On Ducks and Nuclear Waste

This has been a very difficult week for me. Most of my posts are about plants, what a great job I have and how beautiful the world is. Underneath, simmering, is a well of frustration and fear. And on Monday, I snapped.

I was driving home from the Valley on the 101 through the Caheunga Pass. The car in front of me swerved and I saw something small and brown in the road so I swerved as well. Just as I was passing, I realized that it was a duck, frantic, with one small baby running around and several others smashed into the dividing line. The duck was in complete terror and confusion and they were in between lanes with no way of getting back to the edge. There was traffic and no way for me to stop; we were going 70 mph and to stop was impossible. I had to keep going.

My main thought was that I hate us, I hate humans. I hate us for creating such dangerous and destructive items. Roads and cars where innocent animals blunder upon them and are completely destroyed. Nuclear power plants that poison our waters and soils, oil rigs that drown animals and plants in millions of gallons of oil. Islands of trash that float in the middle of the oceans to choke and poison. The holes in the ozone from carcinogens that get pumped into the atmosphere. Strip mining.

And don't forget what we do to each other! War and torture and rape; leaders killing their citizens, countries fighting over beliefs and borders and resources. And the politics in our country, I don't ever remember them being this bad. The fighting and insults and anger. All thrown around on twitter and blogs and sound bites - 24 hours a day. I cant stand it anymore.

I am frightened, I admit it. Doesn't everyone realize that once we fuck up this planet, there is no other place to go! The destruction of our natural habitat is non-partisan, it affects everyone. There is no get out of jail card for this one.

Why that one duck, that one moment, I don't know. I think it just was that last straw that I could bear. How is it the people get up out of bed everyday? Go to work, eat ice cream? Throw trash on the street and pour used oil into the storm drain? Put garbage into the green waste bin...

All week I myself have gone to work, walked my dog, chatted with my neighbor. I have put gas in my car and bought a sandwich wrapped in plastic. But all week I have been heartsick. Wondering how to deal with this, what to do. And I have no answer

about 4 inches long!

Yes it is a big locust. I was weeding along and all of a sudden realized that this fellow was about 5" away from my face!
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california poppies

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pepper plant

This pepper plant is from last year. I trimmed it way back in January and you can see all of the new growth coming. Who knew that peppers were perennials! Certainly not me
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removing spider plants

One of my clients has hundreds of spider plants in her yard which I have been removing over the last year. They are not easy to get rid of because they will grow from a tiny portion of root left in the soil. Since I am from NH, I still think it is funny that these have taken over her yard. We always had them as houseplants!
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peace rose

One of my favorite roses - large and fragrant. A bit of a climber and continuously blooming. Just a hint of both pink and yellow. Just wonderful
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