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Update - a little progress on a personal front

 Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.

Rachel Carson
 
 
This past week or so, I've been stuck for a topic.  Not much has really happened as I've dealt mainly with leaving one job and searching for/accepting another.  
 
Several quiet anniversaries were celebrated (we moved into our home 3 years ago this month) and I volunteered to man the Odd Fellows booth at the local Stoneboro Fair several days last week.   

Months ago I had applied for a Master Gardener class through the Penn State extension program.  I promptly forgot all about it as I have only done container gardening in the past, and I saw this as an opportunity to learn more.  
 

 
I was very surprised to have been accepted into the program.  This is NOT a degree but rather advanced skills aimed at public outreach and education.  I'm sure that this knowledge however will come in handy as I continue my search for a Green job and try to create my "edible yard."  This starts in October.
 
 I also found it ironic that I was accepted into this program as I didn't have much luck with our garden in our second year, we had issues with deer eating about 60% of what we planted.  


For what ever reason the zucchini and squash we planted would flower but never develop.  We did have some good luck with some strawberries, an abundance of tomatoes and a surprise crop of sunflowers.  I say surprise because we didn't plant them.  Since they were under our bird feeders, the seeds must have dropped and developed from there.   Nor did we plant any additional trees like I wanted to do this year, but instead had to take a few down.
 
 
I planted some native grapes and well and did some landscaping work this year.  It's not much but we are moving forward.  I'm not sure if I have a "passion" for gardening but I do think that every small step I make is only going to help our environment in some small way.   Again however, we are chalking this up to an learning experience and it does appear that I'll have to figure out a where and what I'll want to grow next spring to determine how much space and fencing I'll actually need.
 
So for now...everything is on hold.  I'm still going to try and update this blog once a week or so but right now, other things have priority.  
 
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What all the cool kids are reading.

Getting things done. Small victories add up.

In the new TV show Fallout there is a great line.  " The Golden Rule of the wasteland is thou shalt be distracted by bullshit every single time." I've never played the game it is based on but the picture shows the two newest distractions in my life.  We have taken care of our former neighbors barn cats since he moved out nearly a year ago.   Long story short the mama cat gave birth in his barn that we we given access to.  We found four little black long hair kittens and decided to take them, as it would probably be the only time we would be able to catch them.   Much to our surprise after a day or so the mama came over and started to milk them laying on our kitchen floor.  She's comes in, feeds them and then goes back outside.  Once they are mature enough to have them fixed we are planning on doing so and then they will go to a good home.   That's the plan...but plans have a tendency to change as one or two of them are findi...
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Just a short interlude to catch up.

  resting cat Recently I found myself with a bit of time on my hands.  Normally this time of year my wife and I like to take some vacation time.   We generally don't go to far, having visited Niagara Falls and New York state the last two years, the plan this year was to go south, to visit an old friend that has just accepted a facility position at Duke University .   A few days there, a few days in Charlotte; where I once lived and then, if we had time, a few days in Charleston, SC where I also lived for a brief time. Sadly however, due to circumstances that I won't get into here, our vacation became a staycation .  Which was fine because I still had a tree to plant from the Native Plant sale, odds and ends to do and to continue my war against some aggressive neighboring plants, which it seems I was now finding everywhere, as well as other small jobs that I've been putting off. I actually wondered if it would be affordable (and reasonable) to rent a f...
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Why didn't Erie, PA develop into a bigger city?

          Recently I had to travel up to Erie, PA for business.   It's about an hour north of me and is a rather small city, having just under 100 thousand people living in it.   It played an important role in the founding of America,  - where it was the headquarters for Oliver Perry's flagship Niagara during the battle of Like Erie in the war of 1812 .            It was also a important shipping center, being Pennsylvania's only access to the Great Lakes which was the easiest way to trade with parts of Canada at the time as well as move goods to the cities of Detroit and Chicago, which in the mid to early 1800's were just starting to develop.  It was also directly north from Pittsburgh which was a major industrial city at that time.     Yet Erie never really grew beyond it's humble beginnings and I wondered why.   Like any good sleuth I turned to the intern...
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