December 26, 2023

I had a quiet and relaxing Christmas (hope those who celebrate did as well).  We are usually away at someone or another’s house but none of that worked out this year and this is the first time in four years I was not working.  I instead sat around and watched football, with several games on each of the last five days.  I did not think it could happen, but I found out there is too much of a good thing, even though most of the games were fun to watch.  On Christmas morning Melissa and I took our time getting up and going (MUCH different without human kids) and then made breakfast of link sausage and French toast.  Luckily, we had leftover French bread (unsliced) from the night before that allowed me to cut thick slices for the toast.  Now that it is just the two of us, we like to have scavenger hunts for the other to find their present.  While my hunt took Melissa all over the house, her presents for me were too big to move around.  Instead, my brother had drafted riddles for me to figure out and then Melissa would bring out the boxes.  I have been researching raised beds prior to setting on the grow bags I used last year.  The bags had worked great, but after the season they became a tasty snack for Loki.  Since my gift was raised beds made of steel, I do not think Loki will be able to dismantle them.

When I checked online, I found Raised bed gardening is a form where the soil is raised above ground and enclosed in some way.  The Raised bed can be made of wood, rock, concrete, or other materials, and formed into any size or shape.  The soil is usually enriched with compost and other amendments.  A raised bed can contain flowers, but they are most often used to grow vegetables in patterns that allow the plants to be closer together than conventional row gardening.  The spacing allows the mature vegetable leaves to barely touch each other.  This creates a microclimate where weed growth is suppressed and moisture is conserved.  Raised beds can be effectively used to control erosion and recycle and conserve water and nutrients if built along the contour lines on slopes.  Raised beds are compatible with square foot gardening (dividing the growing area into small square sections, typically 1 foot (30 cm) on a side) and companion planting (planting different crops in proximity).

Untreated lumber is the most common material for making raised beds.  If treated lumber is used it is recommended to use a plastic liner to avoid the chromated copper arsenate (CCA) common in the US and Europe since 2004.  Railroad ties (sleepers) are also used with steel rods to hold them in place.  Concrete blocks are less aesthetic but are inexpensive and easy to use.  Prefab raised beds are becoming popular and are made from polyethylene that is UV stabilized and food grade so it will not leach toxic chemicals and a double skinned wall provides insulation to minimize temperature fluxes and drying out the soil.  Raised beds can be covered with clear plastic to protect the crops from wind and strong rains.  Manufactured raised beds can also be made of wood, metal, stone, and plastic.  Regardless of material, raised beds have the benefit of extending the planting season, reducing weeds (done properly), ensuring the quality of soil, and since the soil is not compacted by the gardener the roots grow easier.

Thoughts:  Melissa gave me two types of raised beds.  One was 17 inches (43 cm) and the other 32 inches (81 cm) tall.  It said on the website the taller raised bed “enables the elderly and physically disabled to grow vegetables without having to bend over to tend them”.  I had to wonder where I fit into that depiction.  I see raised beds as the next step toward building a sustainable garden.  Unlike my grow bags, once I get my raised beds in place, they should last several decades and will not be moving.  I hope the next owner likes to garden.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

December 22, 2023

Last night Melissa and I went out to eat at one of our favorite Italian restaurants.  This was one of our go-to spots when we were dating and after we were married, we would generally take her parents out for a meal when we were back in town.  When we moved back to Arkansas this continued to be a date night destination until everything closed during the pandemic.  Now we have gotten out of the habit, but still manage to eat there several times a year.  When we arrived last night, I was disappointed to find they had removed my favorite entrée, chicken carbonara.  When we asked our waitress about this, she said she did not know why the owner had removed the dish, and that this was her favorite as well.  I reluctantly ordered a spaghetti and lasagna combination (it was wonderful).  After the meal we decided to participate in another holiday tradition of ours and went to see the lights at Creekmore Park. 

