You go HBO!!!

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   Now, if we acknowledge that history is the story of human beings, and not just facts and figures, we should look to the living history walking around us each day. This living history is the oft-neglected seniors among us, those with the firsthand knowledge of the most terrible of wars, inhumanity and depravity all within lifetimes still living.

   The oldest among them passed away recently. She held at 114 years of age the title of 'oldest living person'. This is a title she held regrettably for only four days before she also succumbed, and passed the torch on to another 114 year old person.

   What is so remarkable about this woman is the fact that her parents were both born into slavery in the USA. Even though it has been some 143 years since the last slaves were freed, it is remarkable to think that a living person had parents who were born slaves.

   It is good to think of the gains made in her lifetime and that of her parents.

January 29, 2007

Gopher, my nemesis

   Western Pocket Gopher is a destructive little cuss that enjoys munching on cactus even more than his usual fare. And I line the cactus up in neat little rows for him to go munching down.

   This winter has frozen us out, and as usual we also have to contend with these little gophers eating up almost everything we grow.  The winter cold temperatures did not curtail their activities, instead it has stimulated their desire to travel through the damp easily diggable earth looking for my cactus. But this also means that I have more of the external clues to their travels as they travel and make a new hole on the surface with it's ensuing mound of nice friable soil. This means both I and the cats have more success with our respective gopher hunting ventures, me by trap and them by hook and claw.

   I've thought about putting up a 'confirmed kill' counting board. This would keep me motivated, and also would help me in my contention that the cats are actually working animals and thereby a legitimate business expense with all the resulting tax benefits.

   Now there is a problem in that our cats are barnyard animals and not in the habit of presenting us with their kills which they much prefer to eat on the spot. Therefor it is a good guess that they kill ten for each one I know about.

   So far this year, we are one to one, the cats and I....or maybe it's ten to one.

   Here's some of the recent damage from one gopher, this time on Agave americana below.

This is an Agave americana, it is a pretty plant, but does get a bit large. It is also a bit dangerous with the sharp spines, you don't want to ride a bicycle into this, so don't plant it where kids will go.

This is how it is supposed to look, and does until a gopher takes a fancy to it.

This is one that a gopher killed last week. The little rotund   #@$%^&# creatures actually lay under the plant, slowly taking their time eating up into the heart of the plant. Now this is a large amount of heartmeat for a little half-pound animal, so I am sure it is some days of lazily munching away, having to move his fat little body up higher as he eats his way into what is in essence a little house for him. When he has eaten all the good stuff out, he will take an evening to leave overland and find a new plant, or he might just dig his way through the ground to the next one. It is when they leave their burrows for their occasional nighttime forays that the cats are likely to get them.

This is the next Agave over, it was eaten out a couple of weeks ago. All of the heart and meat of the plant is gone. All that is left is the large leaves to be gathered, and carried to the compost pile.

   I like to set my traps in the morning or evening. I do a   quick look-around for new digging piles. Those are the active burrows. I dig into them until I find the open tunnel. I them place the plastic tubular box trap called 'The Black Hole'.  These things really work well. I have good success. I leave the cats to get the most of them, but sometimes I do take it on myself to get one that is causing some particular damage, or some areas that have particular plants I don't want munched at all.

LadyWildlife's Western Pocket Gopher Page

   After writing and posting this, a friend wrote to let me know of Juicy Fruit gum, which is actually a quite efficient killer of gophers. Just open the hole until you get to the tunnel, unwrap the gum in such a way that your skin does not touch it, and drop it into the hole, shove it in a  bit with a stick if it is outside of the tunnel. The gopher will eat it, and the gum will cause an intestinal blockage and cause the gopher to die a long horrid death.   But since we are organically certified we cannot use any substance which is not approved, and sadly an organic farmer cannot use chewing gum to kill gophers. We are allowed to trap them, but not to poison with gum.

January 28, 2007

BrokeBack Boulder

Brokeback Boulder, the site of a near-fatal vehicle accident

   I was going to visit a neighbor and was a bit startled when I saw this most excellently cut metal sign that says "Broke Back Boulder".   I wondered for a second about the significance of this statement, and then I recalled that a neighbor had run into a boulder and down into the creek recently and broke his back. It turns out that his friends and family put the sign up to 'rib' him afterwards.

