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.

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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.

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Octo𝘣𝘦𝘳 13, 2020

Yesterday was what was, and by some still is, Columbus Day.  Columbus Day is a U.S. holiday that commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas.  The holiday began in 1792 in New York City when the Society of St. Tammany (also known as the Columbian Order) celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in the Caribbean in 1492.  It was unofficially celebrated in a number of cities and states as early as the 18th century but did not become a federal holiday until 1937.  For many, the holiday is a way of both honoring Columbus’ achievements and celebrating Italian American heritage.  Columbus Day has been celebrated throughout the United States as an observance of the “discovery” of North America.

There are several problems with this discovery, however.  First, Columbus never made it to the Americas, instead landing in the Caribbean Islands.  None of Columbus’ four voyages took him any closer to the continent.  The continental “discovery” falls to Amerigo Vespucci in 1497, for which the America’s are named.  Second, Leif Erikson founded a colony on Greenland around 1000 CE.  He returned to Norway and on the way back to Greenland sailed off course and explored the country he named Vineland.  This is now thought to be the area of Nova Scotia.  Third, When Columbus arrived there were already people here.

According to Yale’s Genocide Studies Program, when Columbus arrived at the island of Hispaniola in 1492, the population was estimated at between “several hundred thousand to over a million inhabitants.” By 1514, only 32,000 Taíno people remained.  They had died from “enslavement, massacre, or disease” at the hands of the Spanish.  Six years later (1520), they were completely wiped out.  For many, Columbus Day is a reminder of a painful history.  This caused Berkeley, California to stop celebrating in his honor in 1992.  The day was renamed Indigenous Peoples Day, acknowledging those who were already here.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  Since this first decision in 1992, 12 states and the district of Columbia have switched to “Native American” or “Indigenous People’s” Day.  The state of Hawaii celebrates “Discoverer’s Day” to recognize the Polynesian discoverers of the Hawaiian Islands.  Beginning in 2020, Colorado celebrates Mother Cabrini Day, in honor of Frances Xavier Cabrini, a woman who created schools, hospitals, and orphanages in the United States and Central and South America.  In addition, more than 130 cities across the country have taken a stand against the day.   It is not too surprising, but many Native American groups do not acknowledge Columbus Day at all.  It has been 500 years and we still argue which history is “right.”  When we remember our history, we need to remember the reality of what happened and the result of those actions.  Acknowledging the failures of the past can be the start of making a new future.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Octo𝘣𝘦𝘳 12, 2020

I mentioned all the Jalapenos we received from our gardener friends while we were on vacation.  They also gave us several other varieties of peppers.  While I knew these were not poblano peppers, I assumed they were Ancho peppers and decided to make Chili Rellenos with them.  Rellenos are simple to make, but I found them to be labor intensive.  The simple part is the explanation to roast the peppers to remove the skins, stuff them with a piece of cheese, dip them in flour and then egg, and fry them for several minutes on all sides.  Simple!

The difficult part came in doing this.   My recipe said the easiest way to roast the peppers was to place them over a gas burner.  Since we have a gas stove, this should be simple.  In fact, it took a lot longer than I realized, almost ten minutes to roast the six peppers.  I then placed the peppers in a plastic Ziplock (as was suggested) and after they had steamed for a while, I set about pealing the skins.  While this was not difficult, it did take another 10 minutes to accomplish.  While all of this is not a long time, it began to stress me out.

The peppers were good as rellenos, but they had no heat (this has become a requirement for Melissa and me).   Melissa asked our friend and what we had been given were six Giant Marconi peppers.  When I looked these up online, they were touted for their sweet-smoky flavor and are generally served stuffed.  I enhanced the smoky flavor with a smoked pepper jack cheese we have purchased from another friend.  These are a sweeter pepper and do not bring the heat of other varieties.  They were good as rellenos, but even with the Cajun Pepper I added to the batter, the sweet came through.  I guess I am just into savory.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  There is an old adage that says, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention.”  While my cooking may not be relegated to the category of invention, it often does fall into necessity.  I often do not have the required ingredients when I (rarely) go to a cookbook for a recipe and am forced to improvise. That is especially true now when it is a decision on risking going to the store.  I did not have the Poblanos, so I used the Marconi’s.  Necessity is what is driving the race for a vaccine.  Over 37,500,000 people across the world have contracted the virus resulting in over 1,000,000 deaths.  Even as the process is being fast tracked it is estimated it will not produce a readily available vaccine until spring.  Until then we all need to follow the rules.  Not everything is simple.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 10, 2020

