Hiking up a wash Part II

Can you feel what it is like to hike up a wash, scramble over some rocks and finally come to a place like this one, within about six miles from what is, at least for awhile, your home down here, where the rocks have left behind a story to tell of a people who lived here long ago? They had dreams and goals, walked these same places, sought shelter, food, and sometimes left behind their stories pecked or painted on the rocks. The places always feel sacred to me as they appeal on emotional and physical levels. Sometimes the symbols appear to represent a story of how they saw life, like the spirals which are seen most often in the Hohokam sites.

To stand where I know people did hundreds of years ago and look at their rock art is always a very special experience for me. The Hohokam people occupied central Arizona from around 200 B.C. until about 1450 A.D. when they, like most of the cliff dwellers to the north (Sinagua and Anasazi), left at least their established villages and disappeared into history.


As you start to hike up this particular wash, in the foothills of the Catalinas, there are owls that nest under an overpass. From the drawings, it appears that they have always been here.


Do enlarge the photos, especially the one of me because it was one of those lucky shots. We didn't know when it was taken that the waning moon was also in the shot. You couldn't plan a shot like that if you wanted and yet here it was with three elements come together-- the symbols of a people long ago, a person from today, and the moon representing the cycles of life.

Hiking the washes

Wherever I go, I am always interested in rock art (petroglyphs, pictographs) and usually ask those who might know if they can give directions to such sites. Many in the Tucson area are in washes (normally dry river or creek beds).

The washes serve important ecological benefits to the desert as roads for the wildlife and a carrier of water when the heavy rains come-- and they do come. They are somewhat protected, and it might be why they were so often chosen for the rock art. Although, in Tucson, one of the easiest to reach and well preserved sites, Signal Hill, is on the top of a small hill.

Washes are important as a source of water even in dry seasons as you can often dig down in their sand to find water even if the surface is bone dry. Dry washes go from nothing to brim full sometimes very fast (not a good place to live). Flash floods actually drown quite a few people as the water comes from great distances with little advance warning as the deluge doesn't have to be where you even know it's happening. Here, a lot of roadways don't have culverts and instead dip with signs warning don't enter when water is present. More than a few motorists have ignored that to the damage (at the least) of their vehicles.

This particular wash is out in the Tucson Mountains.

At one time this was a mining area with quite a few small shafts. Today it's about a mile hike to a petroglyph site. Although I had expected just a sandy wash, we were warned by someone coming out of it that our walking sticks would come in handy. There were rock formations that we had to scramble up. Not rock climbing but they did make the stick a handy tool.

These deteriorating petroglyphs were likely left by the Hohokam peoples who lived here and then left abruptly as did the Sinagua and Anasazi more to the north around the same time. The Hohokam left behind not only their rock art but also an extensive system of canals whose forms can still be found. The assumption is a major drought drove most of the peoples from their way of life, a few to remain, but most to seemingly disappear into an unwritten history unless you can translate their drawings into their story.

Winter Solstice

Wow, we made it. Finally we are at the darkest, shortest day of the year where from now on the days will gradually be longer and brighter even if they might not seem like it. I mark this day more than the ones to follow like Christmas (which wasn't really the birth of Christ even if you believe in Christ) and New Year's (which is arbitrarily chosen as a new beginning because it was handy for calendars of its time and still today).

Holidays can be tough times for many people because of expectations, memories, but Solstices are real, not man-made. They are when they are. It's one of the things I like about paganism. It makes sense in a natural way. Most of the days it celebrates are a logical part of a yearly cycle. They celebrate life and its rhythms. Whether you believe in a god or not, this is earth's truth-- today is the shortest day and longest night of the year.


The Solstices are reminders of the cycle of life, of death and rebirth. Today most places in the Northern Hemisphere, the plants are dormant. They look to be dead but their energy is waiting within them. Soon they will spring to life again. Are they as excited as I am? Likely not. The shortest day of the year is about beginnings. Another year is about to begin again.


Photos were taken at Sabino Canyon December 20th, and although it looks anything but dormant with its autumn colors still lingering on, it seemed very apropos for Winter Solstice pictures.

Sabino Canyon is one of the places you can find flowing water year round. The first time I was here (1965), we could drive to the end of the road (about four miles). The first time we brought our children here, we could still drive to the top. Then due to traffic and the narrowness of the road, they closed it to all motorized vehicles except those connected with its maintenance and trams which take people to the end of the road where they can walk whatever part that they choose or stay on it up and down.

Sometimes the stream overflows the bridges and more than once I have waded through it to go those two miles up. Sometimes it becomes a torrent, tearing out pieces of the roadway and blocking access to the stream for weeks or longer while the damage is repaired. One flood was so bad that the trams were blocked from going all the way to the top for months.

This time Farm Boss and I walked two miles up to enjoy all these autumn colors and the flowing stream. Of course, I had to wade, wouldn't you? This isn't like a lot of the desert hiking we do because there are a lot of other people here, but that is part of the enjoyment. I like hearing the bits of conversation as others pass and I wonder what did that mean? Who are those people to each other? Are those two on a date? Or were those father and daughter? It's a friendly place. It is easy to get off the road and away from other people when I want.

The Hardest Call

I hope you all saw this by David Brooks as he looked at the current health care bill as it is being proposed: The Hardest Call.

The problems of being a bookaholic

We are once again coming to the end of our time in Tucson. It's never long enough but the farm needs us to return and Christmas is just ahead. The big changes and repairs have been made and now it's tweaking time. Because I am a bit of a bookaholic, I have books everywhere I go. On the drive down I took probably 10 or 12 to read even though I knew I would have many here, not to mention a wonderful used bookstore, Bookmans, nearby.

The problem now is which books stay and which should go back to Oregon. Would some of my beloved books about the Southwest disappear if I left them here for renters to read? (I hope all the future renters for this house will be the kind of people who read my blog.) If someone took one, might they need it more than I did? Or might some of those, which are irreplaceable, be damaged? Which books might touch someone else's life? Which will just be distractions?

