These days.

These days...rich mullins?...nico?...well, these days consist of both, but most of all, this:

this plot is soon to be extended by 3.  I've gardened the past few years, but this is the first year i've gardened without someone else leading the way.  it's a bit intimidating, and sometimes i get scared my seeds are not going to grow...then i look out and see small seedlings that had sprouted overnight, which is what keeps me going (and hoping).  patience, creativity and more planting is what i feel is the key.  Gardens seem so romantic to me, but once you've shoveled and hoed for 3 hours straight...and your muscles are achey and swollen...i face the reality of the hard work that comes with it.  I'm very thankful for Tim's help in the digging, fence making and planting, and I'm enjoying helping Tim out in his garden as well.  We're hoping there will be a great yield out of both.  and next to be planted:

I'm hoping for a decent amount of basil this year so some great tasting pesto can be enjoyed.  We'll see how it all turns out.

A handful of bike riding has been enjoyed as well lately.  The weather has been just about perfect.

It really is nice to be back in Louisville for spring.

Health is Membership

3. Why is that medical strictures and recommendations so often work in favor of food processors and against food producers?  Why, for example, do we so strongly favor the pasteurization of milk to health and cleanliness in milk production? (Gene Logsdon correctly says that the motive here "is monopoly, not consumer health.")

4. Why do we so strongly prefer a fat-free or germ-free diet to a chemical-free diet?  Why does the medical industry strenuously oppose the use of tobacco, yet complacently accept the massive use of antibiotics and other drugs in meat animals and poisons on food crops?  How much longer can it cling to the superstition of bodily health in a polluted world?

-Wendell Berry, Health is Membership

I share this to stir up the brain, as well as to recommend this great essay by this great Kentucky writer.

Star Party

On a recent trip to Nashville, I was exposed to my first ever star party!  If you've never experienced one before, just imagine being miles away from the city in an open space with a very large telescope or two (or three or four...this one was provided for us) and being guided on the sites you are about to view.  This photo here is the nebulus forming around Orion's belt.  This shows the gas from new stars being formed.  Though this is not the exact photo, it is similar to what i viewed through the telescope.

If you live in Louisville, I was told to keep updated with the Louisville Astro. Society, as they will have free events of viewing stars.  The events take place at various sites, but are known to have hosted some at Bernheim Forest in the past.  Other than Orion's Nebula, we also viewed Saturn!  It was quite a site, and I hope to have more opportunities to be looking through a telescope here again.