Thankful Blogging Challenge

Thankful Blogging Challenge

Day #1: People, places or things…what are you thankful for?

Things I am thankful for :
My Family~  Laurie, Lynell, Sheri and their Families who are my Families :D
My Friends and my Tribe ~
              What Blessing all of you are and you know who you are you sly minxes 

My Critturs~
              What unconditional love looks like

The Scenery~ I live in a Progressive State which hasn't succumbed -so far- to Theocratic or Oligarchic pandering, nor has entirely bowed to H$U$ prohibition.

Cool stuff like a roof that doesn't leak, and a pellet stove that warms the place up.
Down blankets.
Down pillows with Salvation Army stain pillow cases.
Chest freezers full of chicken for the Kidz

Sleepy Time tea with honey
Song Dogs and the Howlelujah Choir

>^,,^<

Seven and a Half Years #BAD11

Seven and a Half Years #BAD11 (which is some kind of Tweet-speak about Blog Action Day)

Having just been let go from my Dream Job –oh wait, let me redefine that , of all the jobs I’ve done, all the work I’ve fallen into, everything I’ve been paid to do, the job I have loved the best was working at the Garden Center. It’s been leased now, and the new owners don’t have room for me… “Well, maybe next March or April” which is a soothing salve for my now-downtrodden ego, but doesn’t put chicken in the mouths of the woofers, or litter in the cat boxes, not to mention food on the table for this Winter- I find myself having to redefine myself all over again. (the shade of Yogi Beara sits on my shoulder for that sentence)

One of the things I was most passionate about with this job, and my new life of 7 & a half years in Oregon was food crops and organic methods of gardening. The town I wound up in, (a pin stick in a map from long long ago) is a very small rural town with old farmers and old hippies and young people yearning for a more natural life away from the sick smelly rat race. Or trapped here, there are those who say that too. It’s a slice of Rural America here. And as small as this town is, it has the pulse of “what’s important”. Because the stuff that’s really important gets steamed off into a thicker, more pungent gravy in a small town. A small town has less room to maneuver, less of a bumper, small decreases of economy hit harder in rural small towns. One business that goes under is one BIG domino.

So when the economy started showing signs of shivering and weakly pneumonia, I saw people who hadn’t planted gardens in years or never start coming down to the garden center to ask me about how to plant their gardens.. What to grow? Where to grow it? Why do my tomatoes have spots? Why does my peach tree have red blotches on the leaves? What’s this grey green fuzzy stuff? I didn’t get any onions last year, can you tell me what to do? And I did, I researched, and I read. My library of gardening, and gardening techniques, and organic methods is fairly hefty. Lots of old books with some outdated information, and some lost gems of wisdom.. And I took seminars, and pounced on every event that any supplier put on… Seed trials, soil improvement and elements of healthy soil, pest integration systems, anything everything that had anything to do with gardening naturally. I have learned a great deal about living, about growing, about what works, and why, and why not.

I discovered a lot of things, mostly through that age-old Task Master, “trial and error” . Gardening naturally is harder work –especially in a commercial business- than traditional chemical methods. This past year that has really sunk in, when we realized that white flies had taken root in a BIG way in the third greenhouse- the propagation house. The past ownership wasn’t much into doing anything beyond taking money for plants. CARE of plants, or greenhouse upkeep just wasn’t in their business plan. I sprayed daily, using Neem, pepper wax spray and Pyrythrin alternately, and we cleaned the house of all weeds, sterilized the benches, segregated the plants, and once Winter hit, I was going to drop the sides and bomb the greenhouses with a pyrythrin bug bomb. That didn’t happen, because the place got leased, and the new owners are chemical people. He’s registered as a pesticide sprayer. First day there, all the weeds were given their last rites with Round Up. The last 3 weeks I had purchased some white fly predators, and I gave them the last strip. So the white flies will not be given them any grief, I am sure. What pests escape the predators, the new owners will kill with pesticides.

So why did I make more work for myself? Because I was the one who had to do the spraying, and I do not have a HazMat suit to do this, and I don’t want to have chemicals around me. They are nasty, poisonous, deadly, and the garden center borders a drainage ditch of significance which drains straight into the Clackamas River. The water table is so high there, that you can’t even sink a toilet, you have to have a port-a-potty. All that poison drift, all the pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, all that goes straight into the river, and I didn’t want that on my conscience. And because we sell FOOD items, plants that make food for people, plants that will be living with us for a while until they find their new owners, and I don’t want to ingest poisons, and I sure don’t want to sell a food plant that’s been soaked or sprayed with poisons to my neighbors, because well, dang it, I sure wouldn’t want to grow a plant that I plan to eat off of that’s been loaded with toxic chemicals…

There’s enough of that around. We have seen way too much of the results of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) as we have grown in this Country. We were given milk from cows who were saturated with bovine growth hormones, and fed grain which included the crushed up bones and meals of companion pets. And we wonder why little girls of 8 are going through menses, and why cows go mad with bovine encephalitis. We try to eat better, and get e-coli from our spinach because AgriBusiness doesn’t have enough port-a-potties in their fields, so their workers use “the bushes”, which leaches into the fields of “garden fresh” vegetables trucked direct to your table. And then the attacks on small organic farms by Monsanto, and the push to use GMOs as a food source for ANY living creature (don’t eat the popcorn at the movies, *dang!* cheap GMO corn) even tho in Europe, the studies have proven time and again to be linked to very bad mojo long term diseases…. Glyphosate Birth Defects ) I’m well past child-bearing years, (long story) but why would I chance ingesting a product which has been proven time after time after time to be poisonous? WHY would anyone trust a company who repeatedly settles out-of-court so they don’t have to state how many times they have been taken to court and LOST?? I’m just afraid now to eat stuff not locally produced by people who use organic methods of farming.

Consumers need to know this: We need to be actively aware of what we choose to purchase at our stores, we NEED to be proactive about our food choices.
Monsanto & Glyphosate Toxicity studies
GMO corn study reveals health damage and cover up
We are being fed a crock of unuseable compost regarding GMOs. Mad Cow disease is a result of using meat & meats meals rendered from all sources (pets, other animal stock, downed farm animals) and fed to HERBIVORES along with bovine growth hormones in order to produce more milk, more meat, bigger better more more more than we can sustainably ask of any farm animal or food source. And why, when there is a ban on feeding ruminants any mammalian byproducts, why hasn’t the USDA actually implemented and enforced the bans, the proposed laws and consumer protection? Instead, we get to have GMO corn pushed on us by the very people who are supposed to be protecting us. Is our USDA bought and paid for? WTH??? and the bee decline has been linked substantially to 1) re-sizing combs bigger to produce more honey -mites get in over the bodies of the bees who aren't big enough to block the re-sized combs- and 2) from wide-spread use of systemic pesticides where the bees gather the pollen off flowers which have been treated with this systemic, and the bees die as well as the bad bugs which feed off the plants.

