Day: 09/20/2019

FLOCKING TOGETHER – GREGARIOUS! – Marilyn Armstrong

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 16 Comments

FOWC with Fandango — Gregarious

Flocks of Goldfinch
Common Goldfinches – Five which is
A flock of Goldfinches
Goldfinches
Goldfinch flock

Birds do it! Bees do it! Sometimes, even people do it! We’ve put up the feeders. I actually ordered a new hanging feeder because the flat feeder gets emptied in mere minutes.

Now I’m hoping the birds show up. I don’t know how much damage the poison has done, so I’m a little nervous. I know a lot of people don’t like feeders because they are messy. Good birdfeed is expensive and then, there are squirrels. But if we don’t feed them, we won’t have birds or squirrels.

There was a question in one of these question and answer things not long ago about whether or not anyone was willing to actually do anything to help the environment.

You could put up feeders. For birds, for squirrels, for all the small creatures whose world we are destroying along with our own. Yes, it’s messy but it’s not that big a deal to clean it up, either.  Think about it.

If a bird feeder is too much work, we are absolutely doomed.

THE TRAIL OF DEATH. WHO NEEDS AN APOCALYPSE? – Marilyn Armstrong

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 21 Comments

The good news? I think just maybe Elizabeth Warren will make it. And if she is as good as I think she is, that might just make a real difference.

I read a short piece suggesting that Israel is considering a unified government. This is something they have done before while I lived there. Inflation had gone out of control and reached a level at its peak of %1800. That is a very big percent. It meant that if you got paid in the morning if you didn’t invest your money in something — dollars or yen or marks — it would be worthless before morning break. It was ugly and it was frankly, terrifying.

Lady Cardinal
One Goldfinch
Looking down Dove
Goldfinch in the rain
Our favorite 4-legged furry bird

Since neither party wanted the responsibility to fix the mess, they formed a single government. They changed the official money in use from the lira to the shekel. Dropped three zeros off all the money. They put caps on the prices of things, specifically basic foodstuffs —  milk, eggs, bread, flour, cooking oil. No price rises were allowed on anything including hardgoods, cars, appliances. No raises for workers, either.

It was the kind of thing that neither party would do alone — but together, they had the country running pretty soothly and less than a year later, the moved back into two parties and hating each other, which is what two major parties did. But the point is, they knew when the country was in trouble and did what needed to be done. Hatred notwithstanding. This is something I can’t even imagine happening in this nation.

We’ll destroy ourselves before we put the needs of the country first and our party commitment second. It’s something to think about.

Right now, talking — evening vaguely pondering — the results of a middle-eastern war is madness.

If you drop nukes in the middle east, they will quite literally set the world on fire. Even when I lived in Israel there was a quiet truce between enemy nations that no one would blow up the oil fields. Underneath the Arab states is an ocean of oil. NOTE: Israel has NO oil at all. Someone once spilled a can of oil while fixing his car and it made headlines, but the fire might burn forever and never go out. It makes our western fires look like backyard barbecues. I doubt even tiny little Israel would survive, even though they have no oil.

I suppose that’s one way of solving the middle east crisis. Not a good way, but there wouldn’t be much left to fight over after that.

As for the poisons they are spraying here — we’ve had (now) 9 cases of EEE (Eastern Equine Encephalitis) from mosquito bites. One death. Everyone else recovered. The poison they have used will poison every insect the birds eat and turn every  acorn lethal. We are going to have backyards full of dead birds.  It’s horrifying.

We’ve lost 29% of our entire bird population since 1970 from miscellaneous pollution. But this?

Literally, we are spreading a trail of death over New England, Michigan, and Minnesota. It will get worse. We don’t even need the apocalypse. We are going to do ourselves in. Even when we are trying to do the right thing, we don’t seem to understand what “the right thing” actually is.

“NO” IS SOMETIMES THE PERFECT ANSWER! – Marilyn Armstrong

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 22 Comments

Remember how, many years ago in a galaxy far, far away — you know,  during the Reagan administration — our government decided the best anti-drug program was “JUST SAY NO!” Make every person 100% responsible for whatever happens to him or her. As history tells us, this anti-drug campaign was so successful, we no longer have drug problems in this country.

So I thought we might use this same highly successful approach to other major social issues.

NO!

Like health care. As we move from an era of medical insurance to “Good luck, buddy,”  we need new coping strategies. How about “Say no to sickness!”

If you feel like crap, just say NO. Cancer or heart disease got you down? Smile! A bright smile and a positive attitude coupled with a firm take-no-prisoners attitude to germs and chronic ailments will wipe away your tears.

Let a smile be your umbrella when your arthritis is throbbing. If you can’t breathe because you don’t have an inhaler? Say NO to wheezing. Everything will be right as rain.

Gun violence is another good example of a problem that wouldn’t exist if we each had a better attitude. Alternatively, if you are a devotee of second amendment rights, try getting a bigger weapon. When bullets start to fly, just say NO! Like magic, bullets will bounce right off you.

Would I lie to you?

There is no problem too complicated that magical thinking will not make it disappear. We can fix everything with firm resolve, a positive attitude, and denial.

Speaking of climate change (we weren’t but now we are), there’s no such thing. Nothing is going on. No need to seek higher ground. Well, what about water pollution? Nonsense! Funny-colored smelly water is merely chock full of extra nutrients. Yummy!

JUST SAY NO is the ultimate, cost-effective way to deal with pretty much everything. A few television advertisements and some billboards along the highway? Bob’s your uncle, the problem vanishes.

Maybe you can add some pamphlets. If these don’t quite do the job, you’ll probably die. In which case, it becomes someone else’s problem. We all know — at least those of us who have read Douglas Adams — that someone else’s problem, is invisible. If we can’t see it, it’s not there. (Phew. I was worried for a minute.)

It’s entirely up to you. Just say no. And keep saying it.

MORE ANNIVERSARY FLOWERS – Marilyn Armstrong

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More Anniversary Flowers – September 20, 2019

I had a few more pictures from the bouquet. It’s still popping buds and I think it will be around for a while. It’s wonderful to have that beautiful color of autumn in the middle of the room.

There is some autumn color in the trees. Not a lot. But you can see it on some of the maples.

Love the colors!