When I checked online, I found that Creekmore Park is one of Fort Smith’s four community parks.  The park’s unique set of amenities provides an opportunity to enjoy the park in all seasons.  The Creekmore pool is open May 27th to July 29th and is the region’s only Olympic-size outdoor lap pool.  There is also a diving facility and a large community swimming pool.  Amenities at the pool include a shallow-depth splash area for smaller children, inflatable obstacles, public bathrooms, and lifeguards for safety.  Other Creekmore Park features include an 18-hole Miniature Golf Course, Tennis Courts and Center, a fitness trail, community center, playground equipment, and the Creekmore Express Train.  The train is free to ride but donations are encouraged.  From November 27th to December 23rd the miniature train becomes the Creekmore Holiday Express that takes visitors on a journey through thousands of holiday lights adorning the park.

Some miniature trains (like the Creekmore Express) are considered amusement rides and are found in amusement parks and municipal parks, while others are sold to be used as backyard railroads.  Ridable miniature railways run on tracks and the trains may be exact scale models, including a live steam locomotive.  Other train rides are kiddie rides which may use simple, colorful equipment that has the driving mechanism hidden under vacuum-formed plastic covers.  Trackless trains do not use tracks and usually consist of railroad-like cars towed behind an ordinary, or modified motor vehicle.  These rides are often used for sightseeing tours.  Some roller coasters like the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attractions in several Disney parks also resemble train rides.  Paul Allen Sturtevant was a sales rep and then manufacturer of the torque wrench developed by Walter Percy Chrysler for Chrysler Corporation.  Sturtevant patented the torque wrench in 1938 and became the first individual to sell torque wrenches.  During the 1930’s Sturtevant was also an early maker of miniature train rides for children.  This began as a hobby, but Sturtevant later made them for rental to department stores, and eventually produced them in a plant in Addison, Illinois.  Sturtevant stopped making miniature trains when World War II shifted production away from consumer goods.

Thoughts:  When Melissa and I were dating we rode the Creekmore Holiday Express (once).  It struck me as something to do on a date, or with kids, but was not exactly a “thrill ride”.  Stopping the Creekmore Express during the pandemic and the manufacture of miniature trains in World War II illustrates how social attitudes affect individual activity.  What was once considered right or acceptable can lose favor and become out-of-step or objectionable.  While we may not be responsible for the actions of the past, we will be held accountable for our response today.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

December 21, 2023

You may recall that in September after my poor potato harvest, I started researching how to amend my three vegetable beds to increase their yield next year.  I had removed the tops of the plants and then did little else until October, when the smartweed began to take hold.  Loki had also begun to dig holes in the beds, so I put up small fencing as a deterrent and cleared away the brush from along the back of the house.  In November I purchased taller fencing as I found Loki was merely jumping over the top and still digging in the beds.  I also purchased three bags of a compost and cow manure mixture (two of the ingredients recommended to amend the beds) and planned to put one bag on each area.  These sat on the patio until Loki decided to “open” one of the bags for me.  That meant last week I finally got around to amending the soil in one of the beds and getting the taller fencing up on another. 

When I checked online, I found that most garden soils are imperfect and can benefit from adding organic fertilizers or compost mixes.  However, if you want to amend your soil the right way you will need to understand what your soil either lacks or has too much of.  While you can sprinkle a random fertilizer into your garden, you will have better results if you take time to study your soil and come up with a plan for how to improve it.  Good garden soil is the basis of your garden because it provides the nutritional foundation for your plants.  You also need to consider the structure of your soil.  The first thing to consider is how acidic or alkaline your soil is (soil pH).  This is essential and allows you to understand what kinds of plants will grow best in your garden and which will not grow well.  You can amend the soil by adding lime to increase the pH or sulfur to lower it.  The soil structure is also called the soil composition and describes the size of your soil particles and how much space (for air and movement) is in between those particles.  Structure also describes how easily (or not) water gets absorbed into the soil. Soil structure is generally sand, clay, silt, or some combination of the three.  The ideal structure is called “loam” which is a perfect balance of all three soil types.

