Please don’t get me wrong. I love Earth. Earth is good. It gives us a great place to live, work and generally piddle about. No one wants dirty air water or soil, NO ONE. Even Conservatives. Living on some other planet would probably suck any how.

In general the Earth has taken pretty good care of us, with only a few exceptions, hurricanes floods and earthquakes and such. I’ll even say we, as inhabitants have returned the favor, with a few exceptions, nuclear waste, plastic bottles and democratic conventions.

Now back in 1970 the “green movement” officially began with Earth Day. The Earth needed some help to be sure but the leaders painted a pretty poor picture. As usual the left got it completely wrong…again.  Here are the predictions:

1. “Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.”  — Harvard biologist George Wald
2. “We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation.” — Washington University biologist Barry Commoner
3. “Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.” — New York Times editorial
4. “Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.” — Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich
5. “Most of the people who are going to die in the greatest cataclysm in the history of man have already been born… [By 1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.” — Paul Ehrlich
6. “It is already too late to avoid mass starvation,” — Denis Hayes, Chief organizer for Earth Day
7. “Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions…. By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” — North Texas State University professor Peter Gunter
8. “In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution… by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half.” — Life magazine
9. “At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.” — Ecologist Kenneth Watt
10. “Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.” — Paul Ehrlich
11. “By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate… that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, ‘Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, ‘I am very sorry, there isn’t any.'” — Ecologist Kenneth Watt
12. “[One] theory assumes that the earth’s cloud cover will continue to thicken as more dust, fumes, and water vapor are belched into the atmosphere by industrial smokestacks and jet planes. Screened from the sun’s heat, the planet will cool, the water vapor will fall and freeze, and a new Ice Age will be born.” — Newsweek magazine
13. “The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” — Kenneth Watt

Catch that last one, global cooling…hmmm.

Thank you Earth for being so tolerant and forgiving. We will promise to do our best.

-Mankind-

A quiet morning, at last.

Where to begin.
When misfortune comes around, the strength and support from family and friends make the base of the mountain from which your able to see that there is indeed an end, nearer than you think and a new beginning.
The past ten days or so has been one of those times for Alice and I.
Each of you deserves a huge thank you and great big hug. If your away or out of town, the rain check has been issued, if your closer, the line begins to my right. No cutting in line;)
Thank you,
Jimmy, Michael, Jamie, Lauren, Dalton, Katelynn, Joyce, Vickie, Robert, Donna, Phillip, Teri & Rick, Hunter, Kathy& Buz, Larry & Susan, Bill & Johnnie, Jonna and every one at Sanitary, Robert, Kenneth, John and Karen. Justin, Eric, Leon ,Tina and Dana. Steve and Bobbie, Sandra, Greg, Tom Q. and Donna, Hunter, Judy,Donna & Tom, Larry Wayne, Susan k. and Gail. Rene, Jackie, Diane and Keri. Kim, David D. , Charley O. and Lynda. Mike Meeks and his dad Captain Meeks. Michelle and Hollis. All of Michelle’s sisters and her dear mom Beverly. These are some very special women to be sure.
Oh yeah, there is one more.
Thank you dad. Your strength, comforting words and dare I say it, your faith lifted our hearts during a very tough time.
We are so lucky to have you, all of you, as a part of our life and time here.

Like I said at the top, “Life Is Good”

Mothers and daughters

There is a bond, between parents and their children that no mater the circumstances always remains intact.
For some reason, probably because of that female quirk that allows them to have a total blow out with a best friend, then take them soup and a card when their feeling under the weather, that mothers and daughters have a very special bond indeed.
My wife, Alice and her mother Willie have had such a unique relationship.
Raising a son and a daughter as a single parent in the 60’s and 70’s had to have seemed impossible at times.
There’s the son, jimmy. All jimmy wanted as a boy growing up was to hunt, fish and raise a little cane. Willie gave him the opportunity to be that boy that became the man that raised a fine family of his own. I am so proud of all his children, my nieces and nephews.

This brings us to Willies daughter, my favorite, my wife, Alice.
Willie tried the typical stuff you do for little girls , dance class and bows, but Alice would have none of it. Instead she could be found playing softball, riding her retired racehorse or tending to a menagerie of critters that somehow found their way to her home. Willie was there, tending to the occasional scraped knee and supporting her kids in what ever path they chose.

Now those of you who had never met my mother in law should know a few things. If you ever met her, you would know exactly how she felt about you in a hurry. Tact was not her strong suit. She could be opinionated, stubborn and so hard headed it would drive you crazy.
I loved all these things about Willie.
She made it clear, after Alice and I had dated for a while, that it would never work out. I loved proving her wrong and to her credit, she finally admitted she may have misjudged me (after we had been married for 15 years).

As Willie grew older the bond between her and Alice became stronger. There were plenty of test and struggles to be sure, but my wife was always there for the trips to the store, the doctor and the occasional jaunt to the casino.

As the end of the journey came nearer, it was a struggle to separate the anger, and the rants brought on by her many health issues and some dementia from the truth, yet Alice stayed strong and with Willie to the end.
I am so proud of my wife. She is without a doubt the strongest woman I know and I owe it all to a very special lady,
Willie-Melancon-Treece.
6-20-1935—3-31-2012

I just got back from taking Beaux for little walk around the neighborhood this morning. This is definitely my favorite time of the day. A few squirrels running around, the doves, mockingbirds and bluejays all chorusing at once. What in the heck could they all be talking about.
Even with my morning bout of allergies, the aroma of Azalia and Roses is almost strong enough to taste.
Speaking of taste, time for a final cup of dark roast then some yard work and maybe a ride. Enjoy your spring day.
Jodon