Wetlands

I am driving through the rain to my mothers house, and as usual, dead animals litter the bypass I travel on. This road runs dead center through a "Wetlands," an area set aside as a wildlife habitat, and storage place for flood waters. House and apartment construction butts up against the edges of the Wetlands. They spew god knows what into the pools of water created by the river and storm run off. I can remember when this area was grasslands dotted with pools of water filled with birds and ducks. I wonder at the planning that put a bypass down its center. It pisses me off. If we need a bypass, why not erect a fence to keep wildlife off the road? How effective is a wetlands/wildlife refuge with a freeway running through it? Whenever I drive along this road I imagine what this fence would look like. I see a tunnel, similar to a 'Slinky,' covered in chicken wire. It seems like a logical solution. Put us in a cage. I know this is fantasy, anyway a fence wouldn't help. There's still the oil dripping off the roads, polluting the pools, the chemicals leaching off the lawns, from surrounding buildings, contaminating the water.

Now the Alaskan Wildlife refuge is threatened by greedy American oil concerns. Argh! It's hard not to think about this crap, even when I'm in the garden, my own refuge, a place I can usually zone out, forget about the inequities we commit, . . . against eachother, . . . . against the environment. Folks, we're digging our own graves. We have to get active if we care. We have to protect what we have, and I'm not talking about our new SUV's.

Goodbye To an Old Friend

A surprise warm front has everyone out in their gardens, or at least those lucky people who have discovered the joys of puttering in the dirt, and watching things grow. My garden has filled in much faster than I expected because of the low 70 degree weather. It's filling in too fast for me. I can barely keep up. Of course big changes are in the works. The old arbor that divided the garden into two seperate areas was torn down recently. The timbers were rotting, and the lattice was breaking apart. Now a brand new arbor is taking it's place. Meanwhile, several residents of the old arbor, roses and clematis, are tied up and pulled out of the way of construction, waiting to latch their selves on to anything they can find. Worse still, they have sprouted new growth and leaves, which means these thender shoots will most likely be damaged when I tie them into the new arbor.

I was looking through some old pictures of my arbor. What a wonderful feature it made. It was not only the center piece of my garden it was a shelter from the summer sun, a place to rest from gardening chores or to read a book. When the weather was nice, we would enjoy lunch or dinner with friends around a wooden table placed in the center. It seemed like the arbor was always in bloom with roses, clematis, and pots of flowers at its feet. I shall miss my old friend, but I must confess, I am looking forward to the new arbor. This is the old arbor in summer.