Saturday, August 25, 2007
Bifurcated Weasel
Bifurcated weasel. Yes sir, this was what was going through my head as I bush-whacked my way through the brush and grape vines beside our shed. Normally I'm not a bush-whacking sort of gal, but there was a purpose behind this willful destruction of nature. I have to paint the shed. We (Hubby and I) built it years ago, but ran out of steam before the painting part.
There's nothing like hard physical labor to get you high on endorphins. It's good at emptying the mind of useless chatter, too, except for that bifurcated weasel thing. Don't know where that came from, but there it was, cycling through my head as I removed what felt like a small forest.
The exhibit photos above, in case you can't tell, are the Shed Before, Shed After, and Giant Pile of Removed Brush. No painting done, though. The brush was enough for one day.
Labels: bifurcated weasel, brush, labor, nature, shed
Friday, December 01, 2006
Worldwide Corruption Index
I got an email from Gallup that ranks 101 countries on a Worldwide Corruption Index. The lower the number, the less people feel that their country is corrupt. The U.S. falls somewhere in the middle. Finland has the lowest amount of perceived corruption. And which country has the most? Drumroll please . . . . Lithuania.
My funk has lifted from yesterday. After my post, I did my best not to frost the frog, although he did get a little dab of icing. (Why am I picturing the frosting as pink?) The mood passed completely on my drive to work. When the air is particularly dry in Minnesota, all of nature's details come into sharp focus. (Is that because there's less water in the atmosphere?) Often, while I'm driving to work, I'm in my own world and put most of my attention on the road, not on the long distance. Not so this morning. The trees were sprinkled with hoar frost. The river had a coating of ice with a streaky dusting of snow. The sun filtered through the gray clouds, creating an easy glow. The air was cold and snappy. Heaven.
My funk has lifted from yesterday. After my post, I did my best not to frost the frog, although he did get a little dab of icing. (Why am I picturing the frosting as pink?) The mood passed completely on my drive to work. When the air is particularly dry in Minnesota, all of nature's details come into sharp focus. (Is that because there's less water in the atmosphere?) Often, while I'm driving to work, I'm in my own world and put most of my attention on the road, not on the long distance. Not so this morning. The trees were sprinkled with hoar frost. The river had a coating of ice with a streaky dusting of snow. The sun filtered through the gray clouds, creating an easy glow. The air was cold and snappy. Heaven.
Labels: corruption, frost the frog, funk, gallup, minnesota, nature, problem, U.S.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Throwing Stones
The hubby and I went for a walk at the state park yesterday. Fine day for it. There's a creek that runs through the park, and an overlook that's suffering a sandy erosion. At the overlook, the kids started throwing stones down into the creek and we, good parents and environmentalists that we are, told the kids to stop. The hubby told one son that those stones would eventually alter the course of the creek. It seems like such an obvious thing, the fact that human beings automatically change their environment - moving stones from an eroding river bank down into the creek bottom. We feel bad for doing such a thing, but should we? If you're paying attention, you'll discover that nature changes itself. A deer scrapes a tree; branches fall into creeks, damming up the water flow; squirrels leave midden piles; animals crap all over the place, plant roots wend their way through soil. Just the act of us walking through the woods changes the woods. Is nature meant to be static? Or, is it okay to alter the course of the creek by throwing stones?
Labels: husband, nature, park, stones, walk, water, woods
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Entropy
I wrote a story not long ago about entropy. It's called As Above, Not So Below. I love the idea of human constructions falling into entropy with the forces of nature doing the work. There was an illustration of this idea posted on reddit.com a few days ago. It definitely gives one hope that nature will eventually win out.
Labels: entropy, nature, reddit, story
Friday, September 15, 2006
The Style of Mowing
Guess what? Too much physical labor makes my head doppy, too. I went practically comatose tonight after mowing the lawn. Okay, I have to admit that the lawn was more of a mat, it was so long. About three quarters of the yard worth, anyway. The other quarter is a sand lot masquerading as a pathetic lawn - sort of the comb over of lawns. It's been this way since we excavated for an addition a few years ago. Can't get anything to grow in the soil, especially on the north side of the house. As for that really long stuff, honestly, I thought maybe a quail or pheasant would flush up out of it. It took me several passes to shorten it to a decent length.
What's up with us that we haven't mowed for so long? Our Minnesota summer has been surprisingly devoid of rain. We mowed maybe two, three times in all of June and July. Normally, we're mowing every week. August rolled around and we got some rain. The grass grew, but we were out of the mowing habit. We finally got around to it, or rather, our kid did and the mower died. Right on the eve of leaving for five days.
Did the grass behave itself while we were gone? No! It kept right on growing. And we with a broken lawn mower. Turns out it was just the spark plug that needed a good cleaning. That done, I got to work and starting thinking . . .
It's been said that there's no legislating taste or style. There was a discussion on Minnesota Public Radio the other day about the how older housing is being torn down by developers and private home owners because they want something bigger and more modern. The upshot of this is that we are losing the history and style of older neighborhoods. The discussion ran to the difference in style that people have and how some gaudy stuff was going in next to classy stuff. How you define gaudy and classy is up to you.
So, how does this relate to lawns? Our lawn style is to let it go au naturel, doing as little as we possibly can to it. If we had the time and money, we'd probably replant a bunch of our yard in wild flowers and prairie grass. When we visited my brother in Portland, Oregon last year, we noticed that a lot of yards were done this way. Cool look. But not as far as some of the neighbors are concerned. Their tastes run more to that of the perfectly manicured Persian rugs of grass, with nary a weed in sight. They spend lots of time on their lawns, spraying chemicals and fertilizing their precious blades. Fine by us (except maybe some of those chemicals). Really, we don't mind the look at all. To each his own. However, they don't seem to care for our taste in lawns.
Thank goodness taste and style aren't legislated.
What's up with us that we haven't mowed for so long? Our Minnesota summer has been surprisingly devoid of rain. We mowed maybe two, three times in all of June and July. Normally, we're mowing every week. August rolled around and we got some rain. The grass grew, but we were out of the mowing habit. We finally got around to it, or rather, our kid did and the mower died. Right on the eve of leaving for five days.
Did the grass behave itself while we were gone? No! It kept right on growing. And we with a broken lawn mower. Turns out it was just the spark plug that needed a good cleaning. That done, I got to work and starting thinking . . .
It's been said that there's no legislating taste or style. There was a discussion on Minnesota Public Radio the other day about the how older housing is being torn down by developers and private home owners because they want something bigger and more modern. The upshot of this is that we are losing the history and style of older neighborhoods. The discussion ran to the difference in style that people have and how some gaudy stuff was going in next to classy stuff. How you define gaudy and classy is up to you.
So, how does this relate to lawns? Our lawn style is to let it go au naturel, doing as little as we possibly can to it. If we had the time and money, we'd probably replant a bunch of our yard in wild flowers and prairie grass. When we visited my brother in Portland, Oregon last year, we noticed that a lot of yards were done this way. Cool look. But not as far as some of the neighbors are concerned. Their tastes run more to that of the perfectly manicured Persian rugs of grass, with nary a weed in sight. They spend lots of time on their lawns, spraying chemicals and fertilizing their precious blades. Fine by us (except maybe some of those chemicals). Really, we don't mind the look at all. To each his own. However, they don't seem to care for our taste in lawns.
Thank goodness taste and style aren't legislated.
Labels: grass, labor, minnesota, mowing, nature, neighbors, physical, taste