I can see, actually, why someone who believes in the status quo, who believes that chemical pesticides and herbicides are the way to go, why someone like that would not necessarily be interested in hiring a person like myself. After all, chemical methods of plant care ARE more effective, short term. It’s the LONG TERM where their shortcomings and the dangers come from, and many people in the plant industry are not concerned about the long term. They are concerned with the short term, the plants and products they can sell TODAY, this week, and to hell with the cost over the long term. I can see it, because I know myself pretty well, and I’m a big mouth, especially when it comes to something I am passionate about. I won’t be silent, I will not comply, I am recalcitrant beyond measure, and stubborn beyond reasoning. And actually, in this economy, who can blame anybody for thinking about how they can survive TODAY??

I dunno. That’s why I’m redefining myself. That’s why I’m writing this, to raise my own level of awareness. I was a professional gardener. Now I’m just another natural gardening advocate. I wonder where this road will lead me.

>^,,^<

Paws for Japan

I keep seeing the man's face and that's me, I see it now, we are all one.

World Vets is putting on a Blog-A-Thon in order to drum up help for their relief plans for Japan, and for the animal survivors there. If you should be able to donate, please click the link just above here. They are doing a very good job.



I, like most of you, have been watching the terrible stream of tragedies which has devastated Japan over these past weeks... Losing sleep over the faces I have seen on the web, worrying about the nuclear fallout... Will it come here? It's "just across the pond"... Weeping along with the people of Japan, both in terror, and in joy as they find pieces of their old lives, in particular, as they find their loved ones...

I just got word that my dearest Heart Friend Larry and his wife Yan have evacuated safely for weeks? months? they are unsure but safe. Holding them close in my prayers!

And there's this cat who lives with his Family named Maru whom I have been watching for some time now on YouTube, and one night I awoke in my traditional "middle of the night wakie wakies" thinking OMG! I wonder if Maru and his Family is OK? I asked on FaceBook, and sure enough, someone had heard from them! Maru was afraid, they said, and continues to be nervous about all the shaking about that the Earth is doing, but they are doing fine, and are safe.

And then there is Cat Island, or Tashirojima, which is a "paw pad" shaped island off of the Japanese mainland. This Island's population is almost entirely elderly with cats. LOTS of cats. They are in pretty dire need of the basics, but they survived the tsunami by being on the "right" side of the island. Here's another post from Love Meow

This woman refused to evacuate because the authorities wouldn't allow her to take her dog. She and her wee sheltie friend, Yosuke, shivered and huddled together for three days before rescuers came for her. I know there are some folks who would say that was silly, but that's me, there... There is NO WAY I'd leave my Kidz behind, NO WAY. They are all the "Children"-type Family I have. I'm with you, M'am, save me, save my pets.


I don't have television, so I have not seen the images of water and fire enveloping Japan, nor have I seen the explosions at the nuclear power plants. I suppose I could hunt up videos on YouTube, if I needed to see the damage, but I won't... The pictures in my mind are terrible enough.. The hurt I suffer empathically is vivid enough to do me without watching it unreel before me. I just can't watch it. But I can write, and hopefully, someone will read, and be moved to donate some needed monies to the huge undertaking of helping our neighbors.

When I was in 6th grade, I did a report on Japan. I immersed myself in the learning of the culture. My Daddy had gone there while he served in the Navy, and while I was in the 6th grade, he was in Korea, fighting. It made me feel closer to him, doing this report. I still have the geisha dolls he sent us. The world seemed so gigantic, so very impossible to conceive of its' hugeness, its' expanses back then. Daddy seemed so very far away, a galaxy, a universe. When I need serenity, I think about the Zen of living. How so many people people crammed together in such a small space, yet ... Freedom is in the Heart, they say without a sound spoken. Now I find myself doing another report on Japan, a mere 42 years later and the World is tiny, accessible, "just around the corner", "We Are All One", thee and I .... This one is just from the heart. If you can help, will you? Dozo and Domo Arigato.
The Rescuers

>^,,^<

Memorial Trees: Fall is for Planting

Autumn is a melancholy joy, such deep and abiding beauty, and behind the gauzy veils of Fall's Bright Tresses, sits Lady Death, She Who Weaves, She who takes in this thread, and cuts another. I see Her rocking at my pond side, counting the leaves, and as Dr. Clarissa says, tapping her foot and folding and unfolding her gloves.

When I was around eight years old, we moved out to the Country, to a big house with a scorched earth policy. They had scraped the top of the High Chaparral acre clean and clear of every shubbery and plopped a square white house on it. But it was "in the Country", and I loved it. My Grammy took me for a walk one day, with a shovel and a small bag and walked us down to the property line and unveiled a small Brazilian Pepper tree sapling. She told me to start digging a hole. When it was big enough to her satisfaction, she showed me how to tickle the wee tree's roots, and nest it into it's bed securely and safely, tamping the soil over the top. When we were done, she stepped back, looked at me, and said words that will follow me forever: "This is the Kathy Tree."

That tree is still there, Lo! These 40+ years ago, huge, magnificent, healthy. I moved from that house long and long ago, but the tree still calls my name in the breeze, if only I listen carefully.

When Grammy bought the house next door, we proceeded to plant the Unca Richie Tree, (an eastern redbud) the Auntie Lorrie Tree, (a Parlour Palm which was supposed to only grow to 8' tall, but when we planted it, beneath the patio at the corner, loved the site so much, that it pushed the roof. We eventually cut a hole in the roof, and the tree grew to a grandiose height of 25' tall. I moved from that house, where I took care of my Grammy, six years hence, but those trees are also still there, and also call my name on nights when the warm winds comes up from the South.

For Chrsitmases, I always bought a live tree, and planted them wherever I was living. San Diego is dotted with evergreens from my many residences, before I came home to take care of Grammy.

And now, the leaves are turning and Fall is brushing her long luscious locks, shaking her hair out. Fall is for planting. I bought a pink dogwood for Jerry Lipetzky, and I have his hole all dug out and ready next to the pond. The Jerry Tree. I think he'll like it there, listening to the ducks and the Great Blue Heron. I bought an Eastern Redbud tree, and I shall plant that next to the aspen tree, to shed dappled dancing light and shade into my living room during the hot hot spells of Summer. She shall be the Grammy Tree.

It will be like coming Home.

>^,,^<

To Jerry Lipetzky

The World lost an Advocate of Laughter last month, and today, everyone who knew him will either be at El Monte Park, or will be there in spirit to remember him, to laugh with him again, and to share what the man meant to so very many.

