October 24, 2020

Our yard plants have been going crazy trying to figure out what time of year we are in.  After it had been cooler for two weeks, we had three straight days of 85+ degrees this week.  Our Snowball bush decided it must be spring and flowered.  I did not notice this yesterday but today the cluster is green at the base and the tops are already in a mature white stage.  Oddly, there is only one cluster on the entire bush.  I have noticed similar confusion with the flowers in the mailbox planter.  While it did not surprise me when the mums started to bloom, our Naked Ladies have resprouted and the Hyacinth and African Daisy are in full bloom.  Clearly, there is mass confusion whether it is Spring or Fall (i.e., Sprall).

While scientists attach Latin names to plants, most people refer to them by their common name.  This can create confusion as similar looking plants can be given similar names.  The name “snowball bush” can refer to a viburnum or a hydrangea.  The old-fashioned snowball bush (Hydrangea arborescens), also called Anabelle hydrangea, produces large clusters of flowers that start out pale green and turn white as they mature. The Chinese snowball viburnum bush (Viburnum macrocephalum) is similar in appearance and also produces flowers that start pale green and turn white as they mature.  While similar, the two plants are not related.  The difference comes in height, bloom size, and hardiness.  We have the Hydrangea.

After reading about the two plants and their differences I noticed a paragraph at the bottom of the article that talked about pruning.  Apparently the two bushes are quite different when it comes to pruning.  Hydrangeas should be cut back hard in late winter. This encourages them to come back lush and leafy in spring.  Viburnums instead need pruning right after the flowers fade.  If you wait too long, you could lose next year’s beautiful flush of flowers.  While I do not know what went on with the bush prior to our return, I doubt if much thought ever went into pruning.  I am sure that in the three years we have been back it has never been pruned.  Somehow it has survived.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I have spent a lot of time this year researching how to keep my yard plants and vegetable garden in shape.  It was not that I did not care before, it was instead that I had not made it a priority.  I have been surprised by the shear amount of information available.  I usually start with an online query and that takes me to YouTube videos and other formats.  That does not even address the more than 1.6 million books published every year (surely some are about gardening?).  One of the anti-racist authors I read told of how a friend had mentioned how many books and social media sources were available on the subject.  She told him they had always been there; he had just not bothered to look.  We seem to be in our own Sprall moment in 2020.  Rather than panic, we need to look for how we can create change.  The information is out there once we make it a priority.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 23, 2020

I have been in a ten-person Fantasy Football league for the last several years.  This is moderated by my son and is mostly comprised of people in his extended family.  During the first year several of the younger participants decided we needed to make it more interesting and were all asked to send in $50 to be divided among the top three finishers.  I placed first that year but never received a check for winning.  The next year I did not send in money as I felt I was already ahead in payments.  I finished third that year which had a payout of $50 so I figured I broke even anyway.  Even though there was great enthusiasm to ante up the first year, it waned as several realized they would never see a return on their investment.  By the end of the third season there were several who had even given up playing.  They opted for an auto-draft and then rarely checked their players or lineups after the first weeks, meaning they would have a few “byes” (not playing) on their team roster on certain weeks.  We have not bet for the last two years.  It did not bother me one way or another, but I am glad because I have finished out of the money both years.

We got started late this year as Alex was busy and did not get it together in time.  When he did, several participants dropped, and he was forced to find replacements.  By the time ten people willing to play were secured we were already two weeks into the season and had yet to draft.  I suggested we just do an auto draft for everyone, which he did.  In the auto-draft the computer matches the next best player with each team, depending on what positions you needed to fill.  While I was not pleased with the players I was assigned, I really could not complain.  The computer also auto played the first two games and I won both.  That compares to last season where I picked my own players and started by losing the first six.  I ended up in fifth, but it was a long road back.

