tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76865925819892251862024-03-15T08:54:33.795-05:00Julie S. Paschold (Tansy Julie the Soaring Eagle)Welcome to all! I write my blogs on a medley of subjects, in poem and essay form. You are welcome to comment in the sections provided below. As you see to the right, there are many blogs, so feel free to go back in time a bit.
Here you will also find information on my first poetry book, an exploration on family, nature, and identity while traveling through one of our nonrenewable resources, soil. Find out on the first post how to order "Horizons" and how to find my poetry readings.
Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-38826220491577798322024-02-19T09:36:00.003-06:002024-02-19T09:36:34.122-06:00Change is Hard: a poem<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Change is Hard</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpMfO-egSZkhKmoMK3EiYdhpiuYDgCvxvCDerSKOqJTIB9YsiWRUd6Nev1vyzHe7LJ9PlO8WjrWG2yr3dPf4Sk5deOIsIMBAJVmtYkIyY85zxk0Gz6vwcx1H8CUr_LPLFswCn1lxMo2r-6H2vJD1YoD3O5JyqZqSxhyQIclZRL35rkAPo9FZjVeqX66c/s4160/Change%20is%20hard%20paint%20peel2%200224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpMfO-egSZkhKmoMK3EiYdhpiuYDgCvxvCDerSKOqJTIB9YsiWRUd6Nev1vyzHe7LJ9PlO8WjrWG2yr3dPf4Sk5deOIsIMBAJVmtYkIyY85zxk0Gz6vwcx1H8CUr_LPLFswCn1lxMo2r-6H2vJD1YoD3O5JyqZqSxhyQIclZRL35rkAPo9FZjVeqX66c/s320/Change%20is%20hard%20paint%20peel2%200224.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">When I have to
repaint the boards<br />of my picnic
table,<br />I need to
scrape the old<br />peeling paint
off first.<br /> <br />If you are
going through<br />a painful or
confusing<br />period of your
life,<br />maybe you are
like the<br />picnic table,<br />getting rid of
the old flaking paint.<br />Scraping can
hurt.<br /> <br />But think of it
this way:<br />you are getting
ready<br />for a new,
beautiful<br />you.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjynuCAliz93ikl2TVsGrQprG53xiIa7BUEwRhnVVX3Drt9Z0N8rj96kbYEGLXBcAMxEXsmRz9v085II-1CMMB8agRVzdozj9weuwz7bHP3Vg5BmcVSD9ELoXANEodqbFDweidE0i65sG_5Ej83G4mHFnNaEbl3n2gJbfpYa-vI5Tv4bSKqLjHGmP1m3CE/s4160/Change%20is%20hard%20paint%20peel%200224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjynuCAliz93ikl2TVsGrQprG53xiIa7BUEwRhnVVX3Drt9Z0N8rj96kbYEGLXBcAMxEXsmRz9v085II-1CMMB8agRVzdozj9weuwz7bHP3Vg5BmcVSD9ELoXANEodqbFDweidE0i65sG_5Ej83G4mHFnNaEbl3n2gJbfpYa-vI5Tv4bSKqLjHGmP1m3CE/s320/Change%20is%20hard%20paint%20peel%200224.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Tansy Julie the
Soaring Eagle Paschold<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">2.11.24<o:p></o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-972338905468238832023-12-27T20:20:00.004-06:002023-12-27T20:20:55.732-06:00The Pace of Christmas Morning: a poem<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><u>The Pace of Christmas
Morning</u></i></b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The only sounds
I hear <br />are the creak
of my boots<br />on the layer of
snow atop the sidewalk<br />this Christmas
morning</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">and the squeak
of my hood<br />against my winter
hat,<br />a child’s multi-colored
knit beanie with<br />double pom-poms
sewn on top like ears. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">A small crabapple
leans in towards me<br />as I walk south
to the end of the street,<br />its branches
reaching barely above my head,<br />berries
clinging in the slight wind. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">As I reach the
end of the street and <br />turn around, I
face my own boot prints.<br />I walk where my
own feet have trod. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">My toes touch
heel prints, <br />my heels press
where my toes<br />once met the
snow over the concrete. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">My pace is less
than my usual two-foot length <br />toe-to-toe, the
small patches<br />of snow and ice
keeping me cautious. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">This specific
length is one I know because <br />my boss the
soil professor had me measure<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">the distance of
my regular pace<br />during my freshman
year of college<br />in order to mark
out his research plots, </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">two feet being
the same length <br />my son nearly
stretched<br />from head to toe
the day he was born. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">But today he
stretches far above me,<br />far above every
member of the family<br />nestled back at
my parents’ house </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">where I am
headed. He is almost as tall<br />as this
crabapple tree I greet a second<br />time as I walk
beneath berry-laden<br />branches now
covered in snow. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The flakes,
bright fat clusters falling happily, <br />cling to
everything they touch, whitening the<br />landscape, tapping
me on my shoulders, my glasses, </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">saying <i>oh
happy day, happy morning, today <br /></i><i>is a day to
gather</i> as I reach the door behind which<br />my family sits,
our own cluster of happy celebration,<br />feet tucked in
socks, hands wrapped around coffee cups, </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Christmas the
easy pace of the day.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> ***</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p>by Tansy Julie the
Soaring Eagle Paschold</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">written 12.25.23<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">*****</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">If you liked this, check out my book Horizons! Found on <a href="https://atmospherepress.com/books/horizons-by-julie-s-paschold/" target="_blank">Atmosphere Press website</a> or email me at jpaschold @ gmail.com for a signed copy </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><o:p> Come to a poetry reading if you are in the area! Schedule found on my post <a href="https://jpaschold.blogspot.com/2023/10/introducing-my-first-poetry-book.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-41552208470759290982023-12-18T07:16:00.006-06:002023-12-18T07:16:53.336-06:00One More Time: a poem<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">One More Time<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p>I hope you know<br />when I deleted
your messages<br />it was not me
deleting you;<br />that I still
see your eyes<br />and remember
your words<br />and feel your hands
and lips<br />and body, still
smell<br />the smell of
you on my couch.<br />That I wish we
had one last<br />pleasant moment
after the pain,<br />that we could
have spoken<br />words of
closure, that I<br />could reach
back and show<br />you why I did
what I did,<br />and it wasn’t because
of you<br />but what others
have done<br />to me that
broke and scarred<br />who I am today,
that I am<br />trying, that you
matter to me,<br />that I believed
what you<br />said and I
thought we were<br />headed
somewhere other than<br />off a dead-end
cliff,<br />that when I
didn’t hear from<br />you it felt as
though you had<br />disposed of me
and that I<br />was garbage to
you, and now<br />when we see
each other you<br />will act as if
we are<br />strangers, that
I meant<br />and mean
nothing to you.<br />I want to tell
you in the quiet<br />when it is only
us two<br />that I am
sorry, oh, just<br />one more time,
to see you<br />and tell you to
your face—<br />I still care, I’m
still here,<br />I still miss
you—<br />each and every
blessed day.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> ***</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Tansy Julie the
Soaring Eagle Paschold<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">12.17.23<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-36766132214668853082023-12-15T07:30:00.002-06:002023-12-15T07:30:10.425-06:00Revising and Editing Poetry<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Revising and
Editing Poetry</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>“The way to