   The accident and his good recovery are a testament to our medical system and his own good health, prayers and positive thinking. Thanks also goes to the cowboys up at The Bull Riding School run by Gary Leffew. Turns out the man's horn became stuck on after his body impacted the steering wheel, the fellows at Leffew's place heard the horn blaring, and came to investigate. They summoned proper medical care and the man is off to a good (miraculous some say) recovery.

   Good goin' guys!

January 26, 2007

On Ancient Humans

   A friend of mine once said that we owe fire, walking upright, the wheel, and the entire basis of humanity to the Caveman.

   For thousands of years Modern Humans and the Neanderthal lived in parts of the Mid East and Europe concurrently. There has often been speculation that they might have had some friendly interspecies cross pollination, but this is usually dismissed by most researchers. But now a human skull with features of both peoples has been found in Romania. Is this proof, or is it just an earlier form of Modern Humans?

  Another article discusses the possibility that Humans got a particular gene from Neanderthals that has helped us to advance to our present stage....very interesting.

   Did Neanderthals practice cannibalism? Most researchers do seem to agree that this may have happened during times of stress and low food resources and ceremonial use. An excellent article discusses this.

And now to prove that we owe much to the Caveman, we are starting to see the prejudices against Cavemen to be exposed by Hollywood which is in the process of making the first feature film with an 'all Caveman' cast. Yes, we own much to the humble Caveman indeed.

But then....maybe you can't teach an old Caveman new tricks.

January 25, 2007

Grindhouse 

   It's always fun when Hollywood comes up the coast to the beautiful fertile hills and valleys of the Central Coast.  Right now the latest big production to hit locally has been the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez Double-Feature called Grindhouse.  This film is two movies shot by two different Directors, and put together and sold as one long movie double feature with fake movie trailers between. It is a novel concept of marketing and Production.

   Quentin is filming his movie in the Santa Ynez valley where the locals are having fun seeing some of the cast dining and visiting around.   Rodriguez is filming his part in Texas.

   The Central Coast makes a perfect film location in so many ways. The weather is pretty reliable, the service roads good, and it is an easy three hours and less from the LA area.  And the bonus is the glorious scenery. The Grindhouse movie is filming on the Figueroa Mountain hillsides, and will reference to it in the film as Virginia.

January 24, 2007

On Happiness

   Happiness... what is it and how does one attain it? Why is it some people in abysmal conditions still can maintain their happiness, while others who seem to have all can be miserable?

   It is not in the acquisition of material items, friends, or even your family. We all know people who have those things, and relentlessly strive for more because they still are not happy.

   Scientists have been studying meditation and it's relationship to happiness. There is an article on The Happiest Man in the World.  Matthieu Ricard shows us that we all can be happy, even if you're French!

  Happiness is a serious problem is a book by the noted Radio Talk Show Host Dennis Prager. In it he puts forth the idea that your happiness is not only your business, it is the business of all people you interact with. It is your responsibility to be decent and happy for the happiness of the people you are around.

   No one likes to be around a curmudgeon, they are like an infectious organism that can walk around spreading it's own unhappiness to each person it touches. You need to open up, to appreciate the little things as well as the big things you have. And to get to the gnat of it all, happiness is a human need, a necessity that must be held onto and cultivated. Whenever you have a happy moment, think on it for a second, feel the thrill inside you as you luxuriate in the happy feelings. And later, when the world throws all it's refuse at you in a seeming attempt to bring you down, think back to the good times, revel in the feelings you got when you are happy, and it will tone down the hard feelings that life can bring.

   And speaking of happiness...who doesn't love horses?

   A Native American friend of mine (He is from the Sioux tribe) once told me he'd been told as a child that the Whites bringing the horse to North America was almost good enough to undo the harm done to his people.

   Horses are one of the first animals used by humans for transportation and power. As such they are high in the mythology of humanity for millennia.   It is a pleasure to see humans and horses working in tandem.

   On TV today I saw an ad for a Horse/Human Circus called Cavalia. It seems a blend of the famed Lippizaner Stallions, and the 'Cirque du Soleil'. It is on tour through the US right now. As I write it is in California at Irvine (Orange County). This sounds like a show that will remain in the heart for years. A sure cure for the blues, and something to think back on when you need to remember happiness.

