Raven Jake Dawes

Where's George?

Here's a nerdy pastime for y'all: tracking cash as it moves through the economy. I got this greenback in change for a breakfast burrito at the Glendale Community College cafeteria. Where does it go next? I don't know, but if it falls into your hands you can see where it's been at Where's George?

First time I met a "George," it was at an art gallery in Santa Fe. Bought a Guadalupe/Santa Muerte tank top and got it in change. Fiver. I guess it was really a Where's Abe? although George W. was the president at the time. That fiver had started out in Hawaii, and I don't know where it ended up after it went towards the margarita fund at the Cowgirl on Guadalupe Street. But it had traveled far and gone through many hands.

Now this "breakfast burrito George buck" originated in Cedar City, Utah and has spent the last three years edging closer to California. So we've ordered a Where's George stamp (the treasury dept takes a dim view of defacing currency, but a lawsuit came to the conclusion that it's ok, so long as you don't go overboard with the modifications) and plan to track some greenbacks this summer. See where we spend our money and where it ends up. Now of course, this only works if everyone plays, so if you find a George, make sure you check in - it only takes about two minutes and it's pretty fun.

Red-Shouldered Bug: Jadera haematoloma

Finally - a bug with a name that's what it looks like. In this case, the Red-Shouldered Bug aka Jadera haematoloma. This amorous couple was cruising past, and I figured I ought to find out a little more about them. Apparently, they're bad news for your orchard and there isn't much to commend them, but other than that they aren't dangerous. Here's a fact sheet, in case you're beset.

Garden 2012: Week 8

Gettin' into week 8 now. Rodent predation is way down; still having some leaf-eating bug issues. They've been decimating the tomatillos pretty regularly, and the salsa verde forcast is looking grim. We ate two little teeny crookneck squash yesterday and a couple of green onions, so it ain't just the ground squirrels who are eating good. Actually, I think I may have ended their reign of terror permanently, but we'll see - in a garden things are changin' all the time. For example - the corn's starting to tassel and the cucumbers are really coming along. And using discarded carpet as a ground cover is the best idea ever, so big thanks to Mel Bartholomew and Square Foot Gardening for that one.

Rodent Jihad

That's right, folks - due to recent terrorist activity, I've been forced to declare a holy war against yard rodents, specifically ground squirrels. Here we are at week six and three of the corn plants were sucked underground, some of the beans have been decimated and all of the young squash have been chewed right off the vine. The tomatilos are recovering from the grasshopper predation, the radishes are coming along nicely and there are lots of tomato blossoms, but no little tomatoesyet. In the meantime, ground squirrels have overrun the yard, setting up a base of operation under the woodpile. While we were sitting out by the garden the other afternoon, a rat ran out of the garage and along the fence.

Now I've got no great love of rats, but they freak Jane right out. She sees them as scuttling plague vectors, so it doesn't take much to get her goin'. Ironically, we were reading Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitantsby Robert Sullivan at the time. It's quite a page-turner. I thought Jane might be a little too fragile to handle a whole book about rats, but she seems to be coping nicely. On the other hand, those rats better watch out. Same with the gophers and the ground squirrels. Y'all mind your own business, and we'll get along fine. Mess with my garden, and suffer primate wrath.