The milk weed is where the Monarch butterfly lays eggs. The Monarch and other butterflies play a huge roll in pollinating crops all across the US. That law is an attempt to protect the crops which are a huge income source in California. The Monarch population has seriously plummeted over the last few years as have other species of butterflies and bees. One of the main reasons is people mowing acres of land for no reason other than "it looks good". Also the corporate farms that plow and plant every square foot of land and leave no buffer zones. The Monarchs migration numbers are about 25% of what there were a couple of years ago. And there are the pesticides and herbicides that are killing off beneficial insects. We, as a species, are creating some serious problems for all life, including our own which will become painfully more obvious in the coming years.kmac said:
::008:: +1 and yes kmac.... we are all part of the problem... and cali is one of the worst.... ::26:: ::26::nondairycreamer said:
Yes Snake I agree that most of us here on the forum are getting our slice, maybe even with a healthy dash of Srirache sauce. I live in a pristine wilderness and from my front deck I see nothing but wilderness. It becomes much to easy to not see the big picture. Hard to see anything wrong out my front doorsnakebitten said:Sat on the porch this morning with the wife, brother, and sister-n-law, having a cup of coffee.
We watched the Weiner dogs scare up a big rabbit. It hopped right passed us and into the safety of some unclaimed thick brush along the drive.
Right above us, a happy recently married couple of wrens, were busy building a new nest in the rafters that the porch swing is hanging from. Amazing that they ignored our movement and banter.
Oven timer went off and she returned with 4 saucers and forks and a nice egg & spinach breakfast pie. And yes, a big bottle of Siracha sauce!
Magnificent morning!
Maybe we are all part of some problem, as you put it. But we must be missing it. Just sitting here soaking up a little harmony with nature, as humans. Lol
Gonna go for a back country ride later. Predicting yet another glorious day on planet earth.
Nicely said .....snakebitten said:I sometimes get to fly across this planet in a private aircraft. Might even be close to the ground, relative to Southwest Airlines. It always strikes me that the vast majority of the surface is usually quite nice. Amazing, in fact.
And then you approach some spot where there are a lot of us packed tightly. Sometimes incredibly dense. And yea, there we can sometimes make a mess of things. Just comes with the numbers.
Still, it's always encouraging to get to take in the vast area out there where our planet seems to be more than capable of defending itself.
I actually think we are a bit arrogant at times when we claim we can control the outcomes.
I suppose we CAN make things better or worse, to a degree. But this big ole living rock has weathered far worse than anything we have wrought on it.
And it's amazing how well it takes care of us, even when we are the problem.
Sorry about the optimism. It gets me in trouble from time to time.
Just finished my redneck tomato garden today. I'm a believer. Gotta bet with my brother I get a better yield than that fancy tilled garden he is working his butt off on. (wife ordering him around. Lol)
It sucks pretty bad. Don't go. Roads suck, gas is expensive, and the chicken sandwich from safeway will not make you sick at all, not one bit.tomatocity said:
Not to worry, it sounds like the word has already gotten out (quoted from the Manhattan Institute). Before you know it, you may have it all to yourself!:tomatocity said:
Scoob - you keep referring to dollars as it is happiness. Call me next February or better yet follow Greg to California where we can ride for two weeks in sunshine and dry roads that aren't straight with 90 degree turns. Isn't ND the same as AK. You don't count how many years you have been there though how many winters. I have a longtime friend that just moved to Denver CO... from the small city of Sidney MT the sister site of the ND oil company. She had lived there for almost 20 years. She does thank the oil company for increasing the value of her home times three. And not a penny left in MT or ND where she shopped.Scoobynut said:
Fair enough, Tomato. Not all is sunshine and happiness in these parts either, mostly due, as you say, to the 6 month long winters, of which I have lived through many (there are snowflakes flying around as I type this!). As far as $=happiness, that's true in some cases, but in my experience the lack of $$$ certainly creates its own misery and despair. I guess my point is that if CA were to exploit the untapped energy wealth it possesses, it could lift hundreds of thousands, possibly in the millions, out of poverty in your state. From everything I've read about your state, it seems that economic policy is decided for the most part by wealthy elite who live near the coast, while the middle and lower classes continue to be squeezed out with little say -- or stake -- in their own future. It's always easy for those who already 'got theirs' to not worry so much about those who don't.tomatocity said: