A Flurry of Activity

My life is much busier now that I've gained an instant family. I have less free time, less internet time and less me time than I did before. My workload has grown and I've got more things being asked of me all the time. This mother phase of life is hard, no doubt about it.  I'm still in the process of adjusting and making new routines but it's all good. I'll take extra laundry and homework related arguments over being slowly killed by selfish adults and their drug addictions any day. 

My workload is not the only thing that's been growing. My social life has grown by leaps and bounds and I've been making lots of new friends online and in real life.  And while it does take some work it doesn't stress me like it once did. I also find myself enjoying more and more simple things, like driving. I used to hate driving, but sometimes it's almost enjoyable.  I'm growing by leaps and bounds and enjoying every minute of it.

Once again, my life seems to be keeping pace somehow with the progressing spring.  The leaves are almost completely unfurled and the brilliant and varying shades of green, along with bark browns, fill the country landscape. Everywhere one looks there are small jewel tone flashes of birds; their songs fill the air as does the buzz of bees and the fluttering of thousands of gossamer wings.

The very air is full of delicious scents that seems to be dominated by newly cut grass, sweet wildflowers and just the fresh, green smell that can only be found in a beautiful and largely unspoiled land.  The air is so rich and full of smell that it's nourishing not just to the soul but to the senses.  Sometimes after I've been cooped up for a while I feel hungry for something that food cannot satisfy. At those times I step outside, take a deep breath and instantly feel full and happy. May it be so for you.

Go by Jonsi: The Music of Spring

Is this real paint or Photoshop?

Even if you're not already a fan of Jonsi via Sigur Ros I highly recommend giving at least some of these breathtakingly beautiful songs a listen. Whether it be a fast paced, sometimes frenetic song like Go Do, the breakneck craziness of Animal Arithmetic or a mellow emotional song like Grow Till Tall or Tornado each song seems to almost fly by as the ethereal qualities begin to overwhelm the listener. It's so good and so enjoyable that it makes one want to rush outside and breathe in all the wild growth of spring before it melts into summer.

There have always been naysayers who claim that a solo album from a front man of an already successful band will inevitably be watered down, weaker or only a slightly tweaked version of the original bands' music. And that's a valid critique, but not in this case. Yes, he sings in his haunting falsetto a lot, just like he does with Sigur Ros. And yes, the music is very good. But the similarities really end there. Go features much faster rhythms, heavier synthesizers, a lot more orchestral work,  less guitar and one other glaring difference between Go and the music of Sigur Ros.

Jonsi sings more than a little of the lyrics in English. It's English sung with a heavy, but not overpowering, Icelandic accent, granted. But it's beautiful and can be understood once the listener has gotten over the newness of the album and has learned how to listen to his pronunciations. I don't find it unpleasant at all to not always know exactly what he's singing about. In fact, it adds to the over all aesthetic, to the air of mystery and otherworldly quality. That said, the lyrics are beautiful so it's not a bad idea to look them up.

From Go Do:

Tie strings to clouds
Make your own lake - Let it flow
Throw seeds to sprout
Make your own break - Let them grow

And from Animal Arithmetic:

Every time, everyone, everything's full of life
Everyday, everywhere, people are so alive

I see you in the trees
I see you're colourful
I see you in the breeze
You're spiritful

Personally, I've officially recognized Go as the soundtrack of my springtime. In fact, I've become rather obsessed by it! Never before in my life have I been so eager for the warmth and growth of spring and this album encapsulates all the glory, wonder, beauty and sometimes heady pace of springtime. It's as if the spring flowers and awakening animals and I are racing at a feverish pace and this album is the music we are making.

I wanted to imbed the video for Go Do but YouTubers don't seem to want to share it and the Jonsi site features a huge video player that uglies up my template. So, go here to see the first fascinating video from Go.

Spring: Flowers, Critters and Blog Templates, etc.

Grape Hyacinths

So you may have noticed I've been playing with my template, backgrounds and stuff around here. What can I say? I recently got a nice, fully functioning, big ass monitor (from some great friends!!) and can now enjoy all the colors of the rainbow. Also, Blogger just unrolled their new Template Designer in Blogger in Draft and it is very nice. And fun. And addictive. But, more to the point (and there is one coming, just hold on) it's Spring!

All the warm weather critters are returning with the birds coming first. In fact, birds are returning in droves these days. We've had the mourning doves for about a week and their song is only second to the whip-poor-whil. Our local mockingbird returned a couple of days ago and, when he's close enough to a bedroom window, makes for an efficient and enjoyable alarm clock.   Every time I step outside I see more birds and even saw one squirrel which we don't often have around here. Haven't had a snake yet but it won't be long. The pond frogs have been serenading us for a few weeks now and it's truly glorious.