While I usually do not post something written be someone else (at least I paraphrase!), I thought today’s Blog deserved a repost.  I grew up just as Dr. Seuss began writing and I was not read his numerous insightful stories.  I did however read them to my son Alexander.  Today my mother called to tell me her daily devotional referenced the story of the Zax.  This was part of a book called The Sneetches and Other Stories, copyrighted in 1961.  As I reread the story, I realized it was just as pertinent today as it was 60 years ago.

“One day, making tracks In the prairie of Prax, Came a North-Going Zax And a South-Going Zax.

And it happened that both of them came to a place Where they bumped.  There they stood.

Foot to foot.  Face to face.

“Look here, now!” the North-Going Zax said, “I say!  You are blocking my path.  You are right in my way.  I’m a North-Going Zax and I always go north.  Get out of my way, now, and let me go forth!”

“Who’s in whose way?” snapped the South-Going Zax.  “I always go south, making south-going tracks.  So you’re in MY way!  And I ask you to move And let me go south in my south-going groove.”

Then the North-Going Zax puffed his chest up with pride.  “I never,” he said, “take a step to one side.  And I’ll prove to you that I won’t change my ways If I have to keep standing here fifty-nine days!”

“And I’ll prove to YOU,” yelled the South-Going Zax, “That I can stand here in the prairie of Prax

For fifty-nine years!  For I live by a rule That I learned as a boy back in South-Going School.

Never budge!  That’s my rule.  Never budge in the least!  Not an inch to the west!  Not an inch to the east!  I’ll stay here, not budging!  I can and I will If it makes you and me and the whole world stand still!”

Well…Of course the world didn’t stand still.  The world grew.  In a couple of years, the new highway came through And they built it right over those two stubborn Zax And left them there, standing un-budge in their tracks.”

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  Far too often we find it more important to be right than to find common ground.  Do not be a Zax.  In the words of Forest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”  Do the work.   Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 9, 2020

For those who have been following my blog you have heard of the trials of my container garden.  I grew tomatoes, cilantro, and peppers.  While it did produce a crop, I experienced blossom rot on many of my tomatoes and the peppers flourished and then died.  I have decided I need to repot the planters with more netting and soil before next year to try and increase production.  All I have done so far is remove the dead plants and allow the soil to go dormant.  I have also dismantled my big planter box, but I have not rebuilt it yet.  It sits as an eyesore on the patio.

While my plants were somewhat of a disappointment (I do still have two melons on the vine), my bird feeders have been doing fine.  I have a constant stream of birds helping themselves to the seeds I have put out.  It has been interesting to see that after I put up a squirrel feeder with special corn, that I have not seen the squirrels since.  I did notice the corn level was going down, but I have also seen cardinals in the feeder.

One of the side effects of putting out the sunflower seed has been overflow.  The birds sit in the feeder and throw seed out.  This has caused the three containers under the feeder to take root and begin to grow.  I am assuming these are sunflowers, as that is the seed above them, but I do not know.  I find it ironic that I struggled to get my tomatoes to grow, yet the birds ere able to reseed the containers and they are beginning to flourish.  Perhaps I should grow sunflowers in my containers next year.     

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  Life seems to provide funny twists.  While I was trying to keep the squirrels out of the bird feeders, they were a constant pest.  Now that I set up a squirrel station they are nowhere to be seen.   I struggled to grow plants in my containers to produced fruit.  Now that I am ignoring them, they have taken on a life of their own.  I used to watch a show called Life After People.   The premise was what cities would look like 10, 20, and 50 years after humans were no longer inhabiting them.  It reminded me of the jungle overtaking the great civilizations of the Yucatan and South America.  While this is an interesting fact, it requires there be no people.  I am not sure that is a viable alternative.  Perhaps we should try and save our environment and still exist.  Change is coming and it starts with you.