Cooking Biscuits

This post has nothing to do with cooking or biscuits, but it needed a title and for some reason, homemade biscuits with lots of butter and honey came to mind.  The title may be unrelated, but cravings are.  In this case I'm not sure how they are related except that our desires always stem from our cravings -- whether it be happiness, wealth or biscuits.

Often, with the increasing influence of each new generation, we see that the meanings of some words are changed.  The word "bad" comes to mind in that it is often used to mean "the best."  A previous generation used "the bomb" to mean something good.  I thought bombs were used to kill, maim and destroy.  What do I know.

National Socialism defined the political party of Hitler.  Socialism was viewed differently than Bolshevism which was the Russian form of Communism which was derived from the Marx version of Socialism.  Bolshevism and Capitalism were considered the enemies of Socialism by the Nazis who believed that the Jews were behind both of those opposing systems of government/economy.  It is that belief that ultimately drove the behavior of the Nazis to their "Final Solution" to the "Jewish" problem.  It was a movement cloaked in euphemisms and rhetoric that was designed to coerce any who were not "true believers" to accept the party line.  Propaganda was a primary tool of such coercion, and it used words in ways that meant one thing to "the party" and something different to those not privy.

 I believe we see similar tactics in this country today.  I leave it to you to choose (a form of the word choice which also has been twisted) who you wish to accuse of such behavior.  It likely depends on which end of the political spectrum you stand as to how you might respond to that choice.  For those in the middle it appears to be choosing between the lesser of two evils.  The answer is still evil.

The Carolina Horse Nettle (Solanum carolinense) is one of my least favorite weeds.  It is invasive, perennial and toxic.  It is difficult to kill even with most herbicides.  It was once listed in the United States National Formulary (a medical guide for treating various ailments and conditions).  But keep in mind, we also used to use leeches to treat ailments.

I think the Carolina Horse Nettle is an appropriate illustration for this brief blog because it can be attractive when in bloom but watch out for the prickly stickers that can penetrate even good leather gloves.  It may even look like the solution to our ailments but is actually quite toxic.

 What's in a Name?

Camel Crickets are of the family Rhaphidophoridae.  Looks to me like the name says they are fast -- and they can be if you are trying to catch them for fish bait.  I grew up calling them "Sand Crickets" although that is commonly associated with "Jerusalem Crickets" which are something entirely different.

Regional differences, ignorance, folklore and other "fuzzy logic" sometimes causes confusion when it comes to naming things.  My dad, who was exceptionally intelligent, had names for things which didn't coincide with what the books said.  My grandfather on the other side of the family was the same way.  Dad grew up in southwestern Oklahoma whereas my grandfather was from Central Missouri.  Their early years formed much of their thinking and nomenclature on certain things.

That is a small piece of what causes differences in our views of what should be, what is and what was.  We may speak the same words but mean totally different things.  Unless we take the time to understand those differences which arise from varying experiences and education, we exacerbate the tendency to believe someone else is wrong and we are right.  It could be we are both thinking similarly but using different words to describe our thoughts.

We all need to spend more time seeking understanding and less time proving someone else doesn't know what they are talking about.

 Nightmares

Maybe the title should be "Aliens" rather than "Nightmares."

Do you ever wonder where the inspiration for some of the wild creatures we see in science fiction or horror movies comes from?  I think it often comes from nature.  Oh, we perceive it as coming strictly from our imagination, but imagination must be fueled by reality.  Nature provides many examples that inform those imaginative fictions.

Our dreams take those things that we have observed and morph them into even more grotesque things.  I believe the chemical processes that drive memory and stored images flows and melds with other images in a never-ending cascade of combinations that feed imagination.

I love dreams.  I look forward to dreaming when I sleep.  I attempt to channel my dreams into pleasant themes rather than those which might be horrid, but I know that if nightmares occur, they can be manipulated into victories over evil.  Always, our mind shapes what we feed it.  Feed it the good stuff and constantly reinforce the idea that even the bad can be worked for good.

The American Green Crab Spider (Misumessus oblongus) is one of those creatures that might provide at least a partial template for an alien lifeform.  I can certainly see how it might inspire some creative writer or videographer to use it as a pattern for an invading alien species.  I just think they are interesting.

 The Debating Society

I detest debate but I truly enjoy meaningful discussions.  There is a huge difference.  Debate is about winning an argument.  Discussion is an exchange of ideas and viewpoints that can be educational.  There is no education in a debate because the participants are singularly focused on winning.

