Sunday morning, after chores, 67°, 0.7” rain last night



The Importance of Mulch

Chickens are wonderful mulch makers. A dozen hens can reduce a big round bale of hay to fluff in two months. As they scratch in it they tear long stems into short pieces that are easy to move and stay fluffy in the garden. I seldom eat eggs any more but I keep chickens anyway so they can prepare mulch.

Not very many weeds can come up through a six inch deep layer of mulch. It collects rain and releases the water slowly into the soil. It moderates soil temperature swings, keeping it cool in the daytime and warm at night. As it is broken down by soil micro-organisms it adds nutrients and organic matter to the soil. Mulch is good stuff.

This year the chickens have worked over three big round bales and Paula has moved all the resulting mulch to the garden. The bales weighed about 800 pounds each when we gave them to the chickens and I have no way to estimate what the weight was when the chickens finished. Paula moved a lot of cartloads.


Dr. M. is Learning to be a Soldier

Dr. M. has survived the first week of Officer Basic and is learning how to be a soldier. She sent this note with lessons she has learned in the first week.

Lessons:

Always carry water with you

Drink juice with electrolytes not just sugar, and have you ever seen a bright blue fruit? No, didn’t think so, so don’t drink it

Stand at attention when the company commander, the brigade commander, and the battalion commander walk in. Sound off like you have an idea what’s going on. Sit when they tell you and look like you are mesmerized when they tell you to drink water.

Salute your superiors and ask your sergeant what’s the true deal when they leave.

Take your hair out of your bun as soon as you can at night, this allows it to dry from your morning shower.

Officers with 2 days in the Army should not speak to Privates past “Good Morning”. It confuses both parties as the Private generally has much more Army experience yet is probably 18.

When the Colonel offers you cake, even if you are on the “Healthy Choice” plan, take it.

Assume that when you are put in a leadership position in a training situation, they are never going to give you all the information you need. Develop psychic power to figure out what your superiors are really asking.

Never, but NEVER, form up facing the General’s building. You might never stop saluting.

Find the sergeant who likes young officers and listen to him. He’ll never lead you wrong.

Computers

I have been working all week on a computer that belongs to a nice little old lady. Actually, she's younger than I am and she's normal sized. Her computer has been a nightmare.

You know, there are some people who think it is clever to walk down the street scratching the paint on the cars along the way. Vandals. Well, computers are equal opportunity tools for all kinds of vandals, and the internet gives them global scope for their destructive tricks. The malicious software that attacks a computer in Jefferson County, Kansas, might have originated in Morocco.

If we instituted the death penalty for all acts of vandalism, we might be able to weed out the genes that code for vandals in 10,000 years or so. Most vandalism seems to be done by young people, so we might just put all the young people in jail and keep them there until they are middle-aged. Of course, we're trying that in this country with young black men and, so far, we haven't even been able to teach them to pull their pants up and put their hats on forward.

Vandalism is one of those problems that doesn't seem to respond to law enforcement solutions. We want to kick their butts around the courthouse square but that won't make them stop, it will just make them more secretive. Like domestic violence, prostitution, pornography, gambling, and drug abuse, preventive measures for reducing the amount of vandalism in a society are most likely to be found using the public health tools of the epidemiologists.