Wednesday--

Expecting snow (more snow) today.  We have small mountains of snow that won't disappear soon and the mountains keep growing.  The weather people made a point of saying that even though "meteorological spring" starts March 1 winter is hanging on.  I don't consider meteorological seasons.  Spring equinox is March 20th at 5:45pm.  That is when the shadow of the house recedes to the top of the fence and the patio gets more direct and reflected light.  The Essential Herbal Blog post this morning reflects our mood: tired of another winter that is anything but what once was normal.  She has some very pretty pictures that remind us of what we (hopefully) can expect in the months ahead.

I have seen more stories like this and they piss me off.  Are we becoming a nation of restful, spiteful, self-righteous spies?  All driven by politicians who specialize in using the politics of bitter envy to drive their ambitions.

Long ago we decided, if we ever had pets again--not likely but possible, we would prepare their foods the same way we do ours--from scratch.  This is why.  We have seen too many stories about pets getting sick on questionable foods many from formerly reputable brands.

We have thought for some time that the medical advice on children and allergies (i.e., avoiding things like peanuts that trigger allergic reactions) was a bit off kilter.  It sounds good on the face.  If something is likely to cause an allergic reaction keep it away from the child until they are older.  However, the immune system has to be used to function.  When we aren't exposed to allergens we don't develop a tolerance for them.  When my siblings and I were old enough to go on solid foods, Mom pureed a small bit of what she fixed for the family for us to eat.  None of us had serious allergies and all of us outgrew them.  Evidently, doctors now have experimental evidence that small exposures at a young age reduces the number of kids with serious allergies.