stay fresh in poetry is to do something that makes you uncomfortable” –</b>Julie S.
Paschold, to a graduate poetry class at the University of Nebraska-Kearney</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I recently
consulted an Advanced Poetry class for graduate students at the University of
Nebraska at Kearney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were interested
in the subject of editing and revising their poetry. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here are
some considerations and things to think about when sitting down with one of
your poems, or a collection:</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><u><span style="font-size: large;">Things to
Consider for One Poem:</span></u></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
this a form poem, or free verse? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">for
form, are you rigidly following the rules, or breaking some of them?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">for
form, does the poem still make sense and flow?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Read
the poem aloud<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How
does it sound?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">choppy, smooth, rhyming, flowing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Does
it make sense? Is it supposed to?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
is the message? Who is the intended audience?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do
you repeat words—intentionally? Too
much? Do some of them need to be replaced with a synonym or deleted? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
it too descriptive, not enough?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
can you remove and still maintain the message?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
needs to be rephrased?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
it too long or short?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How
does it end—abruptly? Surprise? Are you satisfied? Do you leave them hanging at
the end? Are you trying to upset them?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Have
someone else read the poem aloud<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How
does it sound?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Does
anything stand out…is it supposed to?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do
they stumble on anything?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do
they question something?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
something missing? Or repetitive?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How
does it look?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Justification:
Center, Left, Right?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One
solid mass? Verses? Indented lines?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If
you have quotes: Use quotation marks or italics?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If
you have dialogue: Do you use justification for the speakers (one right, one
left)? Or verses? Or fonts? How to distinguish between them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
is the tone? Horror, humor, sorrow, political, social/society, grief,
romance….are you successful? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Does
the “voice” or tone change in the middle of the poem? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Line
breaks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are
they natural breaks, when someone would take a breath?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do
you intentionally break in the middle of a phrase or thought, jolting the
person into paying attention, so the poem is jolted, too, breaking the poem or
thought?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are
lines long or short?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
there a rhythm to them?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
this more narrative?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do
your sentences dictate a line break, or do you have sentences end in the middle
of a line, indicating flow throughout the poem?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Can
you split the poem into two?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Can
you merge two shorter into one longer poem?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
this a chapter poem?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Can
you change a form poem into free verse, or a free verse into a form? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Can
you add a random line into the middle of the poem to change the tone or message
or add distraction?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Things to
Consider for a Collection:</u></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> <span> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">What
overall meaning or message are you trying to get across?</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How
does the title help do this?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are
there sub-groups within the collection?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As
the message moves along the collection—what order does this take? How you place
the poems regulates how you create the message.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
length are you looking for? Full manuscript? Small selection for a submission?
Chapbook? Chapter in a manuscript?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
does it have to have, be, or sound like in order to “fit” what you are looking
for?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do
you have to change anything in order to do this?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do
you have to remove or add a poem in order to do this?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do
you have to edit a poem in order to do this?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you are
too close to a poem, and have trouble emotionally separating yourself from the
subject, either read the poem to another person, or imagine yourself as another
person. Edit as though you were in their shoes: it is a bit of a dissociating
tactic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I usually
take a break between writing a poem and editing it. I write by hand first, wait
at least a day, then type it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While typing,
I edit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I read it aloud, and type
further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I am still unsure, I have
someone read it to me and edit again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
will caution, however: YOU CAN EDIT A POEM TOO MUCH. There is a point when you
need to put a poem away. If you are unsure about whether you are done or not, put
it aside for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or try one of the
last five bullet points in the above list for single poems: breaking it up,
merging, adding a line, changing form, etc. Or accepting it as it is. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In the above quote, I closed by stating that remaining stagnant in a form or method that keeps you comfortable keeps you from growing. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Try a form you haven’t before. Use prompts that get you out of your normal thoughts. If you write sad poems, write a humorous one. Write a prose poem if you normally write short poems. Write collaborative poems with another poet. Share poetry with others. Get up and try a poetry slam, or just try reading in front of an open mic. Do something you normally wouldn’t. This keeps you fresh, keeps you growing and improving and developing as a poet and as a person.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I hope this helps!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me know if you found this useful. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thanks for
reading,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Julie S.
