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12/9/04 Can't Get There from Here
7/29/04 Political Speechmaking  
7/26/04 Words of Praise
6/22/04 Hygene and its Discontents
6/21/04 Summer Solstice -- Financial Fog
1/16/04 No Free Speech at Any Price
1/11/04 New Year's Notes, Cows and Bikes
11/18/03 Pull the Bull
10/20/03 Gardening Delights
8/26/03 Of Elves, Otters and SUVs
8/17/03 Great News on the Population Front
8/8/03 Energy Distribution in Iraq
5/14/03 Taxing Issues
4/20/03 Keeping Santa Cruz Weird
1/28/03 When the "A-Ha!" Moment Scares the Crap Out of You
11/10/02 Elfin Visions
11/2/02 Invisible Demons
5/15/02 Liquid Fuel from Sunlight, Seawater and Fresh Air

10/20/03

Gardening Delights

I've been as neglectful of my front yard as I have of my blog recently. Today, trying to relax a bit and recover from Bioneers, I ended up putting a little time in on the dirt garden, which inspired me to work on the meme garden as well.

Sort of following up on Caroline Casey's comment at Bioneers about her Unintentional Community, I thought it would be really cool to have Gardening Buddies. After working in my yard today, it occurred to me that as a social primate I'd probably like to be working with someone else. Yes, I often appreciate the joys of solitude and centering in my own thoughts (especially while planting, occasionally while pruning and weeding). But let's face it, most of my work requires me to be pretty much alone in front of a computer, so why not make some gardening a social occasion? Wouldn't it be great to share not only seeds and cuttings, but tools, know-how and company with other people working on gardens in your neighborhood? I help out at your place for an hour or two one day, you help out at mine for an hour or two. It's the kind of thing that could lead to the old barn-raising spirit, right here in suburbia. You could and should still work solo on your garden sometimes, to better get to know the plants and critters living there, but one or two hours a week of companionship, and one or two hours a week in someone else's favorite spot of dirt would be lovely.

Of course, for me, anyone who uses power tools is definitely not someone I could work with. I mean, power tools for tiny little yards like my neighbors and I have just piss me off. Can't stand the whine and growl of leaf-blowers, lawn-mowers, hedge-trimmers and all that crap. When you've only got maybe 600 square feet, there is just no excuse for it. A reel mower, some shears and a rake cost less, they don't take that much extra time, and they give you and your neighbors the peace and quiet that contribute to the contemplative and therapeutic benefits of the activity. Sometimes I have to flee my yard because I can't take the noise of my neighbors' "labor saving" devices. If it were up to me, all that power stuff would be banned entirely, and people who now waste money going to gyms could gain money, be productive and get some exercise by working a few hours a week as landscapers. Be great for all the apartment dwellers to get out and work with growing things, too. More people-power, less gas-power, and lots of healthy, happy green stuff reaching out from rich soil - that's how it should be.

I now have a more interactive space at my Xanga blog. I will work on adding each entry here to that site, and provide a link from each one here to each one there for now. Xanga will include more brief notes and personal ramblings. I still welcome your comments via e-mail (with your permission, I will post them). E-mail me at: apegrrl@ 
rattlebrain.com

or post a comment on my Xanga site

please feel free to spread these memes, but be nice and give credit where credit is due - refer people back here to the apegrrl This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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