Mr. Tarantula and the Spider Woman

  

 Although last week was not the first time we saw a tarantula here, it was the most recent; and we'd been concerned about why not; writing about it led to some research. I knew the basics, but these are interesting spiders with multiple varieties and some behavior patterns I had not known.   The recent pictures are below as I know some people are afraid of spiders and instead I have photos of Spider Woman on top. Why she is 'Spider Woman' is in the story.

What I learned is that female tarantulas can live up to 30 years but the males usually just 10. The males right now are on the hunt for a mate and in some states like New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, they can seem to be in massive numbers as they cross roads.

The tarantula photographed below is likely a male due to it being black. We don't think it is the Desert Tarantula as it would be brown. Instead it looked like the Tucson Bronze Tarantula, which the article said mostly is found in New Mexico. Males are black and females brown or tan. It's known to be gentle and often the one made into a pet. No thanks for me, but I like seeing them outside. There are ten species of tarantulas in the United States.

The hair on their bodies actually can be weapons if they are being attacked as they evidently throw them like a spear. There are spiders that are dangerous to humans, but they are not the tarantulas in this country. We decide something is evil often by how it appears. That's not always a good way to judge...

The stories below come from when we first bought Casa Espiritu. That was over twenty years ago and Ranch Boss was working at the company where  he'd been for 24 years and then as a consultant for a variety of start up companies. That meant we didn't live here all the time; and sometimes, I lived here alone while he was at the farm or on business trips.

At Casa Espiritu, I had various jobs to do outside. One involved cleaning out the outdoor wildlife pool and then cementing some holes in it. As I did it, I moved the sculpture you saw above. (At that time, I did sculptures of all sizes, she is one of the largest. I had to shape her in two pieces; so she could be fired in our kiln. Her clay is 'high-fire' for outdoor works. She came with us to Tucson). 

When I moved her, an angry tarantula scurried out from underneath as it had been his or her home. I quickly restored the sculpture where it had been and apologized. That's when the sculpture got its name, very apropos for Native American mythology-- Spider Woman. I don't know if the tarantula ever returned but she was used by other small critters over the years, one of whom gnawed the hole you now see in the photo.

My second adventure with a tarantula came out by our swimming pool where I was watering the plants. I saw a tarantula being chased by a Tarantula Hawk. Knowing these large wasps kill tarantulas, I turned my hose into a spray and let the wasp have a big dose, allowing the spider to at least escape that time.

I knew that the way the wasps killed them seemed brutal to me. They  inject a poison into the tarantula that paralyzes it legs and pincers, then it would drag its body to its burrow where it'd lay its egg in it. When the baby hatched, it would eat the still living tarantula... I know everything has to live but ugh. I did give a scant concern to it turning on me, but that's why I hit it long and hard. I've read they hurt when they sting humans, but they don't paralyze or kill us.

Our most recent sighting of a tarantula was outside my window when Ranch Boss saw it, staring in. He got the camera and took some photos. I suppose it was out looking for a mate. Although it didn't seem to mind being photographed, it also didn't hang around. Mostly they live underground except when looking for prey or a mate.

Here is a link to more info on them if you are not spider avoiders.  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13781945/Thousands-male-tarantulas-three-states-mate-female.html

Dreams and Topics

 

Last blog, I said this one would not be on political thinking... I meant it at the time and had a blog from something at our desert home, but then a dream happened. I don't ever ignore dreams and what they might be telling me; so I'll share that here-- well, part of it.

A person is trying to get a friend to change their bad habits. They might say they would but then it'd not happen. There are two ways someone might change. One is love of someone. Another is reading something that convinces that person this is going the wrong way. 

Well, there is a third when they see it for themselves and the change then is more permanent.

Then I realized this applies to a country when it's going the wrong way. It has to see it for itself, cannot be forced from outside as it won't last.

When I woke up, I knew this applied to my country with its massive debt, which last I read was $34 trillion. Let that sink in as to how much money that is; and although we are a wealthy country, by many measures, what does it mean to owe that much? Who does the government owe it to? More on that below.

When the Fed increases the money supply, which is part of its job description when needed, what does that mean for inflation or the value of the dollar?

People talk about inflation but what causes our dollars to be worth less and less? I have some books I bought years and years ago that cost under $2 (price still on the cover) that today would be $20. Was it that they cost more to make, or the lack of value in my dollars-- more likely they cost more because dollars were worth less? When America went off the gold standard, supposedly for trade and freedom of marketing, what replaced it? A nebulous concept of the country's net worth? Who decided that?

I am no economist and only know what I read, which can go many different directions. but I do understand our dollars are constantly losing value.

When Congress figured out it could borrow from the Social Security Trust Fund, it forgot to clarify how it'd pay it back or if it would. When Congress made a law that it did not have to vote in their own wage increase but instead it was automatic with cost of living, it left out the rest of us, including SS, which is supposed to relate to cost of living, but not what people need to buy but rather a lot of other things that don't relate to the real cost of living for the elderly.

Our biggest debt holders were China and Japan. Added of course, with ourselves with bonds, which get paid when and by whom? What if we can't pay? 

Finally, do either of the current Presidential candidates have proposals for the debt or is it all about gimmes to voters, which will get them votes? That should not have been a question. Who is seriously looking at the debt or will that all come after disaster strikes, and we know it can based on other countries. BUT not on my watch is all many care about...

They might though care about this if they took the time to look, which I doubt. If you want to see how inflation might be linked to money supply, check out this link that Ranch Boss found: How M1 Money Supply and Inflation are Linked.  Research it further if inflation is of concern to you.

image on top is one of our barrel cactus. Such fun to watch them take on their full identities.

Do citizens want socialism as their government?