Paschold,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span> </span>author of <i>Horizons</i>
(Atmosphere Press)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:jpaschold@gmail.com"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">jpaschold@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><a href="https://jpaschold.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">https://jpaschold.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><a href="https://medium.com/@jpaschold"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">https://medium.com/@jpaschold</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">12.7.23<o:p></o:p></span></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-57476002108454065532023-12-07T06:41:00.003-06:002023-12-07T06:41:56.152-06:00Extra Protein: a poem<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Extra Protein</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ydzmUby6FZ0jUy0hpLaEMVPxohfv_yoFS4drY17AlPRs6RAOkaQ-drIs-c0_rb3-cbT1K_eFleeWAg2K-o26nejg-qiC1t5m_UtEld3Hn2QRdKBLx_k554NPbMC_OkiuI7xqZ319zv9hLsEi7GDusiUi2z1InEOsd3Tb4_xEig1Yikoqx25QWV084QA/s3418/Extra%20Protein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1980" data-original-width="3418" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ydzmUby6FZ0jUy0hpLaEMVPxohfv_yoFS4drY17AlPRs6RAOkaQ-drIs-c0_rb3-cbT1K_eFleeWAg2K-o26nejg-qiC1t5m_UtEld3Hn2QRdKBLx_k554NPbMC_OkiuI7xqZ319zv9hLsEi7GDusiUi2z1InEOsd3Tb4_xEig1Yikoqx25QWV084QA/w394-h228/Extra%20Protein.jpg" width="394" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">I declare to
you:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">I do believe<br />that I just
drank a fly.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The insect,
that is.<br />You know, like
the song…<br /><i>I know an
old lady<br /></i><i>who
swallowed a fly<br /></i><i>I don’t know
why…</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Only I think I
know<br />why I swallowed
this lump<br />that floated down
my throat<br />just a minute
ago.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">I left an open
can of energy drink,<br />half full,<br />on my work desk
at the office<br />yesterday, and
this morning<br />as I hastily
guzzled a sizeable gulp<br />of the sweet
caffeine,<br />I inadvertently
partook<br />of a small
unfortunate creature<br />whose curiosity
last night<br />was the death
of him,<br />drowning
instead of swimming<br />in a dark
aluminum cave of sugared liquid,</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">soon to spin<br />in a sea of
acid.<br />I can feel him
headed there now,<br />a lump of
chitin with curled legs—<br />causing me to
suppress my gag reflex,<br />but still be
able to ponder his journey.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Alas, as they
say,<br />I needed a bit
of extra<br />protein, anyway!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p>*** </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Tansy Julie the Soaring Eagle Paschold<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">11-10-23<o:p></o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-41312122319551981662023-10-28T22:16:00.018-05:002024-03-15T08:54:01.798-05:00Introducing My First Poetry Book, "Horizons"<p> <span style="font-size: large;"><b>My first poetry book, <i>Horizons</i> (Atmosphere Press) </b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">AVAILABLE NOW!!</span></b></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Embark on a captivating journey
through the vibrant world of living soil, where new horizons await under the
very ground we tread and the tapestry of human experience unfolds. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">This is
an invitation to delve deep into the bonds of family, to explore identity and
the spectacular essence of beauty, and to discover the marvels of Mother
Nature's cyclical dance. </span><i><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Horizons</span></i><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
pays homage to the richness of soil, a precious nonrenewable resource, blending
the art of poetry with the wonders of science and everyday life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So come join us on this expedition,
those of you from all walks of life, starting from the bedrock of soil and
venturing forth until we reach the breaking of the earth, to bask in the sun. <o:p></o:p></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><u>Order Here:</u></div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">**<a href="https://atmospherepress.com/books/horizons-by-julie-s-paschold/" target="_blank">Atmosphere Press</a>**</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><u><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/horizons-julie-s-paschold/1144201456" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Barnes & Noble</span></a><br /></u></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=horizons+julie+paschold&crid=24EZUFDUIM1WK&sprefix=horizons+julie+paschold%2Caps%2C90&ref=nb_sb_noss" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.target.com/p/horizons-by-julie-s-paschold-paperback/-/A-90767185#lnk=sametab" target="_blank">Target</a></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-large;">**Of course, the best way to order (and get a signed copy) is through the author at jpaschold@gmail.com or come to a reading ($18 + postage)**</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; color: #274e13; font-size: large;"><i>See below for schedule</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Other Places to Purchase <i>Horizons</i>:</span></p><p style="text-align: center;">Indigo Bridge Bookstore, 1624 S 17th St Ste 200, Lincoln, NE 68502</p><p style="text-align: center;">Norfolk Arts Center, 305 N. 5th Street, Norfolk, NE 68701</p><p style="text-align: center;">Your Forte, 415 Chestnut St, Atlantic, IA 50022</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: medium;"><b>***Coming in 2024: an Audiobook version!!!! Stay tuned for details! ****</b><br /><i>If you need or prefer this version...it IS coming!</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRG2EUo2NDpR4hIXjzSyj1lzozzo7SWZKMQDOLY66XNx9HcyDtyq0gNaDQF74Wf6Yv-E5jNi15n3BEpgHONJVzB9JUGsVmqHUdXZSZs-4Z3s4trDgJOTD8KES6FronJZP490qXSZ-YnzIybEGOh3D7BxYNqvVF8YPuuzC0b1JlAkahoo3cVUOUbiY3mW4/s2547/Paschold%20-%20Cover%20Project%20front%208.22.23%20jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2547" data-original-width="1648" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRG2EUo2NDpR4hIXjzSyj1lzozzo7SWZKMQDOLY66XNx9HcyDtyq0gNaDQF74Wf6Yv-E5jNi15n3BEpgHONJVzB9JUGsVmqHUdXZSZs-4Z3s4trDgJOTD8KES6FronJZP490qXSZ-YnzIybEGOh3D7BxYNqvVF8YPuuzC0b1JlAkahoo3cVUOUbiY3mW4/w256-h396/Paschold%20-%20Cover%20Project%20front%208.22.23%20jpg.