This morning I woke to a text from Melissa that Zena had gotten her collar tangled in the fencing and had freaked out as it dragged along behind her as she tried to get back into the house.  I had visions of the new fencing strewn across the back patio as I got dressed and came to see the damage.  Melissa told me Zena appeared to be fine (just shaken).  As I looked outside, I noticed it was not my new fencing that had come down, but the shorter fencing I had placed around the grow bags was gone and now lay in a pile on the patio.  Seeing the taller fencing had worked (at least so far) inspired me to finish the amend on the second bed and to shore up the fence.  While I had planned on finishing the third bed with an amend and taller fencing it began to sprinkle.  We are scheduled for a major rainstorm so instead I cleaned up the destroyed fencing, blew off the patio to clear the debris, and reset one of the gutter spouts so it would drain away from the bed.  Loki loves to play in mud puddles.

Thoughts:  As I thought about my long journey from research to action concerning wanting to amend my garden beds, I knew it was a matter of procrastination.  While I do not consider myself to be a procrastinator, it can happen when the task is something I am unsure of how to complete.  Habitual procrastinators represent approximately 20% of the population, and “I do not feel like it” can take precedence over their goals or responsibilities.  Psychologists have identified various drivers of procrastination, from low self-confidence, anxiety, a lack of structure, or an inability to motivate oneself to complete unpleasant tasks.  When we procrastinate, we can become fixated on negative thoughts and changing habits requires even greater effort than completing the task.  What the world needs is people willing to “get ‘er done”.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

December 20, 2023

National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day is commemorated each year in the US on December 21st (tomorrow), the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest night of the year.  This remembrance began in 1990 and the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Health Care for the Homeless Council have sponsored this day to call attention to the plight of America’s homeless population.  This is also a day to encourage the public to act on behalf of homeless people.

When I went online, I found the origin of homelessness in America can be traced back to colonial times.  As early as 1640 English “vagrants” were listed as outcast individuals and subject to arrest.  King Philip’s War (1675-1676) against the indigenous people resulted in homelessness as colonists were driven out of their homes to seek shelter in the forests or coastal areas.  Many remained idle until a law was enacted to prevent “idleness” in the cities, and idle people were made to be servants or indentured servants.  Homeless people were called “Sturdy beggars” in the mid-18th century and were found in every colonial town.  During the American Revolution homelessness increased and after the war many were forced into homelessness due to insufficient means.  By the depression of 1857, most American cities were full of homeless people with no government effort to intervene.  Private charities and organizations like the “Western Soup Society” in Philadelphia organized to help people with food, but without government funding.  The outbreak of the Civil War made conditions worse as war veterans remained unemployed and others lost their property to war and natural catastrophes.  Later events like The Great Depression and World War II again increased the number of homeless in the US.  Remembrance of the legacy of homelessness is acute, as many pass their homelessness to the next generation.

In the 1980’s, the US government began to acknowledge homelessness as a national problem.  The Homeless Survival Act (1986) provided emergency relief and long-term solutions to homelessness and the Homeless Eligibility Clarification Act (1986) ended the problems associated with a permanent address and other social barriers.  This led to the introduction of food stamps benefits, Medicaid, and other benefits.  In the US today individuals make up 66.7% of the total homeless population, while families make up the remaining 33.3%.  Homelessness has increased nationally by almost 1% in recent years.  Homelessness is not the same for everyone and is often broken into three categories.  Transitional Homelessness is most common where a person is homeless for a short period due to a crisis.  Chronic Homelessness is when someone has been homeless for more than a year or has had frequent episodes of homelessness within the last two years.  Episodic Homelessness happens when a person has been homeless three times or more within the last year or when someone has periods of homelessness on-and-off in their life.  A Day of Remembrance honors the fact that all need a safe place to live.

