Do You Save Your World?

I sat in my comfy leather chair enjoying a good read on the Hebrew language tonight after a great day in the yard filling pots with veggies and contemplating how the arms of my neighbors the trees seem to break forth from the trunks where ever there's an opening in the bark. I know, way to many strange thoughts! :-)

But looking at all the new branches today, there really does seem to be breaks in the bark to let those branches and limbs through - honestly!

I love sitting outside and contemplating the natural world after a busy day. Next to a cold winter one in the comforts of my warm, cozy living room it can be the best place for all sorts of contemplation. I think that type of thought is something the world doesn't seem to have much time for these days...to much time spent working and saving the world I think.

Today's New Financial World

For those who find themselves on the line financially because of job loss, health care costs and the economy life is getting a little tougher. Many of these people in this predicament are, or were from the middle class and are now being relegated to lower class status and this really begs the question, "Is the middle class vanishing?" For those of us who have graced this part of the of the century as middle class citizens and are facing these huge losses it is more than a little daunting.

The car companies are all trumpeting the fact that they will be coming back leaner and better - but they will be back! But in the wake of this mess the one thing that seems to be lost is that the over 40s worker who will re-train but who will not fit the young and energetic image that many employers are searching for in this new economy will be the biggest casualty.

Most young people will find a way around these economic woes, but the face of the new poor will probably be the children of World War II who have helped build what we know as the middle class today. The jobs that will be available for these workers is shocking. Jobs like greeters and cashiers or some of the other retail positions are and will be available, but if a person is a skilled worker, or a college educated one there is nothing now to utilize the skills that have been honed over a decade or more. From machinists to middle managers and business people there are few jobs, and fewer actual openings.

So how do we as a country work to create the jobs, careers and hope for those mired in this newly made situation? One outlet might be the industries that President Obama is hoping to create in our more energy efficient future. The expertise from engineers down to the tradesman in these new businesses could lead to answers as to how these workers might be put back to work. But the main idea many of those hiring have to get past is the idea that an older worker is not as viable possibility as any other looking for work. After all we are fast becoming a nation of older workers courtesy of the baby boom generation and we need all our worker to actually get through this mess.

Convincing those who hire might not be an easy step, but it is a necessary one in order to get these talented people back into the workforce. In order to get our nation back on track it is also truly a necessity.

Beating Back the Cold

The cold that is creeping in again this week could well kill many a new plant in yards across the county. I've covered my tender annuals, but even that doesn't help sometimes. Funny how the plants are out there in area garden centers all over and it usually is way too early to plant them safely so we spend days sometimes weeks covering them or shuttling them in and out of building for warmth when they're really not ready to make any kind of appearance in our communities.

That kind of playing around with nature is called frustration for those of us who need warmth and color after nothing but whites and grays for months. So instead of thinking we buy to see and touch those tender petals once more, and in the process we are tempting fate. Will we beat the cold, or will the cold win out?

Each year those annuals are so beautiful, and that temptation often ends up being the loss of all that you've bought - or maybe, if you're lucky a reprieve for another summer of gorgeous flowers or veggies.

A Bit of a Time Out

Springtime is when my disappearing act becomes a common place thing in daily life. I spend hours with grandkids outdoors and begin getting my garden ready for those lovely summer flowers...so please forgive any lapse in my article writing and note making because I'm busy with my green work right now!

Our Own Woodworker Extraordinaire (Norm - Eat Your Heart Out!)

My husband has taken up woodworking. He couldn't begin with a simple bird house or something it, oh no! Instead of getting to know about the medium and tools gradually he dives in, and often ends up over his head in a project!

Through the years we've been together he has plied his trade as a machinest and metal worker and over those years any necessary wood working project around the house has turned into blight on his otherwise perfect metal working record. He built various wood projects like a shelf or small cupbaord only under duress and totally hated every second of any project where he had to work with that unreliable product - wood.

Well about three years ago he got into doing the wood work for a Model A woody he was helping build with a friend and though wood is still in mny ways a four letter word, he's finding at least an understanding of that soft, and unpredictible medium. His first project recently was a porch glider for our patio that he was sure he could begin and finish in his time off between Christmas and New Years of that year.

Well, that project went from one week to five long weeks and really sent him reeling with the familiar frustration surrounding, "That unreliable thing called wood!"

This year he again tried to create a wood piece - a table that folds up for the patio, and now he is working on another, a moveable island for our kitchen. The stress is still there for the way wood can sometimes not seem reliable because it can grow and shrink in the middle of a project - but he has come to enjoy the endless power tools that go with woodworking today. His excitement doesn't come from the project itself anymore, but now comes from the love of how many power tools he can work with during the process of any given project.

So where does he go from here? I'm really not sure. But I think he finally has the sense that he really doesn't have to conquer a wood job to enjoy it anymore, and that is at least a start to liking the art of woodworking!

Rain, Mud - and One Spring Week

Rain...again! After 3 inches for the past two days, we are now getting more rain. All the seeds for my garden I planted are washed out, and most of the ones I've had in pots are so water logged that they look awful. But I have to say the grass sure is green!

I am beginning to think that we will end up looking like Ireland if this rain keeps coming down. I have gotten some lovely small tulips that I planted last fall blooming and they are a gorgeous yellow, and right beside my abundant daffodils my back door is quite inviting. So there is a bright yellow spot just outside my door.

So if you're awash with the muds and puddles from spring rains like I am, I hope you can find the small wonders too!!

Rain, Rain - Give Me A Few Days Off!

Almost 3 inches of rain in two days...and now it is finally beginning to dry out. For the moment, that is! I've become a recluse bound to the house by the constant rain clouds and sheets of rain that has become a constant companion in these past few weeks. We have had a few days of gray with no rain but not enough to get much done outdoors, and so the greens of spring are beginning to cover those grays and browns of last summer.

To say I am chomping at the bit to get that dirt between my fingers is a bit of an understatement! I have some flowers blooming already and the leaves of the summer additions are ready to enter as the weather gets warmer but there is a lot of work to be done before that happens.

Tomorrow will be the day for trying again. They say that the only dry days this week will be Wednesday and Thursday, I am going to hope there will be time to actually be out in my own green living room. In fact I'm going to believe it!!