Let's start with defining socialism as I think some don't get its full meaning. Here it is from the dictionary: 

a system of society or group living in which there is no private property,

a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.

I believe that socialism starts one way, which might seem innocuous but what do the people behind those beginning steps truly want? Step by steps freedoms can be lost for free speech or many other things.

 

As soon as someone says socialism, some bring up libraries. Clearly that's not socialism but instead social programs that citizens want to pay to benefit all. Government does not dictate what can be in a library-- or it has not...

Another socialist argument is that Scandinavian countries are socialist. Not from all I've read, where they call themselves a socialist democracy and say they are a free market, capitalistic society, with loose regulations favoring corporations doing well. Check it out.

 

For those who want businesses and corporations run by government agencies, what do you think they know about producing products? We have seen how it works in our country when government dictates which businesses get their spoils, often determined these days by lobbyists, and who donated to the powers that be.

 

Most politicians will not admit they want to turn this country socialistic (with some exceptions) as Americans have valued freedom and been leery of too much control in the hands of a powerful government. Or, that was at one time true, like when the Constitution and Bill of Rights were written by those with experience. Is it still true today, or might Americans value what they see as comfort and security as more important?

 

Once we elect someone, it's hard to turn things around if they have been lying or only saying what they believe people want to hear. 

 

In the case of the various candidates, we can look at the record especially of the Vice Presidential candidate, since he was a governor. We have the words of the Presidential candidate, from earlier discussions. How many look? With the ex-president, we can look at his record when he was in office. 

 

We might or might not like what that was; but if we check, not just listen to more rhetoric from enemies, we have some chance to see the results. These days, it pays to check records more than one place as lies are flying from all sides.

 

My real question is how many Americans want socialism without understanding it might be on the road to less personal autonomy? Socialism grows and usually it takes totalitarianism to enforce the less popular rules.

Do people today vote issues or is it all personalities, with one nicer and the other not so much?

Are Americans interested in choosing leaders based on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion)? I've heard that is racism where it comes to the Presidential candidate. If so, it's what the current President said he was using to make his pick -- woman and black.

If Americans were to look at issues, which ones would they care about? More on that to come although not next time. I have something from our desert home to share next Saturday. I can't do politics constantly as I need breaks and don't want to make it feel like pressure here. I don't feel that way at all, even though I know some on either side do feel that way for those who do not vote as they believe is correct.

 

We all need to vote our conscience, but I just want to be sure voters are thinking what is best for them and the country. Do not be fooled by rhetoric as they all know how to use it.

 

 

And now it begins

 
 Although I have politics above this blog as one possible topic, I have rarely written about it and thought I'd explain why and then why I am going to do it more often now-- although not with every blog.

The reasons I haven't are several with varying importance into their impact on my actions regarding this blog. These are not in order.

First up is that people read here from around the world with varying types of political impact in their own countries. I do read about other countries and what's going on like with Bangladesh. I don't though understand all that is beyond what I hear is happening. Not much for many to relate to our political situation in the United States although they might more than we know. 

Second comes me not knowing what is behind a lot of what I see going on. Many buy propaganda when it's from their own side at least, I've always been more skeptical. That does not  help my life but it's a reality for someone who has always been accused of thinking too much. Maybe, but it is what it is. So, if I don't see the motives behind the actions, I am cautious on what to write.

An example for that was what I was told, when I started to vote, millennia ago.  President Johnson was beginning a war on poverty. See any results? Where did the money go? It tends to lead to cynicism with political rhetoric. Any of it. Words are cheap. Actions less so.

Third is my reluctance to try to tell others what they should think. I can tell them the facts as I know them to be and the conclusion it led for me; but what should they do? I know bloggers and pundits who want to tell us all of that. They are so sure and joyful in that surety. It's not my philosophy. Well, except when I am writing a book. Then those characters better do what I have seen for them. *s*

 Fourth, I don't want to upset people with my own political beliefs. I don't like losing readers, which I do sometimes anyway, but what if what I write upsets their emotions. I know most already are likely set in their ways and what I write is nothing to them. The thing is I don't want to take responsibility for what they should think. Only one way is right? That is true for some folks but not for me. The other thing is, as an independent, I am bound to upset folks on both set of our spectrum.

Fifth, I believe we have to be careful what we say in a time where all we put out is surveilled. You think a small blog wouldn't be of interest? I have no idea but that is why a lot of us want to keep our heads down. When you speak out in a public venue, well, your head is no longer down, but does it matter? I don't know.

SO, why politics now? Because it seems really important as to what direction our country will go and a big shift could be ahead. We have two candidates and their partners from totally opposite sides of the divide. A lot of people get all their information from their own bubbles. Since I read both sides, I can at least be sure they heard what I doubt they'd get otherwise. Of course, that is also why they might stop reading here. 

Voting in November will determine a lot, with those on both sides mad if they lose. They'll be angry with anyone who they know voted wrong. I know all that but still feel too much is at stake. More on that next week.

Delayed Saturday

  

Best laid plan of mice and men is rather famous as a quote but its origin is tougher to find. Maybe Burns the poet. Maybe Steinbeck the author. Anyway it fits my whole last week. 

First of all, I don't think I've never not posted something on a Saturday. I usually plan them ahead. Well. I didn't post Saturday and it came from two plans thwarted. One to not get sick, but I did. Then to feel good enough to think up and type and idea. Didn't happen. 

So plan now is to feel better all week. Another one is to find a local doctor as we are back in Tucson and short of another change of plans, I'll be here for a while and the doctor in Oregon not only retired by his clinic dropped us for not being there within three years. Interesting how you get punished for not being sick; but back to the plans thing. I did get sick but on the way up where we had to turn around.

So not much to say though I am thinking plenty on the political situation in my country. More on that when I feel more like typing