December 2, 2020

The hard freeze we have been expecting for the last week finally arrived.  We have been cautious about our in-ground succulents.  I have mentioned that we covered them with greenhouse netting last week before we got the initial freeze.  They have done well and even taken on a little color due to being stressed by the cold.  Melissa was afraid they might not survive the hard freeze even with the cloth covering.  She waivered back and forth about putting a layer of plastic over them.  Finally, after dark and with the temperature falling, she decided they needed to be covered.  Rather than the plastic, we covered them with old afghans we had in the closet.  We went to bed as the temperatures dropped.

Melissa purchased a digital weather station originally intended to replace the thermometer we use to track the temperature on the porch.  This displays both temperature and humidity and has a memory setting that will display the maximum and minimum temps over the last 24 hours.  While it is easy to check the porch temp, it is more difficult to go outside and read the gauge under the mess netting.  That is especially true at night as the temperatures drop.  Several days ago, I figured out how to set the device up (relatively easy) and put it on the outside bed as a test.  The temperatures dropped to 26F, but the mesh kept the plants at 29F.  Still cold but doable.

When Melissa checked on the plants the morning after the hard freeze, they were doing fine.  None of the succulents had suffered frost burn and they all looked healthy.  The gauge confirmed the afghans had done their work.  The memory feature on the thermometer indicated the minimum reached was a toasty 29F.  The elephant ears (Colocasia) on the other side of the walk did not fare so well.  They have been continuing to flourish despite the cold, although the seed pods had never produced identifiable seed.  When I checked after the hard freeze, they had all withered and laid dead on the ground.   This is the annual cycle of garden life.

Thoughts:  There are several proven ways to learn what works and what does not when it comes to gardening.  Melissa relies on the experts to provide information from their experience to let her know what they have found.  Some of this is online and some from gardener friends she has cultivated (Ha Ha).  The other way is through trial and error.  If something you try works, you do it again.  If it does not, the plants wither and you start over with new plants.  The same can be said about the pandemic.  We can listen to the experts and do what has been shown to work in the past, or we can use trial and error and hope for the best.  Hoping for the best has not worked well so far.  People are not as interchangeable as plants.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

December 1, 2020

Melissa has begun to intrigue me with her cacti and succulent propagation.  After we talked about her plans to make these little guys flourish, I went online to find out more.  As I surfed, I came across a site about the ten rarest cacti in the world.  I opened the first picture and recognized this as one of the cacti in our collection.  As I scrolled through the list, I recognized at least two others we own.   All were listed as rare or endangered.  I asked Melissa about this and she confirmed we did own at least three of the ten, and probably one or two others.  When I read the fine print on the site, they stated the varieties were “rare in the wild,” but were common and in demand among growers.

The Sand Dollar Cactus or Astrophytum asterias (also called sea urchin cactus, star cactus, or star peyote) is a rare spineless cactus that is native to parts of Texas and Mexico.  Although there are only about 2000 wild plants, it is widely cultivated by succulent and cacti enthusiasts.  The Sand Dollar Cactus has been a popular ornamental succulent since it was first collected in the mid-1800’s.  It is this popularity that makes the wild version vulnerable, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List reports that people from around the world illegally remove the cactus from the wild and mail them home.  They stress the Sand Dollar Cactus should not be removed from the wild because it is quite easy to grow from seeds and cuttings.  Melissa told me that most of the rare and endangered species are being targeted by poachers.  She also informed me all our plants are grown and raised in reputable nurseries and are not from the wild.

When I checked poaching online, I found that cacti across the American southwest are being stolen from public lands in increasing numbers.  This ranges from the soaring saguaros (for landscaping) to tiny, rare species (indoor house plants).  The global demand is driving a booming underground market that risks destroying the sensitive species.  In 2015, US officials made a large seizure of Ariocarpus fissuratus and all 3,500 of those plants ended up at a greenhouse in Alpine, Texas, belonging to Sul Ross State University.  Authorities suspect the plants were stolen from nearby public lands. “Cactus theft is a huge issue in the Trans Pecos,” said Karen Little, Sul Ross’s greenhouse manager. “We have whole genetic lines of cacti that have been wiped out by poachers.”  Again, it is all about me.