Five days ago I lit a candle, which I had bought at a Walmart some years back but had never lit. It is supposed to draw the Holy Spirit, to help bring understanding of the mysteries of the universe. I have had hopes it will also help with the choices that have had to be made getting this house ready for others. I will say I have had having interesting dreams, revealing dreams, while it was burning (about five days). Is it the candle? Having been a Catholic for many years, the habit of lighting candles as prayer/meditation tools (as long as it burns, its intentions go upward to wherever upward is) has been long with me, and one thing I didn't quit when I stopped going to the Church.

Since my hope for this house is that it will be an emotional and spiritual retreat for other people, for me, books are among the tools useful for that experience. I decided the main books here should be guides to the area, nature books, those with different kinds of spiritual insights, some lightweight fiction, and art books. I have been also considering which I should take back with me to be sure I read again (most Frank Waters). Probably some should go to Bookmans, but they won't. These books were chosen carefully for being here in the first place.

My reluctance to take many of them back to Oregon, even if I might like to do so, comes from the overflowing bookshelves up there (five nearly floor to ceiling bookcases). Where would these go? What piece of furniture would have to be removed to fit in another bookcase? The sofa?

The problem with being a bookaholic is you never know what you will need in the future. Special books might go out of print. Perhaps the time will come when I cannot afford books (that's my justification). Coming in and out of here and living as far as I do from libraries, they are not workable for me at this time although I made the most of them during the years when they were.

The book I am reading, that I am currently unsure whether to leave, store or take to Oregon is Healing Ceremonies by Carl A. Hammerschlag and Howard D. Silverman on rituals for spiritual, physical and mental health. Hammerschlag had written another book I very much like, The Dancing Healers, (reluctantly it will stay) about his experiences with healing as a doctor on an Arizona reservation. Healing Ceremonies relates to my life today with its suggestions for rituals and ceremonies to mark the passing of one time into another.

The following is one special quote by Carl Jung in a section aimed at the autumn of one's life, defined as the years 56 to 70:

"Aging people should know that their lives are not mounting and unfolding but that an inexorable inner process forces the contraction of life. For a young person it is almost a sin-- and certainly a danger-- to be too much occupied with himself, but for the aging person it is a duty and a necessity to give serious attention to himself."

Time with a friend

One of the things we had been determined to do while down here was to again get together with Darlene from Darlene's Hodgepodge. She lives across Tucson from us, kitty cornered across almost the whole valley, and with all the things that had to be fixed, for most of our trip we had stuck to hiking places and stores that were nearby. Across Tucson is definitely not nearby. Finally as the biggest things eased up, we made arrangements to meet for lunch and maybe go for a drive where, because Darlene is also a photography fan, we would all take pictures of the desert.

Darlene is such a bright, intelligent and fun person (which you already knew if you read her insightful blog) that meeting her the first time and again this week was a pleasure. In her mid-80s, she has had her share of experiences that either toughen someone or send them to bed sucking their thumb. She's the tougher sort and is amazing for how she handles whatever comes along with a positive spirit. Of course, probably everyone has their days of bed and thumb sucking but hers must come very rarely.

Because our Tucson trip this time (astrology?) has had so many technical glitches (most recently the truck had the wheel bearings go out on the left front wheel), arranging to meet her was no exception. Because she and I don't talk except when I am down here, and we had only been at her place once, I forgot I would need instructions for getting there. No problem though. I emailed her early the day we planned to meet... and later went to check email for directions.

DSL service out.
Service out?
Argh!!!!

No biggie. We also have a backup system-- dial-up...

Dial tone gone
Dial tone gone?
argh!

That meant the Internet was out because the phone land line was out. They are doing construction on the road below us; so it wasn't hard to imagine how this happened. It was harder to get around the problem even though Farm Boss and I have cell phones. Darlene has discussed how phones don't work well for her because she has a cochlear transplant. But I tried calling anyway. No luck. I guessed she was in the shower-- or I had the wrong number.


Now, I had a problem. She was looking for us to be there. She would have no way to know we couldn't find our way there. Was there any chance we could start out and find our way because we had done it once before? An exceedingly slim one but possible. We might also take the laptop and try to find a cyber cafe. I know they are around but have never had cause to use one.

Then I realized I could call Parapluie in Oregon and ask her to go to Darlene's site, find her email (which I didn't have written down anywhere), email her the need for instructions and call me back with them. Parapluie is such a great friend and was happy to do it (she likes it anytime I am not being reclusive).

There was, however, to be another technology glitch. My cell phone has been refusing to ring loud enough for anybody to hear it unless I hold it against my ear. Even though I had it in my jean pocket, on vibrate, when Parapluie tried to call with the information, it didn't vibrate enough for me to feel that. :( Technology does not seem to be my thing this month. Fortunately she also had Farm Boss's number and we got our instructions.


The rest of the day was technology glitch free. We had had one question before we began and it was whether Darlene could get into the Silverado. If you read her site, you know she had had a bad fall last year leading to a hip replacement and then more recently hurt her back. The Silverado is a big truck with a tall step up and no running boards. So we had to try it out with the help of a step stool. With her can-do attitude, she managed it well.


She had invited us out to lunch which we had at a nice Mexican restaurant. Then the three of us drove out to Saguaro Monument East. The desert in winter is less colorful than some seasons, although the lighting was interesting with the low sun.

Tucson's own climate change due to more concrete, more housing, more irrigated lawns and golf courses, has been impacting its ground water supply. Whether it's that or general climate change, there are today many less saguaros in the eastern park and below a certain elevation. It was still a picturesque, one-way loop drive where we stopped for photos, saw one deer, talked of our mutual love of the desert, and life in general. Very fun time with what feels like someone we have known for many years.

When we dropped her off back at her home, Farm Boss took these photos in front of her fireplace. Along with the ones taken on our drive, they pretty well say it all, don't they?

