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6月25日 A BIT OF WILDERNESSA BIT OF WILDERNESS
This area that used to be a wilderness is fast becoming metropolitan.
The state highway that goes past my subdivision ends at an intersection where they just built a new set of stoplights. That’s about a mile from the new strip mall to the west, and down the road from the new big box shopping mall that just sprouted, seemingly magically and overnight, a few miles from here. Several new houses are under construction on my road. The cable company no longer charges extra for cable installation on my road. We are no longer too far out. This area is booming. But it’s all planned growth. Or at least the county tells us it is. Let’s hope that whoever is doing the planning, knows how to do it.
The deer have nowhere to go. Suburban sprawl has taken over. There are plenty of deer. They have no predators, except “sport” hunters. Deer come to my lot to escape hunters and to chomp on my plants. The deer drop deer ticks that can transmit Lyme disease to humans. Because of this, I chase the deer away as best I can, but it is not easy to get them to run off. When I try to shoo them off, they stand as still as statues, believing (I guess) that if they are very still they will be invisible, camouflaged against the colors of the forest. It’s only when I approach them that they get the idea that maybe I’m onto them. Sometimes they bolt, white tails flashing. More often they just wander off. They know (I guess) I’m not dangerous. They’re not welcome here but when I see them, I know I’m experiencing beauty.
I try to keep a bit of wilderness on my lot. Most of my lot is forest, and I know I am so lucky to have found this place where the lots are oversized, most of the trees are still here, and the view is lovely. I let my drainfield area grow up for a few months and don’t have it mowed. It becomes a wildflower meadow. I get hundreds of daisies, yellow coreopsis, and yellow paint brush, maybe a thousand flowers or more. I don’t really like the wild asters because they try to take over the lawn also, but they grow in my wild meadow, and so profusely, it looks like a white cloud has settled over the meadow.
One day last week, I had my drainfield meadow mowed. The daisies had gone to seed. The coreopsis hadn’t completely gone to seed, but I have plenty of coreopsis elsewhere in my front circle garden. I could wait until the end of the season to have the drainfield mowed and that way I’d likely get goldenrod also (as I have in the past), but I’ve taken to having the drainfield mowed right after the daisies have gone to seed, because I don’t want to wait until the praying mantises get mature enough to start put their egg cases out there. Somehow I feel it would not be fair to them, after they go to all the trouble of making their egg cases, to have the lawn mower just grind them up.
I suppose I am harming a lot more species by having my meadow mowed mid-season rather than at the end. And why should I care about the praying mantises? After all, in some places, praying mantises are just a snack. But I like to take care of my praying mantises – they are beneficial insects. And a praying mantis will look at you so intelligently, cocking its little head to one side, in just such an understanding way. So cute! Oh I know, it’s probably just trying to figure out if I could be a meal for it!
This time I had the lawn care man leave a bit of the meadow, a spot about 20 feet by 20 feet where there were a lot of black-eyed Susans, a coneflower with yellow petals and a dark center. I’ll leave that area until the flowers have gone to seed, or maybe until the end of the season. It’s a small enough area so I will be able to find all the praying mantis egg cases and move them to the main garden before mowing. The lawn care man doesn’t like to mow when the meadow is left to grow all season. Some weeds will get very “woody” by then; some six feet high. But as far as I can tell, his machine has no difficulty and grinds up the clippings so finely, it’s almost a powder. So what’s it to him?
By the way, you can keep a meadow going indefinitely without mowing if you are willing to go about removing the little trees that start sprouting up. But let me tell you, around here that would be a nearly impossible task, or at least a full-time job for a month or two. The oaks, maples, hickories, tulip trees, dogwoods and other trees are very prolific. And wading through tall meadow grass, where the ticks are worst, to snip at trees, is not something I’d do. I enjoy my meadow from a distance.