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Author Events:</u></b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><ul><li style="text-align: left;"><b>Thursday, April 11; 3:45 PM @ Norfolk High School (GSA), Norfolk, NE</b></li><li style="text-align: left;"><b>Sunday, April 14, 2024: 2 PM @ Bennett Martin Public Library 4th Floor: John H. Ames Reading Series, Lincoln, NE</b></li><li style="text-align: left;"><b>Thursday, May 16, 2024; 5:30 PM @ Larksong Writer's Place, Lincoln NE</b></li><li style="text-align: left;"><b>Tuesday, December 3, 2024; 6:30 PM @ online through Nebraska Poetry Society</b></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-31453786540474122662023-10-14T16:30:00.006-05:002023-10-14T16:31:42.544-05:00Lament of a Burning Hollow: a poem<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1ANrDGfmhMjuLhBzgJyjailC8AOGJzcvBesj42TIG4TR26ztWP0X3XlAVyLAvdZ6Lo-fTL4NxIvUe4N_04gc6V2Y1AoKjz09eOziUjoN3GyCjfcObFLDASW5kYA7QfuGpEDSqQc1g2asP6vZxe_MSLFUO8JD-eQHHccF_h364tOzrZdRi5fKklT7bOU/s3120/Lament%20of%20a%20Burning%20Hollow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2944" data-original-width="3120" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1ANrDGfmhMjuLhBzgJyjailC8AOGJzcvBesj42TIG4TR26ztWP0X3XlAVyLAvdZ6Lo-fTL4NxIvUe4N_04gc6V2Y1AoKjz09eOziUjoN3GyCjfcObFLDASW5kYA7QfuGpEDSqQc1g2asP6vZxe_MSLFUO8JD-eQHHccF_h364tOzrZdRi5fKklT7bOU/s320/Lament%20of%20a%20Burning%20Hollow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Lament of a Burning Hollow</b></span></p><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The tree that
perches in the soil of me<br />and fondles all
my cares<br />is empty<br />save one<br />and I have left
it ripening<br />for you.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Take it, this orb
of flesh and feeling,<br />this fruit of yearning
and hope.<br />Palm it, my years
of untouched skin<br />until you are
ready to feed your desire.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If I could, I
would wash my hands<br />of my shame,
gather my crazy from<br />the tendrils of
your memory,<br />each day a pebble
rustling.<br />I would leave
this crusted-over<br />sagging heavy
load in the midst<br />of burning
thistles,<br />all thorns
aflame,<br />leaving roots
ready to stretch,<br />a soil
refreshed anew.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some say desire
is a fire<br />but all I have
is the shape of emptiness,<br />of missing you;<br />the thread of
silence<br />coils around
this heart.<br />The hole within
grows as it clenches;<br />when I am near
you, the ache enlarges<br />into the hollow
shape of your touch.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is as if you
are no longer real;<br />no one’s life
exists until it is shared.<br />You are no one now.<br />No one loves
me.<br />No one wants to
touch me.<br />No one fills my
heart.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No one fades to
a whisper.<br />No one is in
the wind.<br />No one has seen
it<br />blowing the tears
I do not cry.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Tansy Julie the
Soaring Eagle Paschold<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">10.14.23<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">written in
Norfolk Library’s Writing Lab, pulling words and ideas from various poems and
stories<o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-48794750121749389182023-09-25T19:56:00.003-05:002023-09-25T19:56:16.928-05:00Dear Friend Letter Seven: This isn't the Way It's Supposed to Go<p> September 25, 2023</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>This Isn’t the Way It’s
Supposed to Go</b></u></span><o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u></u></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkzydq2n46aCXlLiS7mBrSHI-D66TP3g0flOTxKB6s1rAmthguJmutkbU6HwRbWv1mU3K7fJU9vzzem59v8s2_B1O5AZ6C9XlBDW4jWLwZv1-S3KK2TICkECWlAvf4DAf7qyQBTZqCk1BYms2iDJLNDl3ES6iuDLCRhC2A346FxnxwSvdoQuOmP1fsi0/s4032/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Seven%209.25.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkzydq2n46aCXlLiS7mBrSHI-D66TP3g0flOTxKB6s1rAmthguJmutkbU6HwRbWv1mU3K7fJU9vzzem59v8s2_B1O5AZ6C9XlBDW4jWLwZv1-S3KK2TICkECWlAvf4DAf7qyQBTZqCk1BYms2iDJLNDl3ES6iuDLCRhC2A346FxnxwSvdoQuOmP1fsi0/w274-h365/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Seven%209.25.23.jpg" width="274" /></a></u></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><u><br /><b><br /></b></u></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Dear Friend,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>This will be my last letter to you</b></span>. I thought it appropriate
that, while looking forward in exploration at where we might go, I might look
backwards at how I came to be where I am now. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">If you asked me when I was young, I wouldn’t have told you I
expected my life to end up this way.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></i> Not
that I dreamed of being the blond princess running away with the dashing rich
prince. When I was a child, we girls all dreamed of being married to a
strapping strong man (if not a prince, could I at least be rescued by some sort
of noble knight?) while raising a couple of children. While I was an undergraduate in college, I
had endeavors to be single, childless, and have an impressive career in the
federal government through the research division of USDA or the regulatory
division of NRCS. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>I never imagined at 47 that I’d be a disabled divorced
(twice) queer working at the bottom of the totem pole of a large seed sales
company in a small city, living alone with my adult son with over 930 poems
written but barely having one book published, still living paycheck to
paycheck.</i></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But here I am. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>What will my future bring? </b>Will I continue in my job here,
coming to the office daily, my son eventually finding another home and moving
out, leaving me to live alone again?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Will my son buy my house and my parents need my help, meaning I live a
hybrid situation, working half of the time in the office, the other half of the
time from their house while I assist them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Will I move to another career this late in my life? Will I find someone
that sees past my disability, and finally learn to not lose or suffer in love?