Best Laid Plans

When we arrived at the home we call Casa Espiritu, it was to find a lot of damage done in the kitchen by water leaks from a combination of the ice maker and pipes. This was the first time in ten years that we haven't come in here and had it all be mostly like we had left it.

One cabinet door was totally destroyed and the insides of the cabinets were ruined. Replacing the non-functional swimming pool pump could not be ignored(which Farm Boss did the first week) but other projects we had planned, like adding a screened porch, obviously had to be put aside.

Before anything could be replaced, the walls and floor had to dry out. When he tore out the wallboard at the back, he found black mold. Two of the cabinets had to be removed completely. I suppose we could have gone to our insurance agent to take care of all this. It would have taken time and a lot more money from somebody if not us. From the standpoint of speed (and this didn't seem like an act of god but rather one we should have thought of in terms of replacing old pipes and the ice maker line), we opted to do it ourselves.

The complications didn't let up. When we tried to buy new cabinets, the company had gone out of business a year and a half ago. That seemed to be a huge problem which might demand even more time going up to Phoenix and trying to find a close match. I didn't mind how it looked with no doors, but under the sink was no place that was possible. Lying in bed one night, I realized there were two more of the same size of doors. They closed another cabinet that I had never effectively used. By removing those doors and storing appliances in that space, with a pull out shelf, it became more efficient and looked fine exposed.

For two weeks the kitchen was a mess with just enough space to cook what was required between tools and repair equipment. Hikes and anything else mostly had to be worked between phases of the repair work. The lady at Ace Hardware came to know Farm Boss so well that when he went in, she would ask, what did you forget this time?

Finally the kitchen was finished. We were then able to begin the next phase of the project to make this house work as a vacation rental. For the nearly ten years that we have owned this home, we had borrowed two paintings from Parapluie, one a large oil ("Morning on Desert"). It especially had added a lot to the persona of the house. She had logically decided this year that if possible she would like it back.

Knowing I had to return the painting, I had brought down paintings in the truck. We also knew we had to replace several older Navajo rugs that we wouldn't leave here. With a vacation rental, there is always risk because some won't think of it as any different than taking towels from a motel. I guess it's not but it's equally dishonest. I have talked to people who have rented their homes and know that most people are honest, but you can't always tell in advance who will not be.


At any rate, when I first lifted Parapluie's painting from the wall, I felt a little sick as the living room simply didn't seem the same without it. It had added so much life to the room. I had often lain on the sofa and just looked into it. But then change is part of life and I knew we had been lucky to have it as long as we had.

The two paintings I had expected would work in its space just weren't the same. I began to wonder if I would have to buy a print somewhere, but I kept trying different combinations of paintings, sculpture and pottery. When I tried the painting of petroglyphs from an area we often visit, it was what pulled it all together.

With that painting, its sculptural qualities of the rocks, it seems that the house has entered a new phase, taken on a new identity. It's amazing how much art does do exactly that. With some rearranging of furniture, the kitchen will be a far better place for cooking and likewise better for dining. It came together in a way I hadn't planned-- serendipity.

The home has always been what I have hoped it would be-- a place for art, creativity, intellectual expansion, and spiritual contemplation. If someone else decides to rent it, I hope they will find some of what I have in the last ten years. Although I will still own it, I feel I am giving it up in some ways. That wasn't easy to do.


From here I have seen dreams come true, created art, loved, wept, experienced being. I have known disappointment here but also great joy. I have shared it with friends, had psychic readings within its walls, watched javelina drink from the pool, seen the coyotes and bobcat run past, watched bunnies and quail squabble over the seed block.

From its shelter, I have been here when the lightning has flashed and the house felt rocked by thunder. Through its windows I've watched the moon rise over Pusch Ridge and seen the sun set in the Tucson Mountains. From it I have gone out and found wonderful hiking trails, desert pools, creeks, and petroglyphs. It has been a very special place for me and I hope it will now be that for others who may find it and experience some of what I have been gifted by being here. It is a house of magic but also just a very simple little house.

Health Care sell-out by Obama

Politics

Unless someone can give me some reasons not to do so, my recommendation is that we all call or write our Senators and tell them to vote no on the currently proposed health care bill. I know that Obama wants it passing with whatever is in it as a feather in his cap. I know they say pass it now, and it will be fixed later. *taking a deep breath to lower my blood pressure* If this health care reform is to pass, it must be without a mandate given how they have gutted any measure to control costs. Basically it is currently a give away to insurance companies.

Obama has kept in the background, not fought for a public option, denied any chance for single payer, worked to deny Americans the opportunity to buy cheaper prescriptions from Canada, and now let Joe Lieberman be the fall guy for blocking any type of public option. This reminds me a lot of what Ingineer said awhile back about maybe McChrystal was saying publicly what Obama wanted said. It is underhanded, disgusting, but all too possible in politics.

Obama wants bragging rights that he got a bill passed when no other president could. This bill is not for health care. It's for profits for the insurance conglomerates as in forcing all Americans to buy insurance with no limits on costs, the percentage of our GNP it is taking today is about to go up. It is basically a tax going straight to the insurance companies' pockets.

Ronni at Time Goes By put out a good opinion piece on the bill as it stands: The Health Care Reform Sell-out. She wrote that there is a nasty little surprise (how typical is that) in the section on saying insurance companies cannot limit lifetime benefits. They can't but they can limit how much they must pay out in one year. No problem on the lifetime benefits if you can't get the treatment you need when you need it. How tidy! I heard Rush Limbaugh today chortling over how health care for all Americans was a loss of freedom; so this is about freedom? Freedom to die? That's what it sounds like to me.

We have two Democratic senators in Oregon and we called them to ask them to vote no on this sellout. I don't know who Obama thinks he is; but this kind of catering to the rich and powerful, the not caring about the individual, means he isn't the man I thought I voted for. He let us believe, because so many of us supported him with our contributions, that he would be a man of the people. I am gagging over that one. It appears no matter which party you vote for, you get the same thing-- a sell-out!