Later that day, I read a CNN article about the decline in common songbirds documented by the Audubon Society. Causes given were: agriculture, habitat loss, pesticides, invasive species, and global warming. Twenty common birds have lost more than half their populations in the past 40 years. Someone in the article recommended leaving a little bit of wild area in your yard with native plants for the birds, something I’d just done! Wasn’t I delighted the next day to see two goldfinches swoop down to perch on some of the tall weeds in my meadow! I like these birds, not just because they are a beautiful color, but because they actually show themselves from time to time by swooping down.
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-2007-
Some portions adapted from posts on my Web site COOKIES AND TEA, from January and March 2007.
6月18日 MAKE YOUR OWN PROFILE IMAGE
MAKE YOUR OWN PROFILE IMAGE
Getting tired of that default bowling ball head you have for a Profile image in MSN Windows Live Spaces? Can’t find the right photo?
It’s easy to draw your own Profile image. Why not draw a Profile image that is bright, colorful, distinguished, eye-catching, and unmistakable? Something that is “you.”
Are you one of those who believes there is a “correct” way to draw? If you are doubtful whether you can draw, let me point out that if you are drawing to express yourself or enjoy yourself and then share, you are doing it right, and you are creating art.
So go for it!
Step one: Open Windows Paint.
To open Windows Paint, click Start / Programs / Accessories / Paint.
Step two: Make a tiny page.
On your Space’s main page, the dimensions for your Profile image are 100 by 100 pixels. To make an image this tiny in Windows Paint, click File / New for a new page. Then click Image / Attributes. Set width at 100; set height at 100; check “pixels;” click OK.
Step three: Color your image.
In the Color Box, click on the color you want. In the Tool Box click the Fill-With-Color Tool. (It looks like paint spilling from a paint bucket.) Click on your tiny page. It should fill with the color you have selected.
Hint: If you don’t see the toolbar with colors, click View / Color Box. If you don’t see the toolbar with tools, click View / Tool Box.
Step four: Add a border.
Add a line border with the Line or Rectangle Tool, after clicking a different color. The Line Tool looks like a short diagonal line. The Rectangle Tool looks like a rectangle with a solid border. (It’s not the rectangle with the dashed border which is the Select Tool.) Click the Line or Rectangle Tool and then click and drag on the page.
Hint: Ctrl+Z is a shortcut for Undo.
Hint: Draw with lines thick enough so your design won’t wash out when it is condensed to make a Comment or a Friend image.
Step five: Add some lettering.
Add lettering with the Text Tool. This tool looks like “A.” Click the Text Tool, then click and drag to open a box where you will put lettering. A menu appears called “Fonts.” Pick your lettering font and size. Pick a different color in the Color Box, if desired. Write something short and meaningful, and when finished, click outside the box, but still on your page.
Hint: If you don’t see the Fonts menu, click View / Text Toolbar.
Hint: The Magnifier Tool won’t work with the Text Tool (sigh).
Hint: Click the bottom icon in the Tool Box to make the lettering box background transparent.
Step six: Save it.
Save your masterpiece. Click File / Save As. Then in the Save As Type menu, select “Graphics Interchange Format (*.gif)” to make a low KB file. Enter a File Name. Click Save. You will see a message about color – colors may be adjusted slightly at this point as you continue with “Yes.”
Step seven: Upload it.
Upload your image to your Profile just as you would a photo.
Step eight: Smile.
Congratulate yourself on your new Web presence. Hip-hip-hooray! Let me know if you try this, and how it goes.  (These directions may have to be adjusted for differing versions of Microsoft Windows.)
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-2007-
6月11日 TIME TRAVELTIME TRAVEL
I go traveling back, back in time.
I have a very old issue of Lífe magazíne, dated November lO, l94l. It sold for ten cents. As I turn the pages I am drawn into the very fascinating world of that day. The ads are funny and weird. And the more I read this magazíne, the more I wonder about the customs of that time.
The cover photo is a movie star named Gene Tierney. As I look at her photo, I wonder if it is possible for someone to be that shapely. To me the photo looks like it was crudely altered to make a point. Well, sex sells. That’s why the magazíne has a photo spread on cheerleaders and why lots of the ads have a pretty “girl” in them.