Lilacs and Tulips

There are spring flowers popping up all over in old and new places. We've got all of our expected things putting on a show but we've got a stray lilac or tulip here and there. Looks like our daffodils are done, the lilacs are still going and the tulips are just beginning to show off their rainbow of colors. All kinds of things are popping up: wild violas amongst the grass, gorgeous bright yellow dandelions and the wild rose bushes are putting out lots of growth. I can't wait to float in the pool and smell the gorgeousness of their scent waft over me. Warm weather can't come soon enough for me this year it seems. And I know why.

Now that my family situation is so much more healthy and happy than it was up until last fall I'm just looking so forward to life and living. My family was locked in a deep, dark hole for a long time, myself included. So I'm loving having freedom to have a life and friendships and goals and hopes to actually look toward.  I've been locked up too long. I, more or less voluntarily, did the hermit thing for nearly 30 years and spent the last two or three too scared to hardly ever leave the house. And now I'm done with that.  I'm stepping out of my cage.

I'm making new friends, pagan and non-pagans, left and right and, for the first time in my life, I'm actually enjoying hanging out with people. It's still a rough ride as my social skillz are pretty rusty but I'm having fun. And it's great. I'm drinking up the sun because the better times have arrived! If you have the means I highly recommend enjoying some beautiful weather and time outdoors and just plain 'ol good times with those you love. Enjoy the springtime, my fellow northern hemisphere residents,  for it comes but once a year!

Green Growth

Since bringing my plants out a couple months back I've learned a valuable lesson: I should have been placing my small San Pedro cactus out in the full sun from the very start. Since it was brought out this spring, and placed out in the yard away from the trees, I swear it's grown at least an inch and a half! And the new growth is thicker and colored a deeper, richer green than the rest. I'm so pleased with it. It's the only perennial I've managed to get started and keep going! I have much, much more experience with annuals and am so happy to know that it is possible for me to nurture a perennial. Now if only I could figure out how the hell to get herbs to not only sprout from seed but stay alive for longer than a few weeks I'd be feeling like a supergreenwitch!

The petunias and other things I planted some weeks back are doing well for the most part, especially considering most were planted much later than I would have liked since our spring took so damn long to get sprung. The eucalyptus plants are doing quite well as are the sage plants. The two basils aren't looking as good as I'd like but I'm experimenting with placement hoping they'll improve. Just this morning the first bloom of the year popped out on the red hibiscus and it's a stunning sight and a joy to behold.

This year our vegetable garden is only a shadow of its former self since we didn't have the funds to repair our tiller, much less buy a new one. So, we've only got fifteen or so tomato plants that we'll start harvesting in the next week or so. When they're ripe we'll have tons of wonderful red juiciness to enjoy. And the dozen or so pepper plants are growing nicely as well but not producing yet. We've harvested and enjoyed quite a bit of lettuce by now and look to have some more pretty soon. We've been lucky enough to get some good corn at the local farmer's markets as well as have some gifted to us.

The fence that we used to have around the compost pile, and that the tornado ripped out, now serves as a great trellis for the cucumber plants. They're nearly chest high and just beginning to set on; we picked the first just today. We've also enjoyed a few sackfuls of homegrown cucumbers gifted to us from friends which has been awesome. They're so good peeled, sliced and soaked in apple cider vinegar with a little salt and pepper. It's super yummy and the vinegar helps the human body better absorb minerals from food. In fact, now that I think of it, cucumbers, as well as tomatoes, are the flavor of summertime. I'd probably include watermelon too. I love homegrown vegetables fresh from the garden! Sure, they can be bought in grocery stores year round these days but nothing beats homegrown veggies. Hothouse vegetables, aside from usually being chemically treated, picked too early and spending days in transit, just don't taste as good. Even if homegrown veggies aren't quite as tender, because of exposure to the hot summer sun, their flavor is unbeatable. Yay for summer food!

How are the green growing things doing around your neck of the woods?

The Great Mother Goddesses

Or, How Our Own Death Wish is Causing Many of Us to Return to the Old Ways.

Let me preface the following by saying I know nothing of genetics and very little of hardcore science in general. I'm probably going to use various, or many, terms incorrectly and miss the intended point of an important theory. So, if any of you science-y people out there spot errors I encourage you to correct me. Okay, on with the wild ramblings.

Have you heard of the Toba Catastrophe Theory? It states that roughly 70,000- 75,000 years ago a volcano on what is now Sumatra, in Indonesia, blew the Hel up and set in motion a series of environmental effects that caused a pretty drastic bottleneck in the human population. What's a bottleneck in population? That's when something pretty big, nasty and scary, like a plague, earthquake, ice age, volcanic eruption, etc., brings about the deaths of so many beings of a certain species that the descendants of the survivors are incredibly close genetically because so few were left to perpetuate the species. In the case of the Toba eruption it's estimated that perhaps as few as 1,000 breeding pairs of humans survived. There are also estimates that go as high as 10,000 pairs but either way, it was a pretty big damn drop in population. And it got me thinking.

