My cycle is old enough to drink here in the states, but I never get used to the brain fog it brings. It can derail nearly anything. I hope the fresh air and good company helps!
In addition to the school, you may also find luck checking in with senior centers, if you haven't already.
I never took care of the lawn other than mowing it, so much of this stuff was already here in small amounts. Two years ago, I started dividing up the violets and planting them into the grass. They launch seeds up to 4 feet so they quickly spread, clump and bully the grass. Ants move the seeds around too. Last year, I started dividing and transplanting the nimblewill. Panicled aster and late boneset volunteered which pushed out some more.
There's still plenty of grass closer to my neighbor who treats their lawn. Some I buried in woodchips, the rest I'd like to shade out with edibles and dig out for another rain garden.
The hand shaped the tool as the tool shaped the hand, in microcosm and macrocosm.
Congratulations! I find public speaking is easier when fueled by passion.
Enjoying all the updates and hope the meeting goes well!
If nobody got me, I know Chesapeake Bay Watershed got me 🙏 Can I get an amen?
They're looking for ecoregion photos if you're into photography!
If you want to learn more about your local plants and animals, I recommend iNaturalist or their Seek app.
No problem, added! Let me know if there are any suggestions as I'm still learning.
I've too seen many awful nursing homes. Stark, empty places with stretched thin medical staff and sparse activity calendars. Given what's happening in my neighborhood, setting up sketchy assisted living facilities in rundown homes is the new cash grab.
Years ago, I'd visit clients in nursing homes and rehabs. The buildings were usually surrounded by a large parking lot and manicured lawns. They'd tell me how rare visitors were, no wonder given the vibe of the place. I'd end up talking for hours with them and their friends who gathered at the sound of a new voice. People need medical treatment, but that's just one sliver of the human experience.
Exactly, yes! No stuffiness or stigma. Conversations over hot beverages in a cozy room, during batwatching picnics, or while stargazing.
Searching Death Cafes led to articles about Coffin Clubs, people coming together to build and decorate coffins for themselves and each other. On how the first one got started:
“I gathered some old blokes who were ex-carpenters and builders, and a group of women that would get creative, and we started it up in my garage and carport,” she says.
Baltimore City has an adopt-a-lot program, allowing residents to use vacant lots for urban agriculture or community projects. However, as stated in point 3, it can be difficult to keep them going long term:
One farmer, Rich Kolm, said urban farms in Baltimore are playing several critical roles: They are community centers, educational hubs and fresh food producers in food-insecure neighborhoods.
Kolm has overseen three separate farms on adopted land in the city, and now he works as a contractor to those attempting to do the same. Though he commended the city’s low-cost water access service that accompanies lot adoption, he said people may not want to start a farm under the program if the land could be taken away.
“The whole idea of agriculture is that you’re building something,” said Kolm. “The only way to do it well is to make it permanent. But the city’s attitude is that urban agriculture might be a means of raising property values so much so that the agriculture gets kicked off the site.”
We see that:
Source: Our World in Data - Land Use
Image text:
1000 YEAR OLD VEGAN POEM BY ONE OF THE GREATEST CLASSICAL ARABIC POETS
Al-Ma'arri
973-1057 A.D.
VEGAN | PHILOSOPHER | POET | WRITER
Do not unjustly eat fish the water has given up,
And do not desire as food the flesh of slaughtered animals,
Or the white milk of mothers who intended its pure draught
for their young, not noble ladies.
And do not grieve the unsuspecting birds by taking eggs;
for injustice is the worst of crimes.
And spare the honey which the bees get industriously
from the flowers of fragrant plants;
For they did not store it that it might belong to others,
Nor did they gather it for bounty and gifts.
I washed my hands of all this; and wish that I
Perceived my way before my hair went gray!
The Chesapeake Conservancy has three: peregrine falcon, osprey and great blue heron.