What does it mean?

 For those of you, who wish to know more about ballot or initiative amendment states, link at bottom here. There are 26 with various rules regarding what can be done by a petition. My reason for writing about the subject is regarding one state-- the one where I have voted for many, many years.

Oregon has allowed such petition action since 1902 with mixed results, in my opinion, for the state. The latest though takes the cake, again in my opinion, for the unthinking damage it could do for those who vote without thinking of consequences-- nothing new that it's how some vote for anything...

This photo not of our cattle or small ranch, but from Stencil

 

So, not sure of the exact title but the petition that got the necessary support would ban, totally, within the state, all hunting, fishing, and slaughtering livestock. I have seen 5 pages of it, but not sure how to interpret all of it beyond the headlines. What follows will be what I have been told, seen, and some of which might appear on the ballot in November. It's out there for those who want to see for themselves. 

Here goes the blog as I see it. In a state of over 3.2 million legal voters, what was needed to get this petition on the ballot was 117,000.   The measure's supporters got 120,000, all of which must be proven to be valid, with plenty of time for that search. The one behind it said he didn't expect it to pass this time. With voters though, whoever knows. To me, this proposed bill is stupid with no sense of responsibility or knowledge of what it would mean if it did pass.

For one thing (important to me), it'd put our small livestock (cattle and sheep) at risk. If you cannot sell, how would you pay for food? If you cannot even kill with need like don't want more calves and can't have a bull, what do you do?

We already treat and feed our animals to keep them well and functioning. We do it because we like them. As with most who raise animals, it suits us to do so. When we come out, they come running to us. They'd not do it if they feared us. 

Looks like he does not see it that way, as, he apparently wants to ban cruelty to livestock. That is already a law but sounds like he'd add a lot more to the rules. My guess is he knows nothing about it. Most of these kinds of bills come from city dwellers, like when in 1994, they banned hunting cougar with dogs. That explains the growing numbers of cougar, showing up even at some schools just for curiosity, of course.

Most small operations, like ours, don't make much money anyway. Not being able to sell would bankrupt it and turn the land into a desert with no food for what would soon be starving animals.

What this measure wants to do is bankrupt those who raise livestock as there is no other logic to it. Logic? What does logic have to do with how many vote in such situations-- pure emotions.

Customers could still get meat in stores, but not from Oregon. What regulations would apply, you'd have to know from where it came. 

What about the fishermen that go to sea and sell their catches to restaurants, stores, and customers on the dock in places like Newport? Unless they go beyond the US boundaries, they'd be out of business, along with the Native Americans who sell what they got from nets they have in the Columbia?

This ballot measure should not have had any signatures based on sensible management, which is where we come to the hunting end of it.

 

The deer look so pretty in the image from Stencil. Who could shoot one? Maybe one who wants to eat, but hunting is not just about the hunters. It is about management of the deer themselves, to protect them also from overgrazing and something even more serious-- wasting disease. Too many deer for an area's feeding ability and disease becomes a factor. And if you only care about yourself, it can also spread to other animals and humans.

So, if you live in one of the petition allowing states or countries, think carefully and logically when asked to sign. Emotions are not good reasons to add to possible future chaos. In this case, it would even require modifications to existing laws, and the creation of a special tax fund to pay for it all. Like many states, Oregon is having its difficulties already with finances. Let's add to that...

 U.S. states with ballot or initiative amendments

Memorial Day 2026

Rainy Day Thought had a blog set for today. Then I remembered that Monday was Memorial Day and thought I should not forget that day for what it means for Americans and for how long that has been true.

The origins of Memorial Day can be traced back to May 1, 1865, when a group of 28 formerly enslaved Black Americans in Charleston, South Carolina, organized what is considered the first known commemoration. Not sure what they did back then then. The important thing is showing respect and appreciation.

As a child, my family made a big deal out of Memorial Day but not about soldiers who had sacrificed their lives for our country. That was important but family graves were what the day was about-- clean up the graves and bring flowers to those gone on. Only years later did I understand the true meaning. Some always knew it and would put little flags on the graves of those who had been soldiers.

The photo of the mama bird with her two babies kind of suits life itself. She and the papa chose under our porch to raise a nest. They do that every so often and we like it, try not to disturb them. With doves, the parents trade off nest building and care of the offspring.

This week, we got a big windstorm-- not tornado big but big enough to make noise all night.