It got me thinking about how many people look to religion and spirituality in hard times. Before I started learning about population bottlenecks, and the Toba disaster is just one of many, I had always wondered about the Great Mother Goddesses. Why were they so important to our ancestors? Why were they most likely the first to be crafted into statuettes? Why were they among the first divinities to be worshiped? Why were they, in many lands, cultures and times, the most loved? Why did they, above so many others, spread out from their homelands and find adherents over many continents? What's so special about them? And the most obvious, and somewhat unsatisfying, answer was that they were in charge of the continuance of human life. They were in charge of sexuality that led to conception, pregnancy, birth and growth leading eventually back to sexuality. They were the ultimate creators, the supreme progenitors, they were the mothers of us all.

Seems pretty simple, right? Why then, I ask you, did the worship of said Great Mother Goddesses die out and eventually become despised? What made them so important and then, at best, meaningless and, at worst, evil? I know, I know. It's the fault of the Judeo-Christians and their comparatively new religions. But things must have changed to allow for such a male-centric mythos to take hold. What could it have been? Answer: The population had long since stabilized and the need for Great Mother Goddesses had waned. Which means something major must have happened long, long before that to make the production of children an extremely high priority for nearly everyone alive. But what could that have been? Answer: An extraordinary drop in the population and the resultant desperation.

Now skip ahead a couple thousand years. People began returning to the old ways and the old gods about the time of the Industrial Revolution. Just about the time factories began spewing poison into the air, the water, earth and the bodies of every living creature on the planet a few folks here and there started looking back to the ancient religions. The Great Mother Goddesses become more and more important just as pollutants, pesticides and other chemicals started invading every aspect of life. It's not the same as a massive volcanic eruption, a meteor plowing into the Earth or the plague but we may be creating our next population bottleneck. As the human-made problems of global climate change, industry-induced cancer and infertility, and our own medicines poisoning our drinking water begin to weigh on us more people are turning back to the ancient ways. As our human situation grows ever more precarious the number of Great Mother Goddess, and other pagan, adherents has risen. Coincidence? I think not.

I don't think it's about simple fear either. If it were then many people would just turn to whatever religion is handy, whichever religion is acceptable i.e. the dominant religions, that of the Judeo-Christians. No. More and more people are turning to a form of religion and spirituality that is very much not acceptable to the majority of our fellow citizens. Why? Why would this current threat to our race cause such a thing? It's because the situation is radically different this time. It's something that hasn't happened ever before in the history of our race and our planet. Instead of a volcanic eruption or a plague or other disaster that we have no control over we are putting ourselves at risk. We are killing ourselves.

Our own technological advancement, our "progress" is putting our very existence as a race at risk. And because said progress involves a would-be domination of the Earth, untold and unnecessary cruelty, unparalleled waste and monumental greed many of us are not just turning away from the mainstream way of living, eating, consuming and working. We are returning to the ancient ways because we feel and know, at least subconsciously, that the ways of the Great Mother Goddesses, and their cohorts, are the only things that can save us. If we don't return to living in balance with the land and learn to embrace life, and all its joys and indignities, as sacred then we are doomed to destroy ourselves. If we don't return to the Great Mother Goddesses we are doomed to create the next human population bottleneck.

Plantings and More Plantings

We've spent an obscene amount of money at local greenhouses lately and have been very busy planting. To begin with, I got 3 dozen impatiens put in the front bed. I decided against reviving my old herb garden and, instead, will have a few potted herbs around my shiny new outdoor altar. So far, I've got two pots of sage, one eucalyptus, my 3-year-old San Pedro cactus and a few wave petunias and princess feathers around my altar. On the back porch there are two pots of basil, another eucalyptus, regular petunias and wave petunias and a brilliant purple ornamental globe amaranth. I also put together one washtub of marigolds and another of gold, confetti and lavender lantanas. Along the fence we've got four window boxes of wave petunias. I also put in a good start of spearmint along the fence well away from anything else so it can spread and grow to its little greedy hearts content. I put in a dozen or so dianthus in the bed way out to the left of the house. We've also got some scarlet begonias in three plastic hanging bags which I think looks tacky but everyone else outvoted me. Still to pot up is another big flat of wave petunias.

