Oops did it again

Pacino
Did it again,I want to wish a belated birthday to one of the greatest actors of our day. Al Pacino turned sixty seven on April 25, 2007. You still look "mavelous dahling." Everyone has their favorite and most would agree its the "Godfather II". I would have to say its hard to beat the long hair and bearded "Serpico." During "Dog day afternoon" I learned the price men who would pay for love. Whoahhh, the "Scent of a Woman" performance just sweeps me off my feet (pardon the pun). Thank you for trying to bring Shakespeare to the masses making it more undestandable without dumming it down. I finally could understand Richard III. Loved the Merchant of Venice. Where was the Oscar nomination? As a fan of great movies, there is nothing like sitting alone in the dark with Al (on the screen of course).

ARBOR DAY

Arbor Day, a gardeners favorite holiday. I love looking at trees this time of year because of the variety of colors that are available in our beautiful South Jersey. Here in the Garden of Eden we always add a tree or shrub to the landscape every year. Please visit the arborday.org
site where they have trees available to members for a small fee. You must be willing to watch them grow for a long time. They have ideas to make it fun for children and adults alike. Members of the NAS have planted 8.5 million trees last year alone. Imagine what we could do to improve our planet if we all planted just one a year?

From Wickpedia:

Arbor Day was established by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City, Nebraska in 1872.

J. Sterling Morton and his wife moved from Detroit, Michigan to the Nebraska Territory in 1854 , where he was the editor of Nebraska's first newspaper. His influence as a journalist led to his involvement in politics, and he became a promoter of the settlement of Nebraska. The lack of trees, however, was an obstacle.

The Great Plains had been described as the "Great American Desert." The tallgrass prairie that covered much of Nebraska at that time could provide rich farmland, but without wood for building houses or for fuel to heat homes, few found it convenient to settle there. Even the allotment of free land by the Homestead Act failed to entice sufficient numbers of families to relocate to Nebraska.

Morton proposed Arbor Day as a tree planting holiday in 1872 at a meeting of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture. On the first Arbor Day, prizes were offered to counties and to individuals for properly planting the largest number of trees. It was claimed that more than 1 million trees were planted in Nebraska on that day.

During the course of the 1870s, several other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day. Schools began to adopt the tradition beginning in 1882. By 1894, Arbor Day was celebrated in each state of the United States.

Morton's home in Nebraska City, Arbor Lodge, is a state historical park, which includes an arboretum and extensive landscaped grounds. Adjacent to the public park, Morton's farm, now called Arbor Day Farm, is run by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

More Earth Friendly ideas...

Go to Time.com or this month's Body & Soul magazine to find more ideas, but here is a few more useful ideas worthy of consideration:


Recycle paper gift bags and wrapping.
Donate or share unwanted Christmas gifts.
pay bills online.
turn off lights when you leave work.
Furnish your home with antiques.
How about vintage clothes.
Wrap your water heater for about 10$.
open windows instead of using air conditioner.
Celebrate your small home which uses less energy for heating and cooling.
use the bus.
Employers let staff work near home.
Use green makeup. Cargo cosmetics makes a biodegradable container than you when empty can be planted and will flower.

Trees

Plant a tree and watch it grow,
Its roots so deep we cannot know,
Please care for her as your Mother cared for you
with shelter and shade, fruit and clean air too

When I make my final rest
beneath a mighty tree I request
each of us may one day return
to earth to bloom and then return

Earth Day

You may not recognize the name Gaylord Nelson more likely you'll remember Earth Day. It was founded in 1970. In 1995, the Wisconsin democarat received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his environmental efforts from President Clinton. The Inquirer reported his passing and according to W. Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society,"Anyone who cares about the quality of our air, water, and land should be grateful for the life of Gaylord Nelson."

Saturday morning

To wake to the sound of birdsong and sunshine knowing you don't have to go to work. That is the way to start the day. Peacefully and gently into a new day.......

I celebrate myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loafe and invite my soul,

I lean and loafe at my ease, observing a spear of summer grass.

Walt Whitman (from Song of Myself)

Waste not our Earth

As a citizen and an avid gardener I cannot help but reflect on the environment and global warming as Earth Day approaches. Here's a few things you probably already know:

1. Recycle, reuse and re purpose old things. It can be a creative endeavor.
2. Switch to compact fluorescent bulbs.
3. Walk whenever you can.
4. Seal up you home lower your thermostat.
5. Plant trees and go outdoors.
6. Turn off lights when you're not in the room.
7. Turn off your computer when you're finished using it.

Here are a few things you may not know about reducing our carbon footprints:

1. Compost kitchen scraps into rich organic matter for you garden beds outdoors. Better than any amendments you can buy.
2. Buy fresh fruit and vegies from local growers, natural and organic foods will become less expensive as consumer demand grows. You are also saving the expense of shipping by buying them locally, especially if you can walk there.
3. Mow and maintain your own lawn without using gas and electric powered tools if possible.
4. Use natural predators to repel bugs and critters from your garden instead of pesticides and insecticides. Bird feeders and bat boxes. Bats enjoy a nice meal of mosquitoes.
5. Unplug phone chargers and other small appliances when not in use. Electrical appliances drain energy when not is use.
6. Reclaim rainwater directly into a covered storage container for watering your garden plants.
7. Green shade grown coffee growers save against deforestation, use less pesticides and natural predators.
8. Stop using paper towels and napkins. How about recycled TP? I am not so sure about this one. Here's the scoop. Recycled paper saves many pounds of clorine pollution and preserves fresh water supplies.
9. Empty the trunk of your car of the extra weight that burns more fuel.
10. Grow your own salad greens, veggies, whatever you like in your own yard. Fresh, organic and readily available. Raspberries and strawberries never taste better than fresh off the vine.
11. Stop using plastic water bottles........at least reuse them.

There are 100's of things we can do to help our planet. Magazine articles abound these days and you can go to websites like www. Earthday.net for ideas. We cannot all go out and buy hybrid cars but if each of us did a few things, whatever we can, then maybe the Earth will continue to do what she can for us and for our children and their children. Guess Grandma was right, "waste not want not." We only have one planet Earth!

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
WB Yeats

Raining again?

Into each life some rain must fall and today, as I'm writing this it has just stopped sleeting against the house. The past two days have had me contemplating a new line of work. Maybe its because friends and colleagues all around me are retiring? Maybe its because one of my high school classmates were in the obits today ? Maybe this is the hardest job I've ever had? Maybe the IRS wants money from me? Maybe my tax preparation fee emptied my checkbook? Maybe its due to having woke up at 4:30 this am? Maybe its because I drink coffee to wake up and have chocolate to soothe myself in the afternoons? Maybe I have not been eating right and exercising? Maybe my shoulder hurts after moving to a new office? Maybe its because spring has not sprung? Maybe I just need to let dark Zelda out to play more often? Ahhargh! One of the aforementioned statement are not true, can you guess which one?
I have been through worse days, but this is ridiculous..... I have nothing left to do but laugh.