Society today is all about debate.  Each side of a political argument wants only to win.  There are no compromises and no middle ground, only a win or loss.  It makes no sense since those same people insist that every child gets a trophy.

We can learn from each other if we will learn to discuss without the vitriol which is often present in debate.  Cogent arguments on behalf of one's position are not the same as debate.  They don't ignore the other's position but support a point of view.  We also must listen.  We must listen with the desire to understand why someone believes the way they do.  We should never belittle their position but help them to understand there is merit in other views and hope that we can clearly explain the merit of our own or perhaps change our position with enlightenment.

We had several Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) land in one of the large Sweetgum trees near our house the other evening.  Listening to their whistling chatter reminded me of the constant bickering on social media.  Some were bullies and some were bullied.  All chattered constantly as they sat on limbs looking down on the rest of the world.

 Expanding Knowledge

It seems that advanced education today focuses individuals on narrower and narrower fields of study so that they become experts on their subject, but often ignorant of other fields.  Interestingly, though, that advanced degree often instills arrogance that causes the individual to be blinded to learning from others who are not also experts in their field.  To paraphrase, "If you don't have an advanced degree, you are inferior."

There are many people in this world who are wired to be generalists.  They easily assimilate a wide variety of knowledge and are able to see cross-disciplinary applications and approaches that are missed by the experts.  These are the type of people who are often extremely successful in business because they assemble teams from multiple disciplines and bring them together to solve problems.

Deep knowledge of a subject is useful; it is where new discoveries are made.  Knowing how those discoveries can be applied to solve problems requires a completely different type of thinking.

Solutions typically come from those with a wide variety of interests who see the fit within a larger view.  They are "dot connectors."  They look at a puzzle piece and see where it fits in order to complete the larger puzzle.  They see the connections.

This world is filled with specialists.  It needs more generalists who are educated in a cross-disciplinary way so that they are trained to see connections.  They will never be the expert in a field, but they will be well-versed in multiple fields.  They will solve problems.

Fungi intrigue me.  They fill a niche at the end-of-life phase of most of the visible world.  But they are also the precursor to new life.  They break down the dead and decaying and make the usable nutrients available to the living.  They also signal, through networks of fibers in the soil, that nutrients are available by releasing chemical signals which draw roots, worms, microbes and other small creatures that build the base of the food chain.

Each species of mushroom is somewhat specialized to break down certain species of plant or animal.  The Golden Reishi (Ganoderma curtisii) is one common to our area which feeds primarily on dead and decaying Loblolly Pine.

 Freedom's Cost

Memorial Day is a time of remembrance that originated after the Civil War.  Mourning the soldiers lost in battle helps us to grasp the great cost paid to remain a free and independent nation.

I think too often we confuse freedom with safety.  Freedom is the ability to choose.  Safety is a feeling that we need not fear because we have surrendered the risk of danger to others.  It comes with a hidden danger, though.  It is the danger that those to whom we have surrendered will abuse that trust.  The nature of humans is such that those who seek control do so for their own gain and will use the power given to them for their own purposes.

I subscribe more to the philosophy of Patrick Henry who said, "Give me liberty or give me death."  Let me make my own decisions about what to believe and whom to trust.  Grant me the freedom to fail, to risk and to challenge those who would seek to block me from the pursuit of happiness in the way that I would choose.

I believe the best government is the least government.  Society needs agreed upon rules of order that protect citizens from abuse.  People do not need a "nanny state" that controls every aspect of their lives.  Happiness cannot exist in the absence of choice.

Some would argue that the government must protect those who society deems to be inferior or different.  My question is simply, who defines the inferior or different?  The innocent, the powerless and the incapable should certainly be protected.  That should primarily be the role of community, friends and family.  

Abuse of others should never be tolerated but it is not the role of government to define what is to be considered as abuse because by making that determination they create new forms of abuse.  There must always be mechanisms by which the citizens can quickly and easily correct that abuse.  Otherwise, the ultimate price will again be paid as was the case in the U.S. Civil War.

Life shouldn't be about safety and living under the dominion of abusive power.  It should be about choosing to face the challenges, to overcome the odds, to create and build, to love and to cherish those whom we would choose without the interference of abusive power.

