Okaaaaay, so it wasn't a couple of hundred tulip bulbs. After cleaning and dividing them, it was a couple of thousand! If they're all mature enough to bloom next year, my front yard will look like the aftermath of an explosion in a candy cane factory. They're red and white, and I didn't have a clue which was which. I'm tired and sore, but I think I'll be OK for work tomorrow.
Anytulips, I was blog hopping this morning, and I came across this from Earthbound Misfit:
http://eb-misfit.blogspot.com/2011/05/very-good-reason-to-pursue-alternative.html
Now I'm pretty sure the U.S. is going to be using fossil fuels until they're completely gone. But it would be a damn good thing if we really got with the program, and started actively using less. I, for one, would love to thumb my nose at middle eastern royalty. Why can't we, in the next ten or twenty years, have solar panels on millions of roofs, and wind turbines in millions of yards? (With millions of hybrid or all-electric cars plugged into that power?) Are they really any uglier than utility lines and poles? It wouldn't end our dependence on foreign oil, but it sure would reduce it. (I wouldn't mind thumbing my nose at the electric company too.)
You sound like my next door neighbor. I keep telling her she needs a twelve step program for her gardening addiction.
ReplyDeleteWSF, I used to raise plants to sell at the farmer's market! Fibromyalgia cured my addiction, but I'd love to get back to it! This was a huge project by my current standards, and it was probably not more than 6 hours total! It feels good!
ReplyDeleteSuz,
ReplyDeleteOne of the things the 'alternative energy' folks fail to mention is that petroleum is used for many things; not just energy.
Those cheap grocery bags, polyester clothing, even the polymers that make up the components for wind and solar power.
We don't have any economically viable substitutes for those materials. Heck even the batteries needed to store alt energy are made from petroleum.
There are also many drawbacks to using solar. We have 3 trees that provide shade for our house most of the day, one more provides shade during part of the year.
In order for us to effective use solar panels, we would have to cut down the trees.
So do we sacrifice shade/oxygen for a reduction in our electricity ?
Bob, I know solar and wind power aren't feasible for many people, and like I said, we'll use the fossil fuels until they'r gone. But using them where we could replace them is not only wasteful, it forces us to cooperate with hostile governments. We buy a lot of oil from people who use our money to fund our enemies. We have no choice because we need that oil, but we could reduce that need if we so chose. The people who tell us that it's pointless to use alternative energy sources, are usually the same people who make money from the petroleum industry.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm cautious around isolationists and other unrealistic goofball idealists, I'm also pretty skeptical of people who offer "good" reasons why nobody should bother to compete with them.
WOW, are you kidding me? A couple of thousand? You have more patience than me, that is for sure! I know it will be beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLisa