutes ago, I got a message that said "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"...lol...
like all great things that are new, it has a fun factor-it's true uses haven't been realized yet.

More Bloggin' on the Garden

I planted the rest of my tomatoes Thursday. I'm not sure how many there were..more than 25 though. Mostly they were Romas, for making paste and sauces. I still need to transplant the peppers to the garden. I also transplanted the last of the basil to a box bed, and I cut the rest of the pack choi to make room for the peppers. It is a busy time. I spent about half the day Thursday playing with black walnut seedlings. I may try to sell some of them- I planted 22 walnuts on Tuesday with the Paulownias, and I still have almost 4 dozen plus whatever else happens to germinate out of that pile. Secretly, I wish it were pecans instead as I really, really, love pecans. Walnuts are okay, but IMO, the trees have more worth as timber and shade than for their nuts.

Yesterday, I cut my first Swiss chard leaves. I pulled up a garlic scallion and chopped it all together. I put some olive oil in the Dutch oven, added the garlic, sauteed it for a few minutes, added salt, some crushed red peppers for a kick and then added the chard leaves. Yummy. This morning, I made a chard lasagna with hot Italian sausage, diced tomatoes, mozzerella, cottage cheese, fresh eggs, fresh herbs, etc. It is in the oven now, so I will let you know how it turns out. I also planted okra (variety:Lee) and a seed pack (basically one 6x6 block) of Golden Midget corn. Both seed packs were from 2007, so it may not come in good. Next week, I'll plant the Bloody Butcher. I'm looking forward to that. Over the years, I had accumulated a lot of seed, but as I did not plan well from year to year, I have ended up with a lot of old seed. I don't want things to cross, so I am using up the seed this year and next year so that I can collect fresh seed from anything that germinates. It has been an interesting 'experiment' to observe the quality and germination percentages of old seed of various ages. Even for things that typically keep for years, it appears that 3 years old is about the limit. I think it is due to the fact that I heat with a woodstove and only have one window AC unit for the house. I try to keep the seeds at a constant, cooler temperature, but I can't control the humidity factor. The seed just doesn't remain viable for years and years. I suppose I have to live with that and adjust my long term garden plan appropriately.

My friend Ava noted that my tomatoes had not grown in almost two weeks. They do look the same now as the day they were planted. I'm hoping that it is due to the 6" of rain and the size of the tomato vines when they were planted. Everyone always wants to have that first tomato of the season, but I suppose I look forward to having the last one. Also, Most people buy nursery transplants and put them out. My toms are transplanted two or three times before they are set out, and even though the plant might be two feet tall at planting time, I plant the whole vine except for the top 6 inches or so. My tomato plants look puny compared to nursery transplants but soon they will catch up and probably surpass the others in size and fruit, because mine will have a more extensive root system and will hopefully survive the heat and drought of summer better.

I saw Star Trek Last night. It was the first movie I've been to see in the theatre in some years-I can't even remember the last time. I wouldn't call myself a die-hard Trekkie, but I liked the show, have seen all the movies, and I can say that I was not disappointed. It was actually rather amazing, well cast, decent storyline, and good special effects. If Sci-Fi appeals to you on any level, it is a must see. It was certainly a great distraction from all the drama and heartbreak
going on in our personal lives, but that is not for discussion here. I don't know who to credit for this saying, but it is ever so true; "You can bury a lot of troubles by digging in the dirt". I think the key word there is 'bury'. The problems will still be there, and may have even fruited if you don't tend to them head on. At the same time, out of sight, out of mind-it is good to not think about your troubles 24/7.

It rained a lot last night, maybe an inch or so, but I was able to putter around the garden a bit this morning, and I made a second sowing of carrots, as well as additional sowings of New Zealand spinach, radishes, chard, and lettuces. We are going to experiment with growing lettuce in the summer in the shade. Between beds #1 and #2, at the edge of the carpet and the north side of bed two in the strip shown, Skyguy planted his Mesclun lettuces . The ground is moist and shaded, so we are hoping it will work. My reasoning is that if the ground supports sweet violets and gill o'er the ground, it should be fertile enough and moist enough for lettuce. Bed #2 on the left, is all cauliflower-well, there are some companion herbs in there, too. The cauliflower heads are forming now, so in a week or so, I should be busy blanching and freezing cauliflower. I could eat roasted cauliflower at every meal.