Will we live together, or move between our two homes? <b>I don’t know.</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I spent most of my life trying to fill a hole I felt inside
of me.</b></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That sounds so cliché, I know. I
have a love-hate relationship with food: this is the first thing I tried to
fill the hole with, developing a strange sort of eating disorder that has
affected my body even today. I tried rescuing cats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried drowning my hole in alcohol, or at
least forgetting it with my blackout drunks. I tried bad relationships with men
and sex. I tried filling my rooms with things, a material lifestyle. I have
tried nearly everything: being an alcoholic, I can become addicted to nearly
anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>Nothing worked. </b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now I’m over nine years sober. It got worse before it got
better: there is a difference between being chemically sober, and being
emotionally sober. When I quit drinking, all the problems that I was ignoring
(and the hole) were still there—I had to face them first, and fight them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to find a new way to live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for me, sometimes I have to learn
something a few times before I get the message. Especially when it is very
close to me (especially when it is ABOUT me).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I can honestly say that I’m better now. And the hole?
Sometimes it is there, sometimes it is filled with contentment, with
serenity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wake daily and tell myself I
will fight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter what kind of day
it is. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The United States is obsessed with this idea that we always
have to be happy. We are forever in a pursuit of happiness. <i><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes, it is a good thing to be happy, but we
must also allow ourselves to feel sad. And mad, and disappointed, and joy, and
peace, and grief, and the whole gamut of feelings that life sends our way.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></i> I believe this partially where my hole came
from: I wasn’t feeling everything. I was trying to numb it all away. We feel, and we deal. The key is to not get stuck in just one
feeling. And to not feel it alone. You can share your feelings with me. Needing
help is okay, and all feelings are okay, and as long as my overall life is not
miserable….as long as I have decided to be content with what I have and with
what I can reach and that I am not perfect and that no one is…this is a good
life. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No, my job is not at the top of the company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is a job with good coworkers that has
benefits that I need and hours that help me keep a sane schedule. I haven’t
published many books, but I have one book coming out soon, and it is an
exciting thing to say I am an author, and have two blogs, and people are
excited with me to see this coming to fruition finally…and all things have
their time and their purpose. Perhaps there is a reason for the delay. I did it
better now that I know more. I do not have a huge circle of friends, but I am
involved in groups that understand me, and have a small selection of intimate
family and friends that accept me for the strange misfit that I am, and that is
better than pretending to be someone just for a large following of fake
relationships that fall apart when I need them the most. I know I am wanted
when people make time for me. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>Speaking of friends….can I count you among them?</u></span> Where do we
stand? In Evan Jones’ essay collection <i>I’ve Been Wrong Before</i>, he says
“…we settle for so little knowledge of each other” and this is why I’ve been
writing these letters. Now you know more about me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will you tell me more about you? What are you
afraid of? It is your turn. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>But if you take me, you have to take all of me.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have had men approach me, ask for Rita. I
didn’t write these letters, talk about my hypersexuality and mania and illness,
to bring her out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is destructive and
messy and obsessive and possessive when she gets called out. I didn’t write
about her to be used or abused again, to be someone’s affair, to be a secret
fuck until they work things out with their significant other, or a one-time
stand again. <b>When Rita is here, my feelings get confused and my hypomania
emerges and scares people away. </b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve written many poems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And some of my poems are exploring my feelings about romance, about all
kinds of relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My next poems?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">You wouldn’t be just a line in a poem. </span>I’ve
learned from that. I’ve also learned that I don’t want to suffer for love (any
kind…platonic, romantic, family). I won’t be disposable; I want someone who
will choose to make time for me, even when there doesn’t seem to be time to be
had. My friend who lives miles from me? We make it work. Even when we are being
pulled in opposite directions. Perhaps these letters are a little for him, too…
we have learned through the many years how to get closer, how to keep it going
through decades of change, of friendship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But now he knows me better through these letters, too. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>After all that you have read, after these seven letters, are
you still hanging with me?</i></b></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Through the distance, through the miles and the
years and the pixels and the Wi-Fi and the reasons for keeping all this inside,
the reasons to run away, despite what might hold us back…do I have you to count
in my group of fellow misfits and family? Will you want all of me, Julie and
Rita, both?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Are we headed towards something, other than a cliff? Am I
the one that got away? Do I play <i>You’re Gone</i> for you, too?</b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Is it too good to be true, or do I still have you? <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>Hoping to count you as one of us, I sign off again.</b></i></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">With my love to you, dear friend,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Julie</span><o:p></o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-543400755256221322023-09-20T11:38:00.004-05:002023-09-20T11:38:59.634-05:00Dear Friend Letter Six: Who is God; Whose God?<p> September 20, 2023</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Who is God; Whose