We also brought out our plants that overwintered under the grow lights in the back bedroom. The two Christmas cacti and the ten or so other cacti are in place and looking well. All three of the big sprengeri's need to be transplanted into bigger pots as does the schefflera, the peace lily, the tree philodendrum and the Norfolk Island pine. Unfortunately, all of the aforementioned plants are already huge and larger pots would run into many hundreds of dollars so I'm not sure what we're gonna do with them. We have a bunch of big old metal washtubs that we usually keep outside for flowers but I'm afraid we'll have to use some of them for the larger plants. Even so, they're not really big enough to accomodate these big plants, so I'm stymied.

Still to procure are another dozen or so impatiens to finish the front bed, two or three flats of begonias for our regularly begonia-filled washtubs, lavender, thyme, rosemary, dill and I'd like an aloe since kittens killed all of mine a couple of years ago. There was a nice, big aloe at one of the greenhouses we visited but they wanted $8 for it and I just couldn't go that high. If we had the money we've also got a dozen or so washtubs and hundreds of pots in all shapes and sizes. But as far as flowers and herbs go we've gotten almost everything we want.

As for the vegetables: our radishes are already done and our lettuce is gonna get eaten this week. We bought jalepenos and cayenne peppers and they're in the garden already. There are about a dozen tomato plants in the ground and a nice spot for the cucumbers to grow around as soon as they sprout. Still to plant are the okra seeds and we also hope to procure some banana peppers. We've taken advantage of the wreckage that the storm blew off the barn and now have a unique method of limiting weed growth. The big pieces of metal roofing now serve as an ugly, if useful, form of weed control. They completely block sunlight from reaching the ground between the rows. So, the storm may have scared the holy hell out of us and ripped up the barn and our roof but it's also helping us grow some veggies. It might not be an even trade but it's something, ain't it?

That's the gardening news from these hills, how are the green growing things doing in your neck of the woods?

Mystery Shrubbery: Solved!

Can you identify this mystery shrubbery? This was already here when we moved in over five years ago and has nearly doubled in size since then. If you don't know it could you ask Roger the Shrubber? Ni!

Thanks to Nettle, Maebius, Marion and Riverwolf I have learned that this shrubbery is a spirea. It's spirea douglasii to be exact. My mom and I have been arguing back and forth about this and, after much research, we've discovered that the spirea she knew as a child is the old-fashioned, traditional white "bridal wreath" spirea introduced in 1845, which is very different from our current flashy, purply-pink variety. There is somewhere between forty and eighty varieties, from multi-sized shrubs to ground cover plants. They grow pretty much all over, according to most websites, but are evergreen in warmer places like California and the deep south.

Thanks to everyone for chiming in and helping me solve this mystery!

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Or, If You Still Aren't Recycling Here's a DAMN GOOD REASON to Start

What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, you say? Well, it's a huge floating pile of trash all clobbered together in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. What is it? It's mostly plastics. Plastics like that water bottle you just threw in the trash. Plastics like that wrapper you just threw out the window. Plastics like that gallon jug you left by the creek at the camping area. It's estimated that only about 20% of the trash comes from ships. The other 80% comes from land sources, like through rivers, drainage, etc. And here's the kicker: it's big. How big, you say? It's ROUGHLY TWICE THE SIZE OF FUCKING TEXAS!

How does it stay in one general area? This article from the LA Times perhaps puts it best:

This is known as the Eastern Garbage Patch, part of a system of currents called the North Pacific subtropical gyre. Located halfway between San Francisco and Hawaii, the garbage patch is an area of slack winds and sluggish currents where flotsam collects from around the Pacific, much like foam piling up in the calm center of a hot tub.

Pretty scary, eh? And this is only the biggest patch! They exist in all the oceans all over the world!

If anyone ever needed a reason to start, and stick with, recycling this is a good one. Why aren't you recycling? Too much work, too much hassle? You have a busy life, you have lots of responsibilities, lots to see, do, learn, people to meet, etc., and you just don't have the time for it? It's not worth the effort? I wonder what the innocent animals who live in the water think of your rationalizations. Some animals, like this sea turtle, become trapped and deformed by the floating trash. Some ingest it and die either from starvation, suffocation or from the plastic painfully twisting their innards. Some get trapped in larger piles and simply can't get out, so they starve to death with a clear view of freedom and food. From the same LA Times article:

An estimated 1 million seabirds choke or get tangled in plastic nets or other debris every year. About 100,000 seals, sea lions, whales, dolphins, other marine mammals and sea turtles suffer the same fate.

And if that's not enough to get you off your ass consider this: the trash doesn't just hurt the animals within its immediate area.

Plastics are derived from petroleum. The heat of the sun, as well as ultraviolet rays, causes the plastics to break down into water and carbon dioxide thus adding to the problem of global climate change. While it's still floating the plastic blocks sunlight, interrupting the growth of algae, which also adds to the problem of global climate change. You see, algae eats carbon dioxide, loves the stuff. There are even experiments going on to feed iron to algae thus creating a boom in their growth and a lowering of carbon dioxide. It's not just the animals who are suffering. By refusing to recycle we are, in effect, killing ourselves.

