To Be Human

We took another trip, with our truck bed loaded with birch, to the Deer Park transfer site this past weekend. I'm so glad they recycle yard debris! While the three of us were taking turns tossing branches into the pit, we glimpsed actions that surprised us. Lord knows, we could probably do a little better in the recycling realm, but we try our best - truly. And over the years while raising our children, we tried to help them understand that while it's excellent to monitor your own behavior, they'll have more friends if they try not to become a monitor for everyone else. Unless the circumstances call for it, of course.
So it was hard to watch a young couple toss a computer into the household waste pit. "Don't they know they could've recycled that for free in the other parking lot??" Aiy, aiy, aiy!! Then we couldn't help noticing other items being tossed out of their truck that seems more suited to a trip to the Goodwill. {sigh} As we swept out our truck bed, another vehicle loaded with bicycles backed up to the household pit. That was the tipping point for N and Lise. They both stopped and watched, ready to head over to let them know about Santiam Bike's recycling effort, when the two of them saw the bike people had unloaded them to the parking lot in order to toss the garbage beneath.
Whew!

Cherry Blossoms! (re-edited)

After watching this yet again, I've realized the need for a monopod. I don't know about you, but the shaking drives me nuts. My apologies. My hope is with a monopod, I'll be able to pivot.

End of the birch tree

Share and share alike

I was listening to a program about brains on OPB radio Saturday afternoon. The segment I heard dealt with children's brains and how children of a certain age may know the rules, but still break them. Something about the different stages of development of the frontal lobes.
Another time I heard a researcher talking about how the development of the brain can stall under certain circumstances - some sort of trauma at a young age. How might this affect us as adults? What if our brains missed the chance to develop empathy? Can the brain be trained later in life to make up for what it missed?
Pondering in print . . .

The Old Birch Tree

Lise's J opened up their bedroom curtains and spied a man in the front yard tree. I suppose that might be a startling sight when you're greeting the day. :>O Can't say I've ever experienced it . . .
I've never been that big of a fan of the birch tree. It's silhouette wasn't very attractive, it didn't offer much shade and it was messy nearly all year long. The snow and ice took the top out and we saw an opportunity. I'm always amazed at how much debris there is when you take down a tree. N's taken around 3 truck loads to the yard debris pile at the transfer site, with another one ready to go. We'll end up with some firewood when it's done. Not the highest quality, but we were happy to have it when the power was out those long 4 days.
Now to decide what to replace it with. The trees on Kuebler, near Kaiser Permanente, interested me with their stunning fall color and nice silhouettes, but they must've suffered a great deal of ice damage - they took them all out and replanted.