God?</u></b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVmJLL7jv4pKSqcC89cBPU2nUiBpOJf7Mqb_coF0Vhgvl-UBQUrO6mVb2Y2a_WF73X42tGfyX6g-RGolNO9dOBu6ZqXVOplMeWC3uYSm5qMdDSravxD3warpAG6vX3VZNXvVFaL-gUjryvCChXzYEG6LUJs90Aursltlts3130BzVq3epa4GPglKaxRk/s2130/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Six%209.20.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="2130" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVmJLL7jv4pKSqcC89cBPU2nUiBpOJf7Mqb_coF0Vhgvl-UBQUrO6mVb2Y2a_WF73X42tGfyX6g-RGolNO9dOBu6ZqXVOplMeWC3uYSm5qMdDSravxD3warpAG6vX3VZNXvVFaL-gUjryvCChXzYEG6LUJs90Aursltlts3130BzVq3epa4GPglKaxRk/w472-h199/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Six%209.20.23.jpg" width="472" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /><u><br /></u></b></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Dear Friend,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have been divorced two times. I have said in other letters
that some people consider divorces broken promises to God, but which God? <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>To
whose God were those promises made?</b></span> <span style="font-size: medium; font-style: italic;">If God is truly an awesome God </span><i>(please look
up the definition of “awesome”; we overuse it)</i><span style="font-size: medium; font-style: italic;">, how do we see, define, and
illustrate this power? </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I often tell the story of the three blind men and the
elephant to explain my view of a higher power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Three blind men were led to three different parts of the elephant: one
to the trunk, one to the ear, and one to the tail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which man experienced the elephant? <b>The
answer: all of them, just in different ways.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So it is with humans and a higher power, whom I will call God for short
typing purposes. The elephant’s ear is still the elephant, just not all of him.
<b>One religion explores one part of God, just not all of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One religion, one faith, is not all there is.</b>
<span style="font-size: medium;">We mortals are not capable of experiencing the whole of this higher power due
to our limited time, limited understanding, and imperfect selves.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The United States, especially the conservative population,
is heavy into Christianity. Let’s say Christianity is the tail of the elephant.
Some Christians will tell you the tail is the whole of the elephant; that there
is no other part of God but Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>That is such a limited view of something that is too big for us to
comprehend: we are mere mortal beings and not capable of understanding this
higher power to claim we know what all is encompassed in the higher power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are as many paths to God as there are
humans that lived.</i></span> We cannot see the complete elephant, even if we experience
several faiths, several walks of religion, several viewpoints of a higher power
in our life. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am a scientist. How do we look at God through a
scientific, factual lens?</b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Humans have created many names for their deities (or a
leader with special knowledge), so it is hard to call this higher power with
just one name. </i></span>Some religions have one deity, some have multiple deities that
share their powers, and some religions have several deities that reside
together in unison (a conundrum that even they can’t explain). Names include
God, Great Spirit, Higher Power, Allah, Buddha, Yahweh, Jehovah, Shiva, Akal
Murat, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost. Let’s call them body parts of the elephant.
<b>How do you choose just one name for this power, when humans have so many,
depending on who you are and where you worship, or what you believe?</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Humans have many religions that worship these deities.</i></span> The
difference between faith and religion?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Faith is more of a feeling, an understanding, a trust in the deity <i>(why
you worship)</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Religion is a set of rules
written to follow in order to prove you believe in the deity and must subscribe
to in order to belong to their group <i>(how to worship)</i>. In each religion, there
are stories, rules, myths, and books that have been passed down that include
people being said to be specially blessed with powers or skills, or demi-gods
who share powers with their deities as well as mortality with the humans. The
Bible is one such book of myths and stories. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Churches, mosques, and such buildings are designed to hold
worship services and meetings in order to inform and enforce these rules and
participate in rituals that demonstrate belief in their deities and bring
participants closer together. </i></span>These churches can be very elite gatherings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, Christianity is separated into
various denominations, even numerous non-denominational branches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even Lutheranism is split into ELCA (the
liberal Evangelicals), Wisconsin Synod (the most conservative and very close to
Roman Catholicism), and the Missouri Synod (somewhere in between). I grew up as
an ELCA Lutheran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, even though I
am baptized as a Lutheran, I am not allowed to participate in either of the
other Lutherans’ communion because I am not a member of their specific church;
they have a rule that is called <i>closed communion</i>; only their people can
be forgiven at their church through this ritual; outsiders cannot be included. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>That is a cold way of looking at a higher power, and doesn’t
even explain the existence of one. Is there even a God? </b></span>This most recent
generation of humans that are becoming adults, (Generation Z that I call iGen)
have made some extreme cases in how we see ourselves, and in how we see the
world. They have revolutionized gender and sexuality, and are now seeing faith
and spirituality through a different lens as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One way to “see proof” of a higher power is
through stories; this is how the Bible works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The newer generation is so far removed from the actual timeline of these
stories; they come from so long ago, that the believability is sometimes lost
behind them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Current churches seem
hateful and scary. The rules of religion have become so stilted, so severe,
that the freedom to believe in their own version of God is lost. <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>These young
adults aren’t looking for rules, but for inclusivity. This means we will need
to rewrite religion.</i></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In AA, we acknowledge a higher power, but insist that it is
a higher power of our own understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b>Each member is invited to see their own version of God as they see them.
