NOT GROUNDHOG'S DAY

HOW APPOSITE THAT, on July Fourth and today, I have been striking a blow for independence from Groundhogs. This is just to keep you up to date on the struggle...
I was worried that our groundhogs/woodchucks have been making a home in the floorspace under the living room window. Yesterday, I dug the earth away (after cutting back the brier rose bushes so that I could do the work). This revealed that their ingress was limited to a temporary burrow under the window box; quite a relief, I can tell you! They have now been barred from that space by netting and here are two pictures to show you have I have gone about the job.

You can see how the netting gets tucked into the siding at the ends. I then replace the earth, making sure that it slopes away from wall. If the woodchuck attempts to return it will be standing on the netting which juts out about 15 inches. I just have to make sure there is no occupant when I close up the ends.

Woodchucks appear to be opportunistic burrowers and not as serious as Aussie rabbits are when it comes to burrows.

They have another burrow under the garden shed and I think there is a more permanent set up in the far corner of the garden where there are lots of bushes and plenty of cover. I plan to tackle the garden shed next. I thought you might like to see my favorite woodchuck; more like woodchugalug.
This is not such a bad brew...only 4% alcohol so it is really quite sweet compared with the 10% hard stuff to which I am accustomed. Maybe it is because I bought it at the supermarket. In NY State, the supermarkets cannot sell anything more alcoholic than beer.

After I took this picture of the little woodchuck tucking into a pear I was out on the back deck recovering from all the digging (with aide of a beer) and what did I spy down at the bottom of the yard but two woodchucks...the regular old guy and his new consort. I think they have one or two young ones.

They do not live together, mum and dad, but seem to spend a lot of time visiting.

Here are a couple of pictures of the lucky couple.

SURROUNDED BY GROUNDHOGS

I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE THAT there was a time when I did not know what a groundhog aka woodchuck was. Now I am surrounded by them! Three live under the shed at one corner of the back yard while another lives amidst bushes in the other. Besides, I have at least two who have invaded the crawl space under the living room floor. I know this because I have heard them above me while working in the basement and, of course, there are two burrow holes under the living room window box.
My neighbor across the street, Gene, has around six on his count. NY Times (in an article entitled 'Peter Rabbit Must Die') reported that one woman who resorted to shooting woodchucks in her garden killed 18 while the 19th committed suicide by running in front of a car! They come out in the morning and evening to feast on grass and favorite plants (especially the ones we like). I have learned a lot about these relatively harmless critters; there is a lot about them on the 'Net. One thing is...it is almost impossible to remove them long term. Personally, I am adopting a 'live and let live' philosophy in regard to them. They are pretty fellows and not ungenerous since they allow other critters like rabbits and chipmunks to share their burrows. It is a pleasure to watch them at their fastidious eating. On any drive around town it is possible to see two or three going about their business in an open lot. There are a lot of them...at least six for each human I would guess.
Two of our woodchuck burrows are host to several rabbits and their little ones.
On the credit side, at least one can fence them out of garden beds; plus they love dandelions so, with the rise in the woodchuck population, we see fewer dandelions. For the time being at least, the local woodchucks have foiled the evident plan of the dandelion clan to take over the world.
If you remove them from their burrow and transport them elsewhere (at least five miles distant)
others will take their place unless you woodchuck-proof their burrow. Bad smells do not deter them, unlike deer, although there may be a nasty tasting substance you can spray on plants you do not wish to donate to the 'save your hungry woodchuck' cause.
I plan to install netting beneath the window box and the shed so they cannot re-enter their lair after I have evicted them. To get them out, I have ordered a one way 'trap' which will let them out but prevent their return. Once I am sure all have gone from the burrows, I will complete the netting barriers. I reckon it will take me two or three weeks to accomplish this.
I will report progress (or regress) from time to time.
In the meantime, anyone who has success in controlling woodchucks, please contribute your ideas. I hope to photograph one of the locals so...watch this space.
Roberto

BENDING TO RIGOR

THE PRICE OF GASOLINE ('petrol' to citizens of Oz) is bringing a new reality and rigor to our lives...Americans are driving less, using public transport more, and even riding cycles more. On the commercial front, small airlines are going to the bankruptcy courts while their large and older brethren are merging, code-sharing, culling from their fleets the more thirsty planes, and reducing schedules. In the meantime, the larger auto companies are stripping out their profit making pickups and SUVs as the motoring public move to purchase more economical vehicles. This is the rigor of rising cost of fuel, whoever we are; our culture is bending to the discipline of more realistic costs of energy. Gasoline is costing the equivalent of $9 per gallon (including 60% taxes) in Europe and may rise to two thirds of that here in the US over the next year.