Thoughts:  There are actions you can take to observe Remembrance Day (as well as on other days).  You could ask your community for the number of homeless people who died in the previous year and then hold a tribute to remember them.  The tribute could be a candlelight march, a religious service, or even a simple performance.  Ideally, these should be performed outdoors to share a little of the experience of the homeless population.  You could volunteer at a homeless shelter by serving meals, helping with kids, or organizing donation drives.  Local shelters serve a variety of people and need help in whatever skills you may offer.  Homeless organizations usually operate under strict budgets or depend on donations and your financial gift may go a long way in helping provide for the needs of homeless individuals.  Most important, see homeless people as human beings and act toward them as you would like to be treated.  It is not about a handout, but a hand up.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

December 19, 2023

I have mentioned how even though I switched my local newspaper to a digital format it is still being delivered.  I have yet to find out how to cancel something I never ordered.  I was surprised this morning when I went out to retrieve my “digital” newspaper to see our free hometown weekly had also been delivered, as this paper is delivered on Wednesday.  As I poured over the local coverage, I noticed the banner date was, “Wednesday, December 18, 2023”.  This threw me at first because the paper had been delivered on Monday, December 18th and Wednesday is going to be the 20th.  The front page lead was a story congratulating the town’s high school football team for winning the 6A State Championship (with a full page of pictures on the back) and being on top of the State’s rankings.  While it was a nice gesture, the game took place on December 1st, or three editions (weeks) ago.  I guess things do move slower in a small town. 

When I went online, I found the Greenwood Bulldogs were crowned 6A state champions after beating Little Rock Christian Academy, 41-23.  This is not the first championship for the varsity team.  Since 1996 the Bulldogs have appeared in 17 state finals under 3 different head coaches and won the championship for the 11th time in school history.  Greenwood’s rise as a football power began under former head coach Ronnie Peacock, who took two teams to the state finals (1996, 2000) and won in 2000.  Legendary Head Coach Rick Jones took the Bulldogs to 11 state finals and won eight titles (2005-07, 2010-12, 2017-18).  Chris Young was elevated to head coach when Jones left for an advisory position with the University of Missouri Tigers in 2020 and promptly led the Bulldogs to a 10th state title during the difficulties of the pandemic.  That team was perfect (14-0) as was this year’s squad (13-0).  Young and his staff have taken the Bulldogs to the finals all four years of his tenure, losing in the championship in the intervening years to El Dorado and Pulaski Academy, respectively.  Young was also named Conference 6A West’s Coach of the Year.  The win catapulted the Bulldogs from 3rd to 1st in Arkansas’ overall 2023 football rankings. 

According to MaxPreps the Bulldogs have never been ranked in the top 25 High School Football teams nationally.  Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) began the season at No. 2 and ascended to the top spot after St. John Bosco (Bellflower, California) posted a 28-0 shutout win over then-No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California) on Oct. 13.  The Gaels held the top spot over the final two months of the season, capping a 12-0 campaign with a dominant 56-11 win against Liberty (Henderson) in the Nevada Class 5A Division I state championship.  This is the second national championship for Bishop Gorman in the last eight years.  Bishop Gorman joins Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas), Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.), Mater Dei, and St. John Bosco as the only two-time MaxPreps National Champions.  MaxPreps was founded in August 2002 by Andy Beal and in 2007 was acquired by CBS Interactive.  The company professes the goal of covering, “Every team, every game, and every player in High School Sports.”  As of 2017, MaxPreps covered a total of 29 sports categorized into one of three categories: Boys, Girls, and Co-Ed.

Thoughts:  While national rankings were not considered when my brother was in High School, he did play on a football team that sported three High School All Americans.  Now, every year MaxPreps awards an American high school the MaxPreps Cup signifying they are the #1 Athletic Program in the Nation across all sports.  With all the pressure now to be “the best”, many of the top ranked teams seem to be Academies or Christian schools which give them the advantage of “recruiting”.  Bentonville High School is a public school in Arkansas that won the award in consecutive years (2013 – 2014, 2014 – 2015).  In most competitions it usually comes down to creating a winning culture.  That is true in sports, in academia, and in life.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