The Washington Post said it well: Kill the health bill!. Progressives better hope this bomb dies quickly because if it does pass, they will have as many things to answer for as the onetime war on poverty that ended up being a money sinkhole and didn't do a thing to relieve poverty. We don't need that kind of health care reform.

There are options to go forward but for something that can work. One is something called Reconciliation where they can pass a new bill with that Medicare extension with a simple majority. It would be considered by the opposing party to be an act of war (equivalently). I would bet Obama would be against that because what we have today is apparently the bill he wants. Another option is wait for a more honorable president... if there ever can be such a thing.

For any right winger feeling good about this debacle, just remember, the winners in this are the insurance companies, not your personal insurance, not your health care, not the people who cannot afford health care; no, the winners are stock market profits. That's good for those with investments, I guess... if we can stomach taking our profits on other people dying. I am sickened by this! (and don't bother telling me I should have voted for McCain/Palin. That was totally off the wall as a choice. There'd be no talk of health care concerns with that twosome. I have no regrets on my vote but how about offering something more reasonable in 2012?)

Because politics keeps intruding, I end up pushing back blogs on Arizona, the house here, some of our hikes. That will come next unless something huge gets in the way and it would have to be really really huge!

"You spot it, you got it!"

So were you surprised by Tiger Woods? Mark Sanford? John Ensign? Bill Clinton? Do you have this idea that we can look to our celebrities (which politicians are in our modern culture) and find better ways to live our own lives? Do you wish it would all just go away?

Since I didn't follow Tiger Woods' career that much, had not realized he was considered such an icon, and hadn't seen the ads featuring him, his revealed affairs weren't the shock that they apparently were to some. I didn't know someone in Congress planned to give him a medal for exemplary something or other. I had no idea that his life was considered a role model for Obama's (let's hope not).

Now how it got revealed was a little surprising although we only hear suppositions about what went down that night between his wife and him. I have been a little more surprised by all the women eager to come forward and brag about their affairs with him. They either hope for their fifteen minutes of fame or a little revenge? I would have thought that, at the least, after the first three, the rest would be embarrassed to admit the relationship sexual encounters? They aren't getting fame for it and it seems the last thing you'd want everybody to know. Guess not.

I have written before about American expectations regarding marriage and the question of monogamy. Although from what I have read, the Tiger story isn't about monogamy as much as sexual mores, it did lead to this article:

Monogamous Marriage is an anomaly

Since I pretty much have said the same thing, I won't expand on that article. I do have a few thoughts on what is wrong with our culture that makes Tiger Woods' failings such a huge story. Americans love to set people up on pedestals and then see them knocked off. It's not enough to have someone good at anything. We want the nitty gritty of their private lives. Woods had enough money and power to protect that secret life-- for awhile.

People like Tiger have sold an image to make more money; and you could say he's reaping what he sowed except what is it doing to us as a culture that we let it happen to ourselves if not to him? What makes us need to have modern day heroes. It's risky enough to have historic ones. And worse why do we approach this need from such a shallow, perception level?

Some did the same thing with Obama and now are angry at him that their expectations were not met. Yes, he milked it also but it's because he could. The beauty of shallow perceptions is it makes it easy to turn on these icons when they let us down and they mostly all will-- one way or another.

One of my thoughts on the barrage going on right now was discussed by Debbie Ford in her newsletter.

"For all of us who are caught up in the Tiger drama, my hope is that we will take back all that we have projected on to him all these years. It is useful to remember the old Buddhist trick. Imagine Tiger standing in front of you and now point your finger out at him and say aloud "You are stupid" or "careless" or "an idiot" or "__________" -- whatever quality you are seeing in him, fill in the blank. Now look down at your hand. One finger is pointing out at him. Where are the other three fingers pointing? That's right. Back at you. And as we were continually reminded by our friends growing up, "You spot it, you got it!'"

My personal feeling is that this is a family's private business. We don't deserve all the details, and I wish Tiger Woods would not try to explain it on Oprah or any of the other weep and spill shows. It just makes the American people more voracious for the next scandal. The obsession with knowing it all is not helping our nation as we concentrate on something that doesn't matter while ignoring a lot that does.

Tiger Woods' story can be made worse if we keep picking at it. The magazines that buy stories hoping for sleaze, tears or an arguing couple, need to see their sales drop into the basement whenever they use personal tragedies for their fodder. They will soon go back to catching shadows of suggested cellulite or a celeb picking their noses.

I think I saw Tiger Woods last spring. Farm Boss and I were in Tucson when Woods had been playing a tournament in our area. Out at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum we saw the man we both believed to be him with several other people, not sure I'd call it an entourage. He was young, strong looking, seemingly feeling good and why not as he had won that tournament. We didn't stare at him or comment to each other until his party has passed, and neither did anybody else that we saw. People let him be. That's what needs to happen now. Hopefully he will be able to get his game back and this time with a more honest persona. He won't have to pretend to be perfect anymore. He doesn't have to pretend to be a monster either. What he did isn't the first and won't be the last.

Photos are from Desert Museum this year and of a cougar, not a tiger. Close enough?

It's a sad situation

Farm Boss had something he wanted to say on the previous topic and I felt it deserved its own blog:

It is sad situation, the world economy, radicalized political debate shouting. All to maintain the power /cash of those in control now. As a small businessman and start-up facilitator, I have been involved in ‘alternative’ energy development and the development of successful main stream commodities. Many difficulties stand between our present situation and reducing the carbon foot print, (dependence on oil or coal) and building a new strong economy, but the most significant obstacle may well be our mind set and the massive dollars spent to maintain the present situation.. If left unchecked, the carbon footprint will continue to grow, i.e., faster climate change, and the societies around the world will split even further into lords and servants… thus the middle classes will be gone again.

