This is Glenn's Blog
The weather in some parts of Texas has been especially hot this year. That coupled with a lack of rain has equaled out a drought. This has affected the growing and selling of Christmas trees. The farmers are not having a good year.
Many trees are dying from the intense heat. Trees are being imported from other areas of the country in order to meet demand. The effect on the local Texas economy is expected to last for several years as many saplings have died as well. I hope they get a break soon.
The weather here in our part of the world is beautiful today. I just came inside after working in the garden for a few hours and I am happily dirty. I did some weeding and watered the plants. I also fixed the fence where it came down in the storm last week.
Anyway, I was happy to be out in the sun and even got a little bit of tan already. I think I’ll make a nice lunch and relax for a few minutes. I guess I’ll be going back out after awhile and see what else I can get done.
The University of California has been working on a long standing problem. That is, how to keep people from being bitten by mosquitoes. What they have discovered is that there are at least three odors that mosquitoes don’t like. The odors essentially block the ability of mosquitoes from knowing that a human is near. This in turn keeps them from sucking the blood they crave.
Scientists are working on the problem of turning this knowledge into a practical compound that can be used by humans to keep the mosquitoes off. I hope they get it working soon!!
We’ve hit 80 degrees a couple of times already, so I’m starting to think SUMMER. As much as I like the beach, sometimes you don’t want to deal with the parking issues, the long hike, and the sand in your shoes just to get some swimming. There are plenty of days when I would really like to get home from work, throw on my swim trunks and jump in a swimming pool.
Our neighborhood does not have a community pool – one of the drawbacks of living in a house instead of an apartment. So, we’ve been looking at above ground swimming pools to fit in a corner of our backyard. Both of our neighbors have installed high privacy fences, so all we would have to do is put up a fence cross the back – for safety.
I know the neighbors would want to get to be better friends if they thought we would invite them over for a swim in our backyard pool. And we could have some righteous pool parties on Friday nights, with the barbecue grill smoking and some ice cold beverages. Maybe even some string lights around the edges and a couple of outdoor speakers for good music. It’s starting to sound like a really good plan to me.
When you have a large family like I do, it seems here are a lot of memories of kids getting sick or being hurt. I know my folks had more than their share of doctor visits for us kids. We all got the measles at the same time, and we all got the chicken pox, although that was spread out over many years. My sister got pneumonia once, and we had to use a Vaporizer in her bedroom to help her breathe.
I guess we always thought that Vaporizers were just for babies, but it tuns out that all ages can benefit from them. I know my sister had to use one for almost to months – she was so sick that she didn’t come out of her room for a long time, and she almost failed school because she missed so much class time.
Now, that same sister has kids and she swears by the Volcano Vaporizer that she got when her son was sick with bronchitis. She also uses it to help when she has spring time allergy attacks. It seems that after all these years and all the news things the doctors can do today, that sometimes the old fashioned remedies still work the best.
Here it is, the first of May already. I can’t believe that summer is just a few weeks way. Around here, the weather has gotten warm and everything is blooming. But by Memorial Day, it will be summer for us.
I’m looking forward to some nice outdoor concerts at the beach and maybe going camping for a couple of weekends. I’m up for just about anything, now that the weather is so much nicer.
Read an interesting report on the Yahoo Science page this morning. Scientists have traced the DNA of many recent leprosy cases and have proven that the disease was transmitted from armadillos. A relatively rare condition in today’s world, leprosy is very contagious and difficult to treat.
Armadillos are very common throughout Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, but have been seen in neighboring states, such as Oklahoma, Mississippi and even Tennessee. Officials are warning people to not handle armadillos, even if dead, to avoid the risk of contracting leprosy.
There has been quite a stir in the news lately about whether or not it is ethical to use animals for research purposes. Some researchers have stated that animal testing is the only way to bring medicines to the market in a timely manner. Without it, people would die.
On the other hand, animal rights activists say that using animals for research is cruel and inhumane. They vow not to use any drug that comes from animal testing. The government says that testing is highly regulated and that the animals are treated humanely. I guess the debate will go on for quite awhile yet.
One little known fact is that the country of China exports nearly 97% of the world’s rare earth minerals. The minerals are used in the making of many important products such as windmills, lasers, and a variety of military weapons. The problem is that our country is at their mercy if they decided to cut production or raise their prices.
The good news is that we have these minerals here at home. The bad thing is that many of them are on public land. Some mining companies want to start mining these minerals so that we can have our own supply. I think it’s a good idea to start mining and reduce our reliance on China.
The winter can be long and dark. That’s why we like to find ways to brighten it up. Around our house, we have found one great way to do just that. We use Peterson gas logs in our living room and it is working out great. There are a lot of benefits when using Gas Logs in your home. I’ll explain a few of them so that you’ll know that I’m serious.
The first benefit is that there is no mess. I don’t have a lot of extra time and I don’t want to spend the time I have cleaning ashes out of the fireplace. There is no need for that when using gas. The second good reason for using R. H. Peterson Real Fyre Gas Logs is that there is a warming effect that goes right into your living room. That makes it a cozy place to curl up and read a book or whatever.
Another thing we have done is to take advantage of Outdoor Gas Logs. We have a nice little spot in our backyard where we can gather around the fire and relax. It’s good for the family and we all enjoy that. You can find out a lot more about the subject by checking out Gas Logs FAQs. I am sure you’ll agree when you have all the information about the advantages of this technology.