I usually check my roster and matchups for the next game on Tuesday.  That lets me add or drop players and switch lineups to make sure the best player is in each position.  That has been a challenge this year with multiple Monday night and even Tuesday night games due to positive tests of players.  There was a Thursday night game this week and I realized I had not set my lineup yet.  I logged onto the site with my new computer and found there was no way to change players.  While I could have just left it, I had a bye in one of my positions and was predicted to lose badly.  I tried logging off and then back in, but nothing worked.  I finally texted Alex to see if the system was down, but he said it was fine.  In desperation I went back to my old computer I keep in the office.  It logged me in, and the system worked fine.  There are times when technology baffles me.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I took a computer repair class thirty years ago when I toyed with that being my occupation.  The one thing I came away with was that if you have a system problem you cannot resolve, turn the machine off, wait ten seconds for the computer to completely power down, and then turn it back on.  If the problem goes away, do not worry about it, and go on.  While I wonder how this “fixes” the problem I have used this advice over the last 30 years.  Some have tried to use this same advice on dealing with the pandemic.  If we ignore it, it will just go away.  If that does not work, we shut down for a month and hope it will go away.  Viruses are not like computers.  Hoping it will go away only allows it to mutate into other forms, usually more deadly.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 22, 2020

Melissa’s bestie and hubby took the time to vote early yesterday.  They live in a diverse neighborhood and wanted to make sure their vote was counted during the election.  While she waited for him to finish, the poll workers all started cheering and clapping.  When she asked why, one said a 72-year-old woman had just voted for the first time in her life.  As amazing as that sounds, the worker went on to say she was the fifteenth person that day in this one precinct who was registered as a first-time voter.  Perhaps this is an indication that people are beginning to think voting is as much of a privilege as it is a right.

I turned eighteen during my senior year of High School and coincidentally that was also the year they lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years of age.  The Twenty-Sixth Amendment provides, “The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.”  The Twenty-Sixth Amendment is the last in a series of amendments enacted over more than a century expanding constitutional protection for voting rights. Like many other amendments, it was enacted as a direct repudiation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.  While the Courts rule on Law, it is Congress who makes and can overturn previous interpretations.  That is why we have separate branches of government.

Melissa and I decided it was time to early vote.  The polling places in our area opened last Monday and will continue to be open until November 2nd.  I thought better than to go down on Monday as there might be a crowd and we would have to wait.  Melissa has been hearing from other voters and they all said they just went straight in with no line.  While I wanted to go in the morning, Melissa needed to wait until after her working hours.  That gave me time to do other work and to reread on the candidates and measures being considered.  When she logged out, we got ready and jumped in the car.  After entering my vote into the ballot counter, it posted I was the 2253 vote cast.  Although our district includes more than our town, the town only has 9300 people total.  That is an early turnout!

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I was excited to be able to vote in my first election.  I was in my “political” phase and was actively campaigning for candidates and believed the outcome would change the direction of our country.  I was correct and it did, just not in the way I hoped or anticipated.  My candidate lost.  I can proudly say I have voted in every general election since my first one 53 years ago (my mom has voted in 70 straight elections).  Some of my candidates won and some lost, but every vote was important.  There are three ways to vote in most areas (check your local election website to see how to vote).  You can vote absentee, vote early, or vote on the November 3^rd Election Day.  Your vote is important.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 21, 2020

I have mentioned how I am not much of a morning person.  My Dad would always get up around six am and go for a four-mile walk.  One of my first memories was walking with him when I was about four years old.  I am sure the reason I remember this is because Dad took long strides and moved fast.  I cannot remember how long I lasted but I do remember running along behind him as he took off down the street.  During his forties dad again took up walking and then jogging, even entering several competitive races as he got older.  Dad even had the distinction of getting a second-place medal in his age group, finishing behind Jim Ryun.  Ryun won a silver medal in the 1500 m at the 1968 Summer Olympics and was the first high school athlete to run a mile in under four minutes. I will admit, there were only two runners in his age group.