No required rules, no set pronouns, no designated dogmas behind it. </b>This
freedom is attractive to even the agnostics, who haven’t devised their own idea
of a higher power yet; they can use the spirituality of the group, the power of
the faith that comes from being together as their higher power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>How do I see God? </b></span><u>I see a higher power as a light, a certain
flicker of life that exists in anything that changes (including rocks and
soil). This light is a guide that is more accepting and personal than rigid and
rule-making. </u>The new gatherings of humans, including a contemplative collective
that I am a member of, has less recitation and more conversation. <i>Less talking
to, more talking with.</i><i> </i> Less words of
others, more meditation and careful consideration of our own words. I believe this is a good thing. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is room for faith AND science, because each living
thing is rooted in science and life. We study what we are in awe of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That light of the higher power intrigues us;
we study what we want to understand; we want to understand the rest of the
elephant, or at least the part of the elephant that we open minded can see. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Isn’t the world always changing? Isn’t our curiosity
expanding our understanding of the world, of each other? Shouldn’t that expand
our view of faith, of life, of a higher power, too? I believe these changes are
a good thing. </i></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>It isn’t a new God; just another path to the elephant that
is already there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let the blind lead us
to their elephants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us see more of
the awesome life and wonder of our higher power that resides in all that
surrounds us, in all the world we see and experience. </b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With love, and wishes for a blessing in your lighted life,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Julie<o:p></o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-51675443647272549982023-09-13T09:45:00.002-05:002023-09-13T09:45:09.317-05:00Dear Friend Letter Five: I Promise to Tell the Truth<p> September 13, 2023</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>I Promise to Tell the
Truth</u></b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1LiifihG7DbZ5H-R7St_uLAa2DGH8VdErBBz0ufRj49UU-ysava87cj7jh9nOdGyP8hyPAGPYSlViaU6K1niOYgyuts_DoZfIjTpyb64_0HWClg3CafkXWIBLJB9P2uYZZcIOIkQ7BJ-CHYbrb6thLCB1tYEGsF9P04_VaRROnflj6WrsE9Fs3ftXdPs/s2046/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Five%209.13.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1535" data-original-width="2046" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1LiifihG7DbZ5H-R7St_uLAa2DGH8VdErBBz0ufRj49UU-ysava87cj7jh9nOdGyP8hyPAGPYSlViaU6K1niOYgyuts_DoZfIjTpyb64_0HWClg3CafkXWIBLJB9P2uYZZcIOIkQ7BJ-CHYbrb6thLCB1tYEGsF9P04_VaRROnflj6WrsE9Fs3ftXdPs/s320/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Five%209.13.23.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /><u><br /></u></b></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Friend,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In one of the readings that we use for AA meetings, the word
“honest” is used three times. <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>One of my biggest pet peeves, one of the things
that can permanently turn me away from a person, is someone who lies to me.</b></span>
Even an omission or a failure to tell something can be considered an untruth,
can be a lie. If I am trying to cover something up, I am being dishonest.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My first husband was a compulsive liar. <b>He lied about his
entire history.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He claimed that he grew
up on a farm (<i>a lie: the house his parents lived in at the time in the center of his small town in Iowa was the same house he grew up in</i>); he claimed he lost
a pregnant fiancée to a train wreck (<i>a lie: there was no fiancée</i>); he claimed
he had hundreds of thousands of dollars in a European bank account from the
life insurance of this dead fiancée (<i>a lie: there was no money</i>); he claimed he
owned a house in a town close by (<i>a lie: he stopped making house payments and
the bank repossessed the house</i>); he claimed he had a military background but
was injured and couldn’t continue (<i>a lie: he hadn’t even applied to the
military, much less tried to complete boot camp</i>); he claimed he had a near
fatal motorcycle accident in California that caused the scar on his chest (<i>a
lie: it was from when he was born and they had to re-inflate one of his lungs</i>).
He lied about his drinking. He lied about when he got off work. <b>He lied so much,
I still don’t believe anything he says until it happens.</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>So I hate lies. I abhor lies. </u></b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But what is the truth? <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>If there is more than one side to a
story</i></span> (and if there is more than one person involved, there usually is), <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>can
there be more than one truth?</i></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I thought I knew myself by the time I was in my 20s. Then
Rita happened. I had to get used to being someone with manic depression….then
manic depression with psychosis. In my 30s, I added “alcoholic” to the list.
