And Another Thing

Or Two

Lela’s hydrangea is still blooming

I got a thankyou for sending this letter;

To Chairman Tom Wheeler and the FCC Commissioners––––

The internet is open to all who wish to learn, speak out, sell their products and ideas, publish art, music, news, video's, and viewpoints around the planet.

There has never been anything like it in our history. It is open to all and that is how it gets it's power.

To allow a couple of corporate interests to take this resource away from the people of the world would diminish its value and appeal.

Keep it real. Keep it open and accessible to everyone.

Phil Seymour

See the white dot of snow on top of Lassen?

That letter clearly expresses the words of a starry eyed optimist who still has hope and a basket full of moral standards. It would be nice to have a basket full of morels, too. They are my favorite mushroom and if you know where to look, they are free, ( as well as not being easily mistaken for death angels or amanita muscaria ).

John’s latest violin begins to show personality

This cockeyed sense of stewardship and love of all life, prompted me to join in a conversation today at John’s violin shop about clear cutting. 

Not all my family are idealistic dreamers like me. One of my brothers came up with deceptive scenic corridors when travelers drive through the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

I told John and Rocky about the time when my oldest brother was a geographical economist for Weyerhaeuser in the 1970’s. It was David who suggested that they not clear cut the forests right up to the roads, but instead the loggers should leave bands of trees along the highways.

Another good apple pie

These ‘scenic corridors’ give travelers the impression that they are driving through the bountiful forests of the pacific northwest, when in reality, the corporation had directed the loggers to clear cut the timber behind the wall of trees.

This reminds me of another thing;

David was also involved in moving lumber operations out of the northwest to the deep south pine forests. Spoiler alert; It had nothing to do with the spotted owl.

Red rose in cloud diffused sunlight

Around the same time the company was running out of the right kind of pacific trees, engineers finally made a machine that could take advantage of those uniform sized southern pines and cost effectively turn that plentiful and fast growing stock into plywood cheaper than cutting and milling the remaining less desirable trees in the northwest.

They had used up the once plentiful pacific trees and now Georgia was on their mind. All they had to do was blame something other than themselves for the collapse of the pacific lumber industry and they could simply close up shop and leave.

Agapanthus getting sparse

They came up with a very effective scapegoat.  

Mill workers and timber cutters were easily persuaded that the spotted owl, the evil EPA, and those damn tree-hugging environmentalists cost them their jobs.

Perfect.

Then, Weyerhaeuser got onboard that midnight train to Georgia.

Try the pie

Another Thing

My Spartan living room

My spine and easy chair/recliner had deteriorated to the point where they were no longer compatible. The chair had to go. The desk chair works just fine as an easy chair and it has wheels.I picked up a canvas directors chair at Big 5 sporting goods for extra seating.

Today’s Unrelated Video;

In Turkey - 2014 from Vincent Urban on Vimeo.

All Life Matters