Melissa has been telling me about the birds that are swarming our feeders early in the morning.  The smaller birds have been attacking the feeders and spilling seed onto the cement deck.  The doves then come in and clean up whatever has been dropped.  Since I tend to sleep later and then play with my phone when I do wake, I have missed the activity.  This morning I did get up (but hardly early) and was treated to the rush of feeding time.  The birds were plentiful but fast.  While I saw at least two new birds for my list, they were off before I could get good photos so I cannot count them.  Birding is harder than I thought (btw: any idea what this is?).

I am not the only one to get hooked into walking with dad in the morning.  When we went on vacation, we left Bella with my parents for the first time.  They set up a nice bed for her next to the back window so she could look out.  Apparently, Bella had other ideas as she followed them into the bedroom and stood whimpering at their feet.  Thinking she must sleep with us (she did not) they put her up in the bed.  Dad got back at her the following morning.  He assumed she also went for walks (she did not) and took her with him.  Melissa could not get her to walk to the end of the block without sitting down.  No doubt she was just like me. You keep up or you get left behind.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I never used to have problems getting up in the morning.  At times I have even flirted with getting up at six am to exercise but it has always fallen through.  Regardless, I was generally up and into work by eight.  Now that I have retired, I have less incentive.  It is not that I have less to do.  I am probably busier now than I was before.  It is just that my hours have shifted toward evening.  I have read that many of the habits we form are established by around 15 years of age.  While we can change, it becomes more difficult the older we get.  Adventurous old people tend to be adventurous youth and cautious old people tend to be cautious youth.  We are in a time when we are being asked to make changes in both attitude and actions.  You need to keep up or you will get left behind.  Do the work.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 20, 2020

I have changed eye doctors since my last encounter with the dilation.  We had switched insurance and the old doctor did not accept any insurance.  Melissa liked her eye doctor, so I decided to go with hers.  They sent me a confirmation stating their new address.  Then the day before they sent a reminder restating their new address.  Melissa told me the best way to go, but I had already searched the directions on my phone.  I did not pay as much attention as I shood have.  I noticed my phone took me a different route, but it still said it was to the same address.  I was running late but pulled in a few minutes before the appointment.  That was when I discovered I had been directed to the old office location.  I called and got the right directions from a person.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S.-owned utility that provides users with positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. This system consists of three segments: the space segment, the control segment, and the user segment. The U.S. Air Force develops, maintains, and operates the space and control segments.  The space segment consists of 24 operating satellites that transmit one-way signals giving the current satellite position.  The control segment consists of world-wide monitor and control stations that maintain the satellites in their proper orbit.  The user segment is the equipment which received the signals from the satellites and calculates the three-dimensional position and time.  In this case it was my phone.

I have worked with maps and directions most of my life.  I came out of college with an archeology degree and finished up another in mining history while working for the state in Utah.  Both occupations relied heavily on maps to find and record the different types of sites.  This just added to the mapping, hiking, and cartography merit badges I got as a Boy Scout.  With the advent of GPS devices (particularly on your phone), maps are no longer as important to the public.  I still like maps because I have noticed my phone will occasionally send me in the wrong direction or I will not have cell service.  If I can pull out a map I can always find where I am going.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  Cell phones were first invented on April 3, 1973 and I gave up my landline in favor of a cell in the late 1990’s.  While both cell service and GPS tracking have greatly improved since then, there have still been problems.  I remember being directed to a friend’s address for the first time and when I arrived it was their back yard.  While I was close, the house sat on a 20’ cliff above me.   Technology is great when it works but it can be maddening when it does not.  We have several different vaccines currently being worked on.  They go through trials to ensure they are safe and effective.  When it comes to injecting a vaccine into your body, you do not want to be on the wrong side of a 20’ cliff.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Octo𝘣𝘦𝘳 19, 2020

A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings make up the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which includes rats, mice, hamsters, and gerbils. A longstanding myth holds that they commit mass suicide.  Misconceptions about lemmings go back many centuries.  In the 1530s, geographer Zeigler of Strasbourg proposed the theory that the creatures fell out of the sky during stormy weather and then died suddenly when the grass grew in spring.  This description was contradicted by natural historian Ole Worm, who accepted that lemmings could fall out of the sky but claimed that they had been brought over by the wind rather than created by spontaneous generation.

