A Day of the Dead Altar

...good to have them at the table. I have a small silver pitcher holding rain water. It is traditional to have refreshment for visiting spirits. It also represents the element of water. And along the lines of refreshments, I also have a bottle of good Scotch up there, of which most of my ancestors would highly approve. It also brings a bit of the Celtic into the mix. A small felt Doberman, a toy portrait of our late, much beloved dog, Spike. Ofrendas...

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Preparing For El Niño Storms

...pletely clogged with loose asphalt roofing material. Channeled some of the water from our gutters to the backyard garden. Since our house is on the hill I have to send the rest of the water down to the street, unfortunately. Made sure to have working flashlights with fully charged batteries. Our electricity has gotten increasingly unreliable over recent years. Charged the 2 meter ham radio (it’s also a scanner). Got a supply of dry goods that can...

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From the Archives: That Time Kelly Accidentally Ate Hemlock

...of seeds.” The rest of the class made noises of dismay. Someone offered me water. It was really embarrassing. As you might guess, Kelly survived. And thank you random number generator for the Jungian synchronicity: our last podcast is an interview with Pascal. As Kelly notes in her blog post, Hemlock is in the Apiaceae (carrot family). Novice foragers would be wise to avoid this family entirely. That said, Pascal tells a story of running into a gr...

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Defeating Squirrels With Tech

...te between squirrels and birds and then deliver a carefully aimed blast of water at just the squirrels. It’s worth viewing in its entirety just to hear how Grandis resolves the image recognition question, “What is squirrelness?” If you’re impatient you can fast forward to the 16 minute mark for the video. Spoiler alert: it works, at first, and then the squirrels quickly learn to ignore the blasts of water. It leaves me wondering if a scary clown s...

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