If you aren't already recycling your plastics, numbers 1 and 2, start now! There's no time like the present! There are recycling centers all across this land and many, many larger towns and cities include recycling pickup with their regular trash service, often at no extra cost. What's stopping you? Yeah, it's a new routine but once you've gotten into it you will be amazed at how simple it is, how easy it is. Rinse things out, get rid of the lid and label and toss the item into a set aside recycling bin. Then, either put it on the curb or gather it all together every few months or so. You'll be doing your part to make sure the Garbage Patches of the world don't get any bigger. You'll make yourself feel good and you just might teach your kids something about environmental responsibility. Even if you don't give a shit about the animals of the oceans at least get to recycling for the sake of yourself, your own children and your race.

Damage

There's been a few new facts come to light regarding our recent severe weather here in these hills. For one thing, after spending several hours picking up many, many limbs and branches I realized that the tornado had freed our trees of their excess baggage. The Great Ice Storm of January 2007 caused incredible damage to every tree within several hundred miles of our house. There isn't a tree around here that didn't lose at least a few limbs. And even with our best efforts we just couldn't get all of them down after the weather warmed. That's been over two years ago and we were still working on getting all of those old limbs down. The tornado took care of a lot of those in one morning. So I guess one good thing came from the terror of May 8.

We've had one insurance adjuster do his thing recently, but not for the barn. Rather, this fella looked at the roof of the house, something we hadn't even really thought about considering the major structural damage to the barn. It turns out though that we had at least 75 mile an hour winds and hail that was at least as big as golf balls. So the greater part of the roof will have to be replaced. I imagine our insurance company just loves us as the only part of the roof that doesn't need replacing is the part that was replaced after the ice storm. So, two years, two storms, two huge roof jobs. I also discovered today, after pulling back the drapes, that my sliding glass doors are just about to fall to bits. They've always been ugly, with the outsides covered in white water stains, but the hail of this last storm really did a number on them. Looking back, I do remember hearing things hit them when I was waking up that day but the wind was so scary that I guess I forgot about the hail. It all adds up to a bunch of work for the insurance folks and hopefully a big enough check to repair all of the damage.

On a more introspective note, I do understand that violent weather serves many purposes. The most obvious reason, alluded to above, is just the simple idea of washing away the old thus allowing the new to come forth. Our trees don't look quite as shaggy now that most of the dead stuff has been blown off. Severe weather also goes a long way to proving to us mere, and yet endlessly arrogant humans, that we are but small parts of creation. Yes, we are sentient, we are conscious, we are mighty. We can create great things and we have a great capacity for destruction as well. But nothing beats Mama Nature, nothing! We can invest millions of dollars in research and development, we can put our best and brightest to work on new ideas and new concepts and we can build with the strongest, most advanced materials. But if she wants to do some damage one swift swipe of her arm or even a sidelong glance can unmake our greatest achievements and unbuild our greatest structures. There's no contest. We are mighty enough to make this planet dangerous to ourselves and other living beings but we can't even approach the power of She Who is In Charge.

Springborn Altar

I got a new keyboard, yay!!

The above image is my first outdoor altar that I've put together just for myself. The table top is actually marble that a good friend brought over from his place of work; it was left over after an older building was torn down or renovated, I can't remember which. The wood is from our sycamore tree that The Great Ice Storm of January 2007 took out. Since sycamore is a soft wood these blocks won't last more than a couple of years but there are always trees coming down around these parts somewhere and I have an "in" with someone who has access to trees removed by city cleanup folks. So, it's not going to be an everlasting altar but is semi-permanent. It's hard to tell from this image but most of the rocks on the ground have little, or lots, of quartz or gypsum, or both. These are rocks I took from the little stand of trees down the hill from house; it was hard work but worth it! There are also some rocks with interesting fossil imprints, a few holey river rocks and a couple of (to me) unusual rocks from Minnesota. Since I'm such a rock hound I will, of course, be adding more as time goes by. The little black thing that kinda looks like a knife is actually an old railroad tie that I saved with rustproof black paint. Ever since I found it I thought it would make a great ritual tool perhaps as a stand in for a knife or wand. However, I don't really use either in my workings so I don't know what I'll use the tie for. Maybe I'll leave it there to add to the rustic look.

