Occupation of Independence

  Do they still have state trees, birds, etc.?  Well, regardless, I know what the state plant of Arizona should be. But there probably isn't a state soil.  If there were, here is what the state soil of Arizona would be. Just yesterday I gave up on an evening walk with my little dog because she got into the cholla again.  I had the needle-nose pliers along, and she is getting braver.  But still, when she squeals, it wounds me.  If this sounds too critical of Arizona, how would you experience the sweetest pleasure of the desert unless it was set up by brutality?  The contrast is exquisite. What could be more fresh, kind, merciful, and gentle than a desert after rain?

I used to think that England was a bully for swallowing Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland.  What justification was there?    I think the Ukraine War answers that question. If Wales had been completely independent of England, Wales might have made agreements with France (or other enemies of England) to use Wales as a springboard for attacking England.  The resulting war would have been bloody because France would have gotten entrenched on the island of Britain. Likewise Russia made a mistake in allowing Ukraine to join Russia's enemies after the 2014 coup d'état.  The bloodiness increased because of that decision.  You could probably make the same argument about Russia allowing the Baltic countries, Poland, or Finland to join Russia's enemies, unless Russia permanently accepts these changes.  But it couldn't accept Ukraine allying itself with Russia's enemies.

Altitude 2000 feet in southwestern Arizona.  I wish I understood what was going on with the Teddie Bear chollas around here.  If memory serves, they used to be fairly rare around here.  Now they are everywhere.  It is a dreadful experience to see your dog get into the teddie bear chollas. The good news is the situation is more manageable than you think.  Dogs learn to avoid the cholla segments that fall off the plant and roll around on the ground, sometimes several feet from the parent plant. Dogs tend to get these cholla segments on their feet, and then they try to get them off with their mouths.  You might not be able to remove every spine from the dog's mouth or tongue.  Believe it or not, dog saliva softens these spines. My little dog got into the teddie bears for the first time yesterday.  Believe it or not, she didn't transfer the spines to her mouth.  She was lucky, because her daddy had a pair of needle nose pliers to pull the segments (1-3 inches long) off the paws.  S

 The new Congress has been in session for a couple weeks now. It is already dropping out of the news, as it should. Every year I find myself setting lower and lower expectations for things in general. That doesn't mean giving up hope. Actually it is quite the opposite of that. Any surprises are likely to be on the positive side. We should be cheerleaders for those surprises. At the moment geopolitics and national politics seem too discouraging to think about. I would rather think about having some of the best winter camping weather ever. "Best" means cool and calm. And if that isn't perfect enough for you, we have had enough rain to hope for colorful wildflowers in late February (?). Let's hope I am tough enough to remain in the desert long enough to see those wildflowers. Usually I have left the desert by the first of March.