For the United States and the general economies, I believe the paths that work are built on facilitating the growth of alternative energy with as much push as is spent on wars. We, people of any society, have a propensity for fighting (spending) on the “wrong” wars based on the motives of those in control the media (mind set of the populations at large).

The problems are not technical, they are emotions and greed. In raising capital for the commercialization phases of new business start-up, it is rare to find ‘long term’ investment partners who really mean it without demanding excessive discount rates, and seniority rights on asset recovery. (It is just good business) … well it is not, when the operating position of society must change fast.

New jobs in solar, wind, biomass and distributed load balancing must be created fast. SBIRs and state lottery grants are nice starts, but totally INSUFFICENT TO THE NEED. A bold set of governmental programs are required. For the US it may well be CCC-like, as the dumbed-down society does not have enough of the skilled to build the infrastructure required. Other counties have been more far sighted and encouraged the engineers, doctors, tradesmen (technicians today).

I am extremely concerned that government no-bid contracts will go to the present beltway industrial masters. What is needed is a distributed network of providers that support all states. Idealism ..yes. But feasible!

It will not require special nano-technologies or invention… the Renaissance painting masters and silver black and white photography used nano-particles, we just did not have a name for them at that time. Solar PV modules can be commercially made from silicon as thin films or polycrystalline wafers at low cost with high reliability. Cadmium telluride and copper indium systems work as well. Solar thermal solutions and wind generators, as well as PV solar need power storage and load leveling systems. They exist !!!. Some will argue only as experiments…. BECAUSE it costs $$ to expand that few are willing to put forth without 20% returns. When did 20+% return become the expectation? Just as with Health Care /Health Insurance… the big profiteers need to be pushed aside for the masses (middle class) to survive. Enlightened capitalism seems to be only a memory. Failure to act now building a new economy will bring a new “dark ages”… it can not be avoided without strong action…which I do not see in any congress.

This is not communism. That will come, when the oceans rise and lights go out…..then communal living and communistic thinking will be a necessity. Look at history.

thoughts by Farm Boss

Science and earth

Humans have incredibly sophisticated cultures across the earth today. Mankind is king of all he surveys. We aren't the first beings who thought that way and easily may not be the first to find catastrophically that we were wrong.

With the climate summit in Copenhagen and the email scandals over whether scientists have fudged the data on man's responsibility for global climate change [Scientists and global warming], the subject is again in the news. (It should be in the news all the time since it's so important.) Climate-Gate Beyond the Embarrassment.

The debate is resented by some who are convinced that 10,000 years of man's ascension to power proves the earth will always support his burgeoning lifestyle (I suggest those who think thusly try watching History Channel's How the Earth was Made).

The main arguments over global warming mostly seem to often resolve around costs. How much does it cost to cut down on carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? Would anything we do make a difference? What will it cost if we do face global climate changes? The opinions vary markedly depending on who paid for the studies. Your concern for it could relate to how much money you have and how much you think that might insulate you from the worst case scenarios.

Science and earth

Is global warming unstoppable?

One of the key points to keep in mind when looking at this is that global warming doesn't mean necessarily warmer climates. Climates come out of bigger cycles. The end result of a global warming cycle could be a new ice age one place with prolonged drought another. It could mean intense heat, violent storms or oceans that die. Man's record for the earth is a short one and the span of time where humans flourished is even shorter. In earth's 4.5 trillion year history, we are a smudge on the timeline.

Can science predict anything definitely where it comes to earth dynamics? It is best at measuring what did happen. It can measure what was in prehistoric ice, but it cannot tell what that will definitely mean for today. It can make some educated guesses.

Recently Schwarzenegger showed a map of what San Francisco might look like if the oceans rise due to ice melt. That's the kind of thing that we need to be thinking about. If the oceans rise, many peoples will be displaced but it's not the end of what might result.

What if ocean currents change? What if a rise in the temperature of the oceans accelerates shifts in temperature? What if the oceans stop producing food for much of the world? What if something else happens to change the whole cycle like say a super volcano on the level of Yellowstone?
Saturday I walked through what had once been a village of, at its highest population, 300 people. They had lived on this ridge for 800 years or more. First they built pit houses, then homes where they dug a foundation into the ground. Using rocks, they formed a base with mud walls and sticks for the roofs. They grew corn, gathered mesquite beans, hunted on the mountains. At one point they built a wall around their village. What you see is what is left of their way of life.


The Hohokam people who lived here may have survived the collapse of their culture. The archaeological record only reveals that they were in this area for over a thousand years; then their culture disappeared. Maybe the people died because of insufficient planning for the future or drastic changes in their environment. Perhaps a spiritual omen caused them to abandon their homes. Except for possible predictions from their spiritual leaders, using visions and astrology (and many did use the sun and moon to predict seasons), they would have had no clue major climatic change was coming.

Today, we can look at fossil and geologic record, does it help?

Friedman on the 1% risk

When one doesn't know what might happen, being prepared is usually wisest. Isn't that what we would have once called being conservative?

Worth reading: Hollywood's Coda to America's Dark Year

Bolt

If more people watched Bolt, would there be less abandoned pets? Regardless of the answer to that question, I recommend it as a great kid film but enjoyable for adults (at least if you are young at heart).

Bolt is the story of animals that are basically abused by humans. Bolt has been taught he is a super hero but not a real dog. Mittens was declawed and then abandoned by her owners. Rhino (hamster) was overfed and basically driven a little nutty by his limited life.

The story is cute when these three animals come together. The results make for a fun movie but there is a bit about how our pets are treated woven into the plot. John Travolta is Bolt's voice while Miley Cyrus voices the girl who loves him. This was the first time I heard Cyrus sing (very big star with the tweens) and was pleasantly surprised at her talent. Over the ending credits, Travolta sings with her. He's always enjoyable to hear).

cats in the desert or something like that

The cats are not especially happy but getting along with each other better than at home. Misery loves company? Because of the coyotes and bobcats living so close to this house, I am reluctant to let either cat be outside without us there which means only on leashes. Cats really don't care much for leashes.