  I've had a few horse people tell me horses are stupid.  While I know they do have their problems, these seem to be related to the environment they evolved into, so once you understand why they are scared of flappy things (like tarps and boards on the ground), or things over their heads (like flags and loose paneling in the wind) you can work around their fears, help them to get over their fears and conquer them. Horses are one of the blessings given to humanity, they are more than just a fun thing to ride, they are an essential part of the story of mankind.

January 23, 2007

Octagonal Barn

An octagonal barn, South of San Luis Obispo on Higuera Ave.

   In the late eighteen hundreds there were many octagonal and round barns being built. It was a practical method for regulating the many activities that happened in the days of animal power. As animal power was replaced by engine power, the round barns became less practical, and are seldom built anymore.

   This particular barn is listed as a landmark.

January 22, 2007

Shell Beach

Past sunset at Shell Beach, a half moon slowly follows the sun over the brink of the Earth.

   Shell Beach is a pretty nice place, if ever in this area you must stop by and have a nice lunch at one of the fine restaurants n this little beach town. There are also many good small family type hotels that will put you up for the night.  This is one of the nicer places on the Central Coast, California's 'Crown Jewel'.

January 19, 2007

Dogs

Whitie and I took a one mile plus hike to visit a neighbor and let them know their wellpipe had burst during the freezing night.

   On the way back home his dogs followed us all the way to our house. Little Whitie (our Chihuahua) is pictured here after the neighbor's farm dogs climbed up the little cliff they are standing on. Poor little Whitie tried to climb the cliff also and follow the big dogs, but he only made it part way up the cliff.

Both of the neighbor's dogs on the small clifftop.

   Whitie is a pretty good fellow, he's my 'little buddy'. He has a heart so much bigger than his size can back up.

   I've watched him chase foxes, 'coons, 'possums and cattle, and he's had several unfortunate encounters with a skunk (he's gonna get that critter one day he says).  He even treed a mountain lion once (it just didn't like his little yapping mouth I think).

   So it is cute and sad to watch him try to keep up with the big tough dogs in this neighborhood. He just can't engage in the rough hardy play fighting (dominance testing) these local dogs engage in.

   We had one neighborhood dog that had tangled with a badger under their house, the dog was a huge mean looking mongrel that forever after had one big huge lip hanging down and swinging after being torn apart by the badger. It was thereafter a grinning macabre fanged creature, it's features fixed into a permanent tooth baring grin of danger, teeth always on display, and that big huge lip hanging down several inches below where it should have been attached.  It drooled dog  slobber all around as it viciously barked at anyone coming to the farmstead.  Just one look at that dog, and you know you don't want to get out until the owner tells the dog to simmer down.

   Another neighbor had a dog named 'Cujo', like the Stephen King dog. And this Cujo lived up to his name, and his reputation continues.

Yes, critters here are tough, or they don't last long.

January 18, 2007

Effects of Drugs and Alcohol on Spiders

A very enlightening video came my way yesterday from a  friend.

It is a documentary piece on the effects of Drugs and Alcohol on Spiders

The moisture in the air of the Central Coast will sometimes make a most beautiful display on spider webs.  Here it deposits as dew on some spider webs on a forklift.

January 17, 2007

"The world will know that few stood against many"

~Tag line from the movie '300'~

   The movie '300' is a Hollywood recreation of the battle of   Thermopylae in 480 BC. The movie is not as historically accurate as The History Channel would have made it, but I bet it'll be a really fun movie to watch if you like battle scenes, epic events and heroic valor.

   My father is a veteran of two wars and quite an amateur historian. Thermopylae was one of the great battles he spoke of often. I think he'd like to see this movie, but I know my mom won't go with him to the movie theater to see this violent movie.  Maybe I should take him and the two of us guys could watch the movie together.

   At Thermopylae there is a monument called the 'Epitaph of Simonides', it was translated in the Movie Chariots of Fire as ...

"Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws, we lie"

   There is a similar epitaph inscribed on the Commonwealth cemetery war memorial at Kohima.  It was inspired by the epitaph of Simonides....

