In years past, one of the churches filled their front yard with Gay Pride flags for the entirety of June. What was jarring to me, personally, is that this church also has a large daycare and all of the flags were visible from the daycare's play-yard which defines the front yard's south boundary.
My critics (and I have a few) undoubtedly consider me a bigot and that I read too much into it, but it gives the appearance that the church is:
- Exposing very young children to blatant sexuality (which is not specifically LGBTQ+).
- Promoting life-styles that are in direct contradiction to the Bible
- Unilaterally co-opting parental authority.
- The appearance that the church is recruiting for LGBTQP+ replacement
- The most generous possible spin is that the church's management is guilty of horrible optics
This year, 2026, there was not a Gay Pride flag in sight.
Either the church read the room differently in 2026 or, perhaps, sources of funding (Federal-->NGO?) dried up and funds available from grass-roots sources was not enough to purchase new flags.
Regardless of the reasons, I am relieved that the little kids were not immersed in LGBTQP+ propaganda.
Clover
After a slow start, the clover planted in the aisles between the rows of trees on the Hill Orchard showed up. The first three weeks of June were rainy and the white clover, being a shallow rooted species, really responded.
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| One aisle |
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| A second one |
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| A third one. This one's bottom 3/4 (top of frame) had zero clover in it. |
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| Zoomed in view showing a patch of the previous picture from near the bottom of the hill |
I was into Management Intensive Grazing when we had animals on the Eaton Rapids property. One of the founding principles of MIG is to manage your pasture (the timing of moving animals from paddock-to-paddock, recovery times, fertilizer/liming) to favor a strong stand of white clover. If you consistently have 15%-to-40% white clover then you are on top of your game.
The white clover is an indicator species. It is also highly palatable and it fixes nitrogen. It disappears when you let the grass get too tall before moving the animals in. Tall grass is overly mature and less palatable than younger grass. The animals eat less of it and don't perform as well.
If you think about it for a second, The Promised land...the land of "milk and honey" probably meant the pastures had a lot of clover in them. Clover makes milk. Clover flowers are rich sources of nectar for bees.
I am happy when the aisles are sporting an abundance of clover.
I am going to hold off on mowing for a week to let it set a little bit more seed.
Fishing report
No fish were caught.
Shotgun indulged in an CAO Amazon Basin cigar.
We talked about the practicality of using an electric fence charger to "discipline" the turtles that kept stealing our bait. We decided that the Department of Natural Resources would take a dim view of our inventiveness.
Polyethylene prices
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| Ten-year history prices of polyethylene. |
Reader Gerry commented that I was wrong when I attributed the high cost of containers to the price of polyethylene plastic.
He is right!!! It is currently lower than the running, ten-year average. If you factor in inflation, it is cheaper now than it has been at any time in the prior ten years.
I have to qualify that a bit. There are LOTS of kinds of polyethylene. Some of it is very stretchy...like the cling-wrap you use in the kitchen. Some is very not-stretchy...like grocery bags. Some is soft and pliable...like poly tubing. Some is hard and wear-resistant like UHMW. Different processes (catalysts, temperatures etc.) produce different kinds of PE. Once a process is churning out a validated product, processors are loath to shut it down and juggle the input variables to make a different kind.
Chuckling I push mow in my apple trees guilds. Wife laughs that I mow around the clover. More clover is my goal.
ReplyDeleteWhile the basic cost of polyethylene is lower the base material isn't the only factor in pricing. Tariffs and governmental taxes and fees as well as increased wages, trucking costs and so on.
As an example Gasoline. No matter what the price per barrel cost taxes seldom change.
SNIP
Michigan Gasoline Taxes — 2026 Changes and Rates
Michigan’s gasoline tax system is undergoing a major overhaul starting January 1, 2026, replacing the old two-tax model with a single, higher flat-rate excise tax.
Current 2026 rate
State motor fuel tax: 52.4 cents per gallon for gasoline, diesel, and other motor fuels State of Michigan+1.
This is a flat rate — it stays the same regardless of pump price, so a $3.00 gallon and a $4.00 gallon carry the same state tax legalclarity.org.
The federal excise tax is about 18.4¢ per gallon The Sun Times News.
Combined, the state and federal taxes total roughly 70.8¢ per gallon before retailer markup legalclarity.org.
Now add in some cross boarder tariffs and other gov.com nonsense like "environmental fees" and such the dealer selling you that poly water can has to be competitive (unless he's a monopoly on them) with his peers and pay his probably increased overhead, taxes, increased wages and so on.
Michael the anonymous this steamy morning.
I used to discipline turtles with a .22 We had a cliff on one side of the tank, so ricochets went square into it.
ReplyDeleteWhite clover is a preferred forage for bee's. They'll take it over almost anything else. It will flower and go for a few weeks. When the flowers start to turn dark/brown colored, they have been pollinated (and are making seed). If you cut them when they are halfway-turned or less, they will re-bloom, and you'll get another 2-3 weeks of flowers. You can repeat a 3rd time, but let the 3rd cutting set your seed.
ReplyDelete