Thoughts:  When I worked with the State of Utah, I assisted management of the resources on state and federal lands.  My federal counterparts were rangers and carried pistols.  This was a needed precaution against the armed poachers they encountered on the protected lands.  It is illegal to remove ANYTHING from state or federal lands (including cacti), and illegal on private lands without the permission of the owner.  Melissa knew several of her cacti were defined as “rare,” but she did not know how rare they really were.  Since we are expecting several nights in the low 20F, she decided to move them from the front stoop to the inside foyer to avoid freeze.  You protect what you are passionate about.  That is true for Melissa, and the Rangers.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

November 30, 2020

When we rescued Melissa’s succulents several weeks ago, we stopped at a local restaurant that had outside seating.  This had an order counter (with plexiglass covering) and the meal was brought to your table.  I was surprised by how many people were eating inside the restaurant, and at the number of 4-5 person groups who gathered.  We took our meal sign and went to a table on the outdoor patio and were the only ones there.  The restaurant was situated next to the local Mall and the parking lot was completely empty.  The door to the Mall entered a theater with 20 screens and an IMAX.  It was only while leaving the restaurant that I remembered this was the theater we have attended on Christmas Day.

One of the traditions Melissa and I have had since we married is to attend one of the new holiday releases in an IMAX theater.  While we attend family events around Christmas, we realized we needed to create our own traditions as well.  We have always gone to the first showing of the day, usually around noon.  These matinees were about half the price and provide a better chance of getting a good seat.  Preferably, our Christmas movie needs to be 3-D and combined with surround sound.  It creates an amazing experience.  When we first attended this theater, we were disappointed by the small size of the screen.  The theater where we used to live is billed as the largest IMAX screen in the world.   It does make a difference.

I have begun to hear of new releases over the last several weeks, but when I searched for them online, most are on one of the streaming networks and not in theaters.  While many movie theaters remain closed until further notice, and many studios have pushed back release dates on major films, there are select theaters that are open and showing movies.  These movies seem to be a mix of old classics and a few new releases.  Most of the blockbuster movies scheduled for release are being held until they can have a full release.  They are hoping for this spring.  

Thoughts:  During the early 1920’s, sociologists began cost of living surveys to create budgets for the poor.  This included all the essential needs (food, housing, utilities).  The cost of luxuries (cars, vacations, movies, amusement parks) were also recorded.  The budget surveys less than a decade later showed movies and amusement parks had become an essential need and not a luxury.  The IMAX webpage contained a link to saveyourcinema.com.  The pandemic has put both small independent screens and nationwide movie theaters at risk of closure.  As the link explains, “our local theaters employ over 150,000 people and have formed a cornerstone of the American experience.”  Once again, we are redefining what it means to be essential.  Follow the Science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

November 28, 2020

While I made good on my promise not to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, Melissa did watch.  The three-hour parade is held in Manhattan, ending outside Macy’s Herald Square, and takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day.  It has been nationally televised on NBC since 1953.  This year the parade only focused on the last section of the annual march.  While it did not feature the marching bands of the past, there were some floats and of course the balloons.  The finale was also intact, as Santa arrived in front of Macy’s famed flagship store on 34th Street to kick off the holiday season.

While I did not watch, Melissa called me in to see the giant SpongeBob balloon.  I have been a fan of the Sponge since it first aired on Nickelodeon in 1999, even watching the two SpongeBob movies released so far (a third is scheduled for American release in 2021).  I even started saving SpongeBob collectables and now have around 50 different items.  It is interesting that I did not buy most of my collection but instead they were given to me.  When my adult friends learned of my collection, they began to buy small SpongeBob items to give to me.  I think they must like the Sponge as well, but do not want to admit it.    

During the early 2000’s I went to a local Arts in the Park in my city.  The featured guest was SpongeBob SquarePants.  There was a long line to be able to have your picture taken with the Sponge.  I got in line and patiently waited my turn.  Just as I got to the front, the character’s front man declared a break and asked us to come back later.  I did not want to lose my spot in line, so I waited the twenty minutes until he returned.  When he opened again, I stepped forward and he asked where my child was.  I told him I wanted a picture of me and Sponge.  He just shook his head and took the picture.  Five minutes later I had another treasure.

