We are watching the entire United States, but particularly the border states of New York, Connecticut, Maine, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Washington, for any activity relative to banning pesticides. [Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment, 2005 (pesticide/fertilizer lobbying group)] What are the final pieces in America’s multi-billion dollar “grass” trade industry? Weed control ordinances started appearing in the mid-1940s, and over the next fifty plus years they arose in practically every metropolitan area of the U.S. Within a remarkable unif ...continued...

To get these posts out every night is quite an ordeal. The cold saps battery power so quickly you can watch the meter tick away. Every piece of electronics needs to be warmed against the body to restore power, then used quickly. We generally collaborate on our posts then, just before dinner, we will hook up all the various devices and start the long process of uploading our posts. I have to admit it is a pain, but something we both look forward to every night in our tent. I believe Mike is going to write about the noise we heard last night so I won't go into great detail, but I will tel ...continued...

Staying home alone was popular long before the movie. In the country, when there were only two choices: a. go fishing with my parents until the wee hours of the morning, or b. stay home alone, I pretty much always chose to stay home alone. I needed my alone time since much of the fishing trips were about my Mom and Dad gritching at each other over which eddy to fish or how going to shore was too costly to the numbers of fish to be caught. Staying home alone meant that i could listen to the Whiper Will without interruption. The frog ...continued...

Another thing I used to do quite often was to get a can of beans, some crackers and hike out to Julien Dubuque's grave. When there was a slow moving freight train going by, we would hop on and get off at Catfish Creek or town, depending which way we were going. I don't recall Mary ever doing this, but she could have. At Catfish, there is a small cave where we would warm up our beans and with the crackers have our lunch. We would always go up the path alongside the cliff to the grave. Now they have it blocked off because it is so dangerous which is OK a ...continued...

Recently I spent the day with one of my granddaughters. She’ll be a senior in high school next year. We spoke of many things, but one stands out in my memory. She told me of accompanying a friend to a Planned Parenthood facility. Her friend’s mother instructed her to go there to get a pregnancy test. I’ll let you hear the conversation we had. “Mandy’s * mother was out of town so Mandy asked me to go with her.” “Why didn’t she get a pregnancy test at the drugstore?” My granddaughter shrugged. “Her mom wanted her to make sure t ...continued...

My life is consumed with the care and feeding of an older generation. It is my love and my passion. Only recently did it hit me how great the loss will be when the “Silent” generation is gone and the “Boomers” take on the role of the Old and Wise. I wonder if my generation will be able to carry on, to follow in the foot steps of a generation that blindly followed their leaders into war for love of their great country, a generation that produced ideas like the North Platte Nebraska Canteen. The Canteen was a stop ...continued...

North Pole ...continued...

[These series of articles were written in 2005 and some appeared in the Kansas City Star] What was the best “con” of the twentieth century? My vote goes to the worldwide diamond trade. Debeers and friends, who consolidated the markets in the late nineteenth century, secured a monopoly of truly remarkable proportions. Who in the world today doesn’t know that a diamond is forever and is also a girl’s best friend? The “grass” trade in the United States may not be in the same league as the diamond monopoly, nor did it deliberately start out in it ...continued...

Our only source of water yesterday was saturated with salt crystals so we had to drink salty water all day. Had four dog team leaders fired today by Maher. Sadly, he is running out of qualified candidates unless, of course, me and Mike qualify. Mike and I tried the good cop bad cop method with the dogs. I would treat Ersus with kindness and respect (one of the fired leaders), Mike would speak sternly at him. After 2 seconds of Mike's technique, Ersus cowered away and peed on the spot. My favorite of the dogs is Stephy. A huge dog with a good temperament. Stephy traveled with me on th ...continued...

I am just hearing loss at 8 moths, i revied a CI, ( choclear implant ) i am so happy i hear! but that only after when i was 2 years old. I am happy my parents decied to move in USA to live a better life before i was born. i saw picture of me crying at my fave uncle in secrch for my fave dress. I told my dad, where he lived, westover hills rd after he and my mom moved. I am 4 years old, my dad moved to E broad Rock rd. I growing bigger! i have few chores, if my mom ordered. ...continued...

We meet again for the second time on the birthday of his closest friend my cousin and cousin is also his bestfriend they are together in playing basketball, roaming around and do stupid stuff... On that day something happened unexpectedly, he is seating beside me, when I'm already drunk I tried to touch him in his private parts... He didnt react he just let me of what I'm doing... I thought he is the kind of guy who wants play with me... But I guess I'm wrong after that drinking session he told me that he wants me to go at the lodge with him I answered him& ...continued...

I was born in Torrance California April 14, 1956 to Clara Louise Bryce and Richard Dwayne Mouritsen if I remember correctly I was zero days old I was 10 lbs. 13 oz. and they took the picture of me that was hideous. I actually do have the picture somewhere and it ended up in my medical school yearbook and can be found there. It turns out that all babies look almost the same which biologically make sense since at about 12 or 13 weeks you can't tell the fetus of the human from the fetus of a chicken but as the tail reabsorb it starts to take on a more ...continued...

Chapter One Dana Gerard’s pulse quickened as she scanned the horizon. The sky glowed the murky greenish-gray color of a bruise, and a menacing wall of clouds rolled in the distance. She knew a possibility of rain had been forecast, and she’d been hoping for a good, steady shower – the kind that sank in deeply, nourishing farmers’ crops, one that would wash away the dirty browns of winter and give life to the budding tulips and iris that had just begun to dot her neighborhood. But that scenario seemed unlikely now. These clouds carried an ominous threat. Pulling he ...continued...

Out-back in the Wallangie Bush by Pamela Boles Eglinski The sign read CLOSE THE GATE BEHIND YOU. I heard the telltale click and knew I’d entered another world – the Australian bush country. A small caravan of off-road four-wheel drives labored over parallel ruts in the red earth. “Easy to get lost if you fall behind,” Charlie said, pulling hard on the wheel, trying to skirt a jagged mound of rock. From the back seat, I sucked in air and held tight to the handgr ...continued...

For my cultural event I went to an event called Feed My Starving Children in Libertyville, Illionois. I attended this event on Tuesday April 11th. Feed My Starving Children was a cultural event that felt like a great fit. I volunteered and had a chance to learn about different cultures and what their struggle was like in terms of children lacking food sources. We first walked into the building where we were greeted and told to sign in, grab a hair net and gloves, and to take a seat. Once everyone was seated there was a speaker who greeted us. There was a large amount of volunteeers th ...continued...