Jerry's Celebration of Life

Legacy Page

Jerry's Art (Besides the obvious!)

I hear Teachers say "I took this job because I wanted to make a difference", and Jerry truly did. He took a 9th grade required class, and unscrewed our parched mind and hydrated us with thinking, with vicarious living, with safety, with Nature, with the simple joy of breathing and laughing. He was Gallagher before Gallagher was Gallagher, smashing watermelons to demonstrate the audacity of maps, peeling oranges to show how they got that weird round blue marble onto a flat surface, squishing a sow bug to show what Europe looks like. He was most of our first glimpse into haute culture, preparing escargot, loving the smell, but unable to get past the fact that Johnny kept telling me he'd seen an antenna frantically squirming from between my lips "Help Me!" nibbling on small pieces of limberger cheese and crackers, pinkie extended, don' ya know..

And the extracurricular classes like the Bike Club where I joined the elite of Alpine at the Peugeot Plunge, adding my Subhuman monster to the collection of twisted limbs and spokes in the Malstead Mash, and later in the Season of the Vaqueros, the Lake Henshaw trip, where I was clipped by a trucker, and proved my ability to bounce bodily like a big rubber ball, and where that night, I caught a volkswagon bug on its' way into the gas pumps by jumping through the open driver's window and steering it -just barely- to the left where it hit the curb, but missed the gas pump. Picture it if you will, it is dark, and I see a volkswagon trundling straight at me, no lights on. "OH aren't you funny!" Wait, I can't see who is driving.. Goodness! They are shorter than I am ! Odd.. Maybe the dog is driving.. No wait.. No REALLY, wait now.. NO DRIVER??? uh oh .. What do I do? OK, do something to make car 1 not hit gas pump 2 and go boom. Yes, that's right. Go ahead OW!! I hit my noggin!

And the Summer of Archeology with Jeff Abshear at the Bancroft House where I suspect they still have our journal on display, Jeff with his outrageously delightful illustrations and me with the gift of gab and goofiness. We discovered three extraordinary finds! A proj point obviously used for brontasauri, an incredibly rare leaverite, and grape stakes from the orchard. Finding the joy in dirt, sweeping each dusting of the past away to reveal the puzzle pieces of that past. In this case, a rather interesting juxtaposition of Native peoples, Spaniash peoples, and Western European peoples.

Yes, Jerry was pivitol in our lives, in all our lives. He gave us a safe place to think and ponder, a safe place to question authority, an exciting and safe place to explore. He also gave many of us our first glimpse into living sustainably. Some of us needed this safety. Some of us needed the space to open our wings. Some of us went along for the ride, and what a ride it is! Thank you Jerry, for every smile, for every brush stroke, for every laugh at the absurd, for every Gift of yourself you gave us. Thank you, Jerry for being such a wonderful Teacher, Mentor, Delight and Inspiration. Thank you, Jerry, for your time.

With All My Love and Undying Admiration,

Kat Malstead
Class of '75

Spay Neuter and Free Pregnant Cats?????

In response to a post I read on a wonderful Blog:
/free kittens free older kittens free cats free pregnant cats???

Thank you so much for this Blog post! I have 16 cats now. I came to this state with 5 cats -all spayed and neutered- 2 of my Grammy's very elderly cats, and three ferals I had rescued as wee small tinies whom I bottle fed (and spayed and neutered) Then I found Puddles starving -literally- in my orchard. And while I was unable to catch her and get her spayed before the coyotes got her, I DID manage to trap her three litters and have THEM all spay/neutered and vetted. Then came Mimi -a pregnant non-feral dumpee- and her three kittens. The last is Velcro, yet another cared-for dumpee, who has yet to be neutered, but he's quite young yet (I figure only 2 & a half months old yet) Merp is spayed and an outside kitty who sleeps in the motorhome at night for protection. That leaves one wily ol' Tom who has thus far eluded the live trap.

14 cats inside, and 2 outside cats. I had so many promises of homes, but surprisingly, nary a one was interested in the kittens when they discovered that my demands included spay/neutering.

WHY??? If you love your sweet kitties, why in the hell's half acre of demented thinking don't we teach our people to value their lives by spaying & neutering?

hmmm /vent off. But thanks again for this thought provoking Blog post. Adding your link to my Blog now.

For those of us in Oregon, I highly suggest this FABULOUS organization to be book marked. They have helped me tremendously in my efforts to get the ferals in my area spayed and neutered. The Oregon Spay and Neuter Fund

>^,,^<

On Mothers and Daughters

Right about this time of year, regular as clockwork, dependable as the setting of the sun, I find myself getting melancholey and thinking of stuff. Now, as we all know, I AM a Problem Thinker so it shouldn't be surprising, this deep contemplation of mine.

I waver between sorrow and gratitude. Sorrow for the losses and loneliness, gratitude for the many Blessings I have. I miss my Family, I miss my childhood, I miss my Tribe. I miss the familiar places of my youth. I am grateful for my new Tribe, I am incredibly grateful for the paradise and cornucopia of richness of my home.

I have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. Even if I wind up spending it alone (I might just cook a turkey for leftovers) it'll all be well.

And one of my deepest Blessings is my Mommy. My Mama and I are as two peas in seperate pods. Grown of different types of peas. She's a Pole pea, I'm a Bush pea. :~) This has caused us no lack of consternation and frustration throughout my life, for both of us. Our differences are enough to make us butt heads, and our similarities are enough to make us butt heads.

As you might guess, we have spent much of our lives butting heads.

But my Mama is a wonderful, strong woman with a heart as big as Texas. I remember once, I was sent home from school and kicked off the bus for causing trouble. But I WASN'T. The kids behind me were. The bus driver was just fed up with their ofttimes violent shenanigans, and blew up. She wasn't feeling inclined to listen to another kid. The School was not inclined to listen to another kid, either. So I was sent home, with now, no way to get to school for the rest of the month for something I hadn't done. When Mama got home from work and I told her what happened, she took the next morning off, and drove me to school. She marched up to the bus driver, told her to get her hiney into the office NOW! and then proceeded to march into the office. With my hand held firmly in hers, she was every bit as intimidating as any drill sargeant. She read them all the riot act. I was back on the bus that afternoon.

Once we had a van big enough to transport the Irish and kids and accoutrement of dog shows hither and yon. It blew some part- transmission part, as I recall- and Mama took it to Car Doc (I THINK that was the name. They are no longer in business) for an estimate and repairs. They gave my Mom an estimate. Two days later, when we went to go pick it up, that estimate had tripled, and they refused to give the van back, or to honor the estimate. OR to produce what work had been done! My Amazon Princess Mom went down their entire counter with an armsweep and cleared it all to the floor. Then went home and hired a lawyer. Car Doc released our van at the estimate price the next week.