December 18, 2023

Tucked into the back section of my local newspaper was a USA Today article on the appearance of a new bird along the eastern coast of the US.  The rare bird popped up in the feeders outside of birder Harry Riker’s house in Ocean County, New Jersey.  Riker did not recognize the species, but took a photograph and had no luck finding it on his birding app.  When he posted to his local bird watching community on Facebook one of the members identified the bird as a red-flanked bluetail.  Cornell Lab of Ornithology says the birds are typically found in northern Europe and Asia.  Only a few confirmed reports of the bird have been made within the US, and those were all in the western half of the country.  Jenna Curtis, a bird expert for Cornell’s eBird.org website, confirmed Riker’s photographs marked “the first-ever confirmed red-flanked bluetail in the eastern US. . . The next nearest report was a bird in Laramie, Wyoming in November 2019.”  Since the appearance of the bluetail outside of Riker’s house, bird lovers have flocked to his community from across the country to catch a glimpse.

When I went online, I found the red-flanked bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus), also known as the orange-flanked bush-robin, is a small passerine (Order of perching birds) bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae) but is now classified as an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae).  The genus name (Tarsiger) is from Ancient Greek tarsos (“flat of the foot”) and Latin gerere (“to carry”).  The species name (cyanurus) is derived from Greek kuanos (‘dark-blue”) and oura (“tail”).  The small bird is from 5 to 5 1/2 inches (13–14 cm) long and .35 to .63 ounces (10–18 g) in weight, or just slightly smaller than the European robin (Erithacus rubecula).  Both sexes have a blue tail and rump, and orange-red flanks, along with a white throat and greyish-white underparts.  The adult male has additional dark blue upperparts, while females and immature males are plain brown above apart from the blue rump and tail and have dusky breasts.  Bluetail are insectivores, flying from perch to perch and catching insects in the air or on the ground.   

The red-flanked bluetail is a migratory species breeding in mixed coniferous forests with undergrowth in northern Asia and northeastern Europe, from Finland east across Siberia to Kamchatka, and south to Japan.  It mainly winters in southeastern Asia, in the Indian Subcontinent, the Himalayas, Taiwan, and northern Indochina.  The breeding range is slowly expanding westwards through Finland, and it is a rare but increasing vagrant to Great Britain.  There have been a few sighted in North America, mostly in western Alaska as well as one on San Clemente Island off the southern California coast, even one overwintering on the Central California coast in Santa Cruz, California, in 2023.  Sightings now include the one spotted in New Jersey this December.  According to the American Birding Association, it may be impossible to determine which direction the bird in Rikers’ yard came from, “as the species is a rare but increasing vagrant to western Europe with several records now in Iceland, including two earlier this fall.”  Apparently, this bird species likes to get around.

Thoughts:  I was amused by Riker’s saying bird lovers are now flocking to his community to try and catch a glimpse of the rare red-flanked bluetail and are all over the neighborhood.  “We’re all retired and we’re really enjoying it. … This is good excitement.”  Over the holidays it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle and forget to take time to step back and enjoy the changing season.  Pleasure can be found most anywhere, from the birders watching the birds to the people watching the birders.  Take time to enjoy your surroundings.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

December 17, 2023

Most days I practice intermittent fasting and skip eating until afternoon.  The idea is to designate 16 hours of fast followed by an 8 hour eating window.  This worked initially as a diet method, but I have not continued to lose weight.  I have continued the practice regardless and after three years it is now part of my daily habit.  The only problem I have with this routine is the foods generally served at breakfast are some of my favorite dishes.  I have compromised and sometimes make a breakfast entrée for lunch (or dinner).  Saturdays are the exception, and I generally fix a mid-morning breakfast.  I was sidetracked yesterday and around noon Melissa said she was going to reheat the chicken enchiladas I had made the night before.  I said OK but had been thinking about making another breakfast meal.  When I began putting the dish together Melissa changed her mind and decided she would also like to eat my frittata.

