Say No to Arctic Drilling

Contact your state's representatives and voice your disapproval over the shady, dangerous, inaccurate and unnecessary drilling effort into the Arctic Refuge:

http://www.nrdc.org/

Call Bayer on 4/21!

I just received this notice from the NRDC - please spread the word.

Although it is most famous for making and selling aspirin, the chemical giant Bayer also sells the highly toxic pesticide lindane, even though the chemical has been banned in more than 35 countries around the world. Please join a national call-in day to urge Bayer to stop selling this dangerous pesticide.

== What to do ==
Join a national call-in day to Bayer's Crop Sciences North American headquarters tomorrow, Thursday, April 21st, from 9am - 5pm eastern time. The call-in number is:
1-919-549-2828
where you can leave a message for Wayne Carlson, the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs (please note, this is not a toll-free call).

Please tell Mr. Carlson that you are calling to urge Bayer to stop selling lindane. You might also mention that:
-- lindane is an old, dangerous and unnecessary pesticide;
-- lindane has been banned in more than 35 countries, including Germany, Japan and Brazil;
-- any of your own reasons why you think Bayer should stop selling lindane (see below for more information about this toxic chemical).

== More about lindane ==
Lindane is an old, dangerous pesticide that targets the central nervous system and can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, seizures and coma. The chemical builds up in our bodies, and is found in blood and breast milk in people worldwide (children are especially vulnerable to its toxic effects). Lindane is also highly toxic to wildlife, including fish, bees and birds.

More than 35 countries have already banned lindane -- but the United States isn't one of them. Bayer distributes lindane for agricultural purposes here, despite threats to our health, environment and food supply.

Please call Bayer tomorrow at 1-919-549-2828 and urge it to stop distributing lindane immediately.

Please also forward this message to others, and urge them to call Bayer tomorrow as well.

Thank you!

Go Organic for the Butterflies

If you need an additional reason to stop using toxic pesticides, here's a good one.

Cake or Compost?

Our environmentally-conscious friends over in Scotland have recruited one of my favorite entertainers, Eddie Izzard, to narrate composting advertisements to be broadcast across the U.K.

Celebrating the Wonder of Life

Yesterday, our friend Mike made a couple of small, purposeful movements. Doctors are taking this as a good sign, at least for now.

Life is truly a gift, isn't it? As I bask in this good news about my friend, I will also take a moment to once again share the beauty of life around me.

Please, everyone...don't ever forget to stop and smell the roses, ok?

A nice shady corner of my East side/front garden



Magnolia 'Jane' (if only you could smell this too...)



Flowers that will eventually find their way into my front beds



Cirrhopetalum Elizabeth Ann X putidum orchid

Brief Update

I apologize for not updating recently. If you read my regular blog, you know that I lost a close friend over this past week in a traffic accident.

Gardening is hard at the moment - it allows me too much time to think about my friend Mike, who will probably never regain consciousness and will never again be the outstanding, happy go-lucky guy that he was.

I will miss him terribly.