The cat that was born down here (you can guess which one) is loving being outside any chance he gets. As soon as he gets out, he rolls in the dust, collecting slivers and barbs but who cares (we do the next time we pet him). He loves this dusty ground, the smells, the rodents, the birds, the rabbits. For several years of his life he had lived on this place, catching his food (finding the head of a rabbit is not high on my list of good memories). Then we began our relationship with him which led to adoption and the life of a privileged pussycat which comes with limitations.


The younger cat was born and reared in Oregon but also came to us as a stray as in he just showed up. He does not approve of this country and mostly has been spending his time wishing he was back where it's raining or at the moment frigid outside. He doesn't know that it would be cold though. He dreams of better days and imagines it all being that way.


The worst part for these boys is the knowledge (ours, not theirs) that toward the end of the month they have to make the return journey to Oregon. Basically for now they'd as soon stay here. The older one is treating the younger like a little brother. He licks him so much that the younger ends up soaking. Due to insecurity, the younger is letting him do it.

The tougher part for me is that another cat had moved into our carport. He looks exactly like the one we adopted nearly 10 years ago (although without today's white hairs in his muzzle). When I first saw him jumping down from the carport shelf, it was deja vu. I am not sure what is going on but he often sits outside meowing, wanting a combination of attention and more food. Even though he's really thin, politely he wants petting before he settles down to eat.

I don't think our male cats would take well to another male. It's not just the fighting but the peeing contests that would worry me; but I also think someone does have him but just hasn't been home or has him outside most of the time. He's neutered. I am trying to be practical. It's tough to hear a cat meowing all night outside. Would these become the Three Musketeers or would we have civil war in our house if we adopted a third black cat (photo below)?


Why do people abandon or not properly take care of their pets?

Eisenhower on war and consequences

The last blog I went briefly into the difference between how a general and a president must see a war or even a battle. This is arising now because many on the right have been saying that Obama should have done whatever McChrystal said was needed.

Obama said it well during the campaign. Presidents and generals have two different sets of responsibilities. A good example would be when MacArthur wanted to use the nuclear bomb on North Korea. His reasoning was that the military had napalmed the countryside and it had the people hiding in caves, but China was still able to supply them. A nuclear bomb of a certain sort would make northern Korea unreachable by land and easy resupplying by China for 90 years.

MacArthur was looking at winning a war. Truman looked at the consequences both in this country and how the world would see the United States for making the nuclear bomb standard tactics in a war. Today we might argue over who was right but one man had a different set of obligations than the other. Truman fired MacArthur and some said MacArthur, for how he had addressed this debate publicly, could have been charged with treason in addition to being fired.

Most likely every president engaged in a war faces the same issues as does every general trying to fight battles with the least possibly losses. Although I have my own doubts about McChrystal (based on his handling of the Pat Tilman friendly fire death, torture in Iraq, and publicly making his case for more troops), he has a set of responsibilities that must be about winning the war in Afghanistan. His reputation and career rest on that. He doesn't have an obligation to figure out the ramifications at home or abroad.

This is why we have a separate military and domestic power structure with domestic over the military-- or have had. Not sure how Republicans would like that in the future. Once in awhile though we have had generals who also rose to the top of the political structure. They offer a unique view then of responsibilities, having been on both sides. Until I got into considering this issue of military and domestic concerns, I didn't realize we have had twelve generals who became presidents. Most came out of the Civil War.

1. George Washington, Revolutionary War; 2. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812; 3. William Henry Harrison, War of 1812; 4. Zachary Taylor, Mexican War; 5. Franklin Pierce, Mexican War; 6. Andrew Johnson, Civil War; 7. Ulysses Simpson Grant, Civil War; 8. Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Civil War; 9. James Abram Garfield, Civil War; 10. Chester Allan Arthur, Civil War; 11. Benjamin Harrison, Civil War; 12. Dwight David Eisenhower, World War II.

Men who have learned to fight wars, win battles, and also take on political power might just have something to teach us for today. The last of those men (for now), Dwight D. Eisenhower was there to see the rise of the military industrial complex and expressed his concern not only about that but about war as a solution. Many of his quotes are well known, but in choosing a few of them to come together as a body, they make a philosophical statement:

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.

How far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.

I have one yardstick by which I test every major problem - and that yardstick is: Is it good for America?

I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone.

If the United Nations once admits that international disputes can be settled by using force, then we will have destroyed the foundation of the organization and our best hope of establishing a world order.

If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom.

In most communities it is illegal to cry "fire" in a crowded assembly. Should it not be considered serious international misconduct to manufacture a general war scare in an effort to achieve local political aims?

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.

The United States strongly seeks a lasting agreement for the discontinuance of nuclear weapons tests. We believe that this would be an important step toward reduction of international tensions and would open the way to further agreement on substantial measures of disarmament.

The world moves, and ideas that were once good are not always good.

There is no glory in battle worth the blood it costs.

This world of ours... must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.

Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose.

War settles nothing.

We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.

Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America.

When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war.

Think he could be nominated by the Republican party of today?

Terrorist Tactics

War and Politics

With talk of the Afghanistan war much in the news, I had put off writing about it. I do read the latest news and opinions, but frankly I have more immediate personal issues to work through and spending too much time thinking about politics and war can be detrimental to anybody's personal life. On the other hand, ignoring what happens in the country where we live leaves the choices up to those who are paying attention.

The right criticized Obama for taking time to decide whether to add more troops to the Afghan campaign as McChrystal had demanded. Make no mistake, he did demand when he went public. I have said this before but it bears repeating. Obama said a general has a responsibility to figure out how to win a war, a battle. A president has to look at how it all impacts his whole nation.

The right further complained that Obama took too long to decide to escalate the war. So he should have rushed to just do it without figuring out how to pay for it, what we would gain as a nation from it, how it would be seen by Afghanistan and its neighbors? I might disagree with his conclusion, but I totally think it was right to take time while considering such a costly escalation.

