Apocalypse not.Whew, says Baxter.
Showing posts with label Bible Belt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible Belt. Show all posts
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Monday, September 15, 2008
New Stash
Well, this will teach me to brag about how little stash I have. I went to last Thursday's Knit Night at my local LYS and this Colinette Jitterbug (color: Lapis) just jumped right out at me! Really, it did. So I had no choice and this beautiful yarn is soon to join my sock stash---just as soon as I stop petting and admiring it. I am working on another project at the moment and haven't had the "knit socks now" bug hit yet.Also, I just found TWO grammatical errors in my last blog. GASP! I am an English teacher, and I proofread and proofread and proofread. Geeze...
And another also: I drove to Clemmons, NC this past weekend to a friend's house. It is 307 miles driveway to driveway. On Saturday we drove from her house to Blowing Rock and back . I don't know how far that is because part of the drive is on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is gorgeous, and I look out the windows, paying no attention to anything but the view. Anyhoo, on the whole drive, I saw only five bumper stickers: three for Obama, one for McCain, and one for Ron Paul. This surprised me, but maybe it's just too early to have many bumper stickers around. I only have two stickers; one says SSK, which allows knitters to find each other in public parking lots (this hasn't happened to me yet, but it could, theoretically) and one which says FSM, the logo for the Flying Spaghetti Monster (described as an internet parody of religion). I have nothing against religion except for the followers who are nutjobs, and I see way too many bumper stickers in Bible Belt Land that say things like "Atlanta Belongs to Jesus" and "Everyone Knows that God is a Republican." So my FSM is my silent and very ineffective response to those people. Some rebel I am.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Gardens in a Time of Drought
(with apologies to Gabriel García Márquez )
I live in a suburb outside of Atlanta, Georgia. We have been in a drought for several years, but last year and this have been the worst of it so far. Last summer we weren't allowed to water outside at ALL, except with water saved from the showers indoors---water that runs while we wait for hot water. There was even controversy over that because some people thought that using that water in the yard kept it from going back into the water supply via the sewer system. But that's all the water we had for outside use.
This summer, even though the drought has not eased, we are allowed to water three times a week, for twenty-five minutes each time, using a hand-held, automatic shut-off nozzle attached to a hose. Woo hoo! We can do this until ten in the morning.
If we want to install a pool, we may fill the pool. If we have a pool, we may top it off throughout the summer. If we have landscaping professionally installed, we may water it for a month. This allows pool and landscaping businesses to survive. But if we have---and I do---nearly 20 year-old landscaping---tough. I understand this, I really do. I've been to Lake Lanier and seen how terribly low it is. It is just so frustrating to watch plants wither and die. Last year nothing died, but this year things are on their way out. My azaleas didn't bloom this year and are now wilted. Daylilies, which are tough plants and survive neglected along roadsides, did not bloom. My roses are just hanging in, but not flowering. Very large leyland cypresses that give us complete privacy in the back yard are now diseased and will probably fall over in the next ice storm. I think the drought has stressed them beyond the point where they could have remained healthy longer. Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, there are floods! We watch the news and cringe to see floods ruining homes and destroying crops.
Last summer we learned that Atlanta is the only major city in the country to have only one source of water: Lake Lanier. Other cities have multiple sources and thus, have resources to allow them to deal with droughts. Not here. And our always-unhelpful governor, Sonny Perdue, can only think to hold prayer sessions on the steps of the capitol.
Gotta love the "Bible Belt"!
I live in a suburb outside of Atlanta, Georgia. We have been in a drought for several years, but last year and this have been the worst of it so far. Last summer we weren't allowed to water outside at ALL, except with water saved from the showers indoors---water that runs while we wait for hot water. There was even controversy over that because some people thought that using that water in the yard kept it from going back into the water supply via the sewer system. But that's all the water we had for outside use.
This summer, even though the drought has not eased, we are allowed to water three times a week, for twenty-five minutes each time, using a hand-held, automatic shut-off nozzle attached to a hose. Woo hoo! We can do this until ten in the morning.
If we want to install a pool, we may fill the pool. If we have a pool, we may top it off throughout the summer. If we have landscaping professionally installed, we may water it for a month. This allows pool and landscaping businesses to survive. But if we have---and I do---nearly 20 year-old landscaping---tough. I understand this, I really do. I've been to Lake Lanier and seen how terribly low it is. It is just so frustrating to watch plants wither and die. Last year nothing died, but this year things are on their way out. My azaleas didn't bloom this year and are now wilted. Daylilies, which are tough plants and survive neglected along roadsides, did not bloom. My roses are just hanging in, but not flowering. Very large leyland cypresses that give us complete privacy in the back yard are now diseased and will probably fall over in the next ice storm. I think the drought has stressed them beyond the point where they could have remained healthy longer. Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, there are floods! We watch the news and cringe to see floods ruining homes and destroying crops.
Last summer we learned that Atlanta is the only major city in the country to have only one source of water: Lake Lanier. Other cities have multiple sources and thus, have resources to allow them to deal with droughts. Not here. And our always-unhelpful governor, Sonny Perdue, can only think to hold prayer sessions on the steps of the capitol.
Gotta love the "Bible Belt"!
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