The City Mouse in the Country

     Over the last couple of weeks, I've had a lot on my mind.  I've been given the opportunity to pursue two different, yet very similar jobs through my current company.  Both would pay me more and both offer me more, yet oddly similar responsibilities.  Although there is a great difference in how I would carry them out.        One of these positions would allow me to continue to work from home, where I can  continue to save money by not having to commute and work four - ten hour days in a week, having an extra day off in the middle.        The other position is in the city of Pittsburgh.  It's roughly  75 minutes away by car and that means additional expenses like parking and gas, in addition to my adding anywhere from eight to ten hours in commute time each week.  However it's a little more in line with my long term goals and, despite my bitching about it earlier, I do miss people.        Frankly I have already made up my mind - if offered the job in Pittsburgh I be

      To be honest I'm not sure how many containers we have growing with various fruits and vegetables growing in them.  I never really did a count, all I know is that my strawberry bushes have little red strawberries on them, that my zucchini is blooming and my tomato plants will soon need to be surround by cages.        I'm hesitant to say that my first garden is successful, but I feel pretty confident that we will soon have green peppers and sprouts on our plates.    I have fresh thyme, basil and parsley just outside our back door; along with cucumbers that are ready to vine up a vertically standing pallet.       Technically this is not my first garden, as my ex-wife Teri and myself planted a more "traditional" tilled garden years ago and produced much the same foodstuffs as I'm growing in containers,  Growing in a container however is a bit easier to manage and certainly makes weeding easier.       Even the dogwood trees I planted seem to be doing well.      

     I broke my own unwritten rule the other day.  Within the last year or so I decided that I was going to embrace a plant based diet because of health reasons.   Heart disease and high blood pressure runs in my family and, roughly two years ago, swelling in one of my legs put the fear of God into me.       As it happened it ended up being nothing but it did concern me.        So I gave up the sugary drinks for the most part and made other changes that I thought were needed, and that lead to my current semi plant based diet..  One of those changes was a pact that I made with myself.  If a restaurant offered a vegan or vegetarian option then I would order it.           Not only would I be doing something that (hopefully) was healthier but I would also be supporting the bottom line for those options.  We live in a world where the bottom line is king and if a vegan/vegetarian option makes a profit; then it's more likely to stay on the menu.            A funny thing happene

      Last week I got a great comment via Reddit concerning this blog and why I do it.  "Leaving a legacy to future ancestors through climate awareness - a smashing idea."       I was just happy that someone was reading what I wrote, and I appreciated it.  To make things even better, he's a professional writer and I highly recommend his blog .  I'm grateful for any feedback and this simple comment made me feel like I was on the right path.        So when I sat down this week, electronic pen in my virtual hand, I had a lot of thoughts bouncing around in my head.   My small container garden is growing, my dogwood trees (with edible fruit) haven't died and I got to spend some time with my 90 year old father; who seemed to fall in love with the goldfinches at my bird feeders.  Susan noticed the number of bees and hummingbirds that have been attracted to our yard, and laughingly told me not to mow till August.    Photo by Birds Unlimited     I've noticed something

      At the age of 56, it occurs to me that I have roughly 30 years left in my life give or take a few.  I've (sadly) never had kids.  So in some ways my newly found environmentalism might be my way of leaving some sort of lasting legacy?     I honestly don't know.   I'm no dummy, I know that what ever I do is spitting into the ocean.  However I also feel that not doing anything is morally bankrupt.  You can make a difference in one persons life, even though you may never see that outcome.       For whatever reason I've been coming across a lot of info on No Mow May - which is a simple idea to let your lawn grow wild during the month of May, allowing bees and other pollinators to do their thing and help re-establish a needed but diminishing species.  I let part of my yard "go wild" last year and I'm planning on letting the same parcel go wild this year.      Only I'm planning on never mowing that parcel of land again.  I'm going to let it be abs

      When I sit down to write something, I do so for two reasons; the first is that yes, I want to remember my thoughts and feeling about a particular moment in time, so in some ways this blog serves as my journal.  The second reason is that I hope to impart some knowledge or information on.  In the hope that you, gentle reader, might learn something new or, more likely, avoid the mistakes I make.        I leave that decision up to you.       Thus, in some ways you can blame our youngest cat, Bobble, for our upcoming spending a lot of money on window's and other home improvements.       Our first winter in Western Pennsylvania was not really that bad.  This year it seemed we had weeks of sub zero temperatures and several feet of snow.  Our house was physically colder.   Now if your wondering why I'm blaming the cat then please read on dear reader.      Bobble was born in the early spring of last year, so he's still a kitten come winter.  A kitten with very sharp claws and

        Pennsylvania never changes; and this has given me anxiety.  I have a variety of wild flower and grass seed that I want to plant along the front of the porch.   I've containers ready for the few tomato's, peppers, zucchini herbs and strawberries that I am planning on growing.       I have two dogwood trees and a few flowers that I planted this past weekend.   I've never planted a tree in my life.   They are in the ground now and all I could think was " Well, it's in God's hands now."     Part of this stress and the anxiety that I feel is because of a typical Pennsylvania spring can consist of highs of 80 only to be followed by snow on the ground, often in the same day.   So if I plant to early, I risk killing the very things that I want to grow.   If I plant to late, then I worry that I won't have much of a harvest at all.        Where I live is pretty much the center of hardiness zone 5B.   According to sources that means that the first frost