Based on its history and culture, Afghanistan seemed to me a lost cause when Obama promoted it during his campaign. Didn't we have our chance there and blew it? But for anybody who thinks he has pulled a G.W. Bush, saying one thing while campaigning but doing another once in office, he didn't. He said all along that Afghanistan was the thing that Bush walked off from finishing and it should be finished right. His concerns obviously go beyond Afghanistan to the nuclear possessing Pakistan.

Does that mean he's right in what he's doing now? Not in my opinion. I did not even listen to his speech because I am not fond of listening to any politician's speech. I knew the details would be online, and was pretty sure what he had decided. I am, however, tired of these wars where we think we can go overseas and change another country's political agenda through our guns.

Our Timeline and the Taliban's

To add to this, the term war on terror (which he doesn't use but Republicans still do) irks me every time I hear it. The use of terror is a tactic and in addition one the Bush administration wielded to get their own political aims-- be scared, very scared and stop thinking. Terror is induced to get political aims. We hear Cheney trying to use it every time he says that unless Obama does what he thinks he should (which would change as soon as Obama did it), we will be attacked again. I have a feeling his manipulation of G.W. Bush explains a lot of those eight years.

Cheney and Bush acolytes continuously say they kept us safe during their administration while not counting 9/11 or the continual wars overseas with their cost of life, maimed bodies, and endless debt as the right wing refused to pay for the wars as they went (didn't even count them into the yearly budget). If we felt the war was needed, we should have raised taxes to pay for it. We should have made sure our troops went into it fully armored.

When we invaded Afghanistan, it was to get Osama bin Laden but then when they had a chance to get him in Tora Bora they lost it [What went wrong at Tora Bora]. What happened there is not disputed. Why it happened still is.

If you believe whoever controlled the federal government at that time wanted to capture or kill him, you probably also believe they did not plan to attack Iraq from the time they came into power. Could they have ever gotten the American people to go along with that war if they had captured bin Laden? Were they incompetent or was it something else? How do you fight a war on terror without terrorists to inspire it? Call this a conspiracy theory and I will agree. Such theories aren't always wrong.

There is no proof that al Qaeda planned an attack on US soil after 9/11. They did claim credit for the bombings in Spain and Bali. Spain at least does seem to be their work. In the United States we have had foiled attacks; but so far as I have read, none were planned by al Qaeda. They didn't need to. We were busy self-destructing ourselves, and under Obama we are continuing. Are we out of Iraq? Not that I have heard and the death goes on there. Can we fix Afghanistan's political structure? Do you also believe in Santa Claus?

To justify the enlargement of the Afghani war, the Taliban have become the enemy to fight since our intelligence sources say there are likely only maybe 100 al Qaeda in the country (although that border is still porous). Keep in mind we supported the Taliban (and Osama bin Laden) during their war against the Soviet Union-- a war that ended up nearly bankrupting the Soviets and dissolving their holdings outside Russia.

We are apparently paying the Taliban (and maybe indirectly al Qaeda) today through our contractors who pay for safety to go about their business. Want to guess who pays the contractors? We also pay for the Taliban's war against us by not stopping the poppy crops, by allowing heroin to be exported to the world as drug of choice for those into destroying their own minds. Could we stop that trade and cut down their income? My guess is yes but people in Afghanistan would definitely turn on us as without it what do they use to make money?

The Taliban didn't attack the United States. What they did was have a horrendous government which treats their people (especially women) abominably-- at least to Western eyes. They gave refuge to Osama bin Laden and his terrorist training camps (which are more like empty fields with a shack at one end and a few posts to go through physical training). We came in and bombed those 'camps', drove the Taliban into hiding, let Osama get away, let the leader at that time of the Taliban also get away as he still leads them, left a limited military presence behind, accepted a corrupt government to run the country, and took off for Iraq which had nothing to do with any of the terrorist attacks but was run by a bad guy and had a lot of oil.

[Frank Rich-- Obama's logic is no match for Afghanistan].

It would have taken a lot of courage and political capital to admit Afghanistan was unwinnable. You think the right wing is fussing now. It would have been peanuts to what they'd have said if Obama had said we are getting out. I read that the one thing Americans won't forgive in a leader is a perception of weakness. The problem with Americans is in general they don't have the foggiest notion of what weakness really looks like; so it's all about that other word-- perception.

Would it be nice if Afghanistan, Iraq and the whole Middle East lived peaceably, arguing mostly over what factory to site in what neighborhood? You betcha. It's not something we are likely to see while we continue to use our own terrorist tactics to attain it, where we are more caught up in perception than in reality. There are ways to get people to see there are better ways to live but bombing innocent civilians by mistake isn't likely to be on the list.

As long as Americans are manipulated by those who use terrorist tactics to get their aims, we aren't likely to see any improvement there or here.

(more tomorrow on this)

Boy Toys

There are two ways to look at toys. One makes shopping for them easier than the other. You can buy toys based on isn't that cute, it'd be fun for a week, or it fills out my list. The other is harder. It's to see toys as part of the development of a child as their world expands. At first that sounds like no fun toys, but imagination is part of that development. Toys can do a lot to teach a child not only about their world but their minds.

When it comes to gift giving seasons, I have one granddaughter and three grandsons. Boy toys are on my mind for birthdays and Christmas. Actually I love looking through toy stores and take my time in boy and girl aisles. If you spend any time in the toy aisle of say a Target, you know boy toys are currently pretty violently oriented. I'm a grandma. Do I want to buy such for my little guys?

If you have ever raised a son or seen your grandsons play, you know how little boys play and it is using avatars (term used in video games but which means embodiment of self in another form) as violent play substitutes for themselves. If you don't want to see violent toys for boys-- skip the toy aisles. They range from military oriented to sci fi with some monster trucks thrown in, but they are pretty heavily into what can endanger their character and what tactics enable them to successfully fight back.