To Fail is Funny

I am oft accused of being too serious and not smiling enough. That's the Finn in me, I'm sure. Finns are often described as dour, serious, boring folks. My family has been trying to help me overcome this affliction, and my daughter has introduced me to a website called Failblog.Org. (http://failblog.org/) Trust me, it's funny. The blog consists of a pictures that are funny or ironic, and the subject matter is further divided into categories like Lolcats, Loldogs, LolCelebs, Look-Alikes, Engrish, etc. Now, I'm a dog person, but the Lolcats page is really funny. Engrish is always worth a chuckle, too, the Harei Davehong Motorcycled/Harley Davidson Motorcycles belt buckle image from this post came from this page: http://engrishfunny.com/page/3/
You can even set the site to show only G-rated material so hopefully you will smile and not take offense. By far though, in my opinion, the Fail pictures and video are the best.
You may get plenty of laughter in your day, but I generally don't. TV sitcoms almost never make me laugh-I find them stupid for the most part and I really dislike the slapstick in some programs. I've always liked more intelligent humor, and there is a good bit of that on Failblog. Laughter is good medicine for whatever ails you. The brain releases endorphins which kill pain and bring about feelings of well-being. A good laugh can make you forget all about how badly your feet hurt or how sore your back is. I believe that laughing as stress relief is just as important as exercise and diet for overall good health, as it certainly must boost the immune system. Laughter may very well be the best medicine, as the Reader's Digest suggested.
So check out the Failblog. If you know of other similar sites, let me know. I need the laughs. I suppose Youtube fills this void for some folks, but I'm on dialup so images are better than video.

Vacation Post #1: Activities and Sights

We left Saturday for a quick vacation. We haven’t been anywhere in several years, and after Skyguy’s cancer diagnosis, we promised ourselves that we would start taking vacations as soon as the hospital bills were paid. You gotta live life and not work ALL the time. We’ve spent the last 4 days soaking up South Carolina’s Lowcountry culture and riding bikes. We camped at a KOA to keep costs down, and we took a lot of our own food. We did eat out once a day though, after all, it is vacation! We spent a day at Hunting Island (biked around the island-15.5 miles) a 'natural', island with a pretty lighthouse, a day in Bluffton (10.5 mile residential ride) and Port Royal, a day in Charleston(Patriot’s Point and Ft. Sumter-photo of USS Yorktown and the tour boat to the Fort) , and one day we just rode bikes near the campground (9 miles). We fished some, and Skyguy skunked me by catching a nice sized catfish. I wish I could have fished more, but the mosquitoes and ticks were horrific. At night, we relaxed in the campground’s hot tub and went to bed early.

We saw quite a few animals that we don’t see at home. On the first day, while riding our bikes along the lakeside(in the picture-the lake is actually much, much larger than the image suggests), we spooked a small 4 foot alligator as he sunned on the bank and he made a huge splash as he lept for the safety of the water. Fishing in a lake with alligators is always more exciting than fishing in a lake where there are only turtles for reptilian representation. On the boat ride to Ft. Sumter, we saw quite a few dolphins coming in the feed at high tide and one was positively huge-maybe 10 or 11 feet long. He/She came within 15 feet of the boat so I was able to get a good, however brief, look at him. Later that day while dining in a restaurant on the intracoastal waterway, we saw a family group with a young 3 foot long dolphin racing around at play. It reminded me of the way kids run ahead of their parents at an amusement park, then Mom reins them in, then they run ahead again, etc. It was fun to watch-great food and great entertainment. In Beaufort, we saw an osprey nest, and she was rearing young. We stopped on the roadside, took some pictures(click on the image for a better view), and I could hear the chicks calling, much in the same way that our resident red shouldered hawk chicks chatter. While on the fishing pier at Hunting Island, an old woman caught a small shark, and that got everyone excited, especially the kids on the pier. In Bluffton, while riding bikes along the roadside, I was fighting the wind in the lead position. I had my head down concentrating on a cadence to maintain speed. A nearby noise startled me(I later learned from Skyguy that it was a Canada Goose) and I looked up to see a positively huge snake at the edge of the road just ahead of me. I swerved, but words failed me. Luckily, he saw the snake, too. It was a dead king snake, but it had to have just eaten the largest eastern diamondback on the coast because that was the largest king snake I've ever seen. I did not even know that they got that large, and even though I clearly saw the yellow markings on the snake, my brain just would not register that it was a king snake due to its size. I swear it was the size of my arm, but Skyguy says it wasn’t quite that large. Of course, we saw gulls, Brown Pelicans and other shore birds, too. I never realized this until we got home and I looked it up, but we don’t have Black Vultures here, only Turkey Vultures.