  "When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today  "

   It is due to the valor of so many in the past and in our present that we have the freedom we have. Else we so long ago would have succumbed to the depths of depraved ideologies. 

   Remember that to most regimes, the only meaning of peace is total submission to their will.

Some lyrics from 'Sunburst'

~By Bob Seger~

The smoke begins to rise
A sea of staring eyes
Gaze on the sunburst
His weapon at his side
He flashes it with pride
Before his legions
Fires begin to rage
And they engulf the stage
All right
Bring on the night

'Full Circle'

~Loreena McKennit~

Stars were falling deep in the darkness
as prayers rose softly, petals at dawn
And as I listened, your voice seemed so clear
so calmly you were calling your god

Somewhere the sun rose, o'er dunes in the desert
such was the stillness, I ne'er felt before
Was this the question, pulling, pulling, pulling you
in your heart, in your soul, did you find peace there?

Elsewhere a snowfall, the first in the winter
covered the ground as the bells filled the air
You in your robes sang, calling, calling, calling him
in your heart, in your soul, did you find peace there?

   What is the allure of the 'Old Warrior Poets'? Why is that they, knowing of death, take refuge in books, history and poetry?

'I am a Rock'

~Simon and Garfunkel~

A winters day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
Its laughter and its loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don't talk of love,
But I've heard the words before;
Its sleeping in my memory.
I wont disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

'Siuil A Run' (Apx spelling)

Siuil A Run (pron. Shool Roon) is an English/Gaelic song that is a song of the loneliness of a woman who's man has gone off to war..

Shule, shule, shule aroon,
Shule go succir agus, shule go kewn,
Shule go dheen durrus oggus aylig lume,
Iss guh day thoo avorneen slawn.

I wish I was on yonder hill
'tis there I'd sit and cry my fill,
And every tear would turn a mill.

Ill sell my rock, Ill sell my reel,
Ill sell my only spinning wheel,
To buy my love a sword of steel
Iss guh day thoo avorneen slawn.

Ill dye my petticoats, Ill dye them red,
And round the world Ill beg my bread,
Until my parents shall wish me dead.

I wish, I wish, I wish in vain,
I wish I had my heart again,
And vainly think Id not complain.

But now my love has gone to France,
To try his fortune to advance;
If he e'er come back, 'tis but a chance.

You can hear the song at Siuil A Run below:

January 16, 2007

Ice Art

   Our neighbors made some art on their trees by leaving the sprinkler on all night during one of our recent cold nights. This kept the water from freezing in the pipes, and put it on the trees in the form of these interesting icicles.

   It's not often that we see cold temperatures like this. It happens every five to ten years. We had some temperatures in the same range back in about '98, and before that was in about 1990.  California grows such a huge amount of the vegetables for the nation, that this freeze will have a large impact on the availability and price of vegetables for the next few months and more.

   It can cause havoc and much loss for many, but it also creates opportunity for others. For instance, the vegetable market is realizing the harvest of fresh veggies will be so reduced that prices will go up. Anyone who has veggies that got through unscathed will be able to demand premium price. This condition might last for several months, so growers who get started today will be one more day in the range of high prices and good return.

January 15, 2007

Heavy Ice in the Golden State

or

Cowboy Philosophy

  Yep, we've been hit pretty hard by winter and it's attendant icy cold conditions. Our cactus is hardy enough to live through the winter, but it definitely does not thrive in these cold conditions. We might lose some of the mass of the plants, meaning they might become so damaged that only the bottom foot will remain living. As might be expected, this will delay the regrowth in the spring, and lead to a lower harvest until the middle of summer.

   Every year is different, you just never know what's gonna pop up and hit you in the nose, and sometimes it can hit pretty hard too.

   We have an old neighbor, who's since sold his family land and moved away. He is so old that no one here knows how old he really is. He was born in the little green house he lived in until he moved. His father was also born in that same house, and his grandfather was one of the first people to take up homesteading in this canyon. He bought some 1,600 acres back in the mid eighteen eighties. The old neighbor once took me out to his field after I'd stopped by to let him know much of a field had run down onto the road, and deposited a foot deep of his fertile loam soil. He looked me in the eye, and said "that's the beauty of farming, you never know what's gonna come along, or how it's gonna work out".

