Heads Up ; )

Guess what!!!!!!!!! Lost, the best drama on television, begins its second season Wednesday, September 21. Everyone mark your calendars. I already have!

The Battle Rages On

Yes, it is me again. The fight for my time, attention, and thoughts is continuing and I am sorry that I have not been more focused with those when it comes to my blog. Speaking of fights, there was an interesting article in the newest Smithsonian Magazine on a different kind of battle that caught my attention and I found it quite enlightening. It can all be summed up in the sentence, "Nobody hates nature more than a gardener." "But, wait," you say, "Don't gardeners love and tend nature?" The simple answer to this simple, yet complex, question is: No. Gardeners do all that they can to keep nature from being natural. They fight the bugs, they ban the wildlife, and pull out any plants that may naturally want to grow, yet are not in the gardener's marvelously unnatural plan for the garden. They bring out their artillery of insecticides to spray the enemy with fire and use their army of shovels and spades to hack and tear at the ground. In this battle, the natural world suffers many casualties just to satisfy the gardeners' need for domination over the earth and its plants. Yes, gardeners are the natural enemies of nature and the battle rages on.

Happy Independence Day!

(or Fourth of July!)

The System has Upgraded

It is now official. My area is no longer considered to be one of "moderate drought" and has now been upgraded by the U.S. Drought monitor to the label of "severe drought." What does this mean? It means "Crop or pasture losses likely; fire risk very high; water shortages common; water restrictions imposed." Fun. But on a more positive note, the weather has cooled off to the point that the windows can be opened and the air conditioning turned off and there is a slight possibility of storms tonight. Also, the grass has not required mowing for some weeks now. Maybe if I try another rain dance...just kidding!

EDIT: "Nearly all of Illinois declared drought disaster" <= yeah. happiness.