An ad for Woodbury soap on page 60 has advice on how to be “popular” and have a complexion that has a “lovely pink and white glow, like a two-year-old’s.” All that from a bar of soap?
An ad for a men’s hair product on page 2 reads, “with the pure vegetable oils of Vitalis supplementing natural oils, your hair takes on a fresh, natural lustre.” The guy does look like he put vegetable oil on his hair!
The magazíne is full of ads for cigarettes. There’s one on page 86 by Phílíp Morrís, “America’s finest cigarette.” The ad says, “You can help your throat!” It claims that their brand is less irritating. Then it says, “You can’t avoid some inhaling – but you can avoid worry about your nose and throat . . . you can have true smoking pleasure without penalties – if you smoke Phílíp Morrís!” Well, obviously that was before the US law required disclosure of health effects in cigarette ads.
The ad on the next page by the Wine Advisory Board of California tells readers how to get their friends to relax: “You invite good talk when you serve folks wine.” it says. Today’s ads for alcohol wouldn’t so boldly convey the idea that alcohol is a mind-muddling drug, but they still try to equate alcohol with fun. Today’s ads for alcohol promote the fallacy that alcoholics are able to drink “responsibly” and won’t reach for the car keys, if we remind them enough times.
On page one there’s an ad for Listerine that warns about the danger of “infectious dandruff” and urges the reader to put Listerine on their scalp. Well, Listerine is still around as a mouth rinse, but this advertising pitch has gone into the dustbin of history.
On page 69, Formfit women’s bras are advertised for as little as $1.25: “Little Bo Peep has lost her shape, and doesn’t know what to do.” Well, there’s not a woman on the planet who wants to hear she’s lost her shape.
On page 117 the ad shows a picture of a room with trophy cups, guns, swords, and hanging on the wall are preserved heads of a zebra and an impala (oh, no!). It’s an ad for A&P coffee. I wonder who was the intended audience for that? But I’d bet the photo is a fake and the heads are cutouts just pasted on the original and re-photographed – I’m almost sure. Neither head appears to be mounted on a base, and the heads jut out from the wall crooked. The perspective is wrong.
An ad on page 8 for Sunkist lemons has a recipe for “people who ‘aren’t quite regular.’” It involves mixing water, lemon juice, and baking soda, and drinking it “as the foaming quiets.” Wouldn’t that taste awful? Who would ever think that recipe would encourage people to buy lemons?
On page 14, the woman in an ad for Cannon sheets confesses, “I was a dope to tell! There I go again! I just can’t keep a secret from my telephone! You’d think I’d keep clam-mum about those percale sheets. You’d think I’d let the girls gasp – let ’em suppose Tom had got a whopping raise . . .” Well, this stereotypical portrayal of a woman as a “dope” and blabbermouth would not entice me to buy sheets. I guess it couldn’t be her raise, not in l94l, not likely anyway. Not unless she was a movie star like Claudette Colbert selling watches on page 17.
Page 55 features a dreamy-eyed lady in a dressing gown, reminiscing about her selection of International Sterling tableware. The table looks lovely and her husband whispers, “Darling, everything you do is just perfect!” The ad says, “Could a wife ask for anything more?” Good question.
In closing, let me quote from another alcohol ad. The magazíne is full of them. This one on page 24 is a classic: “Guinness is good for you.” Yeah, and if you believe that, I can give you a great price on a bridge in Brooklyn.
I hope you enjoyed this travel though time with me. By the way, this post is not an endorsement of any of these products or their advertised uses.
What’s the oldest magazíne you’ve ever read?
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6月4日 IT'S POISON IVY TIME
IT’S POISON IVY TIME
I rip out the poison ivy plants with double plastic bags over my hand.
The plastic bags work for me, but I’m not recommending this method. I don’t know if plastic is completely impermeable to poison ivy oil which is what causes the awful rash and itching in those allergic to poison ivy. I’ve been using the plastic bag method for seven years now in keeping with my dedication to organic gardening.