   He has now moved on to a house in town, and I bet he's just puttering around there now, remembering the old days on his tractor tilling his fields. He was a good neighbor, and we wish him and his wife the best in their new home in town.

   When I think about Country Philosophers, my mind does drift on to 'Old Campy', as he spoke to me several times about his philosophy of life, and how to make the best of the land without wearing it out.

~Tom T Hall~

Faster Horses

He was an old-time cowboy, don't you understand

his eyes were sharp as razor blades his face was leather tan

his toes were pointed inward from a-hangin' on a horse

he was an old philosopher of course

He was so thin I swear you could have used him for a whip

he had to drink a beer to keep his britches on his hips

I knew I had to ask him about the mysteries of life

he spit between his boots and he replied

it's faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, and more money"

He smiled and all his teeth were covered with tobacco stains

he said "it don't do men no good to pray for peace and rain.

peace and rain is just a way to say prosperity

and buffalo chips is all it means to me."

I told him I was a poet, I was lookin' for the truth

I do not care for horses, whiskey, women or the loot

I said I was a writer, my soul was all on fire

he looked at me an' he said, "you are a liar."

it's faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, and more money"

Well, I was disillusioned, if I say the least

I grabbed him by the collar and I jerked him to his feet

there was something cold and shiny layin' by my head

so I started to believe the things he said

Well, my poet days are over and I'm back to being me

as I enjoy the peace and comfort of reality

if my boy ever asks me what it is that I have learned

I think that I will readily affirm

Son, it's faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, and more money"

These photos show some of the ice we've gotten in our animal watering troughs at night. The temps have dropped to 21 degrees, which is causing us a bit of a hard time with some of our more tender cactus.

   But I also have a philosophy...I will not go through great lifesaving maneuvers to save cactus that cannot take our wintertime temps. If a plant cannot thrive here, we do not want it. All of the plants we sell live through the winter here, even if they are sometimes hurt, that is a part of life. But I will not coddle a plant, if it grows here, it gets itself through the winter on it's own, no smudge-pots or wind machines in use here.

   I know that our plants will live through the winter, and in spring they will be reduced in size, but active and ready to grow out again. We'll have a good summer, and that's called 'Optimism in agriculture'.

     January 14, 2007

    California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) sent us an e-mail concerning the issues of contamination of produce. They reference an article in the San Francisco Chronicle that questions whether the contamination scares from this last summer and Fall might result in some farmers giving up on bio-habitat renewal and instead opting for the old style 'clean cultivation' that was de rigueur since the fifties. This would remove any habitat for rodents other mammals, birds and even insects that might be thought of as being possible vectors in the transmission of bacteria or other pathogens that we might fear.

   It is a thoughtful article, and this is something that we as a society have to think on. We must conserve our soil resources so that we can always have good soil to feed our people, so grassed in 'waterways' will reduce soil erosion and transmission to the watersheds of farm chemicals and silt. Hedgerows are seen as a wildlife beneficial cultivation technique, while also reducing wind-borne soil erosion.  But these same hedgerows might shelter rodents,  pigs and ruminants which might be breeding grounds for bacteria we do not want dropped onto our produce by these nocturnal raiders. But clean-cultivation requires all these green areas be cut and mowed or scraped to the ground completely. And there are some who argue that this will result in less risks of contamination.

   This is a matter that requires some deep study, we must learn the most common sources of these contamination issues, and then we must look for a sensible solution.

January 12, 2007

Alpha Dog

    Some years ago the central coast became the location for a sad murder by a young man with the seemingly 'Entertainment Industry' name of 'Jesse James Hollywood'. It involved a group of kids who were dealing drugs in the San Fernando Valley (The Valley), and to teach one fellow to pay up on time in the future, they kidnapped his totally innocent younger brother, took him into the hills behind Santa Barbara and killed him. Hollywood quickly went into hiding, and was caught some years later hiding in a 'surfer's Paradise' on the Brazilian Seacoast.

    The controversy that is starting now has to do with the movie (Alpha Dog) depicting the event already having been made before the main suspect has been through the Criminal Justice process, although the other players have already been sentenced.

    I do believe it is a good movie, it was screened last year at Sundance, and was highly regarded. Since it has so much local relevance, I have been following a bit of the news of the case itself, and have now transferred some of that interest to the movie also.

