Connor's Pack Test.

Connor took a pack test to qualify for wildfire assignments where ever.  He's also qualified to pick up oily birds on the shores of Louisiana. 

Must walk (not run) 3 miles in 45 minutes with a 45 pound weight vest.  Time:  38:50.  Excellent!

Looking for Critters

With the possibility of the great oil slick heading for the Texas coast it is imperative that the FWS gather pre-slick information on the subsoil populations of invertebrated that will be affected. I joined a monitoring crew to inventory invertebrates at four FWS complexes – Texas Midcoast, Texas Chenier Plains, Anahuac and South Texas. With a 4" diameter modified PVC pipe we'll pull up a column of estuary soil and sift through it for inverts and send them to Corpus Christi for identification. When the oil hits and kill everything we have an idea about what existed in the soil beforehand. Then we'll place a monetary price on the damage and get our pound of flesh from BP (like everyone else). In other news I'm placed on availability to help with the clean up in the next few months. 

The Front Yard

Spring again and the yard is a cornucopia of over 100 species of flowers. This is the last year it will be this abundant as I'm covering up some sections to have the property ready to sell when I get that as yet fictitious job elsewhere. 

This is Too Classic!

I was a little despondent over the recent Supreme Court ruling that the cross at the Mohave National Park was allowed to stay on government land when I read the news about the founder of the Family Research Council. The organization that wants all homosexuals to go to hell and turn our country into a theocracy.


 
The court ruling was a 5-4 decision which allows a cross to stay on public land and by proxy became a government endorsement of religion. The majority stated that because it had been at the site for 70 years to honor the servicemen who died in war, it was now an historic monument. A sad, pathetic rational for government endorsement of the Christian religion over other religions. A very slippery slope and an affront to other servicemen of other faiths. What will the Justices rational be when a Wiccan wants to place a Wicca symbol in another park?
Be careful what you wish for people.


 
The Family Research Council - a narrow-minded, bigoted organization that profits off religious gullibility and paranoia. Since its inception it has been at the forefront to demonize gay people. It was at its most powerful during the Bush Administration (go figure) but is still a potent force in politics. So imagine the ironic recent turn of events surrounding one of its founders – George Rekers who was verified to have a male companion he found on "Rentaboy.com". Rekers recently billed the state of Florida $87,000 to testify that gay parents are unfit to adopt children. I remember Chelsea telling me that the most vocal anti-gay people are closet gays. You can take that to the bank. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/05/the_family_research_council_co.html

This ends my rant.

The Devil and Thomas Adams

 
She waited patiently, bidding her time in 4.44 degrees Celsius. Sugar, Water, Vegetable Oil preserving her till "Best By Jun-16-10". This slurry had briefly seduced the teenager; evident by the finger size indention on her surface. Coconut, Dextrose, Corn Syrup. The teenager would not suffice. His body, impregnated with Mountain Dew, Red Bull and Big Macs would provide near limitless energy but his mind would be too willing to submit. She desired the cerebral pangs of addiction in another, another who resisted her for the past three weeks. What was her purpose? This matrix of Polyoxethylene-Sorbitan Monostearate and Mono-and Diglycerides with Propyl Gallate concocted in the test tubes of a multi-million dollar food conglomerate. Why did she come to his domain? Was she a cohort of the demon that covered the birthday cake lo those months ago? Seemingly unnecessary and now relegated to the forgotten realm where pickles, catsup and expire yogurt reside.

Oh she was vast in her reach, not just a single plastic tub of frosting. The Succubus had spread her tentacles over the country. Reveling in the senescence of America she was well entrenched in the food supply – bread, soft drinks, baby formula, breads…. first or second in the list of ingredients. She came in many guises, most commonly as high fructose corn syrup. HFCS - the cheap toxic enzymatic processing of glucose into fructose.

Nearing a half-century he tired of the highs and lows, sluggishness and the poison. He had purged himself of all weaknesses save this one. It was easy to rationalize that a 4-mile run earned him a trip to Shipley's Donuts, a Mr. Spunkmeyer cookie for toiling all day without eating or a double size Snickers because he had gone without sugar for a week. "Foolish mortal" she laughed, "you cannot leave me, I am everywhere".

For four years he ignored the warnings, the pleadings of the lovely oracle that the Sugar Succubus had seduced him. He had conquered many demons before and she would fall also he retorted. The oracle is now gone and he must fight alone. The line in the sand had been drawn. Three weeks nigh he has resisted her siren call. There were near moments of weakness though; jonesin' for a chocolate glaze donut, an Oreo double stuff cookie. "Take me now" she purred but his will was strong. Her evil was purged from his body but not his house. On the third week he cleaned out the refrigerator and found her. No one's here he mused, no one would know but me.

No! Temptress you will not have me!

She screamed as he wiped her from the container into the bowels of the garbage can.

There, done! But she was still on his fingers! "Exorcizamus te, omnis immudus spiritus, omnis incursion infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregation et secta diabolica".

He had won the day. But she will return to seduce anew.