What to do about all this? Uma has decided to purchase a motor scooter and maybe I will have a picture of it in time for this post. We figure that fuel savings on small errands made several times a day between her stores and home will pay for the purchase within a year or so.

For my part, I have been experimenting with the suggestions of the Federal government; these include:

• travel between 25 and 55 mph
• keep tires properly inflated
• use overdrive as much as possible
• use cruise control

In addition, I have been using the discipline of drivers who win economy drives:

• imagine you have a full glass of water on the dashboard and keep it from spilling
  
• use slower acceleration and avoid harsh braking
• anticipate traffic lights so as to avoid stopping
• coast when it safe to do so
• thinking carefully whether I can put off a trip or combine purposes of trips; I figure it costs $1.50 in gas for each trip into town.
  

I have found this takes quite a deal of concentration at the outset but quickly becomes second nature. I was amazed that this has raised my 'round the town' economy from 22 mpg to 27 mpg.
My little Infiniti G20 (290,000 miles) gives me about 33 mpg on the highway and I am not sure that I can improve this much. We shall see.

I am interested to hear what approaches you are taking to get better economy from your cars.

SO WHAT IS THIS BLOG REALLY ABOUT?

WHEN I STARTED THIS BLOG it was because many friends wanted to follow my adventures once I was gone from Portland. Each time I write an entry I think, 'What really is this about?'
Blogging is an indulgence and quite addicting and it is very useful to get comments from time to time that let me know how interesting (or not) this Blog is currently.
As I am retired, I have more time to read and reflect than when working four ten-hour days each week over in Kennewick and three day weekends in Portland. Often reading is like Web surfing, one reads one author who mentions another so it is on the yet another author. Reading books takes longer than looking at Websites, it need not be said.
Maybe that is what this Blog is about from time to time; reading and reporting stuff others might not readily come across in their literary travels.
I had intended to entitle this posting, 'THE FUTURE IS COMING AT YOU FASTER THAN YOU THINK!'. And so it is...oil has reached almost $140 a barrel and the stock markets around the world have reacted skittishly.
Kunstler, in The Long Emergency, makes the case that the rising cost of energy and fundamental role of oil in the economy and 'The American Dream' will eventuate in an economic crisis of global dimensions and cause considerable anguish here in the United States. His book is about understanding this and what to do to survive with the least anguish. If you can do so, read it as a first priority.
What then about oil and the rising cost cost of energy? Like many of you, I am concerned about global warming. It is far from clear whether we humans can forestall the effects of our profligate consumption of fossil fuels. It may be that greenhouse gases emitted by China and India will more than undo all our efforts in the foreseeable future (China is commissioning or planning more than 50 coal-burning power stations each year!).
The two immediate problems with oil are its cost and its availability.
Fuel costs for cars are beginning to hurt and are likely to hurt more. We who are dependent on natural gas for heating, that may be our next hurt. The core problem around oil is supply. Some take seriously the theory of Peak Oil. According to this we are now into the second half of oil supply having used more than half of the oil deposits. Each succeeding barrel of oil will cost more to obtain. We can expect the supply of oil to diminish. I read the other day that US oil refineries are gearing up to refine more heavy crude to meet demand. As the price of motor fuel continues to rise, we will endeavor to use less. Many are pinioned by their need to travel long distances between home and work so that the cost of gas increase will reduce their discretionary spending and result in a slowing of the economy.
It will take some time before really economical cars become widely available. Even then, these will be beyond the reach of many folk. Already people are walking more, using public transport more, riding bicycles more, and buying motor scooters. Some, like Kunstler, predict the decay of cities with their sprawling suburbs and associated supermarkets along with the rise of small communities able to support local production of food and other goods currently brought from afar.
Reducing our use of oil may not result in lowered cost since China, India, and much of the rest of Asia are acquiring our profligate use of fossil fuels. The United States is loosing its place as the foremost purchaser of oil and will have less and less control of its supply. The availability of oil for refining will likely diminish but this may not result in lowered costs due to rising demand elsewhere in the rest of the world.
Evidently, all this will result in considerable change in our society and culture, as we find our way back to a lifestyle based on reduced motor fuel use and likely increased cost of utilities and even shortages of electricity. It will be a very different society, the aftermath of what may be a difficult crucible of experience and experience.
I hope you may be able to read 'The Long Emergency'. I am interested to see your ideas of what changes may lie ahead and what we may need to minimize their effect on society and our lives.