For some unexplainable reason we have had two squires drown in our pool over the last two weeks.  This is odd as we have not had any drownings the previous three years we have been here.  I had finally come to except the squirrels as a part of our backyard ecosystem this fall.  I have put out a squirrel feeder with cracked corn and a ground corn log for them to gnaw on.  I have yet to see one squirrel on the feeder, but the cardinals are munching on the corn.  While squirrels can swim, the slippery surface on the side of the pool make it difficult to get out.  When I checked online about this I found the recommendation to call my local wildlife organization to get the squirrel out.  Good luck with that.  They would be dead before they arrived.

Lemmings have become the subject of a widely popular misconception that they are driven to commit mass suicide when they migrate by jumping off cliffs.  This is not a deliberate mass suicide, but instead a result of their migratory behavior. Driven by strong biological urges, some species of lemmings migrate in large groups when population density becomes too great. They can swim and can choose to cross a body of water in search of a new habitat.  If the body of water is too vast, or is the ocean, they can drown.  This gave rise to the popular stereotype of the suicidal lemmings, particularly after this behavior was staged in the Walt Disney documentary White Wilderness in 1958.  

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I had never heard of lemmings until my Ecology class in college.  This focused on the effects of overpopulation on different species.  The professor had done his research on rats placed in an enclosed pen in an isolated field.  They were provided an abundance of food and water.  When he returned in two weeks most of them were gone.  He set the experiment up again and checked daily.  What he found was the population flourished to the point of overcrowding.  Then the rats began to exhibit tendencies like our cities.  They formed marauding gangs, horded food, and indiscriminately killed each other.  Like the lemmings, overpopulation creates a breakdown in the species.  Even if we did not know this before, that was forty years ago.  Overpopulation is an anathema itself.  We need to support zero population growth.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Octo𝘣𝘦𝘳 17, 2020

We are coming close to the end of the planting season for Melissa’s succulents.  She has been making final decisions on what will have a chance to winter outside, what will go on the screened porch, and what needs to be kept in the house.  We have mounted the Velcro on the back porch and put up several of the panels to make sure our makeshift greenhouse will work.  We also cut and placed the nursery cloth for several of the succulent beds out front.  We have already had one scare, with the temperatures dropping into the 30’s on one night this last week.  These precautions need to be ready before the first frost. 

I remember religiously watching “The Monkeys” TV show when I was in Junior High.  I ran with a group of four boys and since there were four Monkeys, we styled ourselves after their characters.  We would even “walk down the street” shoulder to shoulder doing the crossover walk they did on their show.

The show aired on Thursday nights, which was also Ninth Grade night at the town’s recreation center.  The Rec had a pool table, foosball table, and ping pong.  There were also sofas and chairs placed in conversation pits around the room and a TV mounted high on the wall that let us watch shows.  This is where we all stopped and crowded around to watch our idols every Thursday night.

While the Monkey’s were king in Junior High, my High School was dominated by the hippies.  This included the ever-present peace symbol.  Melissa decided to plant several varieties of Hen-n-Chicks (Semper vivum) behind the Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) tree that dominates the bed.  In difference to the unrest and divisiveness we have experienced during 2020, they were planted in the form of a peace sign.  Although they are all green as they mature, they will have variegated leaves for the central stripe, the right side are pink, the left side blue, and the bottom arch is green.  I can hardly wait to see them in full color.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  At the end of every episode of The Monkey’s, one or more of the group would provide some deep commentary on events happening in the country.  I recall hanging on every word and lived for these thoughts more than the zaniness of the show itself.  Several months ago, I saw a rerun of one of The Monkeys’ episodes.  I happened to tune in just in time to watch the end of the show and the comments offered by Michael Nesmith (he was the more thoughtful one and wore the stocking hat).  I almost laughed as I heard his words.  Far from the insightful message I heard in Junior High, they now seemed like inane drivel.  I have often found my memories to be different than reality, or even from others who participated in the event with me.  I have also found my realization did not change how I had been impacted by the past.  Melissa and I have been trying to create some positive memories amid the turmoil of 2020.  I hope you are doing the same.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Octo𝘣𝘦𝘳 16, 2020