In the morning we worried about the babies. They were gone. Did the wind take them too soon or was this just their time to be fledglings. Hopefully the latter. Nature constantly reminds us of what we sometimes would rather forget-- the tough side of life and nature. The birds know.

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A heavenly birtday

 The only thing I have to offer today is I am still under the weather, but may be learning what might help. So what to write about???

Well, this is my mother's birthday, she died some years back at 85, fortunately in her own bed. She had felt il, refused going to a doctor, but never woke up the next morning. We think congestive heart failure. It was never diagnosed, due to her dislike of doctors. She visited them only long enough to keep her high blood pressure prescription, never had a physical, that I know of.

Mom and her sisters led interesting lives, from farmland as children to traveling the country and other countries as professional musicians in all girl orchestras, etc. 

Then they married and Mom returned to farm living where I grew up.

Since I have not been well, this will be short.  The following is a photo of my mom in her professional years.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mom. Since I do not know, as some do, all of what might happen on the other side, I can just stick to hoping I see her again someday.

 

 

another week, another...

 

From Stencil 

 I say this almost never-- no new post. I hope there will be one next week, but the way things are going, I don't know. Disappointing for me if not readers but I am simply not up to it. Not only do I not feel well on assorted fronts, but our beloved cat is dying slowly of a cancer the veterinarian, two of them, says cannot be cured. We just have to wait until she seems so miserable that we have the person come, who gently puts her down. I have cried so much that I just have to try to not think about it.

Crying leads to blurry reading. I don't think I've cried this much in years. So sorry for the downer, but between that and my own health issues, I got nothin' else. 

Trying to find one of our own photos, yesterday, I took one of me. I smiled for it. I didn't feel the smile not sure if it shows.

Oh, and hoping I, at least, feel physically better next week. I want to write about the medical system. Let's just say, it won't be an upper either.

 

 

 

what else can go wrong?

This has been a terrible week for me on more than one issue, due to being sick, having to cancel a doctor's appointment. and then what did this computer do but screw up everything. I won't go into details but for now at least I can write something and maybe it'll show up on the week-end, but with it that goofed up, who knows. Hope your week has been better.

The first photo is one of our denizens here, not poisonous. The cats like it... to kill, of course, as if they eat them, it leads to stomach upset. We also have a lot of bunnies, packrats, rats and mice, but could not easily find their photos while I've been sick.

Just remember, in nature all is prey or predator to keep their world alive. Only a few vegetarians and most of them are in the prey category. 

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And here come more-- those all, who live here, and know better than we

 

  

 

ooL

 Look carefuly and you will see a diamondback's head on our front porch. Rattlesnake Soutions reestablished away from here.

J

Share and share alike? Right...

terrible 80s?

  

Humor From Animal World Wonders

As I mentioned in earlier blogs, I've been having some health problems. They seem to come and go. They came this week, which made writing a logical blog impossible, let alone a positive one. 

Some appear to shine through their 80s. I just feel lucky i had few major problems when younger. So much is genetic, luck, or maybe our behavior. Until likely my 70s, Nightshade Intolerance did not make me sick. They do now. I think, but cannot prove, that age makes some of us more sensitive to food allergies of all sorts (many of which are not labeled).

Nightshades are particularly bad because so few suffer from intolerance to them. Spices like paprika are often not labelled. Even a tiny bit can put me, and others like me, down for days. 

The thing is, knowing what is good for the elderly is more complicated like those who run marathons in their 80s and live into their hundreds. While some, like my beloved cousin, die in their early 20s and others even younger. Life... 

Thus, more desert flowers and I hope for better energy next week. Although, a diamondback rattlesnake rattled at our cats in their fenced yard...  We called Rattlesnake Solutions, a Tucson organization that finds responsible ways to deal with a problem, that could kill our cats. This was our second time with them. I won't go into details, but the guy found the female still in the yard and caught her. They don't kill the snakes but find better places for them to live (in our opinion). The guy was not sure where would be a good place, but hopefully she'll do better than in our cat yard...

 

cactus season

One thing about nature is it has its own seasons. It also knows what it likes and trying to force a plant into an area it does not like, and it's a waste of time. I by the way have tried that to bring desert flowers here, but between the bunnies and javelina, forget it. That's why trees work better-- higher. 

This is now beginning the season for cactus to bloom. Most are on our property but a few decorative ones on a neighbor's next to our place. Enjoy the beauty more will be showing up for a month or more. In a time when there is so much stress, this is pure pleasure.

  

Don't miss the bee heading to the saguaro. This is their happy season.