When I went online, I found Frittata is an egg-based Italian dish like an omelet, a crustless quiche, or even scrambled eggs that is enhanced with additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses, or vegetables.  Frittata is derived from the Italian word friggere and roughly means “fried”.  This was originally a general term for cooking eggs in a frying pan (skillet) and referred to anything from a fried egg to a conventional omelet to an Italian version of the Spanish omelet that was made with fried potato.  Outside Italy, frittata was the equivalent to “omelet” until at least the mid-1950s.  While British chef Delia Smith describes the frittata as “Italy’s version of an open-face omelet”, there are four key differences.  Additional ingredients are added to the beaten egg mixture while the eggs are still raw and not laid over the mostly cooked eggs which are then folded.  The eggs are often beaten vigorously to incorporate more air and create a fluffier result.  The mixture is cooked over a very low heat for at least 5 minutes (typically 15) to allow the underside to set up but the top to still be runny.  Finally, the partially cooked frittata is not folded like an omelet but is instead either turned over in full or briefly set under a grill or baked for 5 minutes.

While that may be the Italian way to make a frittata, it is not how I prepare the dish (surprised?).  I do not fry my dish at all, and instead bake it in the oven.  I am not alone in this method as many of the frittata recipes in the US use a similar process.  My frittata started with a base of shredded potatoes in a casserole dish.  I then diced onions and peppers and scattered them over the potatoes.  The egg mixture is scrambled along with the preferred meat (crumbled bacon or ham) and pored over vegetables.  A layer of cheese completes the dish, which is baked in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour.  This cooks the potatoes while the cheese protects the eggs from drying out.  While this is different than the recipes I have found, it tastes great.  The Pioneer Woman website states, “Use any ingredients you want!  Mushrooms, leeks, different cheeses, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, bell peppers.  Have fun!”  I will admit, what goes into my frittata often depends on what is available.

Thoughts:  The first frittata I made was for brunch served to 75 alums prior to a graduation ceremony.  I was the director’s assistant, and the school did not have money for catering.  I used a recipe supplied by my boss that had breadcrumbs for the base rather than shredded potatoes.  This egg casserole became the basis for what I now call frittata.  Frittata is not the only US dish that has been changed from its traditional recipe.   Most commercially prepared “traditional” dishes are altered to adhere to the US palate and “ethnic food” in America can be unrecognizable to native diners.  Our favorite Chinese restaurant has two menus, one for Americans and an authentic menu.  This includes many of the same dishes, but they are prepared differently.  We prefer to order from the authentic version.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

December 16, 2023

Photo: Joseph DiTomaso

I recently started walking the two dogs together in the hopes that Zena will be able to calm Loki down.  They both get so excited when it is time to walk that I can hardly get their harnesses on as they jump over the top of each other wanting to be first.  Yesterday afternoon I decided to take the kids out for a walk around a local lake.  While the terrain makes it nearly impossible to walk “around” the lake, there are two parking areas/boat ramps, and one of those provides fishing access onto two mowed spits of land extending out into the lake.  That means I can park in the lot, walk several hundred yards (200 odd meters) out on the first, and then walk back to the lot.  Once there we stroll down the boat ramp to let the kids sniff and lap the water.  Then it is out and back a similar distance to the second fishing spit.  We have been closing our walk by circling the large parking lot.  As we walked around the lot, I noticed Loki began to limp and when I checked he had stepped on a sticker.  I removed it and we did not go more than another 20 yards (18 m) when he was limping again.  I never liked stepping on a sticker.

When I went online, I found Burr medic (Medicago polymorpha), also known as California burclover, toothed bur clover, and toothed medick, is a sticker-producing plant.  This herbaceous flowering plant (forb) is an annual broadleaf plant that inhabits agricultural land, roadsides, and other disturbed areas, as well as lawns.  The sticker is native to the Mediterranean basin but is found throughout the world.  New seedlings have seed leaves that are oblong, but the first true leaf is rounded.  Later leaves are tripartite, with a characteristic clover-like shape, appearing alternately on the stems.   The tiny yellow flowers attract small butterflies and other pollinating insects.  Full grown plant stems are up to 2 feet (60 cm) long, and usually sprawl along and/or under the ground.  The weed produces spiky sticker balls after it flowers that eventually dry up and turn brown.  The 0.27 inch (7 mm) seed heads are covered with hooked prickles that cling to the clothing or fur of any species that pass near it and facilitates the geographic spread of the seed capsules.  The plant leaves are good forage for most classes of livestock (except equine), but the stickers (fruit) are prickly.  It is also known to lodge in the paws of any dog (or human!) who steps on it.