Thoughts:  Some would call my affection for SpongeBob SquarePants a guilty pleasure, but I would disagree.  A guilty pleasure is an activity or piece of media that someone enjoys but would be embarrassed by if other people found out about it.  These might be books, movies, TV shows, foods, or most anything ese.  Generally, the guilty pleasure is something that might be viewed as shameful by some people, like trashy novels or overdone romantic comedies.  I am not embarrassed by my passion for the Sponge, nor do I feel guilty.  Too often we allow others to dictate what we do or how we should feel, and we hide our true thoughts.  You are only embarrassed if you allow another to embarrass you.  When you wear your feelings proudly, you may be surprised how many others feel the same.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

November 27, 2020

I mentioned how Melissa and I have tried to attend holiday celebrations for both sides of the family in the past.  This year we spent Thanksgiving Day on our own.  We had made some of the traditional trappings (green bean casserole and cornbread dressing) that we intended to go with snow crab and peel-and-eat shrimp.  After preparing everything else, we decided the shrimp looked so good we would save the crab for later.  I also ate my tiny pie.  When mom read my blog on Dessert, she called to tell me the four-inch pie she had ordered was the same size pie I wrote about.  Rather than eating it herself, she was planning on sharing it.  Good luck with that.

When I was joking about this to my sister, it reminded me of the pies we used to eat when I was a boy.  We did not eat a lot of pies, but I do remember the commotion it caused when we did.  My younger brother and I would argue over who got the biggest slice of pie (i.e., who was closest to the tin when it was put on the table, so they got to choose first).   Mom tried to alleviate the arguments by letting one of us cut the pie.  This still caused friction, so the rule became, “If you cut the pie, the other could choose their slice first.”  While this worked for a while, the disputes returned.  Finally, mom found a hexagonal pie tin (there were six in our family).   I am not sure if this resolved the problem or we just grew out of our phase, but that seemed to lessen the conflict.

I think one of the reasons we did not have pie often was because mom did not like to make them.  My dad loved pie, and he finally decided if he wanted to eat pie, he would have to make it.  Dad was not known as the baker in the family, but he did learn to make pies.  One day he realized how much work it was to pare all the apples for a pie, and instead just cut them up and mixed them in the pie.  This was the birth of his “famous” Apple Skin Pie.  This was surprisingly good.  Over the years he experimented with pie crusts and became particularly good at creating flakey pies.  When I looked at the box my 3-inch pie came in, it said the pie was 390 calories.  I may have been better off throwing away the majority of the Italian Wedding Cake.

Thoughts:  I am sure we will all have stories to share on the odd Thanksgiving celebrations we went through this year.  Some will be about the different foods we saw as essential and how a 20-pound turkey made sense for a family of three.  Others will be on how to keep masked and distanced, or gathering in small family gatherings trying to keep others safe.  I know there will also be stories of how nothing changed.  Stories of how we flew thousands of miles through crowded airports to attend large gatherings.  We will know in two weeks how well we handled this test.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

November 26, 2020

In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers.  These were a group of religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith.  The separatists were accompanied by other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the New World.  After a treacherous crossing that lasted 66 days, they made landfall.  They had set out for the mouth of the Hudson River, but were off by one degree north.  They dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod in November.  They were driven out by the local Native tribe one month later, and the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay and these “Pilgrims” began the work of establishing a village at what is now called Plymouth.

The first national Thanksgiving Day did not include any reference to the Pilgrims.  President Abraham Lincoln declared a Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday of November in 1863.  Lincoln was looking to reconcile a country in the throes of the Civil War.  One hundred years later President John F. Kennedy, whose family was from Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, immortalized the Native peoples in his own Thanksgiving Day proclamation.  It is this pasteurized version of Thanksgiving that is taught in elementary school and stays alive through such homages as “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.”

The historically accurate story of the Pilgrims and the founding of Plymouth Colony 400 years ago this month is not in most history books.  It is not the one you will find at Pilgrim Memorial Park in Plymouth, home of the famed Plymouth Rock and the replica ship Mayflower II.  The more historically accurate telling suggests the Pilgrims did not find themselves in a vast untouched land, but instead amid Indigenous people already wary and distrustful of Europeans.  These people were not invited to the first feast in 1621.  Instead, 60 warriors arrived as a show of force to let the settlers know they were a powerful people and not to be trifled with.  Within 50 years, the colonists would greatly outnumber the Indigenous peoples.  The resulting plagues, wars, and enslavement destroyed all but three of the original 69 bands of Wampanoag who used to spread across New England.