On this Memorial Day let's remember the ideal that those who paid the ultimate price fought and died for.  Let's focus on freedom.  That includes the freedom to be wrong, to make mistakes and to fail.

The Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) is one of my favorite flowers of summer.  They were not native to the area where I grew up but are common where I now live.  Their blooming is a sure sign that Summer is near.  The one pictured below is wild although many times they are found in cultivated beds, safely tended by their masters.  I prefer the wild and free ones who blossom where they choose.

 New Pathways

When the path becomes worn

And the ruts become deep

Life becomes dull

And the soul goes to sleep

That's when it's time

To strike out anew

To carve your own way

To experiences new.

 Another One Down

If a tree falls in the woods and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound?  I can attest that if it is nearby when you are walking it definitely makes a sound.

The other day we were taking a walk down the driveway and heard a loud "crack" nearby.  There was a light breeze, but nothing too strong.  We could see nearby a tree that was just beginning to settle against other trees, and I made the comment that we might need to watch out that it was likely to come to the ground.  It did.  Slowly at first.  Settling against the upper branches of surrounding trees.  Then, with a final crash it came to the ground about ten yards from where we stood.

The photo below doesn't do it justice for size.  Apparently, the top had broken off previously.  I had seen it lying in the woods but hadn't yet had time to drag it out.  The broken end is about 8 inches in diameter.  I don't know how long it is, but it will take some time to cut up.

It being dead, I knew it would eventually come down, but I wasn't expecting it to do so as I walked by.  It makes you stop and think about how disaster can sneak up on you if you aren't paying attention.  The fact that it was dead was a warning sign.  I simply ignored it.

We need to be aware of the warning signs around us.  If we don't tend to the business of keeping things in order, disaster can occur with surprising rapidity.  That applies to our families, our homes, our businesses and our country.  Plenty of warning signs out there.  A little maintenance can fix much of what is wrong but until that happens, we'd better be paying attention.

 Designed Fit

Have you ever noticed that pollinator species tend to choose specific flowers?  I am certainly no expert on the subject, yet it seems to me that species such as Hummingbirds, Bees and Butterflies are very discriminatory in the flowers they choose to land on.

We have different types of flowers, most of which are either native species, or closely related to native species, in our flower beds.  The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds like the Texas Lantana right now, but we know from past observations that they will go to the Texas Sage equally when they are in bloom.  However, they seem to ignore the Gaillardia and the Coneflowers.  Likewise, we see certain species of butterflies that prefer the opposite and still others that only visit other species of flowers which are in the meadow.

Design is important.  I'm referring to the specific shape, size and function of various body parts of these creatures.  The long beak of the Hummingbird is well-suited to reaching into trumpet-shaped flowers whereas the butterflies appear to be more suited to flowers that don't require reaching into a deep well to access the food supply.

Everything we see or build is designed with a specific use in mind.  Whether it be a rocking chair on the front porch or a military aircraft, design is based on use and functionality.

Why do humans sometimes think they should ignore their own design and attempt to be what they are not?  It puzzles me.  It's their choice, but still, it puzzles me.  We don't see that in nature.

Below is a Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) perched on a domesticated Gaillardia.  Their caterpillar stage is especially fond of oak trees of which we have many.

 In Disguise

There are many who claim that during the Cold War, the Soviet Union placed "sleeper agents" among U.S. citizens that were able to blend in and appear completely non-threatening to the general population and who were unidentifiable by government agencies.  Their role was to blend in, hidden, until needed for some type of covert, or overt action against the country.  They quietly lived what appeared to be a normal life until or unless, activated.

It was the ultimate disguise.  Your best friend might be a foreign agent, and you would never know it.

Some might claim the same is happening today although the powers behind such actions are different.  Your next-door neighbor might not be as benign as they appear.

I have no desire to stir up fear, merely to create an illustration of behavior that was developed by mimicking behaviors that are common in nature.  The cuckoo lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, so it doesn't have to rear the young.  Other behaviors are more overtly parasitic in nature where one species lives directly off of another.

Dasymutilla bioculata, in the photograph below, is commonly known as a Velvet Ant.  This one was passing near our fire pit the other night and I was able to take the picture.  Velvet Ants are actually a parasitic wasp.  Notice that its coloration is similar to some of the paper wasps which are common here.  They lay their eggs inside the cocoons of other wasps.  Upon hatching they frequently kill their hosts.  Their stings are extremely painful.