I don't know why it took me so long to finally put together an outdoor altar. I've been thinking about it for year and years. I've mentioned before my disinclination, or inability, to use fancy, store bought ritual items and it still holds true. I just don't care much for the expensive, or even expensive looking, ritual tools. All of that sterling silver and brightly polished stuff usually leaves me magically cold. Yeah, it looks nice and if someone gifted me something like that I would be eternally grateful. But I just prefer old, weathered things I find along the way. The rail road tie came from the bottom of box of auction items. And many of my magical items have come from an old pickup truck that was left to rot way back behind our house. It's a really old funky truck that's at least 70 years old and chock full of treasures. Inside it was a veritable shitload of horse shoes and the remains of a big 'ol glass thermometer which I plan to dig out and add to the outdoor altar.

The vase holds a few of our roses and a bit of honeysuckle and it's just a small sampling of the wonderful blooms and blossoms to be found in these hills. I simply love how all of our neighborhood flowers are opening up. Our compost roses are going wild and our other rose bush will be covered with blooms in another week. There's pretty, but scentless, honeysuckle next to the chimney and delicious wild honeysuckle along the driveway. The peonies, planted several years ago, have finally put forth two large and intoxicating blossoms over the grave of our dear, departed Dalmatian Missy. The multi-flora wild white roses are popping out too. I love them so much and still can't believe it when people go to great lengths to kill them. They have pretty foliage, gorgeous, copious white flowers and they seem very resistant to mold and bugs. And, as if that weren't enough, they smell heavenly! Once bush can perfume an entire country yard!

Since we were nearly drowning for a few weeks everything is growing by wild leaps and bounds. We just finished mowing the other day and will have to start again this weekend. Now that we've had some dryer days folks are cutting hay like mad. All of the grasses and trees and foliage paint the landscape with a multitude of gorgeous greens. There are deep, forest greens, and vivid emeralds along with bright, yellowy-greens and every shade in between! And the sky is so brilliantly blue that just stepping outside is like falling into a painter's palette replete with the freshest scents. It's absolutely heavenly. I'm so glad spring has finally taken hold; it's healing my battered and bruised heart and psyche. Spring; it does a body, mind and soul good!

P.S. We now have bats and lightning bugs, double yay!!

Finally Spring!

I saw my first hummingbird of the year the day before yesterday. I saw my first indigo bunting of the year today! It's finally warm enough that I've actually felt genuinely hot while busy working. The colors of spring are bursting forth all around us: pink and white dogwoods, the whites of cherry trees, the soft purple of lilac and the muted yet brilliant purple-pink of the little redbud trees along the driveway. According to Riverwolf all the bright colors of spring prove that April is the gayest month and I think he might be right. When else do we see such brilliant hues from the Earth Mothers palette?

The spring air is simply luscious! The scent of fresh cut grass and the spring flowering plants fill the air. Here on Windy Hill we always get a heavy dose of the perfume of spring and I'm really appreciating it. Our winter was so long I think I'd forgotten the wonders of the fresh green smell! There's nothing finer for me than walking the dogs in the yard and soaking up all the green. I let my hair fall down and the wind does its best to carry it away and I just love it! For an interesting and insightful wind-related blogging check out Aquila ka Hecate's Trees Genuflect Before the Wind.

While we've got a lot more gardening yet to do this spring I am happy to report that our radishes (above) and lettuce (below) are sprouting up nicely.


Our main garden still needs tilling as our 5 year old tiller has quit on us. We're hoping to borrow or rent a tiller without breaking the already stretched thin bank. My witch hazels along the back fence are gaining height which pleases me immensely. As per our custom we'll wait another 2 weeks before bringing out the plants that over wintered under the grow lights in the extra back bedroom. About that time we'll also purchase and plant our favorite potted plants like impatiens, petunias and marigolds. I'm so looking forward to it. This winter held on with a tight grip and I am very relieved to see it leave. I'm looking forward to dirt under my nails and fresh produce from the garden.

May your spring be blessed and portend a glorious summer!

Cherry Tree in Bloom

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Memento Mori Tree

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Here's the remains of a tree trunk that was killed by the Ice Storm of January 2007. I like the contrast between the big 'ol dead tree trunk and the fresh, bright green of the spring growth around it. There are some of my images of said ice storm here, here, here, here and here.

Blush of Spring

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Early Morning Silhoutte

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Returning

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I like this image of my friendly neighborhood stump being reclaimed by these green plants, i.e. life, the Earth Mother.

Progress?

Officially, the hummingbirds have made it to southern Missouri, but we haven't seen one around here. It's just too damn cold. The daytime temperatures haven't been so bad lately; I've even been opening a window every now and then. But nighttime temperatures have been hovering right about the freezing mark for several days now. We have a nice day or two and then back to being so cold we have to keep both fireplaces roaring. And the forecast isn't very encouraging either; it's supposed to get near 60 tomorrow, near 70 the next day and then back to the freezer after that. Our poor trees and other plants are confused as hell. Sure, we always have some weather weirdness around here but this is ridiculous.