As I removed the sticker from Loki’s paw it reminded me of the Aesop Fable about Androcles and the Lion.  Androcles ran away from his master and while wandering in the forest he came upon a Lion moaning and groaning.  Rather than run away Androcles turned back to help him.  The Lion put out his bleeding paw and Androcles removed a large thorn and bound up the paw.  When the lion was able to rise, he began to lick the hand of Androcles like a dog.  Shortly afterwards both Androcles and the Lion were captured, and the slave was sentenced to be thrown to the Lion who had been kept without food.  As soon the Lion was set loose, it bounded towards his intended victim.  The Lion recognized his friend, and again licked his hands like a friendly dog.  When the surprised Emperor heard the story of Androcles and the Lion, they were both set free.  The moral was that gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

Thoughts:  While Loki did not show the gratitude of Aesop’s Lion when I removed the sticker, he did appear to settle down.  That may have been because his foot was still tender after I removed the second sticker, but I prefer to believe it was out of gratitude.  Gratitude is defined as being thankful and having a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.  We all face a sticker or two in life, and for some even greater.  Amid his desperate situation, Androcles took time to help a fellow traveler who stepped on his own sticker.  The Lion did not forget and repaid Androcles with gratitude.  We could all use a little more gratitude.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

December 11, 2023

Nearly a month ago I came across an article in my local newspaper that reported an astronaut’s tool bag had been lost in space.  The satchel-sized bag slipped away from two astronauts during a rare all female space walk on November 1 as they performed maintenance on the International Space Station (ISS).  No word was issued on what the bag contained, but it was spotted by a Japanese astronomer as it floated over Mount Fuji.  The bag is now catalogued as space junk and given the ID: 58229/1998-067WC.  This is not even the first tool bag to be lost in space.  In November 2008 another female astronaut lost her grip on a backpack sized tool kit while working on the Endeavor.  The US$100,000 tool bag circled the Earth for four months before it plunged into the atmosphere and disintegrated.  It is believed the current tool bag will have the same fate, but for now it is listed as space debris.

When I went online, I found Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, and space trash), are defunct human-made objects in space which no longer serve a useful function.  These generally refer to items in Earth orbit and include derelict spacecraft, launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris, and fragmentation debris from the breakup of derelict rocket bodies and spacecraft, still in Earth orbit.  Other examples include fragments from their disintegration, erosion, and collisions, paint flecks, solid liquids expelled from spacecraft, and unburned particles from solid rocket motors.  As of November 2022, the US Space Surveillance Network reported 25,857 artificial objects in orbit above the Earth, including 5,465 operational satellites, and these are just objects large enough to be tracked.  This September the European Space Agency estimated 11,000 tons of objects orbiting the Earth, with 36,500 debris pieces greater than 4 inches (10 cm).  Collisions with debris have become a hazard to spacecraft and even the smallest objects cause damage (like sandblasting).

Space debris began to accumulate in Earth orbit with the first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1) launched in October 1957.  The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) immediately began compiling a catalog of all known rocket launches and objects reaching orbit.  The database became publicly available in the 1970’s. During the 1980’s NASA and others attempted to limit the growth of space debris.  The ISS uses a type of spaced armor shielding (Whipple shielding) to protect its interior from minor debris, but exterior portions (and solar panels) cannot be easily protected.  In 1989, the ISS panels were predicted to degrade approximately 0.23% in four years due to the “sandblasting” effect of impacts with small orbital debris.  The ISS typically performs an avoidance maneuver if “there is a greater than one-in-10,000 chance of a debris strike”.  There were 16 such maneuvers in the first 15 years the ISS had been in orbit.  By 2019, over 1,400 meteoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) impacts had occurred.

