Climate Change---Possible Benifits

From a broad scientific view I am sure there will be little gain from a rapidly changing climate. From a scientific point of view it is also becoming daily more clear that there are no solutions for climate change. It is just too late.

Why, China is bringing on 1-2 new coal-fired electric plants every week and the same dudes are hoping to sell 20 million motor cars this year to folks that tooled around on bikes last year. Plus, the addition of 75 million people on the earth just about says it all. Ain't gonna happen, climate is gonna change, is changing and we are going to have to suck it up. Even powder-puff writer Tom Freidman of the NY Times has fessed up to this one.

What it comes down to is we will have to deal with it and see if there is a bright side. So I am looking in the backyard, looking at the garden. What I see is something we have not see before--an incredible amount of growth, tomatoes 6 feet high, potatoes mature and fat, peppers 4 foot and packed, cabbage 8 inches across and firm, corn  8 ft and ears like serf boards, and beets ready for sweet and sour pickle. It is mid July folks.

I am going to plant more items in the places already harvested. I am even going to try and produce 2 crops of potatoes. I already have two of broccoli. Beans are huge but short of blooms. Don't know what that is about.

But generally, the garden is a killer. Only problem is, there has been little rain and many farmers are loosing their unirrigated efforts. I have city water and it ain't cheap. Without water it looks like my unirrigated peppers above. So, there is some good results of a damn hot Wisconsin but things are odd. I'm uncomfortable.

Revolution Watch--The Small Farmer, and Organic

One minute I rave on the lack of news coverage on global warming and the revolution it might cause and something does show up dealing with the other desirable revolution, the sustainable Revoultion.

On the front of the same paper that refused to mention GW, they did cover the efforts of a young friend, Tony Miller, to provide locally grown produce and meat to the surrounding omnivious, guys like me. Tony and family has been working hard at this for a number of years now and making some gains providing food through subscription and farmers markets. Now, when I say working hard, I mean that.

His families efforts have been multifacited ranging from chickens to Shitaki mushrooms. I think I saw a hog out there as well. I am also sure that he has to irrigate his holdings so the efforts have to be profound, but heading in a direction that one would like to think is sustainable in some way. They have to make a living and I am sure that will not include buying a bunch of American style toys, no monster pickups, just a bare knuckles operation.

Now, it is true he is appealing to the herbal-kerbal, organic, Burkenstock crowd but I like to think there is another motive and I am sure that he and other young folks like him are aware of this. What they are doing may be not just to provide good organic food (he doesn't produce Doritoes) but it is also to produce food locally, to get away from trucking food into Wisconsin from all over the world, a world that in the future may not be as available to us, or if it is, it will be very expensive. We all know that this trucked in, chemically pounded, factory-farmed stuff is not like his. Most importantly, I like the idea that right here in the upper midwest we now have commercially available, high quality vegetables and meat---and we did not have to burn the very finite petroleum to get it here. Unfortunately, if everyone would need his food, there would not be enough. We need more of these folks, and lots of them.

Revolution Watch----The Drought in Wisconsin

Like many places in the country central Wisconsin is having what is now being called a drought. It is not that we have not had these before because we have. As a kid I remember being taken out of high school to go help fight marsh fires during a dry year. It was bad.

I also remember having hot weather but nothing like what we are having now, not day after day of 90 degree plus temperatures. In the first 6 years we have now been here, we used the central air maybe one to three times a year. This year it has been on some daily for almost three weeks, and it is only mid July, not even the hot part of the year which should be starting right about now.

No one says this is typical, no one has ever seen anything like it---but it could be just an anomaly, I suppose. However, anyone that reads knows that scientist worldwide are screaming that this is not right and it is a sign of global climate change, it is predictable, expected, man-made and downright scary. Even some of the old school deniers are beginning to wonder if these extremes are normal or are they really just some 100 year anomaly.

There just seems to be a need to at least have the mainstream press begin to mention the relationship with climate change so just in case there is a human relationship, just maybe something can be done. No such luck. The deniers get more attention and the mainstream news, like the one above printed right here in Portage County never once mentions climate change as an issue. Not a good sign. Is it possible when it is figured out that maybe there will be a revolution of sorts---or just a panic.

France---Beautiful but not Natural

France, and for that matter Europe (and I didn't see much of it) is a different kind of place when it comes to the natural settings. When I say this I mean that I am accustomed to my surroundings here, and at this point, that would mean in Wisconsin, but in truth we have traveled over much of the USA in our lives and we have seen the land. Being trained as a biologist one tends to look at the plants and fauna always probing for bits of information. The point being that at the age 68, I feel I have an understanding, peripheral as it may be, of my world.

I know that great regions of America have been man-handled badly, but I have, on occasion, seen what it was like maybe one hundred and fifty years ago before white men hit the land. There were always little hints, maybe a small tall grass prairie, a segment of oak opening, to a high country tundra, an alpine forest that was at least a reminder.

Also, places like Wisconsin are slowly going back to what it once was because the farms have failed as the soil depleted. Some lakes have been renovated and the marshes are no longer cut for marsh hay. We still have some natural environment that is intact and while the hand of man is every where, like the old stone fence in some hidden forest, the oak trees have returned and the maples are pushing up. The white pines are again tall and powerful.

 Because we are only 150 years old here in Wisconsin, much remains and there is still a feel for a natural world. Ravaged yes, but not bludgeoned. Yes, Wisconsin was once stripped of all its trees (look at old pictures) but it has been allowed to return. I am am sure that it could be stripped again as the population continues to grow at alarming speed.