It's really got me thinking about global warming which is, of course, a bit of a misnomer. See, if a man made global warming really is taking place its effect won't necessarily be a hotter Earth. It'll be a generally fucked up atmosphere resulting in all kinds of negative effects. I guess that's why the newer term "climate change" is gaining more ground, although to me it doesn't really go far enough. I think we need to adopt a more precise, if longer and awkward, name. "Global warming" sounds like it could be a worldwide summer where everyone picnics and sunbathes at the same time. "Climate change" could just be one of the semi-regular cooling or warming periods our planet has experienced since its birth. To be fair it's got to be more than two words, maybe four or five or more, to be accurate.

How 'bout "human made armageddon"? Hmm, maybe not; it's a little too Abrahamic for my taste. What about "Earth children spawn their own destruction"? Or, even better, "stupid humans, in an effort to attain unattainable limitless power and wealth create the ultimate irony: their own self-made destruction"? Yeah, I like that; it's a lot closer to the heart of the issue than "global warming" or "climate change". But I imagine it'll never catch on with the wider public or the media. It's too honest, too graphic, too real. And too long for many people who seem to have the attention span of ....well, I'm trying to think of a good analogy. But I can't seem to think of anything that equates to the average television junkie.

I read somewhere that there's a particular brain wave pattern that occurs in the heads of those glued to the television that indicates very little thought taking place. Now, don't get me wrong, I watch my share of Bones, Futurama and Squidbillies, but damn, some people do nothing but watch tv. And I wonder if that isn't part of the greater problem of our possibly-soon-to-collapse society. Perhaps some of us have stopped thinking critically altogether in favor of eye candy-induced zombiehood. I can't help but wonder: if the industrial revolution had never happened, and we had never gained so much free time, and tv was never invented, would we be in this mess today? I know that's a stretch and an oversimplification, but I think my question is still valid. So what's the answer?

I don't know, as usual. All I do know is that I'm cold. And I'm sick of being cold. The growth of our pear trees has already been stopped in its tracks because of the weather; luckily the cherry trees haven't budded yet. The bugs have woken up, dug out and gotten just cold enough to move into the house. The pond frogs keep trying to stick it out at night but I can't help wondering if they're suffering rather than simply giving up and digging back into the mud. But I guess it isn't all bad. Most of the plants are still persevering and I did see a bumble bee yesterday. Our lettuce and radishes are sprouting nicely and the hummingbirds have been reported in areas north of us. So I guess spring is coming; it's just having to take a long, hard, cold road. I guess I need to get back to working some magic to help it along!

Tiny Mushrooms on a Big Stump

Click for larger version.

Just a bunch of LBMs (little brown mushrooms) on a stump in the back yard. I like the way they seem to grow in waves over the edges of the stump. I also like the three different sections of this image: the top is the grayish-brown of the stump, the middle is the pale tan of the mushrooms and the bottom is the green of the grass.

Cannabis Law Reform

From NORML:

As for those tens of millions of you who believe that cannabis should be legally regulated like alcohol -- and the tens of thousands of you who voted to make this subject the most popular question in the White House's online Presidential Town Hall -- well, your voice doesn't really matter.

Asked this morning whether he "would ... support the bill currently going through the California legislation to legalize and tax marijuana, boosting the economy and reducing drug cartel related violence," the President responded with derision.

"There was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation, and I don't know what this says about the online audience," he laughed.

"The answer is no, I don't think that [is] a good strategy."

Please, go read the entire thing. And consider adding your name to the well-written form letter, to which you can amend in any way you see fit. What follows is their form-letter with my own comments at the end.

Mr. President,

You pledged "to open up the White House to the American people." I'm one of the tens of millions of Americans who believe that cannabis should be legally regulated like alcohol. I'm also one of the tens of thousands of Americans who voted to make this subject the most popular question in your online Presidential Town Hall. I'm disappointed to learn that you believe that my voice doesn't really matter.

I understand that you may oppose this position, but that is no reason to deride this issue.

Mr. President, please tell me: "What is it that you think is so funny about the subject of marijuana law reform?"

Since 1965, police have arrested over 20 million Americans for violating marijuana laws, yet nearly 90 percent of teenagers say that pot is "very easy" or "fairly easy" to obtain. Do you find this funny?

According to your administration, there is an unprecedented level of violence occurring at the Mexico/US border -- much of which is allegedly caused by the trafficking of marijuana to the United States by drug cartels. America's stringent enforcement of pot prohibition, which artificially inflates black market pot prices and ensures that only criminal enterprises will be involved in the production and sale of this commodity, is helping to fuel this violence. Do you still believe that this subject is humorous?

