A Season of Light in Darkness

December 25, 2016

...t said to me, with tears in her eyes, “Honey, I’ve been a nurse for a long time and…well, you need to call your loved ones. Now.” Okay, so imagine being in this position. Imagine having to call your mom and tell her, in roundabout terms, that you might be dying soon. You may not see her again. To be sure, many are not even granted that much grace before dying, but my point here is that there are no words. Words are simply inadequate in moments lik...

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Installing Solid Wood Flooring

Mr. Homegrown

June 1, 2018

Design

7 Comments

...with the results and I like the fact that sold oak flooring will last ten times as long as laminates. Over the next few weeks I’m going to replace the worn out douglas fir flooring in two other rooms with solid oak. Let me say how thankful I am for the power of compressed air. That said, some time ago I fell into a YouTube hole, watching old films of early 20th century construction. One of the clips showed flooring being installed with just a ham...

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The High Cost of Golf

Mr. Homegrown

August 13, 2008

Lawns, Thoughtstylings

14 Comments

...play and increase the number of people who can use the course at any given time. I also believe in democracy. I say let’s put it to a vote: should the city fund golf courses or soccer fields? I suspect, in Los Angeles, soccer fields would win by a landslide. 3. Water. We’ve got a many year long draught here in the southwestern U.S. that shows no signs of letting up soon. Modest water rationing requirements are in effect, but that municipal golf co...

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Stellarium: A Handy Desktop Planetarium

Mr. Homegrown

August 15, 2016

Thoughtstylings

2 Comments

...the Persead shower that reached its peak last week). You’ll want to pick a time when the moon is not up. Or let’s say you want to have some friends over for some planetary viewing and a glass of bourbon (as happened last night at the Root Simple compound). In that case you might want to pick a time when you can also take a look at the moon. In the pre-personal computer era I used to use a planisphere. I still have my 1980s era plastic planisphere....

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Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land

Mrs. Homegrown

June 19, 2013

Miscellaneous

10 Comments

...o the desert [to find a place share with others–one severely degraded over time by neglect, depletion of water, a perhaps climate change]. We’ll proclaim that yes, this place has been desertified, but now we’re going to make it into a living oasis, one where we will respect and nurture a diversity of life. He goes on to speak about the importance of bio-diversity, and how this chain of oasis-like farms could promote this, and serve the larger comm...

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