26 Puget Sound (Washington) cities to plant cloned Coastal Redwood trees

Trees are vital to life. They provide oxygen, store huge amounts of carbon and provide critical habitat and food for wildlife. Yet the world’s forests are dying. In California alone, over 100 million of them have died due to climate change related factors, to say nothing of the scourge of clear cutting that’s decimating our forest land.

But there are rays of hope.

In Washington state, twenty-six Puget Sound cities are planting sapling clones of Coast Redwoods – among the oldest, largest, most iconic trees on earth.

Farmers, Ranchers, the Railroad and Water: How the (Rio Grande) Valley was Built

Editor’s Note:  

If you’ve been following this blog for some time, you may remember reading about a cross-country move a few months back. Moving from Northern California to South Texas was a major change in cultures as well as states. It’s necessitated learning about the environmental issues (of which there are many), the climate (dramatically different), how to garden here (different climate means different viruses, etc.), and even language challenges (mine).

It’s also meant diving back into Texas history. Being Texas-born, I learned a great deal of Texas history growing up. Amazingly, in Texas, we learned ONLY Texas history until high school, where we were introduced to world history – a big eye opener!

But here is a glimpse of the history of the area where I grew up and now live again. The research was fascinating. Hope you enjoy my latest story which appeared in the November/December 2016 issue of AgMag Magazine.

Irrigation in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas

November 15th is America Recycles Day

For a large percentage of Americans, recycling is fast becoming a way of life.

More households are participating in home recycling and businesses are slowly making the shift as well. Even so, there are still communities – including the one I recently moved to – that still don’t have curbside recycling.

Who are we in the face of upset and despair? Consider these Buddhist teachings

So many are still traumatized, deeply upset and concerned after the results of the election.

Responding to this despair isn’t easy. Moving forward is difficult, but incredibly necessary. After reading so many emails and newsletters online today, one came across that has words of hope in the face of darkness that many are reeling from.

Now that the election’s over, how will we respond?

For many, the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President is nothing less than a travesty, evoking fear, dread and deep concerns. For others, it’s a time of celebration and hope for stability, strong values.

Whichever camp you fall in, the question is what will we do now?

Despite political differences, we still have a good side

The news is filled with stories of violence, terrible acts and radicalism – much of it related to the candidates for President. The country is pretty well divided right now, much of it attributed to election tactics and related dirty political actions.