I just missed T. Boone Pickens

This time last week I was in Lincoln NE removing plants from their wrong locations (my professor friend cautioned I shouldn't call it weeding). Had I stayed on, I'd be in line this morning to hear T. Boone Pickens explain his plan at a town hall meeting at the Lancaster Events Center at 10:30.

You've no doubt seen Mr. Pickens' tv ads promoting a national shift to wind power and natural gas. I'm trying to look at it as rationally as I can with all the information I can find.

Right now, I'm a walking dichotomy. At night one side of my brain reads Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" (for the third time) his witty tale of living in nature while hiking the Appalachian Trail. While I try to stifle belly laughs into chuckles, the mattress convulsions wake up my husband. I'm still learning from Bryson the origins of how this trove of national treasure was set aside.

By day, the other side of me is conjuring the wind tunnel corridor through the American Heartland. The two ideas wrestle. Many land owners are at odds with how the serenity of the Heartland and their lives will be destroyed. I'm sensitive to that.

Here's the URL to T. Boone Pickens website. Your thoughts?

www.push.pickensplan.com

I'm Talking to Grass in the Heartland

My friend who is a professor of forestry says, “There are no weeds - - just plants in the wrong place.” I’ve spent the morning removing such plants from their wrong places in a Nebraska flower garden. I’m from Florida. When I grasp them tightly by what could be their ankles, I sense these plants are yelling at me, “You’re the one in the wrong place! We’re native grass!” Shhh. You can relax in the compost.

Several times a year I travel to Lincoln where I enjoy pitching in with yard work at my daughter’s house and catching up on what’s going green in America’s heartland. The green movement is so past the tipping point - - last night I sat on the stoop and read in her neighborhood association newsletter about water conservation, greenways, keeping a “sense of place” and where to buy locally grown produce. Wow. Sure beats reading about the neighbors' golf scores.

That local foods topic hooked me since I’d made a commitment to use locally grown produce at least three times a week. My takeaway from this trip, thanks to Leon’s Market in Lincoln announcing they are a member of Buy Fresh Buy Local. I delved for more sources with info on who sells locally grown produce. I'll need this when I get back to Florida.

These organization websites will help you find local sources:

Local Harvest

Eat Well

FoodRoutes.org

Buy Fresh Buy Local

Community Alliance with Family Farmers