Thoughts:  Historian David Silverman published, This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving, in 2019 as a precursor to the 400-year anniversary.  This unsettling history reveals why some modern Native people hold a Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving.  The book is intended to demonstrate it is time to rethink how we tell the history of Thanksgiving.  “How are we supposed to improve on this sorry record if we don’t understand the sorry record?” asks Silverman.  It is only by acknowledging the ills of the past that we can make changes for the future.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

November 25, 2020

Mom called yesterday to tell me she had been thinking about me.  Even though she has been quarantined since last March she has learned to use the technology that keeps most of us connected.  One of these is to order her groceries online.  She has arranged to pick up Thanksgiving dinner from the kitchen at her retirement community.  The complete turkey dinner did not include desert.  Instead she ordered a four-inch pumpkin pie to be delivered from the grocery’s bakery.  When it arrived, she was amazed how small a four-inch pie was.  She and my sister in law were planning on splitting the pie.  She said it would not provide more than a couple of bites each.    

My mom loves to tell the story of my being given a piece of wedding cake when I was a small boy.  We lived next to the church and after a wedding the mother of the bride was kind enough to bring a piece of cake over to the house for me.  She proudly gave me the cake and waited for my thank you.  Instead she got, “Huh, looks big enough for a mouse, if he is not hungry.”  I am sure my mom was mortified, but it is still retold as one of her favorite stories of me as a child.

Mom’s pie reminded me of my own experience at the bakery.  I have noticed small Italian Wedding Cakes in our market’s bakery.  These are only about 4 inches wide and 8 inches long, and two layers high.  They are covered in the cream cheese frosting and nuts that I love so well.  When I told this to Melissa, she encouraged me to buy one, along with her favorite, frozen Pepperidge Farms Apple Turnovers.  I looked at the cake for a long time before moving on.  I realized I would only eat a small slice and then freeze the rest for later.  The black hole I call my freezer would have kept it a long time.  Then I would have thrown out the freezer burned remains.  I bought a tiny pecan pie instead.

Thoughts:  I have noticed the markets are starting to package deserts in smaller servings or single pieces.  This began prior to the shortage caused by the pandemic but has increased during the last year.  While I used to readily find 16- and even 18-inch pies, now the 4- or 6-inch pies purchased by mom are more prevalent.  It seems marketers are finally realizing the large families and appetites required to take down the larger offering are no longer as common.  The single servings most seem to want would satisfy, and not produce the waste.  Or perhaps they realize they can make a big cake, cut it into ten pieces, and sell each piece at a markup.  I admit, the three-inch pecan pie is not quite big enough for a hungry mouse.  At least there will be no waste.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

November 24, 2020

I have mentioned going outside and seeing the street sweeper, but the real purpose was to comply with Melissa’s request to look at the Snowball bush (Hydrangea arborescens).  While it had valiantly tried to sport flowers the last two weeks (one cluster only), this week it finally decided to call it quits and acknowledge that fall was here and winter was approaching fast.  Even in defeat its leaves had turned a beautiful red.  I had to admit, it was a lot prettier than the street sweeper.

I went online to get the explanation for why the leaves of deciduous trees change colors.  The pigment that causes leaves to be green is chlorophyll, and this is the substance that allows plants to make food using sunlight (photosynthesis).  During spring and summer when there is plenty of sunlight, plants make a lot of chlorophyll.  When it starts to get cold, plants stop making chlorophyll and break the existing chlorophyll into smaller molecules.  As chlorophyll goes away, other pigments start to show their colors.  That is why the leaves turn yellow or red in fall.  Since the leaf is no longer producing chlorophyll, the tree takes the nutrients back into the stems and roots.  The leaves die and then fall off the tree.

We had a large Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) in the back yard of our house at the conference center where I was director.  I knew this was a conifer but had never been around one until the camp.  These trees have needles that change color in fall and then drop from the branches. They are deciduous conifers and behave just like leafy deciduous trees, such as the maples and oaks I was used to.  When it happened the first year, I thought the tree had died.  I was pleasantly surprised to see it restored to health the following spring.

