Monday, September 12, 2005

bluejays and hazy Indian summer

Amazing warm days. Haze and heat. The blue jays are migrating through and their noisy raucous cawing fills the trees around my home. Everything is extremely dry.

The Henry Doubleday ResearchAssociation has this suggested list of things to do in the organic garden this month. Although some of the plants they talk about are not hardy here, I find this a most helpful site otherwise.

I am wondering where I put my notes on the dry gardens of Beth Chatto?
There were a lot of ideas there that I might be able to use in our dry gardens. We have a lot of trees but dry sandy soil.

A generous gentleman who brought us apples at my paying job in the city, was just as generous with helpful hints as to what to do with our trees here. Being as averse to spraying as I am, he suggested that pruning would go a long way to opening up our apple trees to helpful breezes which would put a dent in the insect population.

Heather, one of our landlords, said she had indeed heard that apple trees should be pruned so that a bird could fly straight through without hitting a branch, the trees should be that open in the center. Well! If I can screw up my courage for the heights in our trees, I might just tackle them this winter. That is the traditional time to prune, isn't it?

I've been torn. Like almost everyone else, I have been anxious for news about the hurricane, but then also averse to taking in so much sadness and hopelessness. I have really come to believe what you focus on is what you get. Are there any happy reports? I have heard lovely stories of individual heroism and selfless giving. But I have also heard sickening stories of red-tape and petty bickering over whose fiefdom is being trespassed by people trying to help. Of course, all the big fish are being blamed...

I would like to echo Tom Spencer's call for leaders with vision to step forward. See his thoughts on 9/11 and the hurricane here, in his Daily Muse.

I am very thankful that the loss of life appears to be less than we were all afraid it was going to be.

I really enjoyed Chan's suggestion: I went to Music Outfitters and checked out the top 100 tunes (under music resources) for the year I graduated from high school.

Top 100 Hits of 1973 / Top 100 Songs of 1973
1. Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Ole Oak Tree, Tony Orlando and Dawn 2. Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Jim Croce 3. Killing Me Softly With His Song, Roberta Flack 4. Let's Get It On, Marvin Gaye 5. My Love, Paul McCartney and Wings 6. Why Me, Kris Kristofferson 7. Crocodile Rock, Elton John 8. Will It Go Round In Circles, Billy Preston 9. You're So Vain, Carly Simon 10. Touch Me In The Morning, Diana Ross 11. The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia, Vicki Lawrence 12. Playground In My Mind, Clint Holmes 13. Brother Louie, Stories 14. Delta Dawn, Helen Reddy 15. Me And Mrs. Jones, Billy Paul 16. Frankenstein, Edgar Winter Group 17. Drift Away, Dobie Gray 18. Little Willy, Sweet 19. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, Stevie Wonder 20. Half Breed, Cher21. That Lady, Isley Bros. 22. Pillow Talk, Sylvia 23. We're An American Band, Grand Funk Railroad 24. Right Place, Wrong Time, Dr. John 25. Wildflower, Skylark 26. Superstition, Stevie Wonder 27. Loves Me Like A Rock, Paul Simon 28. The Morning After, Maureen McGovern 29. Rocky Mountain High, John Denver 30. Stuck In The Middle With You, Stealers Wheel 31. Shambala, Three Dog Night 32. Love Train, O'Jays 33. I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Barry White 34. Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose, Tony Orlando and Dawn 35. Keep On Truckin' (Pt. 1), Eddie Kendricks 36. Dancing In The Moonlight, King Harvest 37. Danny's Song, Anne Murray 38. Monster Mash, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt Kickers 39. Natural High, Bloodstone 40. Diamond Girl, Seals and Crofts41. Long Train Running, Doobie Brothers 42. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth), George Harrison 43. If You Want Me To Stay, Sly and The Family Stone 44. Daddy's Home, Jermaine Jackson 45. Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye), Gladys Knight and The Pips 46. I'm Doing Fine Now, New York City 47. Could It Be I'm Falling In Love, Spinners 48. Daniel, Elton John 49. Midnight Train To Georgia, Gladys Knight and The Pips 50. Smoke On The Water , Deep Purple 51. The Cover Of Rolling Stone, Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show 52. Behind Closed Doors, Charlie Rich 53. Your Mama Don't Dance, Loggins and Messina 54. Feelin' Stronger Every Day, Chicago 55. The Cisco Kid, War 56. Live And Let Die, Wings 57. Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?, Hurricane Smith 58. I Believe In You, Johnnie Taylor 59. Sing, Carpenters 60. Ain't No Woman (Like The One I Got), Four Tops61. Dueling Banjos, Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel 62. Higher Ground, Stevie Wonder 63. Here I Am (Come And Take Me), Al Green 64. My Maria, B.W. Stevenson 65. Superfly, Curtis Mayfield 66. Get Down, Gilbert O'Sullivan 67. Last Song, Edward Bear 68. Reelin' In The Years, Steely Dan 69. Hocus Pocus, Focus 70. Yesterday Once More, Carpenters 71. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Bette Midler 72. Clair, Gilbert O'Sullivan 73. Do It Again, Steely Dan 74. Kodachrome, Paul Simon 75. Why Can't We Live Together, Timmy Thomas 76. So Very Hard To Go, Tower Of Power 77. Do You Want To Dance?, Bette Midler 78. Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu, Johnny Rivers 79. Ramblin' Man, Allman Brothers 80. Masterpiece, Temptations81. Peaceful, Helen Reddy 82. One Of A Kind (Love Affair), Spinners 83. Funny Face, Donna Fargo 84. Funky Worm, Ohio Players 85. Angie, Rolling Stones 86. Jambalaya (On The Bayou), Blue Ridge Rangers 87. Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend, Lobo 88. Break Up To Make Up, Stylistics 89. Daisy A Day, Jud Strunk 90. Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001), Deodato 91. Stir It Up, Johnny Nash 92. Money, Pink Floyd 93. Gypsy Man, War 94. The World Is A Ghetto, War 95. Yes We Can Can, Pointer Sisters 96. Free Ride, Edgar Winter Group 97. Space Oddity, David Bowie 98. It Never Rains In Southern California, Albert Hammond 99. The Twelfth Of Never, Donny Osmond 100. Papa Was A Rolling Stone, Temptations

Reading that list is a weird, weird experience!

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