Once, I was feeding the horses, and Mom had gone into the shed to fetch more hay, when I heard ear-splitting terrifying shrieks of sheer horror. I came rushing into the shed, to find my Mama, the Amazon Princess, standing on a small chair screaming. I got her calmed down enough to divulge the nature of the beast who had so frightened her. My Mama, the bravest woman in the world besides my Grammy, had been treed by a mouse. I have to admit that I lost it. I just started to laugh so hard that I couldn't stand, and fell into the hay rolling in peels of laughter, later to be pummeled by flakes of hay by my brave and treed mama.

Another time, as we were riding our horses down the River bottom, Mama all dolled up in her new saddle, new boots, new fancy Western riding gear, new tooled leather bridle, me with my recalcitrant shetland pony Star (who in their right mind EVER gives a child a shetland? They are as mean as junkyard dogs! Get a Welch. Taller, yes, but EVER so much more companionable) with my well-oiled hand-me-down gear. I tried to tell Mama not to take the path she was aimed at, because there was a deep spot there, but Mama didn't listen to me. She was a VERY good rider, but I have always been in tune with horses. The horse Mama was riding LOVED water! LOVED it. Would drop and wallow in the shallowest bit of a mud puddle jut slike a pig. She whickered softly, I saw her ears prick deeply forward and an excited gleam flash in her eyes. I started to say "Mama! Watch ou...." and that horse bunny hopped into the deep spot and rolled. With Mama still attached. When the horse was done, Mama looked a wee tad bedraggled. All her beautiful clothes and all her new gear was caked and dripping with black eluvial river bottom silty sticky mud.

Oh and that was not the END of my poor mama's humiliation at the hooves of that rascally horse! Nay! Later, Mama was talking about something, and she turned just as a HUGE grasshopper flew straight into her open mouth! I heard a *crunch* and then a splutter more splutters, gagging and spitting as Mama tried to get that nasty grasshopper out of her mouth, along with that nasty brown "tobacco" stuff that squished grasshoppers emit. It was not a pretty sight. It was, however, a very FUNNY sight.

Mama has two birthdays. One is tomorrow, November 16th, which is the day she was born. The other one is the one she is most proud of, as that is her AA Birthday, the day she quit drinking. It's in April. I am so very proud of her! Our Family is all so very proud of her. It was a terrible struggle, and she deserves to be proud of this accomplishment.

For years, round about this time of year, Mama would disinherit me for one dumb reason or another, a threat to which I would shrug and tell her I was never in it for the money anyway. Round about this time of year, Mama and I would almost inevitably get into some kind of silly row. I wound up dreading this time of year. But we have both grown up, my Mommy and me.

Mama had me when she was still very young, and my Grammy kind of took over the job of raising me. When Mama had my sister Lynell, she was much better prepared to have a child. There were many times when I felt so sad that "Mama didn't love me like she loved Lynell", that "Lynell was always Mama's favorite", and all the typical sibling sorrow and Maternal angst. Now I know that Mama did the best she could. We all make mistakes that we wish we could take back. Sometimes we are not afforded the time to make it up. Sometimes we are not given the time to ask forgiveness, nor to give it.

I am Blessed. I get to see my Mommy for New Years', and spend some time with her, and I get to spend some time with my Tribe. We shall sing in the New Year, this shiney new bauble of 2010. I have the opportunity to have the time to be with my Mommy. It feels so incredibly blessed to find my True Friend in my Mother. I love you, Mommy!

>^,,^<

All Souls Day

Yesterday was tricksy. It was the first anniversary in which Vinnie has been dead. It took me a while to write that sentence, I wanted to say "Vinnie was with the Angels", but that is a euphemism meant to make the fact of Vince's death less painful to see in writing. Yet, it's true, he's one of my Guardian Angels now.

Now I know there are those who do not believe in that. And there is the distinct possibility that I believe because I WANT to believe, because it is comforting to believe that he is with me still, is with all of us who loved him. In the same way I believe in the Rainbow Bridge, I believe I shall see him again.

I guess that proves that I count our Animal friends as important as our human friends. I shall see them all again, in the great by and by. It's taken me a bit of a while to write this. There is much sorrow, still much anger, and now I find that there are regrets.

As often as we say to ourselves --nay, as often as I have told myself that I shall not make the same mistakes, I find -in hindsight- that I did. I made the same mistake, and I have made this painful one thrice.

And as I am want, I find a smidge of dark humor in my grief, and in my exploration of it. I am now -in some Churches- a blasphemer! In the same umbrella of Christianity, I would be stoned, or burned at the stake as a witch, or tossed in the pond with stones clutched to my breast knowing the proof of my non-witchiness was my death by drowning. How droll! I believe that Animals and Trees and Plants and even Rocks have Souls, have personaility, have intelligence, and were created by the same Source as I. Are thus deserving of the same basic respect. HA! Ah well, so be it.

But Halloween was my Anniversary (see above, I am STILL irreverant!) and my first Anniversary as a widow. And November First was All Saint's Day, when the Catholic Church Honors all the Saints of History. But November 2nd is the day I get confused with. This is All Souls Day, when we hold our Ancestors and Those Who Have Passed close to our hearts, the day when we Remember. In Mexico, and in many of the Catholic countries of South America, All Souls Day is a time of Gifting, of sharing memories, of Celebrations of Life. In Cancun, we all danced in the streets, like Carnivale, a festival time, irreverant, smiling and joyous of memory of those people who look over our shoulders from beyond the veil. (Another interesting euphemism) I baked sweets for the children, and helped prepare the evening meal for my roomies. And then I partied like it was 1983. (which it was)

When I moved to Oregon, I lost Grammy's ashes for some months before I could find the box her box was in. So I have her ashes in my breakfront, her very favorite piece of furniture. It's in my dining room, where she can be with me.

So as I remember these two very important people in my life, I also have to face the mistakes I made. The times when I was frustrated and not kind. The times when I was neglectful. The times when I was distant. The things I could have done better. I am trying hard to forgive myself for the unkind moments I allowed myself with both of these people. Despite my excuses and my reasons, the fact remains, that if I am ever in the position again, I hope I remember writing this. I hope I remember the sleepless nights I have tossed and turned through berating myself for my times of frustration and my unkindness.

I'm reading a very interesting book called "The Bitch, The Crone, and the Harlot" I resisted for a few months, because I found those terms oddly offensive. But I went ahead, and I am reading it, and I have found -besides Ms Schachterle's use of those three terms, chosen on purpose- much to learn within its pages. I will try to remember. I will hold my memories close to my heart. I will learn from my mistakes, and embrace the lessons.

