We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Tree guys are skilled guys with highly-dangerous work. Well-paid, too. Taking down a half-dead 60' Beech tree is not for amateurs, especially where pool fences and utility wires are a factor. Last week's windstorm put an end to coddling this failing but magnificent monster of a tree. Sometimes reality says Give Up. Beech Bark Fungus.
Beech is tough on chainsaws - very dense wood - and near-impossible to split by hand whether seasoned or not. It's like iron. I think, as dense as Ironwood which does not provide much firewood but which also wears out blades. Beeches are great for wildlife. Beech nuts are food for turkey, grouse, squirrels,chipmunks, deer, birds, etc.
Tree guys refuse to cut you regular-sized logs. Takes too much time. They throw them all in the chipper. A shame but I don't have time on a workday to do it myself. Wish I did, cuz I have good saws. Annoys me, because good firewood is gold. We have daily fires from fall to spring. Still, with all of the big stuff they are leaving me, we might need to rent a log splitter this summer. As a freebie, though, the guys cut me a 4" through- trunk slice for an outdoor coffee table top. Nice.
It takes 10-12 months to season firewood around here. If left out in the weather, 10-12 months to be fireplace-ready. However hot the fire, I will not burn green wood anymore.
Also, always tip workmen generously - before the job is done. It's good for the economy, and a display of gratitude is welcome and encouraging. Around here, a $20/day cash tip per guy is a good show of thanks. These hard-working guys do not need the gym; just a couple of Coronas and a good sleep. Often, I feel that I would like work like that. Vigorous physical outdoor work is good for the soul. Just my opinion.
This was a splendid and beloved tree - but mortal, and mighty even in death. We tried to count the rings: around 120 years old. Copper Beech is a dramatic tree, but not native to North America. It's European. Yes, that is snow around.
Furthermore, as is well-established now, being overweight is a major risk factor for dementia (#2 after genetic).
My view of overweight is Live and Let Live. Overweight people know all of the consequences, and accept them as adults. I do help pay their self-inflicted Medicare bills but that's life in the US today. As an outdoorsy, sporty, fitness person I feel that giving up on vitality is sad, but people must do what they want to and nobody needs to be like me.
If you care, it's easy to lose 1.5-2 lbs of fat/week in a healthy way with a smidgen of self-control. We have posted on that topic many times. Underweight is another issue entirely.
Rightly or wrongly, we reserved physical punishments for dangerous situations. For example, running into the road when told not to. For running into deep, wavy water before being adequate swimmers.
However, we were of the generation of gentle rather than authoritarian parents. Probably not the best. Now, I feel the youth need some fear of parents because it is parents' job to represent reality before the kids hit real reality.
While the Smollett case continues to take twists and turns, it's paramount that we acknowledge that for every case such as this, there are thousands of others that are indisputable and leave a lasting impact on the targeted victims and their communities. We must make it clear, over and over again, that the bias-motivated crimes happening every day are unacceptable.
College hate crime hoaxers usually don’t file police reports. If they do, it’s to the campus cops who generally do the first part of their job and discover it’s a hoax, and then do the second part of their job and cover it up. Local cops in campus towns also often shrug and the perps walk away with no charges.
Asylum claims are the latest immigration scam. If migrants want somewhere else to stay, why not stay in Mexico where the language and culture are similar?
Reasons to visit Vienna: Coffee, pastries, horses, the Belvedere and the Kunsthistoriches.
You can't "do" the latter any more than you can do the Prado. It's like the Metropolitan in NYC, but Vienna has the best collection of northern European art (thanks to the Hapsburgs). We went there to see the Breughels, and that was enough. Mind-boggling.
15:35 But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?"
15:36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
15:37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
15:38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
15:42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.
15:43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
15:44 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.
15:45 Thus it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
15:46 But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.
15:47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
15:48 As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.
15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
15:50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
In the end, Stafford suggested that even if Smollett were guilty of staging a hoax "hate crime," he still highlighted a greater truth. "Jussie may have created this whole situation to highlight a reality that is happening every day," he said. "Our current administration doesn’t support people like him — that are black and queer."
Did the Roman military really light pigs on fire to send in the direction of their enemies?
Accompanying