Finally, two recent polls indicate that a strong majority of regional voters support ending marijuana prohibition and treating the drug's sale, use, and distribution like alcohol. A February 2009 Zogby telephone poll reported that nearly six out of ten of voters on the west coast think that cannabis should be "taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes." A just-released California Field Poll reports similar results, finding that 58 percent of statewide votes believe that regulations for cannabis should be the same or less strict than those for alcohol.

Why do you choose to laugh at these people? Why do you choose to laugh at me?

The American public is ready and willing to engage in a serious and objective political debate regarding the merits of legalizing the use of cannabis by adults. The time for joking is over.

Please consider apologizing for your dismissive tone, and please consider treating those of us who believe that there are viable alternatives to marijuana prohibition with the respect we deserve.

Regular internet users were a great help to you in your run for the White House; deriding online poll results is the same as slapping your greatest supporters in the face. I recognize that, when it comes to cannabis law reform, there are many interested parties on both sides of the issue and that sometimes these parties must be assuaged of their fears and doubts, especially in a public forum. But please, don't make the mistake of alienating the largest demographic that placed you in your position.

The "War on (Some) Drugs" has been a massive failure and the inclusion of cannabis in the same category as deadly drugs is patently absurd. If you truly wish to lead this country out of its troubles and into the future you must recognize that cannabis law reform is one of the most important issues for tens of millions of American citizens. We are tired of being imprisoned for taking our medicine. We are tired of being imprisoned for years for possessing an ounce of an harmless herb. We are tired of being treated as second-class citizens because we would occasionally rather imbibe smoke than destroy our livers with the much deadlier drug of alcohol. The time for derision is over. I fear that if you do not rethink your position on cannabis law reform that you will lose a great part of your public support.

My comments are in bold. The tactics of the old regime of "cannabis is as dangerous as heroin, cocaine, etc." is over. It's time for a new, modern and progressive policy that has at least something to do with reason and, maybe, just maybe the wishes of the majority.

Sadistic Mother Nature

Spring is trying to get sprung here in the Ozarks. The equinox came and went, leaving hope in its wake. The grape hyacinths, regular hyacinths and numerous tulips and jonquils are blooming. Other warm weather plants are growing their greenery in anticipation: the day lilies, rose of Sharon, multi-flower rose and lilacs are all gearing up. Most of the trees are budding out with wild abandon, though the walnuts are still dragging their feet, or roots as the case may be. The geese and other migratory birds are slowly returning, though it will be several weeks before the first hummingbird sighting. Pear and peach trees are putting on gorgeous displays of color as are the brilliant, yellow forsythias. We had our garden turned last week in preparation for the usual tomatoes, peppers, green beans and other veggies. I spent several days last week bopping around in my shorts, tank top and brand new sandals. It was so warm and sunny I thought that spring had finally arrived.

It's near freezing right now and we're expecting two days of snow this weekend.

Mother Nature is really fucking with us. Don't misunderstand me; spring and fall in the Ozarks are always something of a roller coaster ride. It's not uncommon to have snow on the spring solstice or a cold, rainy Beltaine. And it's not uncommon to have a very cold Mabon or a warm Samhain. That's just the way it is around here, always has been and always will be I suppose. But this time I really hate this "two steps forward then two steps back" shit. The last year or so has been really hard on my family and, while some things have improved, the situation is still very tense and uncomfortable at times. The warm weather of the last couple weeks had me feeling better and to have it taken away again is like a hard, cold slap in the face.

I am so ready for spring; I'm enthusiastically eager for green growth and sunny days. I don't even begrudge the pollen that will clog my sinuses like a stopped up sink and make me blow up like a sneezing machine. I'm not too worried about the fleas, ticks, wasps or those little iridescent Japanese fuckers that munch on the grapes and other plants. I'm not concerned about poison ivy, Johnson grass or dandelions. I'm looking forward to mowing the lawn, pulling weeds and getting my hands dirty. I want to pick bouquets of wildflowers and place them on my altar. I want to hear the pond frogs sing all night, every night without fail. I want to listen to the timeless, hypnotic song of crickets and other night creatures. I want to drink in the night sky without catching a chill. I want to soak up the sun with no care in the world other than sunburn.

Mother Nature, it seems, has other plans. I'll have to go back to bringing in wood everyday. I'll have to go back to keeping all the windows shut tight. The outside heat lights will have to stay on for the time being. It's back to socks, long pants and jackets. There won't be any barbecues around here for a while and very little sitting on the back porch watching the sunset. All of the pond frogs have no doubt dug back into the mud leaving the night deathly quiet except for the sound of the gusts here on Windy Hill. I'm not complaining but...oh wait, yes I am complaining. Enough winter already! Come on spring! It's a witches' job to help turn the wheel of the year; I guess I have my work cut out for me.