Mom asked Sunday evening what church it is that I attend, what it is like, why I go. I started to say, but very inarticulately. There do happen to be some principles and a basic framework that I respect, and a good program for kids, and some nice humanitarian and social-justice projects, but those aren't the main reasons I attend. If it wasn't this ( Read more... )

Last weekend I "planted" four bags of plug spawn (maybe a hundred plugs per bag, ordered from Fungi Perfecti), in stumps from "the guerilla forestry site" and in logs from the same. The basic procedure: drill 5/16" holes ~1.5 inches deep, and tap in the plug with a hammer. I had one bag of oyster mushroom pegs, two of shiitake, and one of "reishi ( Read more... )

We also apparently have with us the folks who use the gay marriage = bestiality argument.

While there, also enjoy this Colbert (sorry, I've just discovered this blog): Colbert on Beck

A note to commemorate that the Iowa Supreme Court today issued a unanimous ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. We were the third state to do so ( Read more... )

Once again, it's been about a month since the last post. I guess I'll just observe that this is the pattern, and it will likely continue. My ratio of busyness to desire to share on lj just always runs high. I'll observe a mitigating variant of the pattern, though: posts come in small swarms or clusters -- having made one post, the probability of ( Read more... )

We decided a week ago to do the Mora Vasaloppet -- which we did this weekend. Our beautiful snowpack has been steadily melting away here in Iowa all last week, but Mora (in mid-Minnesota) still had a foot of solid snow Sunday. We packed and drove up Saturday with Jeri. Picked up packets at the Mora high school, then took our sleeping bags and gear ( Read more... )

Just a note for my future refrence ( Read more... )

A friend, Helen, has made a short documentary about the changes she has seen in the northern Iowa community where she grew up. It's a fine piece of work; I recommend it. In ten minutes of video, she has captured her slice of time in this place: the second half of the 20th Century on this bit of farmland. It ends with a quote from an old neighbor ( Read more... )

reports of a billion people hungry. Not unavoidably, according to Jeffrey Sachs.

We got about an inch of snow last night, making things look beautiful again. We skied for about an hour in the afternoon. The sun made it seem warmer than the ~10* F air temperature ( Read more... )