The City Mouse in the Country

          By the time I actually post this, Earth Day will have passed and honestly I could not think of a better way to celebrate Earth Day , than talk about the health of the planet and my personal healthier living goals.  No, this is not an ego post.     However the two are intertwined.   There are only a few people on this planet that still deny that we humans have a negative impact on the planet.  We, as an entire collective species, also don't seem to care.  Frankly if we would have started changing things around 30 years; we may not be in the mess we are today.  But, here we are.     That being said I'm not a climate scientist.  I don't have an advanced degree or specialized knowledge or even a crystal ball.   What I do have is a sense of history, an ability to take a large variety of data and connect the dots.  After all, I've made a living out of educated guesses based on the data I have at hand and I've been doing it fairly well for nearly 30 + years.

     When I lived in Florida, a friend of mine worked for one of the local news stations, where he was a camera operator and he confirmed what I had always expected.   That TV news was a form of entertainment and that the old adage of " If it bleeds, it leads" was true.        Thus it's important to remember that a lot of what we are seeing on the internet or on the TV news concerning the coming of the so called Brood X Cicada is either not true or inaccurate.  This is not a "once in a lifetime" event but rather part of the bug's mating cycle, occurring every 17 years.       No, they will not eat crops, bite you or your animals nor will they leave questionable stains on your patio furniture.   Yes, they are loud.      What makes Brood X so news worthy however is the mere size of their emergence.   It stretches from upper state New York to as far south as Tennessee and Northern Georgia; to as far west as Illinois.  It's been estimated that there cou

      The official first day of spring was roughly three weeks ago, although I think in most people minds, spring officially starts around Easter.   The last of the cold fronts have hopefully moved through and we are all waiting, anticipating, the growing season to start.     It's almost a palpable energy sweeping through this small community.  All around our small town; I see fields getting plowed, garden beds are getting readied, even our own.  Talk of what fertilizer to use and potting soils fill each and every store around us.  Weed killers, organic and otherwise, are quickly flying off the shelves.  The hum of lawnmowers and other equipment fills the air.           With each day that passes, another tree blooms.  Another flower sprouts.  Our yard is filled with daffodils and here and there, even a dandelion pops up.      Officially the first frost free day is around May 17th , but I don't think many people will wait that long to plant.  We are officially planting over this

   You, lucky reader, are in for a treat today.    The post was actually written before the Easter Holiday and varied in length, detail and focus.   While not a Christian, I felt that going into the pagan origins of tthe Holiday would upset some people for example.   However at the end of day you have to post something, even if your nat happy with it.  This post deals mainly with my disappointment in not getting to power the house with my generator even once so far since buying the damn thing.   That post is below. Although we did starts remodeling the bathroom over the Easter weekend by ripping out the ugly blue carpet that was in it.    We discovered mostly neutral linoleum under that which, surprise, is in good shape. It’s still ugly and will still get replaced, but it will work for now.    Happy belated Easter, and you can read a bit more about my holiday here .     "Oh Bother" said Sue, looking outside.  "I'm afraid my Easter decorations will blow al