In France one of the first things I noticed was that the land had been used, and I mean used not for any paltry 150 years but for centuries, if not thousands of years. Everywhere, in every niche there is the hand of man. Every rock has been turned and possible used, maybe by some Roman in 12 BC. There is no escaping it. There is no way of even knowing what it once was, except maybe by pollen analysis, because of ravaging wars, extreme over-population and folks having to scrap out a living on every square centimeter of land. There were few song birds. I must say I was struck. The picture below is in Italy, maybe eighth century, and it is the most natural one we saw. The land about it is all terraced, mined and used. This place was heated by wood!

There is a beauty there, a beauty of the people living close to the land, a land that they have pounded since the beginning of time, since the Neanderthals. It is all man altered. Mostly they have their culture, their relationships, a good full life, warm people. I believe we need to look at that but also remember we still have some of the natural world---they do not.

Colorado Fire--Our Home Ground

When we lived here (right here) , fires were always around including a monster over in the Buckhorn Canyon to the southwest. It was part of the deal. If it was dry and when the wind kicked up, it get them going. This year, some 6 years after we left this canyon, the real monster took hold. (Photo is from the Kestrel's home)

Right from thee start we stayed in touch with our friends the Kestrels, wanting to how every detail and to encourage them one way or another---Redstone Canyon was told to evacuate very early on due to the High Park fire out side of Fort Collins. (Photo from Friends close to our home and Kestrel's)

They chose to stay being told not to call 911 if things got dicey. I believe most folks left taking most of their larger animals and other valuables. The two ranches up there comprise about 10,000 acres and maybe 50 homes. In staying, they had decided there ability to help protect their property was greatest and it sure looks like it was. In addition, they had food on hand, a generator, a water supply and a good batch of survival skills. (Kestrel's yard)

Well, as most folks know this "thing" lasted 2 weeks and is still burning up to the north closer to Wyoming. During large part of this time they went without power as did most of the homes except the solar powered ones. They were able to keep everything in their home up and running at a minimal level and ended up being exhausted but unscratched. Most interestingly, they were also able to run around the canyon taking care of other folks property.

I got two thing out of it all. One is that some times it pays to make your own decisions based on your own knowledge and skills. Most importantly, it also valuable to have those two little items, those survival skills. The law enforcement folks and the National Guard may not know what is best for everybody. Two, the weather patterns are changing. I remember being told while living there that Colorado would be hit hard by climate change. They said it would get dryer, windier and hotter. Might take a few skills to dodge that as well.

4th of July Parade---It got Away

This is the 2nd time we were poised to go into the Firecracker Parade in New Hope only to have our main prop, the '69 VW bus play a trick on us. The first time it did it the old girl wouldn't start just before the judges stand and we, along with a few handy supporters, were able to get it front and center so we could do our act---and win a nice 2nd prize.

This year it played out on the bottom of the hill which is the run up to the grinning judges. It seems that VWs don't like to stay cool in 95 degree heat and the carburetor gets so hot the gas boils, fills the lines with air, and the somewhat antiquated, air-cooled engine will not run until it has sucked a couple of cold beers. This is no secret, happened before in Canada on the Fraiser River Trip. Just quits.

The parade was moving slowly because of the jackasses ahead of us were doing some skits ranging from Olympic activities to singing patriotic songs involving guns, the lord and mother country, so we waited patiently thinking we might get it going but Jesus was not with us nor was George Washington even though we were displaying a large fresh flag. With God being on our side (America's and mine),  I was perplexed why we should be robbed of this opportunity.

We didn't have much of an act but we did have a statement. It said "Is this the new Normal----4 Ms. American Pie?"( Ann was loosely dressed as Ms. American Pie) I thought it was clever but it might have been too subtle. We have had a week of 90+ temperature and will have another. Record breaking. Just asking a question. I liked bringing  in American Pie, the song,  for the references in the song and all. Then too, maybe I was hinting at an old vehicle being used and a couple of ratty-assed old hippies driving the back roads.

I ended it by doing a groveling act telling the judges we had the best outfit but it just wouldn't run and it was quarter mile away sorta in the ditch. Maybe there was also a statement in that. Maybe Jesus didn't want me to ask the questions.

Broccoili---Global Warming

This is new this year or at least new to me. I planted broccoli early this year, maybe in late April. Now we all know broccoli likes cool weather, so it is always fine. It may not grow jumping-Christ fast but still it plugs along like a Russian peasant. If it freezes or even has a little snow on it, no big deal---just like the Russian singing in D minor.

I put Jim's plants in when I got them, maybe it wasn't all that early. Still, they went in. Immediately, it started getting prematurely hot and I don't mean 75 either but in the 80s. The freaking plants, all of them,  took off on a NASCAR run. Didn't get one cabbage worm, no aphids. The butterflies never even fluttered in. Now, these plants looked nice, I will admit. Maybe 6-8 inches and standing strong, ready to kick some ass.

At the same time or a bit later, I planted some broccoli seeds in a row knowing I would transplant them later. In fact, I never buy plants because they tend to get buggy, wilt, and head out fast then completely bold and go belly up.

Well, these things of Jim's took off and by June 20th we had our first giant head and are eating the little side dudes now. This will go on for another week and then I'll chain saw them out, done.

But in the meantime, I planted one of my seedlings right next to the old one ( photo sucks) and it too is taking off in this 90 degree bullshit. It is nuts. I will get two crops. No, I am willing to bet I can get three because last year broccoli was still growing in December. It just ain't right, folks. I did hear our growing season has gone up 20 days in the last ten years.

Seems great but I have a feeling there are other things not going to be happy. I remember. We went fishing the other day and the Harrisville mill pond was completely packed with weeds---about 6 weeks early. Very few fish.