And here, on this windy November morning, the sharp wind picks up the fountain's small geyser and casts it sideways. The water resumes its' carressing of the concrete figure in its' path, the form of a maiden water bearer. I wonder if there's a lesson there?

May all your Blessings not have to wait until Thanksgiving to be present in your life.

>^,,^<

Blog Action Day: Global Warming? Why, It's COLD out there!

Post Script



Ever since I moved from San Diego up to this rural Paradise where I now call Home, I've been teased about worrying about Global Warming. It still snows here. It still rains here. Folks haven't noticed such a big difference.

But where I came from, there is a HUGE difference. I was raised in a very rural part of east county San Diego, at the foothills of the Cleveland National Forest. It used to snow there every other year. There hasn't been snow there for upwards of 20 + years. The summers now range in the triple digits for weeks into months now, not a couple of errant days. As long as you can bring water to the plants, there is no "out-of-season".. BUT "bringing water to the plants" is now problematical, as the Colorado River is being sucked dry, as is the Sacramento River. Summers are now filled with brown-outs and water rationing as the status quo. I go to visit my Mom every Winter, and walking down the streets of my old hometown is a jarring, jangley experience. It's dry, it's rustley, it's dusty and thirsty and parched. And the places where water still roams wild, those places are still brown along the edges, crispy, sad, with cracked mud like aged ancient sun stroked skin.

There is no more "non fire season" in San Diego. San Diego now has a twelve-month long fire season. Winters are brown and dusty, and what little rain that comes gets sucked away, or washes away the top soil in gullies from the previous burns.

The land is parched, the people disconnected from the land. The land is being cut up, chopped up, burnt and fenced off, the forests burn unchecked. Is it any wonder that SoCal people feel disconnected from the land? I can only imagine how it feels to be a real City person... I know I couldn't do it.

So from my vantage point, busy making terrible landscaping mistakes up here in the Great Pacific Northwest where rain is free falling right from the sky with nary an impediment, Global Warming is a fact of life. It affected me deeply. It chased me from my birth home. It still affects me.

I shut the water off when I brush my teeth. I worry when the water takes a bit to warm up in my shower, worry that I'm wasting water, but I just cannot brace myself to take cold showers up here. I resist allowing the hose to trickle in that NW trick of fooling the freeze. I wrap the faucets up in bubble wrap, instead. I'm piecing together rain barrels. I should have them up and ready next year. I worry about watering my gardens, and I figure that I need to divert that run-off into a source where I can tap it.

My other project is to see if I can tap the washing machine grey water for watering the landscape plants. That shouldn't be TOO hard, but I will need help in accomplishing it...

I have pictures of it snowing in Flinn Springs. I have memories -- not pictures, mind you, because we got into too much trouble skidding down the snowy hill in our new white britches --which got quite ruined-- on our butts as kids! This was in 1962.
I shall find the pictures of our wee home nestled in a blanket of snow. San Diego in a Norman Rockwell dream sequence.

So when my neighbors and room-mate tease me about being so water-conscience (or paranoid as it is also called), or when they laugh at me about my belief that Global Warming is not a myth, I shall nod, and go about the business of trying to prepare for the time when the PNW is under water rationing.

Since my career is now in horticulture, I watch articles about climate and how it affects insects and fungus. The nursery business is particularly susceptable to infestations of both of these pests.

I notice that White Pines in the PNW have been hit very hard by overwintering beetles. I notice that quarantines have affected the Nursery industry, in particular regarding transportation of plants. Oregon State put out an excellent and frightening article about the affects and unknown qualities of
Phytophthora ramorum

I found these articles to be quite disturbing:
Assessing the consequences of global change for forest disturbance from herbivores and pathogens

Mountain Pine Beetle

Doesn't this look familiar?

And what about my home town? Estacada is "The Christmas Tree Capital of the World"... How does global warming affect this beautiful rural heaven? When Winters don't have hard freezes, when Winters are mild, these bark beetles can overwinter in the forests and in the tree lots.

IPM (Integrated Pest Management) can only do so much. Look at this article about the Christmas Tree industry and all the things they must do to grow the trees we routinely throw away come New Years' :
Integrated Pest Management in Christmas Tree Production
What can we do when the Winters remain mild, and the bettles come to eat? We NEED the cold -- the hard cold, the hard freezes-- that kill these invasive and devasting pests. Not to mention the ability to ship non-infected trees and shrubs to other nurseries across the state. Oregon economy is dependant on the Nursery industry. There's been a 17% decrease in Nursery sales and I don't believe that that fact is wholely reliant upon the economy. Much of the decline is due to crop failures and damage.

I dunno. I just think it's pretty odd that there are so many folks who don't believe in this thing called Global Warming when, to me, it's all around me. In my short 50+ years, it's wrapped me 'round with it's tentacles of fear and worry. So I'll just frown and keep my worry to myself, and keep watching the weather, and keep saving water, and keep on being as sustainable as possible.

>^,,^<

Blog Action Day! I'm In, are you?



Addendum: In beautiful and relatively unknown Maldive, the political party there is taking Global Warming pretty darned seriously. It's been hypothesized that their island will be underwater by the end of the century. I wonder if our American naysayers, if THEY lived in Maldive, would they be so certain that climate change was a hoax put on by the radical tree-hugging Left? I think not.

Off to muse with my muse....

>^,,^<

Lessons from the Universe

I am doing some Reading (with a Capital "R") about life changes. About Spirit. About the Great Mystery. About God. About the Goddess. About Balance, and Patience, and Lessons, and about how I may take the lemons of my life, and turn them into delicious lemonade.

Well, the Universe is definitely giving me my Lessons. Today, an employee of the Company I work for called me up at home and read me the riot act about all the hard work "everyone else does", and how it's unfair that I "sit inside and play on FaceBook or whatever."

I did speak my Truth, but I could feel myself get hot and metallic inside. I fought most of that back.

Here's this little girl who -bless her heart- just graduated College with her BA. I have to admit to being jealous! I make the assumption that her Family paid for that education, or the State did. I make the assumption that she did not pay her way through her education by her own monies, via her own blood and sweat. I make the assumption that she's been coddled and given her living, her housing, her food, that she's never had to live in her car, that she's never had to deal with homelessness, that she has never had to pull herself out of the mud by her own bootstraps.

So I make those assumptions, and then I have to tell myself, those are assumptions. I know nothing about her background, I know nothing about the trials she has suffered. I could call her, and ask her. I know she is paying for her education via part time jobs and through the summer. Bless her heart. I could call her and ask her who pays for her room and board. Does she have another job to pay for her room & board? Or does her InLaws help support her? She lives with them. I could ask her does she have a mortgage that she is struggling to meet so she doesn't end up on the streets again? If, indeed, she has EVER lived on the streets?

