September 15

Another nice sunny day but very little in the way of rain. We had to do our grocery shopping so the watering will be delayed until tomorrow.

I was somewhat bummed out way back when in the early days of the pandemic the stores backed up by the health departments and the state banned our reusable grocery bags. They claimed that it was a health issue because (at that time) contaminated surfaces were thought to be the major route to the spread of the virus. But even after studies showed that the virus was actually spread by droplets (and later aerosols) the bans remained. Things have loosened up a bit. We are back to taking our bags to the grocery store and the dairy. I might begin to use them again at other stores soon. This little item came through my news feeds that touches on the problem. California probably soon have a law that forces the packaging manufacturers to use the recycling symbol far less often since most plastics may be theoretically recyclable but aren't really in the real world. Of course the industry is pissed and resisting with all its might. The pandemic was a godsend for them and they loudly proclaimed how much more sanitary their single use bags were. Things have changed and the pollution from those plastics is moving back into focus.

John Michael Greer has a new post on Ecosophia on what wealth really is and it isn't gold or dollars or blips in a bank's computer.