    I submit as evidence bag 'Number one' the interview by MSN Movies with the lead star of the film, Emil Hirsch who plays the (accused) killer Jesse James Hollywood.

    Evidence bag 'Number two' contains the interview with Justin Timberlake who plays a reluctant conspirator (quite well we are told in the interview).

    See the trailer for the movie Alpha Dog.

    MSN Movies has a really excellent review on the storyline, and the movie itself at Shrill Bark, Surprisingly Strong Bite.

January 10, 2007

    A friend sent this to me, thanks Orvel,

    A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite. He told the group to help themselves to the coffee.

    When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups....

    ... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

    Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of the Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.

    God brews the coffee, not the cups.....Enjoy your coffee!"

    The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God. You are the miracle, my friend, your life either shines a light - or casts a shadow.

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   After reading the above, I thought I should look through my dog-eared online version of the Tao Teh Ching, I found there a similar saying...

Chapter 11

We may join thirty spokes together in a hub,
but it is the center hole that provides for the use of the wheel.
We form clay into a container,
but it is the emptiness inside
that makes it useful.
We build walls for a house,
but it is the empty space inside that we live in.
Therefore: we work with being,
But it is in non-being that there is true usefulness.

January 09, 2007

Climate Change

   Science Daily has a fine article questioning whether the first Americans killed off the Pleistocene Mega Fauna, or was it a rapid climate change?

   Another article on climate change, in this case the Mid-Permian 300 million years ago.

   A 379 foot Redwood found. If you ever get a chance to visit the Redwoods, do so. They are incomparable.

January 07, 2007

Santa Maria Mural

    This is an attractive mural in the town of Santa Maria. It is a fairly accurate depiction of Main Street back in the forties. That section of street also used to be called 'Whiskey Row' from the 1880's through the nineteen-forties. It was home to many whiskey houses and houses that entertained the cowboys in one way or another that was not permissible on the other side of town.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

    I read an interesting article on Paddle Surfing. It combines surfing with outrigger canoe paddles, very interesting...and I might add, it uses boards that would hold my current prodigious weight.

January 06, 2007

Morning Fire

    These are eucalyptus branches I am burning.

    Eucalyptus is a non-native invasive species. the leaves and bark are full of oils that make it a most flammable tree.

    It is generally considered good management to clean up around the trees, hauling off all of the branches that occasionally fall, and burn them in a safe place. This will reduce the fuel load under the trees that would ignite if a fire were to come along.

    I take great pride in my fires being mostly clear of smoke. I let my brush and branches dry completely (usually for a half year) before igniting them. And then I follow accepted methods of burning, such as keeping the burn section less than six feet across, and not burning trash, garbage or agricultural residue. My fires are usually so smoke free, that I am sure my neighbors generally do not know when I am burning.

    Fire danger is very high in the zone of human wildlife interaction. Humans tend to try to reduce fire in the first place, and then the fuel load becomes so large that when a fire does start up, it is likely to become a conflagration and rips through all areas with much more ferocity than it would if it were allowed to run through more often.

    We have the ability to have prescribed urn areas in this vicinity. Our neighbors had a large burn some seven years ago. A helicopter came by dropping a napalm-like substance from a large bucket suspended underneath. Fire crews manned the borders including our property. Some five hundred acres were burnt to one degree or another. I did many walks across that property afterwards, and am happy with the results of the burning.

    It could be argued that 'Smoky Bear' is the forests greatest false friend. The concept of total eradication of fires that began in this country a century ago ahs resulted in forests being choked with tangles of vegetation all nice and dry, ready to go up in a firestorm of activity once the conditions are met.

    The biggest problem with modern fires and the high fuel load they have is that they seal the ground off with the extremely high heat values they contain. The soil literally 'bakes' and glosses into a glassy substance that is unable to take in water, then the rains will scour the soil and cut gullies destroying the land.

    It is my contention that we need to have many more controlled burns in this country, and encourage landowners to cut and burn the debris in their trees, so that when a fire does come along, the fuel load will be smaller, and the fire will be less destructive to wildlife, plants and the land.