Thoughts:  Since we have been traveling through the Boston Mountains every week, we have been able to watch as the tree leaves turned from green to the luxurious golds and reds.  It has gotten colder at night and the wind has picked up, and the leaves are gone.  Death and rebirth are a constant process in the biomes of life.  The death of the leaves returns much needed nutrients back to the soil to be absorbed by the roots to produce new leaves the following spring.  While this works great on a macro level (the tree), it is not so much for the individual leaves.  We seem to be in a time of caring more about the leaf (oneself) than the tree (others).  We are stronger together than as one. Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

November 23, 2020

I was surprised when we went to rescue Melissa’s succulents from work two weeks ago to see that Lowell had already hung their Christmas wreaths on the light poles throughout the town’s main streets. I have also noticed the Christmas candy was available on a back aisle of the local store even while the Halloween candy was being sold.  Now it has taken a full presence as we prepare for this next onslaught.  The early arrival of store candy was matched by one of my neighbors, who took advantage of the good weather last week to hang their Christmas lights.  While they have yet to turn them on, they are ready to go.

When I was director of a conference center in Kansas, I hung over 10,000 lights and set up a variety of creches and displays on the grounds.  While I did get help from a workday to hang lights, the bulk of the activity fell to me.  That meant I spent most of November making sure the lights had power and the displays were set in place.  I saw this as a labor of love to give back to the local community.  Visitors varied but there were usually 10-15 cars a night that came through the displays.  After I left, the lights no longer went up.  Like most good things, you need someone willing to drive them for them to happen.

I have noticed several stores are advertising that due to Covid-19, they are holding Black Friday sales all month during November.  Some of the bargains are in the store, but most are available online.    We cannot miss this important shopping event; we just make it early.  When I was younger Christmas always kicked off with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I have heard this year’s parade will be more virtual, with the balloons only going a couple of blocks and no bands or onlookers.  My first thought is why bother?  Then I realized it does provide a semblance of tradition.

Thoughts:  I have refused to watch the Hallmark Channel or others that have been airing Christmas shows for at least a month.  Like Macy’s, I prefer to wait until Thanksgiving before I allow myself the anticipation of Christmas.  The holidays will be different this year.  The CDC and even our Governor are asking people to not hold big family gatherings.  Some are listening and yesterday I heard of a growing number of airline cancelations.  While I do not hold Black Friday and Macy’s parade among my cherished traditions, there are other things I do.  I have begun early to think about how to accomplish the traditions I hold dear, while being safe in doing them.  I have come to realize, it is still a tradition, even if it is done different.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

November 21, 2020

I could not figure out what the loud whirling sound was outside yesterday afternoon.  Usually when we get loud machine noises, they only last a short while.  This droned on for minutes and seemed to be getting louder.  Melissa came into my office and told me I needed to go outside and look at the beautiful colors on our snowball bush as its leaves had turned and were ready to drop.  When I went out, I did see the bush, but also the cause of the noise.  We had a street sweeper combing the neighborhood.  It was going up and down the neighborhood streets scrubbing the leaves.  It was equipped with a huge vacuum (the source of the noise) which literally sucked the leaves into the trucks trash bin.

Several years ago, Melissa and I went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras (Bucket List: check).  While most of the heavy partying went on late at night, we were usually in bed by midnight and were up early the next morning to explore the sights before the crowds got up.  That meant we got to witness the cleanup crews that went up and down the streets in the French Quarter.  This was a combination of a water truck and a street sweeper.  A smaller version of a street sweeper would pass through the narrow streets sucking most of the trash into its receptacle.  Then two men came behind the water truck hosing the sidewalks and gutters, flushing everything down the drains.  The street was ready for another night of revelry.

When I moved to Kansas my house had two large Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) trees in the front yard.  I bought a mulching mower when I moved to the house.  This was for the leaves more than the grass.  I would wait until the leaves dropped and then mulch them under.  One year they all seemed to drop overnight.  While I could not get to them before work, I knew the job waited at the end of the day.  You may have heard, Kansas is windy.  When I got home that evening my yard was completely bare.  I never did figure out where the leaves went, but I did not have to mow.  A win/win for me. 

Thoughts:  Our yard has had a lot less leaves this year than in the past.  We could not figure out why, until we realized there had been four large trees removed from several neighbors’ yards.  Our Red Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) has been dropping its leaves on the succulent bed beneath it.  When it stops, I will have to get the leave blower and blow them into the yard to be mulched under.  I mulch because I do not like to rake, but also for the environment.  A study by Michigan State University indicates that mulching is 100% beneficial for the lawn.  Mulched leaves are decomposed by earthworms and microorganisms and turned into plant-usable organic matter.  Mulched leaves are better for the greater community, too, because they stay on-site and out of landfills.  Another win/win.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.