Next Week

The next week I was on the road delivering milkweeds to the Balcones national wildlife refuge. I spent the night in San Antonio where the following morning I drove to the hills with my nephews and their father to repatriate a species of sedum that for now is only known from a small rocky outcropping. I found this species several years ago and for years grew it at home. So far no one can identify it to species so I’m taking the initiative and start the procedure to submit it as either a new species or one that is not known to grow in Texas.

It was good to get my nephews (Nick and Tim) into the bush, get some dirt in their fingernails and introduce them to a number of plants they’ve never heard of. My bother-in-law - Mike, and I wore shorts and were subjected to repeated stings from stinging nettle. After a while the sensation on the legs is that of numbness. These species are minor nuisances when compared to bull nettle (which is in a different plant family). The hairs on the nettle act like hypodermic needles, injecting chemicals such as histamines and acids that cause a reaction on the skin. Nettles are high in vitamin A and protein and lose their stings after soaking in water. With very little substrate on the outcropping we had to use soil from the trail to cover the sedums to protect their roots until they rooted into the rocks. Developers have built up to the very edge of the outcroppings where I use to find solitude as a kid. The recession seems to have slow down their destruction for now.

On the road here there and everywhere

On occasion I get into cycles where for a few weeks I am pressed for time from sun up to sun down. These last few weeks were particularly daunting albeit very fulfilling. It started with meetings that require no less than four presentations from prescribe burning invasive weed control. It never fails – I spend dozens of hours on presentation and each is presented within thirty minutes. Josh, my 15 year old buddy from Lubbock, flew down for spring break and somehow I fit time in for him. He’s an avid fisherman and I’m not so for the most part I’m either the driver or paddler. Throw in bushwhacking in the bottomlands and slaughtering Zombies on the Left4dead 2 video game and we managed to fulfill a spring break that otherwise would have been spent languishing in dreary Lubbock, TX।

The visit ended at Padre Island where we and Joshua’s’ grandmother spent a Saturday morning picking up garbage at the Padre Island National Seashore. From there Josh and his grandmother drove back to Lubbock.

A hassle? One person at a time

http://organicconsumers.org/Politics/palmoil100305.cfm


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/11/205249/850/242/494014

Blizzards and Teabaggers and too much Powder

Recently I was in northern West Virginia for a government workshop on implications of climate change to refuge management. I was snowed in for 3 days due to the second of a major blizzard within two weeks. It's been a while since I've seen this much snow.I found it amusing if not sad that FOX News (FAUX News) had catered to the ignorance of its audience but implying that those who say the temperature of the earth is rising are wrong and this recent weather pattern proves it. First a definition of weather and climate:

Weather- The state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, with respect to variables such as temperature, moisture, wind velocity, and barometric pressure.

Climate- the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time.

One could be freezing his butt off right now and cursing the work it'll take to shovel himself out of his yard and then dismiss the warming of the earth. And another denier would say that the trend of temperatures over the last five years is towards cooling. But climatologists don't deal with trends so short as five or ten years. They study trends over a century or more.

When I hear FOX News or a Republican congressman use short term data for short term gain I am dismayed that a large percentage of this country is still living in denial. What's more there are powerful factions in this country that exploit fear, ignorance and denial for profit. Take the recent Tea Party convention.

The opening speaker was Tom Tancredo; an ultra-conservative anti-immigration zealot. In his speech he ridiculed Hispanic voters; implying that they couldn't spell the word "vote" much less say it. In a thinly veiled use of President Obama's full name - Barack Hussein Obama - he whipped up the frenzied audience who for the most part believed our president was born in Kenya. The Tea Party (or angry white people party) closed it's convention with Sarah Palin. Why this person hasn't used up her fifteen minutes of fame is beyond me. It seems all one has to do to woo teabaggers is rail against the government with vague buzzwords and tired, failed policies. Again, exploiting the classic fears of this audience she bookended Tankrado speech with a sarcastic rap on Obama's Ivy League credentials. This is classic, playing the crowd like a violin the way George Bush did to stay in power for eight years. What is it about so many middle age and senior white Americans that they are scared of intellectuals? Is it a self-esteem thing? Why did so many people feel good about themselves when they had a leader who acted like a good ol' boy buffoon while his policies destroyed America's middle class? Read the book "The Problem with Kansas" and you may get some answers. This ends my soapbox rant for today.

My Gay Dog Kahn

Nine years ago Kahn showed up at the door of my apartment. I forgot the reason I took him in but stayed he did. He was a puppy of about 4 months and early on he exhibited extreme bouts of separation anxiety when I would leave him. Near as I can figure he's half boxer, half Catahoola.  Kahn is a special needs dog and extremely docile. I have seen children as young as two years old approach to pet him and he would remain very still or give them a good licking on the face. Kahn is also gay but he's accepted and loved for who he is. Kahn is extremely fit and strong and at nine years old will jump five foot fences and disregards the shock collar setting at the highest level. He'll also dig under the fence after the ground is softened by rain.  I have to give him doggy Valium during thunderstorms if I leave the house. If you think it's cruel to medicate and shock Kahn then you can bury him when he is ran over by a car.