Thoughts:  Space debris is not only a problem on the exterior of the ISS but also on the inside.  Today’s newspaper reported on the tomato that had gone missing in March of this year.  Toward the end of astronaut Frank Rubio’s historic 371 days in orbit he lost a zip-lock bag containing a tomato from the ISS’s space harvest project.  The crew jokingly accused Rubio of eating the fruit, but he was vindicated last Wednesday when they confessed the tomato had been found.  The orbits of debris gradually degrade, and it enters the atmosphere, but not all of it disintegrates.  The spacecraft cemetery (officially the South Pacific Ocean(ic) Uninhabited Area) east of New Zealand is where derelict spacecraft are routinely crashed.  New processes for space debris removal are being developed to reduce the exponential growth of space debris orbiting earth, such as nets and magnetized collecting arms.  It seems it is not enough to just pollute the land.  We also spread our debris in space and the ocean.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

December 09, 2023

J .Froelich/KUAF

Melissa sent me an article reposted by the Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society describing a project in a local solar field.  The 5-megawatt grid-tied 20-acre solar array was installed four years ago by Today’s Power, Inc., in partnership with Ozarks Electric Cooperative on turf grass pasture owned by the city of Fayetteville.  Turf grass refers to the sod generally used in lawns and is often comprised of tall (Festuca spp.) and fine fescues (Festuca rubra, Festuca ovina, and Festuca trichophylla) or Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon).   As Isaac Ogle, who specializes in solar grounds maintenance, walked the solar field he found waist-high broomsedge bluestem.  Ogle’s maintenance company has a goal to plant low growing native plant species under the arrays and knew once the broomsedge was coming up there was no way to get rid of it.  Instead, they embraced it and the native broomsedge has completely overtaken the non-native grass.  Ogle said that compared to turf grass, native grasses on solar fields can boost power generation and provide natural habitat for native creatures.

When I went online, I found broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginicus) is a species of grass also known as yellowsedge bluestem and whiskey grass in Australia.  Broomsedge is native to southeastern US and as far north as the Great Lakes.  Broomsedge is a perennial grass forming narrow clumps of stems growing to around 3 feet 3 inches (just under a meter) in height. Its stems and leaves are green when new, then turn purplish to orange and finally straw-colored with age.  The species produces large amounts of seeds small enough to disperse on the wind.  It is an introduced species in California and Hawaii and is an introduced invasive species in Japan and Australia where it takes over pastures and grazing ranges and is less palatable and nutritious to cattle than other grasses.  The grass is successful in a wide range of habitats as it is a prolific seed producer, has a high germination rate and seedling survival rate, and it thrives in poor soils.  The Australian name comes from it being used as packaging for bottles of American whiskey, while the common name comes from use of the straw base to produce handmade brooms in the southeastern US.

Jennifer Ogle is Collections Manager at the University of Arkansas Herbarium, which documents the diversity and distribution of Arkansas plants.  She said native grasslands (like broomsedge) also provide benefits to large-scale solar system ecosystems.  Native grasses and wildflowers occupy much more of the soil profile and can grow up to 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, providing better soil stabilization, less erosion, and better water quality.  Using native plants on solar arrays also benefits pollinators.  Turf grass does not attract pollinators, but a diversity of native wildflowers and grasses will.  Insects also attract birds, reptiles, amphibians, small and even large mammals, and they use the native plants by eating the stems or seeds.  J.D. Willson, a herpetology professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Arkansas, is part of a research grant examining large-scale solar array habitats.  Willson praises solar development across the US over the past five years to reduce carbon emissions but creating biodiversity along with solar sites has tremendous potential, especially with grassland species. 

Thoughts:  One aspect of my job with the state of Utah was to monitor rehabilitation of mining and fossil fuel extraction sites to help find ways to mitigate the environmental destruction caused by the process.  Audubon pointed out the solar sites not only produced a clean energy source, but novel maintenance of the solar field also enhances output and creates viable grassland ecosystems.  The human thirst for energy can be achievable in a way that creates a win/win.  We just need to think in terms that prioritize the environment along with energy production.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.