My sister and Brother in Law are retired and have become snowbirds.  They live in Maine and have a sister in Florida, so that is usually their first stop.  Next, they loop south into Texas and then up to see mom in Kansas.  They were in Texas when everything started closing across the nation and bypassed Kansas to get home before the lockdowns.  Even before these annual trips my sister had been coming to see mom around her birthday (end of February).  Since the parks have reopened, they decided be safe and camp on the way to see mom around my sister’s birthday (end of October).  Since mom has basically quarantined the last seven months, they thought it would be good to get tested before they came.

This last week I took the opportunity to get tested.  There are three different testing sites in our area.  One was appointment only, another took no insurance, and the third was out of network.  I called the third and was told they took my insurance and explained what I would need to just “come right in.”  When I arrived, I masked and went inside.  They gave me the usual paperwork and disclaimers.  I filled these out in the car, took them inside, and was told they would call when they were ready.  I waited “patiently” in the car for the next hour and 20 minutes.  They finally called, took more information, and then asked me to come inside.  The test itself only took 20 minutes, and most of that was again waiting in a room.  This was not the rapid drive through test I had heard about.  It seems everything takes more time now.  I quarantined waiting for the results.

Having gotten their tests, my sister and brother in law took off for Kansas last weekend.  They learned the results would be back in three days, but this was “business days.”  That meant sleeping another night in their car in a state park.  There were few people camped and it was easy to distance, but still they stayed as far from others as they could.  The results were still not available when they arrived, so they visited masked and distanced on the porch.  When the results did come my sister was not included.  Apparently, the test was incorrectly processed.  After taking so many precautions they still had to continue to distance.  She got retested on Thursday and should soon know it is safe.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I had the option of taking the rapid antigen test or the molecular test (RT-PCR).  The rapid test gets results in around 30 minutes and you generally wait.  The molecular test takes 2-3 days (in our area) to process.  I chose the molecular test because it was more accurate.  While a positive quick test confirms you have the virus, it can also give a false negative and it is recommended to retest to make sure.  I figured since I had come this far, I might as well be sure (I refrained from saying “positive” for obvious reasons).  We have an obligation to not only protect ourselves, but to protects those we love.  Part of that obligation comes with letting others know how much we care, and we show we care by protecting them.  The way to control the virus is clear:  distance, mask, test, quarantine, and contact trace.  By the way, I was negative.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Octo𝘣𝘦𝘳 15, 2020

We watched a show last night on PBS called “Driving While Black:  Race, Space and Mobility in America.”  This documentary explored the effect of the automobile on the Black Community and chronicled the history while interspersing personal experiences of Black individuals.  While the film drew on a variety of recent scholarship, it was based on Gretchen Sorin’s Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights, published in 2020.   The film examines the history of the Black experience with the automobile from the depths of the Depression to the height of the Civil Rights movement.  While the film talked about being pulled over for “driving while black,” many other phenomena were explored.

While my realtor brother probably knew of the concept of redlining in the 1930s, I only knew it referred to racing the engine in your car.  Government surveyors graded neighborhoods in 239 cities, color-coding them green for “best,” blue for “still desirable,” yellow for “definitely declining” and red for “hazardous.” The “redlined” areas were the ones local lenders discounted as credit risks, in large part because of the residents’ racial and ethnic demographics.  Neighborhoods that were predominantly made up of Blacks, as well as Catholics, Jews and immigrants from Asia and southern Europe, were deemed undesirable.  Anyone who was not northern-European white was a detraction from the value of the area.  Loans to these areas were either unavailable or very expensive.  While declared illegal 50 years ago, this practice is still a reality.