January 05, 2007

Trouble me
~10,000 maniacs~

Let me have a look inside these eyes while I'm learning.
Please don't hide them just because of tears.
Let me send you off to sleep with a "There, there, now stop your turning and tossing."
Let me know where the hurt is and how to heal.

Spare me? Don't spare me anything troubling.
Trouble me, disturb me with all your cares and your worries.
Speak to me and let our words build a shelter from the storm.
Lastly, let me know what I can mend.
There's more, honestly, than my sweet friend, you can see.
Trust is what I'm offering if you trouble me

    There are artists who can so succinctly bring out the meaning of their philosophy in song and rhyme. One of these is the singer/songwriter Natalie Merchant who has such uplifting songs and videos. One of her best is the song called 'Trouble me' which I enclose as a link below.

    We are not here alone as individuals on this earth. We are all one huge organism of humanity, and it is incumbent on all of us to help one another. If we do not, we are no more than crabs scuttling across the ocean floor, each concerned only with his own life.

Es isst ganz einfach....wir sind alle ein.

January 04, 2007

Big Bad Wolf

I was in San Luis Obispo and saw this car with a big wolf looking out the sunroof.

    Humor is one of the ways with which we define ourselves as sentient beings, and a step above the Amoebae. Humor is one of the sparks of divinity given to us.
    But sadly the same powers that give us our sense of humor, gladness and happiness give us the opposites of sadness, fear and depression. So much of what we must deal with as humans is to accept the sadness and loss we face as we go on this long road of life. But also to accept and be thankful for the good times that come our way as they filter into our lives.

    I just got the call this morning that a friend of mine in Black Mountain North Carolina passed on this morning. God bless you Peanut, you were a good fellow. And may God help you as you go on Wilma. Blessed Be.

    Life is full of highs and lows, accept the low points as you accept the high points. There are some who say that we cannot accept and actualize the good things in our lives without the sad things to give us a marker as to what constitutes sadness. Accept all things that come to you, goodness and calamity, they are all part of life’s' fortunes and misfortunes.

    One of my favorite Swedish bands is Garmarna, their song Varulven (Werewolf) is full of the darkness of the Northern latitudes.

    I did not find the song Varulven on Youtube, but did find another that encapsulates the darkness of Winter and loss in their video 'Herr Holgerr' (Mr. Holgerr).

    That video is like a glimpse into Dante's 'Inferno'.

    Now, speaking of inferno, today is a 'permissive burn day', and I have some eucalyptus branches that need to be burned, so I'll spend today alternating between the cold of the winter (by our terms) and the heat of the fire as I spend the day dragging branches to the inferno.

January 03, 2007

Fast Car

    I saw this fast looking car gassing up in Nipomo. It has a low and lean look to it that I liked. Sometimes, I think I'd like to again be behind the wheel of a fast car..

The One I Loved Back Then
George Jones

The old man took my money as he stared at my Corvette

He said, I had one just like her son, in 1963

Til the man down at the bank took her from me

 
Oh, She was hotter than a two dollar pistol

She was the fastest thing around

Long and lean every young man's dream

She turned every head in town

She was built for fun and handlin' son
I'm glad that you dropped in

She reminds me of the one I loved back then"

Then I handed him my keys and said: Here take her for a spin

The old man scratched his head, and then he looked at me and grinned

He said Son you just don't understand, it ain't the car I want

It's the brunette in your vette that turns me on

January 02, 2007

Evening Fire

    It was a beautiful evening, and I had a pile of wood that needed to be set afire, so I had me a nice little campfire in the front yard.

    Good times are for enjoying.

    Sometimes a moment seems so 'real', you want to linger over it for a long time, trying to distill the essence of what life is giving you in that moment. When these times come, open yourself to them, breath in all that life has to give you, and remember it all, so that someday when you're away from the places and people you love, you can have a nice little memory of 'Home' to relive.

HOME
by Sheryl Crow

This is home, home
And this is home, home
This is home

    Sheryl Crow and crew put up a most excellent video of the song printed above. It hearkens back to another America, one from which Rockwell borrowed to show the people of this land. It so reminds me of the town I grew up in, and when I watch it, a sigh of reminiscence comes to me, and I am able to once again relive those simple pleasures of a simple folk, on the banks of a small river, miles from anywhere.

January 01, 2007

Pack Rat
by Byrd Baylor