The plastic bag method is a bit unwieldy when I’m trying to pull out the roots. The roots have to be removed or else the poison ivy leaves will grow right back. Some roots go out laterally for three feet (one meter) or more. Pulling out roots and folding or winding them up, without having the plastic bags tear apart or fall off my hand, is quite difficult. After uprooting, and while still grasping the plant, I draw the edges of the plastic bags out over the entire plant to enclose it; all this without touching any plant or root to skin or clothing – quite an art. Usually it’s one plant per set of bags. I seal the double bags with a twist-tie.
Then as a precaution, I do a thorough clean-up. I’ve heard a liberal application of tough soap and water can remove the poison ivy oil on skin. It is important to clean every bit of the surface of the hands, especially the sides of fingers and between fingers where the skin is so susceptible. Of course you should do your own research and decide what’s best for you. Cleaning is thought to be ineffective if the oil has already bonded to the skin. I guess you can still buy products that are specifically designed to detoxify poison ivy oil that has already bonded to skin, but I don’t bother with that.
An intermediate measure is just covering up the poison ivy with grass clippings or other kinds of debris like fallen tree bark; covering the poison ivy so it can’t get sunlight. This is not the best solution because it just waits until the clippings rot or it just puts up shoots nearby. But it slows down the plant until I can get around to ripping it out. And I don’t have to risk having to decontaminate myself if I just drop something over the poison ivy. This year I’m going to experiment more with just covering it up instead of pulling it up, since I’m not real comfortable with pulling it up. (Chime-in if you have any tips for me.)
I had to throw out my favorite gardening hat on Tuesday. I had been bending over and clipping brush, and inadvertently bumped into a tall poison ivy plant. I was watching carefully for poison ivy since it has grown there in the past, but I wasn’t looking up high enough. Since I couldn’t wash the hat, (it was a straw hat), I had to throw it out. What a pity since hats that are just right like that one are hard to come by (argh!). You can see I’ve not yet achieved that indifference in the face of adversity that is essential to attaining Nirvana (hmmm).
Once you’ve had a serious allergic rash from poison ivy, or even a small rash, you learn to be very cautious in the woods and garden. It took me a few years to be able to recognize poison ivy instantly. I used to bend over little raspberry shoots searching for their tiny thorns, almost invisible at that stage, to confirm that they were raspberry, not poison ivy, which looks similar but does not have thorns. Now, usually, I just clip raspberry without thinking twice about it. The appearance of poison ivy changes as it grows from a new shoot to a plant a few inches high to full grown, so identification is difficult.
If you’re not sure, follow the rule, “Leaves of three; let it be,” and don’t touch it. Pets won’t be bothered by poison ivy, but if they get into it and get the oil on their fur, and then you rub them, you could be in trouble. Of course, never burn poison ivy – burning could release poisonous vapors that could have serious medical consequences if inhaled. By the way, poison ivy is a vine and when it climbs a tree, it can get very high. The vine clinging to the tree trunk can grow as thick as your wrist. The vine becomes hairy-looking. Don’t touch a hairy vine! I learned that the hard way (ha, ha).
I wonder if there is a danger that plant liquids could splatter on me as I tug on a plant? (Anyone?) I wonder if poison ivy oil can vaporize on a hot day and if someone could have an allergic reaction just from being nearby? (Anyone?) I wonder how long it takes for the poison to bond with skin? (Anyone?)
Fortunately, most of the soil here is a very heavy clay not conducive to poison ivy growth. But there seems to be more poison ivy here each year. Whether this is just the natural result of species succession on this lot, which was cleared about ten years ago, or whether it’s global warming and climate change, I don’t know. I read that vines, and poison ivy in particular, will do well in a warmer world, but I don’t know why that would be. I sure wouldn’t mind if poison ivy became an endangered species instead.
All of my efforts with gardening become worthwhile when I’m in my garden and pick a bunch of red, ripe, juicy, sun-warmed strawberries and pop them one by one into my mouth. Nothing tastes better. “Fresh” strawberries trucked in from somewhere are nice of course, but definitely not the same as berries just picked off the stem. In the weird duality that is our lives, it’s not just poison ivy time; it’s strawberry time, too.
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