The redlined communities were hardest hit with the coming of the Interstate highway system in the 1950’s and 60’s.  A combination of low property values and a lack of power to resist meant these thriving minority communities were carved up to make way for the new highways.  This not only destroyed the continuity of historic Black neighborhoods, it literally demolished landmark hotels, restaurants, and stores that had flourished during the mobility of the “Green Book” era.  Now, few still exist in their original locations, if at all.  It always seems “progress” comes at the expense of the marginalized.  

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  When the small business loans went out in April the monies were quickly snapped up.  While the loans were intended to supplement the salaries for small businesses struggling to stay open, much of the money was gobbled up by small multimillion-dollar enterprises.  These firms had few employees, so they qualified as “small.”  They also had high credit lines and in some cases huge liquid cash flows.  Many of the minority owned businesses who were intended to receive help could not get banks willing to lend to them until the money was gone.  Wealth in the United States is distributed highly unequally, with the wealthiest 1 percent of families holding about 40 percent of all wealth and the bottom 90 percent of families holding less than one-quarter of all wealth.  Economic equality (or even fairness) will never be achieved unless there is a concerted effort to do so.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Octo𝘣𝘦𝘳 14, 2020

Melissa has been spending much of her free time researching her succulents.  She has already potted most of them.  Some are in pots by themselves and others are in potted arrangements.  All have small tags stuck in the soil next to the plant with both their common and scientific names.  While the pots and soil have been a major expense, she has found ways to innovatively cut corners.  After researching what is in the succulent potting soil, she now buys the various ingredients and makes her own.  The pots range from beautifully decorative, to simple terra cotta, to whatever can be found by friends in garage sales.  This has been a labor-intensive job, but it is a labor of love.

Part of Melissa’s research involved determining which of the succulents and cacti could survive in the ground in our Zone 7 summers and winters.  She had a “near death” experience with several of the large succulents this summer.  The Aeonium varieties go dormant in the summer and Melissa had planted them under a tree in our front bed.  Apparently while they can take the lower temperatures, they do not do well in the heat.  All the leaves turned brown and started to fall.  When they were brought inside, they began to recover, and are now coming out of dormancy and beginning to flourish.

Most of the potted plants are either on the shaded front step or the screened sunporch on the back.  These have been great incubators this summer but will not work for the winter.  We thought through several possibilities.  We explored installing double paned windows but that is cost prohibitive.  Then we tried to figure a way to put them in the shop.  We even found a heat pump for one of the windows.  There is no water and not much light so we moved on.  Finally, we hit on a 10-mil greenhouse plastic.  We found online videos about how to install it into the screen frames but came to a simpler solution.  We decided to attach the plastic with Velcro.  We put up all the tape and attached one of the panels to make sure it would work.  This is also easy to open on the warmer winter days to give the plants some air.   I think the plants are ready to face their first winter.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  The planning, planting, and potting have taken a lot of Melissa’s free time.  Many weekend days were devoted to the task, along with at least some attention every evening.  The project came at a good time.  It not only provided a focus but diverted attention away from the lockdown.  My Blog has served the same purpose for me.  What I find interesting is how many others have stepped in to help (Thank You!).  Three of Melissa’s friends are on the lookout for pots and used shelves.  Many of my family have been feeding me ideas for what to Blog on.  I have found this to be true in other areas as well.  The BLM movement includes all ages and ethnicities.  Antiracism is being explored by whites and BIPOCs.  Food is being hand out and delivered even while masks and sanitizer is required.  Blood and antibody donations are beginning to rise.  This has been a labor-intensive job, but it is a labor of love.   Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.