Bees are dying in droves. Why? Leading apiarist Dennis vanEngelsdorp looks at the gentle, misunderstood creature's important place in nature and the mystery behind its alarming disappearance. "Nature Deficit Disorder". Now there is a public health issue I can understand. I have been aware of being prone to the condition…
According to Rob, I must have jumped the gun on his prediction for my horoscope. Aquarius Horoscope for week of December 25, 2008 Imagine you're driving down a very wide highway that's 50 lanes across even though there are no lines dividing one lane from another. Speed limit signs aren't…
FAR, far above the earth, the goddess of winter storms discovered mealy moths in her flour. Lifting the enormous bag, she staggered out of her cloud home and hurled the whole thing into the black sky above Wisconsin. Far below, Rudi Saxon was splitting wood behind his rural cottage. The…
From Coffee Muses A fifty year old Christmas Card greeting being sent from my family one more time just as it was in 1958. Merry Christmas all... I'll be doing the family bit for the next couple of days. Y'all enjoy the holiday and I'll catch ya on the other…
The MSM is full these days of stories of the demise of the MSM. Having argued continuously for limits in the ownership of news organizations I feel that a lot of these failings can be laid at the feet of the consolidators. As in most of the rest of the…
Sherry and I were in the car this morning heading to the grocery store for the weekly shopping and listening the Christmas music on the radio. I started thinking about what our children and grandchildren must think about the words to the traditional Christmas songs. I am sure my children…
This is an amazing story...
Image by winzu via Flickr To get past the better half. WINEDALE — OK, I believe it. They’ve got me convinced. Here at the old country house in Washington County, winter has come to the front porch so I’ve moved inside by the fire. I’ve sat here and read three…
The deepening recession has eroded the financial standing and optimism of a broad swath of Americans, nearly two-thirds of whom say that they have been hurt by the downturn and that the country has slipped into long-term economic decline. In New Poll, 63 Percent of Americans Say They Have Suffered…
Back last month as I began to think about what I was going to do with myself I wrote on a list that I was going to watch a video a day from the TEDtalks series. I haven't completely kept that promise but I have watched multiples on numerous occasions.…
Coffee Muse I like coffee so much that I have tea for breakfast: The first cup of the day in particular is so good that I’m afraid I won’t be able to properly appreciate it when I am half-asleep. Therefore, I celebrate it two hours later when I am fully…
Most of the evening we have been having snow flurries off and on. This following a day of falling temperatures and sleet. Considering that when I went to bed last night the temperature had just fallen into the 60's, having snow starting to accumulate is kinda strange. From air conditioning…
Already in free fall, the price of oil could soon push much lower as the effects of a global recession take hold. Crude fell $3.12, or 6.7%, to settle at $43.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday. Many oil-industry insiders and traders now say prices could…
The irreverence of designers...
How do we manage to stay healthy in this season? Yesterday at this time it was in the 30's, the wind was out of the north. This morning it's 67 and the wind is balmy and out of the south. My poor sinuses can not figure out what they need…
Image via Wikipedia I missed this last Friday when it played on the local PBS station...It's nice to be able to catch it later on the "intranets"... Bill Moyers and Michael Pollan...What a pair. A very in-debth exploration of food policy in America ensued. Here is just a part... BILL…
Though coffee drinkers may be cutting back on the expensive drinks, they still are consuming as much as they did last year — an average 3.3 cups a day per person, according to a June study by the National Coffee Association of U.S.A. The study of the $39.5 billion industry…
We are heading to my mom's to be with all of the family...So I leave just this... If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart
It looks like just about everyone in the house now has the flu...except me (knock on wood). What a great lead-in to the Thanksgiving Feasting. Tomorrow we head to my mom's where my clan and Sherry's will gather around a number of tables to see if we can get through…
Day 22 Post Freeman Three weeks and a day, the vacation is over...What now? I am still a long way from figuring out what the rest of my life will be...I guess the symbolical nature of the season and the state of my life are in sync. It's the little…
Reading my morning emails brought me this... 5 Myths About Our Ailing Health-Care System America has the best health care in the world. Somebody else is paying for your health insurance. We would save a lot if we could cut the administrative waste of private insurance. Health-care reform is going…
It's a heck of a note when the week before Thanksgiving the weather is perfect for Bar-b-Que...Only in Texas.
Food is a microcosm of the macrocosm. Eating the right food is part of the solution to the problems of climate change and global hunger.(1) Resurgence Magazine is focusing on Food this month. I often find myself drawn to the subject of food...Not necessarily for reasons that would appear obvious.…
At about 4pm on Monday afternoon this was what the Weather Underground had to say about the conditions here... Current Conditions Alvin, Texas (PWS) 68.9 °F / 20.5 °C Clear Humidity: 17% Dew Point: 22 °F / -5 °C Wind: 0.0 mph / 0 km/h Wind Gust: 0.0 mph /…
Verlyn Klinkenborg has something to say about what's happened to our view of the stars at night...He starts out this way... If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars, we would go in darkness happily, the midnight world as visible to us as it…
Currently (on Sun 5:53AM CST from Pearland Regional Airport) Clear Temp: 36° Dewpoint: 34° Wind: Calm MPH After a gorgeous day yesterday, the sun is rising over the start of what looks to be another...Just cooler. This day looks and feels a lot like Saturday morning last week in…
Driving toward Kerrville along the Guadalupe River somewhere west of Hunt... From Coffee Muses
I have been out of the Photo Friday habit lately...It's time to jump back in... From Coffee Muses From the past weekend. On Saturday we drove south out of Fredericksburg along Highway 16. This has always been one of my favorite drives in Texas. Along the way we stopped at…