There could be toy Bolts but animals are more frequently monsters the likes of which I have not seen-- mainly because I avoid violent films. Although I am a big fan of children's films and have quite a collection of the best (in my view) not only for my grandchildren when they come but for me when the world outside seems really mean and disappointing, I am not up on all the latest stuff-- although a little more so after spending time in the boy aisles of Toys 'R' Us. Wrestlers are heroes to boys?

Try to imagine that boys don't want guns as toys. Okay, you tried but if you have been around little boys, you know that if they don't get the guns, they will pretend a stick is a gun or a sword. It's likely part of their nature and probably comes back to testosterone although I am not sure. Has there been a study done on it? I hope not. I know it's not just about parenting.

When my children played, I paid more attention to the details of their games. It basically went-- daughter-- create sweet living environment. Son-- blow them up. Daughter-- that's not nice. Son-- try to play the other way until he got too bored. He didn't get into really creating a sweet living environment until he had a family.

Happily when I got to Tucson I found they had a Toys 'R' Us. I used to love those stores before most closed down anywhere near the farm. So I spent some time there as soon as I could. Well it was about like I remembered for the boy toys. Heck, I wasn't totally thrilled at the Barbies with short skirts and blank expressions. Do they make intelligent looking Barbies these days?

Maybe it's not so much the toy you buy but how you encourage your children to play with them? Although looking at the monsters for sale, I am not sure.

One possible arena of giving boys their fascination with wham bam along with some goals for better ways to think about cultural interactions came from the Playmobil stuff for the smaller boys and the Schleich figures for the older ones. I have bought Schleich figures as gifts-- knights, dragons, elves, cowboys, animals. It was only this Christmas that I began to think more strongly that the code of honor for a knight might provide the needed fantasy as well as the wham bam slam. Knights had a code of honor. They did fight but it was supposedly for higher causes (I mean it's mythology; so understand this is the fantasy not necessarily how it was).

As a grandma, I'd like to give my three little guys toys that help them play in ways that are positive-- enhancing imagination, pretending they are adults through their dolls action figures. Couldn't it be exciting for little boys to pretend to be construction workers, engineers, explorers, cowboys, farmers, policemen, firemen, and only as part of that picture sometimes warriors when necessary?

I don't have a problem with kids having guns as toys if the guns are treated as a real gun would be which means no pointing it at anybody else even in play. Does that ruin the fun of it? Having been raised in a home with guns, raising my own children in such a home, I felt that guns needed to be seen as tools, potentially deadly ones.

When my son was growing up he did have the GI Joe dolls and when he got old enough to decide he was too old for them, unlike me burning the paper dolls, he took his real gun and blew them apart. Since Farm Boss had been more into blowing things apart with big 'firecrackers' in the era where that was possible, I didn't see that as damaging as it could have been... maybe. They both turned into non-destructive men-- so far as I know.

(To find the tradesman doll, I had to turn to eBay, where I have been spending a lot of time online looking through various possible toys. The book, a recommendation from my daughter-in-law, came through Amazon as I didn't see it locally.)

The Politics of Barbie

With Christmas coming up, the toy buying season in full sway, the subject of types of toys seems pertinent for anyone with children in their families. When I was growing up, a Barbie type doll would have delighted me. For years I had to make do with Sparkle Plenty who I tried to pretend was a real woman. I was not the type to enjoy pretending I was diapering a baby doll. At least Sparkle had long hair to fix up.

The only possible adult appearing toys were stand up dolls designed to show off fancy crocheted dresses. Fortunately my mom was a gifted crocheter and I had quite a few of those, but they (and the one decidedly un-masculine looking circus costumed male) just weren't what I wanted. None of them looked like real men or women.

When I got old enough, I made myself a set of paper dolls with unbelievably intricate outfits and as close as I could get them to anatomically correct male and female figures. You have to remember those were the days where finding out what was anatomically correct wasn't very easy for a little girl. I did my best.

Unfortunately there came an age (later than for many) where I felt having nude paper dolls with elaborate pioneer outfits was not appropriate, and I burned them. Pity as they really were well done-- in my memory anyway.

When my daughter was born, Barbie dolls were possible but they were already controversial. Feminists thought they would warp little girls' minds. Well, I don't pay much attention to that kind of rhetoric and thought it out for myself when one Christmas Barbie was on my daughter's wish list. I even today cannot see any logical reason why it would be better for a child to pretend she is a mommy than to pretend she's a grown up woman.

There has been controversy over Barbie's figure from the start-- too sexy. Not realistic. Some would probably blame her for all the plastic surgery women undergo to attain some ideal of beauty that rarely or never exists in nature.

I would be all for Barbies that were more anatomically correct, but that's not going to happen and some of it is because of what little girls want. They like a fantasy figure and the popularity of Bratz (something my granddaughter wanted, of course, but never got-- totally wrong persona) probably proves it.

The toy box at the farm is filled with toys for the grandkids when they come and among them are some Barbies (I held Clark Gable back for awhile before I finally relinquished him). Along with trucks, balls, little plastic figures and animals, I got to buy myself Barbies.

As a mother, I saw Barbie as a learning tool not only about developing imagination but also reality. I remember once when my daughter was probably about nine and wanted me to play dolls with her. I chose one of the Barbies as my avatar declaring she was a truck driver. My daughter was irritated. That was totally inappropriate for a girl. Except it wasn't and she learned through play that a woman could be whatever she wanted-- something she later applied to her own life when she became a field archaeologist.

My son and daughter used to play with their Barbies, GI Joe and Han Solo dolls (Ken was way too soft to make the grade for a boy as anything but a comedy foil) and created intricate worlds also inhabited with squirrel families and wise old owls. Their creativity with their stories has to be a plus and I don't think either of them felt they had to grow up to look like any of the dolls-- including the squirrels. It is pretend and being a child is about being free to pretend.

It's also not bad sometimes for adults.