I could. But I won't. Or will I? Would knowing her circumstances and sharing mine further my evolution? Would knowing anything about a girl whose plans include Teaching --when she makes such wide ranging assumptions about others can she Teach? -- would sharing my trials and knowing hers help me in my Journey? I don't know. I just don't know.

I'll have to think about it. I'll have to search inside myself and discover if I just don't give fig about a person who won't be here in a month, but perhaps will be here next Summer, or if the Sharing is part of the Lesson.

What do YOU think??

>^,,^<

Chaos Moment by Moment

There are days where no matter how tightly you hold on the control button, the "Rewind" or "Delete" buttons are just set on "No Reply, LOADING, Please Wait." *sigh* This is the tail of one of those days.

I tell you, I AM TOO in control of my Life! (right?) :~o

I am attempting to go back to school, and try for my Master's in some kind of business venue where I can;
1) Make a Living Wage plus a wee bit to Nest Egg.
2) Have a job that I enjoy, one I can be creative with, one which I can use to help folks with, and where I can still work part-time at "my" wee little Garden Center which I love.
3) Have some kind of stability which is not reliant on weather or the Economy.
4) Something Useful.

So, I looked into University of Phoenix.It really sounds like a terrific College! But I am very frustrated with the online application process. *bah* Trying to get funding. I spent 45 min. being put on hold, transfered, re-transfered, re-holded, re-processed and spat out as inappropriete. So I don't know if this particular line of reasoning will be do-able. *bah*

So after the eighth re-hold/disconnect, I called my physical therapist to verify my appointment. I called at 11:55 am, expecting my appointment at 1 pm. Au Contraire! I am due at Noon. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! Low flying aircraft! Wolfdancer Airlines, taking off on Runway #9.

And now I am awaiting my appointment with Doctor Sarah. Doctor Orth is recuperating from his hip transplant surgery. I hope he's doing well!

I am sitting in downtown Estacada at the Scenes 'N' Beans Coffee Shop Their website isn't quite done yet. (*gee* If I had my Master's in Web Design, I could offer to build it for them!) Just finished watching the tail end of Overboard, and now I get to watch the beginning of Pink Panther 2 with Steve Martin. Funniness!

I found this on You Tube
I saw these guys at the Lakeside Rodeo, one of the last Ole Tyme Ro-DAY-os, long with the Pendleton Roundup. I wound up with really ugly seats which had no stage view. This was --by who knows-who!-- brought to the attention of a lovely lady in side comment as I was on the prowl for the Refreshment Booth. Turns out she was one of the wives. We got upgraded to the third row. GREAT seats! where we could watch the show without pillers and screens before us.
The Highwaymen and their Lovely Wives, real life style

How delightful to see these Legends and their Ladies relaxed and having fun!

Well, home sweet home, Me's'a going out to wheelbarrow shavings.

>^,,^<

The Weird Meet the Council of Logic

So this Beverly Hills twit is trying to cast a Trap/Neuter/and Release (TNR) Advocate who's been feeding stray cats (and trapping them, and getting them altered IN OTHER WORDS, she's part of the SOLUTION, not the Problem) into the Brig for disobeying the law. Well, Bless Her Heart. (If you would like a translation of that little gem, I will write it up in a minute, and edit it for *HERE*)

WHAT IN THE GODS FORSAKEN GOODNESS is with this idiot?? (Yep, it's my Blog, and I can call this Hollyweird Debutante an idiot if I want to.) Alleys aren't "public", they are semi-private convenience egress and ingress. ANYWAY, here's the Scoop, I thought it was well done!

Beverly Hills Ruling on Ordinance to Criminalize Stray Cat Feeders

The Proposed Ordinance

What a CRIME!! against "Humanity"?

And Another

What are we coming to? This is not enlightened behavior. This is .. tragic, evil and incredibly selfishly stupid.

Perhaps it strikes a chord in me, since all of my cats (all "too many of them") are strays and ferals that I have trapped, spayed/neutered, and either kept safe in my house so they may not be harmed, or released. (Depending on their requirements "personality", or "tameability")

Just Bless this Twit's Wee Little Pea-Shaped Heart.

>^,,^<

I Made Myself a Grammy Sandwich

We get so busy with our lives, making the mortgage, paying the bills, working at a job -- even if you love it --in order to pay those bills, trying to make a Refuge from the Worrisome Ways of the World, working to make a sanctuary in one's own One Mile Radius... We tend to forget what makes us happy, we tend to forget what makes us smile, we tend to forget the little things in life, and sometimes, we tend to forget the ones we love, both past and present. It is definitely in self-preservation. We must shield ourselves sometimes.

But sometimes, life throws us a curve ball, and we swing anyways. I took my new puppy Nihki out for an off-leash run Teaching with my Spirit, up in the Top Yard. She was driving me crazy inside the house, and I thought "OOOO I shall wear her out with FUN!" I snapped a bunch of pics, and then we got caught in the deluge. After about an hour --me drenched, the puppers drenched, neither of us caring much, after all, we are not made of spun-sugar-- we hei'd ourselves back to the house.

I got out of my sopping wet clothes into some dry warm ones, and fixed myself some food. By that time it was 3 pm, and I had forgotten to eat, AND forgotten to take my Advil, so I was hurtin' for certain. As I fixed this yummy sandwich --on home made wheat bread, with ripe avocado, tomaties, clover sprouts and sharp cheddar cheese-- and some green tea, I was overcome with memories of my Grammy, and the lunches I made her. Extra yummy sandwiches filled with as much fresh produce as I could stuff in them, because she was anemic I added spinach instead of lettuce. because she wouldn't eat her veggies, I stuck 'em in her sandwich! And she used to rave about my "special" tea, (I always added a shot of Cap'n Morgan's Spiced Rum, to help cut her pain, and make her mellow)

I miss my Grammy. I hope that where she is now, she knows I did my best, and that she'll forgive me for the times I didn't quite make it to my best. I am so grateful for my friends, for my Tribe, and for my Family.

and now, me's'a gonna eat that sandwich.

>^,,^<

Happy Mother's Day!

Just in time to avoid the scheduled outage, I wish you all a VERY Happy Mother's Day

>^,,^<

Gearing up for WAR

Tuesday, May 12th, the Oregon Legislation in having a public "working" committee on a couple of important Constitution affecting Bills: SB391 and HB2470.