BACK IN THE USofA: I see that I last posted while in Adelaide. Since then I returned to Sydney for a few days before flying back to SFO for a week's stay with my friends, Francis and Mary Wright. As I have mentioned, we shared quite a few adventures back some 20 years or so ago, when he and I worked in a country psychiatric service network in Warrannambool in western Victoria, Australia. They live next door to their son, Gil, who in addition to being a specialist gynecologist, is also a wine maker. Amongst the several wines we drank last week was an excellent ten year old red of Gil's making. As those of you who know me well will imagine, we drank not a little wine but not to excess.
I was also out and about in sunny San Francisco going with Mary to visit the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, with Frank to the local wine country, local fleets of mothballed ships, driving to the top of Mt. Diabolo (astonished at the number of cyclists toiling their way up the 3,850 ft climb), and together, we three, to visit the ancient cemetery for Welsh miners who mined coal in the early days of California.
While sad to leave these good friends behind I was very glad to be on the final leg home on Monday night last, catching the 'red eye' to Charlotte (Carolina) then a bridging flight to Philadelphia (has to be the worst designed airport I have been to so far), and finally to Elmira, our local airport. Still bedeviled by the cold I had picked up in Adelaide and, lacking sleep on the night flight, I confess that I was mightily tired (if you can pardon this apparent oxymoron) and very glad to be home. Unsurprisingly, I slept for 12 hours that night! Since then it has been back to the routine of turning compost, mowing lawns, and catching up on six weeks of mail.
Two 'on hold' books were waiting for me at the library; one on managing energy in the home and the other by a new author (for me) James H Kunstler, titled 'The Long Emergency; surviving the converging catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century'...more of this in the next posting.
Oh...another thing: I turned 71 this week!
Roberto

IN THE LAND DOWN UNDER: As you may have surmised, I made it out of SFO (how convenient to travel out to the Airport on BART) in time to catch my QANTAS flight to Australia. I had the good fortune to be sitting next to an Aussie radio astronomer who is working in West Virginia and had occasional stimulating conversation about the nature and origin of the universe and such like.
I must say that I was impressed by the flagship airline of my home country (first time I have used this service) and this high standard was carried on when I flew from Sydney to Adelaide.
Mostly, I have been busy 'grandfathering' including getting to know the latest grandson, Stirling. who was born last August. The other three Aussie 'grand nippers' have all grown and developed amazingly in the 15 months since I saw them last.ce). On my last day in Sydney, I borrowed my son's scooter to visit with my friend (of grad. school days) Lorraine. As I was last on motor powered two wheels back in 1988, this was quite an adventure. The new scooters do not require the rider to change gears so the controls are rearranged somewhat. Initially Ikept feeling for the rear brake with my right foot. Fortunately, Sydney drivers are most courteous toward riders so I felt reasonable secure as I puttered along. What fun as I rode up and over the Anzac Bridge; almost like flying an ultralight!
Just to let you know that I was really there, how about the photo of the Opera House?
And here I am with the Opera House in the background. That is my grandson Jude at table 'a la terrace' with me.

Presently, I am in Adelaide where the weather is continuously fine autumn days and very pleasant temperatures. Yesterday I was taken out up into the Adelaide Hills by my friend of many a yesteryear, Peter Daniels. He and Robina, his wife, have a beautiful home with views all the way to the southern coast. Due to recent rains, the hills are covered with green grass, very different from the unending brown of 15 months back. The eucalypts, typically gnarled and twisted all jostled each other as they surveyed our passage. On his extensive property, several kangaroos eyed us from their resting place the shade of a stately gum.

Until the next posting....
Roberto