greenmother's Journal

There are fires all over Central Oklahoma tonight. It is so dry outside, It was still 90 degrees at 10pm tonight.

And they uploaded some lovely pictures of bees, beetles and butterflies to the Backyard Pollinators. Very nice! Thank you WingedWolfPsion!

Got bad news though. Found out today that the Keystone Pipeline will be passing through Oklahoma County. Tar sands are bad. That gunk has to be refined and refined and refined. Like making ethanol--it is energy intensive to make, in addition to it's pollution issues with regards to mining, and burning. :(

Knowing how the wind blows in this state, I doubt anyone will stand against it for long. So lets hope they don't screw this thing up and turn this place into an even bigger superfund site.

Between the extreme weather {even for these parts} and the total lack of urban planning [urban sprawl], it all just makes me sad.

We could have the best of many worlds, but that could only happen if developers and planners loose the greed and the laziness.

I saw more rural neighborhoods being put in, and No Sidewalks. How can people walk or ride their bikes for any significant distance in relative safety without at least walking paths and bike lanes? Or bike paths? Nothing scarier than walking or riding with traffic on rural roads with no shoulders.

And enjoying every second of it after the 61 days of 100+ temps. It's actually too cold for the bees to fly in the morning. Everything is still dry as a bone out here. Though yesterday it did attempt to rain a little. I have noticed that we don't see too many butterflies, even in cultivated areas with lots of flowers and water sources. Normally this time of year, there would be swallowtails, snouts, monarchs, and admirals everywhere.

Its just a bit cooler, but not too cold. We still need a lot more rain, but the bit we have received has led to a sudden explosion in flowers. More sunflowers, and second and third and fourth bloomings of crown and beards, the asters have come in as well as wild sweet peas, and other yellow, arid type plants yet to be identified.

With this the butterflies have re-emerged, the bees are busy along with moths and beetles and hornets and flies.