One is about how many dogs you can own. I guess I am WAAAAY Libertarian, and publicly state, if my animal are well loved, and well kept, who the heck has the Right to tell me how I can observe my Constitutionally guaranteed rights of Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness?

The other is SB391, the Exotics Ban Law. We "exotics" or better known as "different" animal owners are being targeted as a "beginning" of an Animal Rights agenda. My neighbor has Savannah cats. They are SO well loved! In GREAT condition, in SUPERIOR containment... I wish that every domestic cat owner would take a lesson on how these so-called "exotic" (read this racially, please) animals kept. MY friends and fellow "racially different animal owners" keep THEIR animals well contained. They don't wander into the neighbor's garden and crap. They DON'T wander into the neighbor's yard and bite the neighbor's FIV-free innoculated cat and infect him with Feline Immune Deficiency Virus. They DON'T wander loose on Publically health-risk packs of marauding vicious "exotic" gangs.

I have another neighbor who has crocodiles. GUESS WHAT??? The only animals I have seen on his property "running loose" (and well-contained ON his own property) are his BEAUTIFUL!!! *sigh!* Fresian horses, and his Llamas. I didn't even know he HAD a crocodile!

I would would rather have my neighbor have a well-contained and well-loved Tiger, than I would my neighbor have a loose at-large dog. My neighbors' (plural) loose, at large dogs crap in my Yard, put my well-contained babies at risk with unknown pathogens, kill my livestock and my way of life.

SO I offer my argument against Species Ban Bills.

Thank you for hearing me today.
My name is Kat Malstead
Owner of Wolfdancer Creek Farm Mission Statement
Webite to follow: Wolfdancer Creek Farm
Member Wolfdog Rescue Resources
Board Member of National Wolfdog Alliance
Member Phoenix Exotics Inc
Member Rexano, Inc
Contributor of Wolfdogs Magazine, Inc
Registered and Active Voter
Registered Member of Certified Naturally Grown, Inc
Member Estacada Garden Club
I am speaking here today in opposition to SB391. I have been told that there are many people that have spoken to this legislation in support of SB391. In my many letters of opposition to this very poorly conceived Bill, I have been told that I needn't worry, that wolfdogs are not on the list of banned species. They are, as they should be, listed as Canis Lupus Familiaris. However, even though I have voiced my opposition in every manner that I can without jumping up and down in rage, even though I have hand carried copies of the Humane Society's true goal in the 2005 legislative session, even though I, and many other law-abiding animal lovers have repeatedly pled for our rights of responsible private animal ownership, I now stand here before you with my heart in my throat, terrified, and I think of Clergyman Martin Niemoller's famous speech:
"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."
Amongst the arguments in support of this Bill are concerns for the publics' safety and health. I would like to ask this Legislation where responsible private owners of ANY animal puts the public at risk. If there is a problem at all, it lies with the fact that the Common Sense Laws that Oregon currently abides by are being laid to the wayside. It lies with IRRESPONSIBLE animal owners. So why are we attempting to legislate & punitively punish ALL animal owners???? Is it just because we so-called "exotic" animal owners are "different"? Isn't that profiling in nature??
I lost an endangered domestic duck, one of my nesting females, the other day to a neighbor dog's attack while running at large. Why do we not enforce our current excellent laws rather than effectively banning animal ownership? It wasn't my neighbor's Lion or Tiger who killed my duck, it was my irresponsible neighbor who let his pet run loose.
The people who sponsored these Bills, the Humane Society of the United States, have stated in plain English that their ultimate goal is the abolishment of animal ownership. This is an Animal Rights organization. They are NOT an Animal WELFARE organization. Let me reiterate: HSUS' goal is to abolish all animal ownership. In their own words:
“We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding. One generation and out. We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding.” Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP of Humane Society of the US, formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, Animal People, May, 1993."
HSUS’s senior management includes a former spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a criminal group designated as “terrorists” by the FBI. HSUS president Wayne Pacelle hired John “J.P.” Goodwin in 1997, the same year Goodwin described himself as “spokesperson for the ALF” while he fielded media calls in the wake of an ALF arson attack at a California veal processing plant. In 1997, when asked by reporters for a reaction to an ALF arson fire at a farmer’s feed co-op in Utah (which nearly killed a family sleeping on the premises), Goodwin replied, “We’re ecstatic.” That same year, Goodwin was arrested at a UC Davis protest celebrating the 10-year anniversary of an ALF arson at the university that caused $5 million in damage. And in 1998, Goodwin described himself publicly as a “former member of ALF.”
HSUS president Wayne Pacelle described some of his goals in 2004 for The Washington Post: “We will see the end of wild animals in circus acts … [and we’re] phasing out animals used in research. Hunting? I think you will see a steady decline in numbers.” More recently, in a June 2005 interview, Pacelle told Satya magazine that HSUS is working on “a guide to vegetarian eating, to really make the case for it.” A strict vegan himself, Pacelle added: “Reducing meat consumption can be a tremendous benefit to animals.”
And HSUS won’t stop at initiatives aimed at livestock farmers and trappers. At the 1996 HSUS annual meeting, Wayne Pacelle announced that the ballot initiative would be used for all manner of legislation in the future, including “companion animal issues and laboratory animal issues.” Pacelle has personally been involved in at least 22 such campaigns, 17 of which HSUS scored as victories. These operations, he said, “pay dividends and serve as a training ground for activists.”
Can you see why we responsible animal owners feel betrayed by these kinds of laws? I Voted for you under the expectation that you would represent my interests. That you would at least listen to your CITIZENRY. Instead, I feel as if the only voices you are hearing are those of a well-funded political Lobbyist group bent on creating panic and fear where there is no cause, and on exterminating pets. I feel as if we are reacting in a knee-jerk manner to a invented situation.
I have no doubts in my heart that each and every one of you are attempting to do your very best to protect animals, and to protect the public's safety and health. But I believe you are being manipulated by a very slick and extremely well-financed organization bent on impinging on MY and other RESPONSIBLE animal owners' Constitutionally guaranteed Rights to Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness. I have no children due to a medical mishap where I lost my only daughter. My animals are all I will ever be granted to nurture. The HSUS would deny me this, saying that if I "need" to nurture, I should nurture my own species.
According to Animal Legal Defense Fund, Oregon has some of the toughest animal abuse laws on the books. Upon light research, the Oregon regulations already in place are quite inclusive and cover all contingencies. The Law as it stands reads: Pursuant to 609.309 Policy on exotic animals. (see OR ST § 609.205 - 609.335 Oregon Department of Agriculture) "It is the policy of this state that the keeping of exotic animals be regulated so as to ensure the health, welfare and safety of those animals and to ensure the security of facilities in which they are kept, so as to avoid undue physical or financial risk to the public. It is the policy of this state that regulation place no more burden upon the keepers of exotic animals than is required to accomplish the purposes expressed in this section." [1985 c.437 §1; 1999 c.699 §4] Oregon's private owner base is peopled with dedicated & responsible persons, who are already regulated by common sense laws. Oregon law even includes a very common sense dangerous/nuisance dog law. http://tinyurl.com/6j7v8 (see Oregon Statute Title 48, Chapter 609 Citation: OR ST § 609.010 - OR ST § 609.994)
In summary, Oregon does not have a problem with exotic animals running at large. We are an independant State with a rich history of Common Sense. I BEG you to oppose these kinds of Ban Laws. They are NOT in the best interests of animals, or of your constituents. They only serve the political aims of the Animal Rights movement, not of Oregon citizenry. Please, enforce our current excellent laws. I beg you again, PLEASE allow the people who are trustworthy the opportunity to succeed.

