Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Stream of consciousness

Not a whole bunch to blog about tonight. No pics because I left my camera at home (shameless!). I am using Geoff's PC while he is gone (will get to that in a minute) and Nellie, Boomer and Bailey are all snoring. Boomer is laying on my feet... it's quite cozy.
Geoff is at a book signing tonight at a country club in Dayton, Oh. Whose book is being signed this evening? Why, HIS, of course. This book was written last year, for a local hospital that is celebrating its 80th anniversary, and someone thought Geoff would do a good job. And he did.
So, here I sit at a foreign computer (because mine is in the basement and the girls are sleeping up here and our baby monitors haven't worked in years) while my DH is probably sipping champagne and dipping into the caviar with all those rich, important doctors at the country club. Mr. Fancy Pants.
I had yet another program to give today to Cub Scouts. So what, you say?
These boys are between the ages of 6 and 9. That's a big age difference if you are trying to keep them all interested in something, at the SAME TIME.
The girls have a long school day tomorrow, so maybe I can go out and see some good birds. BTW: I got two life birds this week: Least flycatcher, and a golden-crowned kinglet. They were both out by the feeders, but of course not eaying seeds, but bugs. Sigh...I love my yard. Lots of critters for other critters to eat. Okay, here comes a rant:
Nearly everyone on our street uses "Chemlawn" or "Scott's" etc, and they have these pristine, sterile-looking yards. And guess what? They also have NO BIRDS, or racoons, or deer or possums or anything cool to look at. Yeah, their kids can do a somersault on their lawn. Big deal. My girls can go sit on our lawn and find about 20 different kinds of bugs in about a minute. And Isabelle, my almost-five year old can identify almost as many birds as I can.
So, neighbors, you can just go on doing what you are doing. We will take ALL of the bugs, and we will have all the birds.

My heart has wings.

6 comments:

NatureWoman said...

Same thing in my neighborhood. I have all of the good stuff (insects, animals, birds) and ground ivy for a lawn (I hate turf anyway). I *cringe* every time I see ChemLawn or some such chemical truck for turf come down my road.
Kudos to you for dealing with boys in that age range - not an easy task!
Congratulations on your two life birds - woo hoo!

Anonymous said...

I can really get on my soapbox about lawn chemicals. I once heard someone say that they always had baby birds in nests in their yard, but they always died. I asked if she uses lawn chemicals. The answer was yes, and so does everyone in the neighborhood. Once the robins and insect feeding birds start feeding the young with chemicalized food, I suspect, they die. It is such a weird ethic to want the perfect lawn at the expense of the environment.

Sorry for getting so heavy. On a lighter note, I spotted some yak tracks in the yard. Do you know anyone missing a few?

Congrats on the life birds. I am so bad at keeping my list, I keep getting to add them over and over again.

Shila

MojoMan said...

When I think about lawn chemicals and SUV's and 5000 sq ft houses and - not to mention the business and politics- of today, I just shake my head in confusion. We are the generation that invented Earth Day. We marched for peace and nuclear disarmament. We lived on communes. We went to Woodstock. (Not that I did any of those things personally, but I relate to them.) How did we wind up like this?

I'd love to hear about a place where like-minded people have come together to create a life based on common sense and sensiitivity toward the world and each other.

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Anonymous said...

Swami- You kill me!!!

I'm with you Susan- no chemicals here either!! I have a neighbor who would like me to get rid of the brush pile that I maintain in the back corner of my yard. NO WAY!! That brush pile has drawn more wildlife than all of the neighboring yards combined!! I'll keep my less-than-perfect lawn, my bugs, my brushpile and the wildlife, thank you very much.

Shannon said...

Hey how about a program for your godson's cub scout troop??? PLEASE!!!