References & Citations:
Oregon SB391 1st Legislative Summary
Quotes from Animal Rights Activists
75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session

Humane Society of the United States

As they say, "I'm Mad As Hell, and I'm Not Gonna Take It Anymore." I just hope to God, NAY, I PRAY to God that our Representatives decide to come to their senses and not follow HSUS' yellow brick road path over the cliff like lemmings.

/heaves huge sigh.

>^,,^<

Legislation

I am overwhelmed I am carrying a weight of the Atlantians, of a Herculean responsibility. I Voted for MY PRESIDENT, for my Congress... for my Representation, & I find that I need to dedicate a part time job's worth of ... "following" ... "Following" which means -- to be responsible-- the time it takes to read CAREFULLY all senate/house/state/federal Bills, recommendations, suggestions regarding ..... oh everything I might someday be involved in.

Like gardening. Like owning an animal of any kind. Like Farming. Like Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness.

And I can't rely on "someone else" (that so -marvelous "Royal We") to translate the incredibly complex, verbiose, detail-oriented language of the Bills, of the DESCRIPTION of the Bills, of the presentation of the Bills ---let me remind myself that you CANNOT do a "animal rights bill" Google search, because the animal rights activists TERRORISTS hide their lobbying under "agriculture" and other totally incomprehensible sub-titles that regular American College Graduates cannot possibly keep up with.

and I am overwhelmed..... I find myself juggling the welfare and happiness of myself & my animals -- who are the only Family I will ever ever have this lifetime -- with survival....

No wonder I have to take a moment an hour a lifetime worth of consideration that this is a Good Day To Garden. and let me be fertilizer.

>^,,^<

CALL TO ARMS! Man your pens!

AACK! I am drowning in a sea of legislation!

First off, there's Oregon's STUPID Exotic Pets ban! Senate Bill 391. Oregon already has a superb and well-thought-out common sense Permit system, but HSUS, PETA, API and the other Animal Rights Terrorists from out-of-state don't think that's good enough. Since they actively wish to ban the ownership & use of ALL animals, what better way to go about it than starting with the "unpopular" pets?
Read more about this Bill here, and PLEASE write your Congressperson and ask them to OPPOSE this Bill! Oregon’s Anti Exotic Pet Attack

and NOW good ol' Monsanto is at it again. That Evil Empire Demon Spawn has come up with a new plan to control our food sources: Make Small Farms and Farmer's Markets basically illegal. Tree Huggers has a very good write up about this:
Stop HR 875, HR 814, SR 425, And Soon, HR 759

No matter what your political leanings, these kinds of Bills are BAD BUSINESS! We broke Ma Bell up because it was a monopoly, and now we are allowing a monopoly to lobby into our food source! HEY! FARMERS! Backyard Gardeners! Everyone who owns a chicken and gives away eggs to their neighbors or zucchini to their postman! WE CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN!

PLEASE I beg you, please write your Congressperson, your Representative, your Governor, and anyone else you can think of, and stop these terribly wasteful legislative idiocies! Our freedoms are at stake here, by the very peoples who would seek to take control over what and how you eat, and who and what you choose to live with! TAKE BACK CONTROL!

>^,,^<

Put a Little Love in Your Heart!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMj7UcjPZ0U&feature=related

Put a Little Love in Your Heart

Think of your fellow man
Lend him a helping hand
Put a little love in your heart

You see it's getting late
Oh please don't hesitate
Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place
For you and me
You just wait and see

Another day goes by
And still the children cry
Put a little love in you heart
If you want the world to know
We won't let hatred grow
Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place
For you and me
You just wait and see
Wait and see

Take a good look around
And if you're lookin' down
Put a little love in your heart

I hope when you decide
Kindness will be your guide
Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place
For you and me
You just wait and see

Put a little love in your heart
Put a little love in your heart
Put a little love in your heart
Put a little love in your heart
Put a little love in -
Put a little love in your heart...



Out of the darkness, and into the Light, we must shine, shine, shine, shine with every fiber of our beings, shine with every kindness we can muster, shine with all the love we have available. Give it away! Pass it along! Just try to deplete the resevoir of love and kindness within your Spirit, and watch it multiply, watch it blossom, watch it propogate into wee small baby kindnesses sprouting willy nilly all over, to cover the Earth with a foggy blanket of Loving Kindness, so thick you can touch it, if only we try.

Here, Gentle Reader, allow me to touch you, allow me to spread the Love in my Heart from my One Mile Radius to Yours. Allow me to infect you like a plague of gentle smiling.

I make this Vow, that I will try to be fertile with Love, pregnant with Kindness, pollenated with Life. Happy Gardening! Sow the Seeds of Joy! Go Forth and Multiply!

(Tomorrow I get to plant peas! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!)

>^,,^<

Victory Garden in The White House!

Seeds of Change! The Obama Legacy will be one of grassroots power recommitted into Citizen hands. Now the fine people at Change.org are rallying the Troops to select a White House Farmer! I invite you to go Vote for your state farming representative, or if you happen to know any of these fine candidates, Vote for your Favorite Farmer!

How exciting is this! Our own White House Victory Garden, which will help supply fresh foods for the First Family, and help supplement the Food Bank. I am so excited about the changes I see already! I know there are many who still doubt, and well they should. QUESTION AUTHORITY! I say! But as for me, I glory in this grassroots direction. I embrace these winds of change, brisk and heart-felt, cleansing, sweeping away the duff and debris of inconsequentiality, of invisible citizenry slaving away for Big Government, of hopelessness and despair. I dance in the sun of reaffirmation. People Matter. Our voices matter. We Will Overcome, and a New Dawn will shine in our gardens and in our hearts.

>^,,^<

HAPPY NEW YEAR! No, really..

May 2009 be a year of Hope and may we all overcome our Challenges.

>^,,^<