Another adjustment to who I was. Then in my forties, PTSD and “queer”. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>How do you know when you truly know who you are?</u></span> When you
are done with the big reveals, the big changes, the adjustments to the
adjectives in front of your name? How do you know when you are doing the right
thing?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t know that anyone is ever done changing, done
discovering truths about themselves, or is perfect at knowing the proper thing
to do at the moment. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps that is why we change our minds. Perhaps that is why
the truth seems to waver, seems to change. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some people define marriage as a promise to God. So divorce
is a broken promise to God. That seems scary: a broken promise to some huge guy
in the sky. You leave, you are accused of lying to a deity. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But you may have promised something that could not happen
with an antiquated system that doesn’t allow for change. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Look at my “truths”. Why would I want to stay with someone I
never knew in the first place? Why would I want to stay when both of us were
miserable? What did each of us gain? Looking back, hanging on so long seems
absurd. Even our children were being hurt by this. Or in my other marriage, why
would I want to stay with someone who didn’t see ME? Someone who used and
berated me? Someone who put me in danger? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>When is breaking the promise okay?</i></span> When do I refuse to let
an overbearing generation or an antique idea of God tell me what my own
contentment or future holds? <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>When is my truth the right truth to tell? </b></span>When do
I refuse to let the “promise” hold my contentment and safety hostage?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sometimes truth is black and white.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either you grew up on a farm, or you didn’t
and you grew up in a house in the middle of a little bitty town in Iowa. (Or
you moved off the farm in fifth grade, and now your farm has been absorbed by
the city you moved into, like me). Some people only see the world in black and
white, all or nothing. Javert, in <i>Les Miserables</i> by Victor Hugo, thought
people could only be all evil or all good. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u><i>But much of the world is somewhere in between.</i></u></span> Somewhere in
the gray area that didn’t fit into Javert’s life, where a convict can be kind,
or a man can break the law to feed his family. Just like most of us mean well
and struggle with the “right” thing to do, all divorce isn’t “evil” and we all
aren’t going to hell for breaking a promise to some big angry God in the sky. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The world is a confusing, swirly place out there, </b></span>where your
truth as you stand can be a little different from my truth where I stand, where
we think we are doing the right thing in the beginning but someone changed so
our agreement or relationship has to change too and that’s okay, where most of
us just want to be content and are striving for that, even if we accidently
step on a few toes, and we’re sorry, but we will make amends. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">If we’re sincere, and honest, we can get through it
together, one step at a time.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I mean this, honestly and sincerely, friend.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thinking of you.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Love,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Julie<o:p></o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-16654952683099205902023-09-06T09:33:00.002-05:002023-09-13T09:45:22.972-05:00Dear Friend Letter Four: The Q Word<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">September 6, 2023<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>The “Q” Word</u></b></span><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnumHR6shoTQx39ILD74yOH2tTkprEDpVnc1tXjIyC4Sbhfk2HB8WVbg9QsLc4nvIrqTfqlDiKYCJjDSG1PDOdqzTK9RIkPYGbqLPohfNpSaoe65PAA6hG2C3iy2VZiDhHNd27YITbzle3AynvsU4NafGlo0y23dZlrYyfFql4QB5oie_IlPOXR2WcgO0/s3138/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Four%209.6.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1875" data-original-width="3138" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnumHR6shoTQx39ILD74yOH2tTkprEDpVnc1tXjIyC4Sbhfk2HB8WVbg9QsLc4nvIrqTfqlDiKYCJjDSG1PDOdqzTK9RIkPYGbqLPohfNpSaoe65PAA6hG2C3iy2VZiDhHNd27YITbzle3AynvsU4NafGlo0y23dZlrYyfFql4QB5oie_IlPOXR2WcgO0/w398-h237/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Four%209.6.23.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Friend,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>If my being crazy didn’t scare you away, this is the other
letter where I imagine you seeing this one itty bitty five-letter word…and
never talking to me again. </b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you have read any of my previous blogs, if you have
picked up my book (at the date of this posting, it isn’t published yet, but
will be soon) and read the first few words of my author biography, if you have
seen the sign in my front lawn or the flag on the front door of my house…you
might see this word…and if you are a typical old-fashioned American, you may
assume certain meanings to this word.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other word that comes before “poet” in my bio, other
than “disabled” is…”QUEER”. Yes. <span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>Please, before you assume things about the
word, about me, read this letter first. </b></i></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Many cis-gender, heterosexual individuals (if you don’t know
what either of those terms mean, you probably belong to both of the groups)
assume “queer” means gay. <b>But that would be wrong. </b>I call people who associate
themselves with LGBTQIA+ or Pride the Alphabet People. (Look at how our acronym
has grown over the years). There are so many definitions of different kinds of
gender AND sexuality (and if you don’t know the difference between these, hang
on a minute) that often, in order to cover all our bases, or if we don’t fit in
a specific category, or if we fit into several, we will just call ourselves
queer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is kind of a “miscellaneous”
kind of word, an “anything other than cis/hetero” term. <span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>So “queer” can mean
something different for each person that claims it. </u></b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Here is what it means for me. </b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Growing up, I felt that I never quite fit in anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was an oddball (and still am). I was born
with a female body, so was expected to like and play with and act like a girl
“normally” would. But instead of pink, I liked orange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I played with Barbies, but I also liked to be
outside, looking at the plants and insects and creepy-crawlies. When other
girls had posters of muscled men and boy bands on their walls, it never
occurred to me to want those kind of idols (though my friends from school can
tell you I had my fair share of crushes). I got an Agronomy degree (two,
actually, but who is counting?), and was the only female in the Agronomy Club
AND the soil fertility project on campus where I worked. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>What does this all mean? </b><i>This describes gender roles—the
expectation that our culture has on those with certain biological sexes to act
a certain way.</i><i> </i> Since I have a female
body, I am supposed to act as my culture defines how a “girl” is supposed to
behave, what a “girl” is supposed to wear, to work, to study, to like, to do.
But I don’t conform to those ideals. Technically, my term is Gender
Non-Conforming. But I don’t like the idea that there is something we are supposed
to conform to in the first place. So I use the word “queer” instead. My gender
isn’t a typical female; I’m queer, thanks.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What about sexuality? That’s complicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s queer, too. Basically, my manic
depression changes my desires (Rita wants EVERYONE, my depression wants no
one).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I am stable, the best term to
describe me is demisexual. What the heck is that? A form of asexuality, it
means I am attracted to people I have an emotional connection with more than I
am to any certain physical attributes. As far as gender/biological sex goes, I very
much appreciate the female body, enough to be attracted to it visually. The
male body is more of a physical touch attraction rather than a visual
attraction. So, yes, rather than try to describe this to someone (nope, not
heterosexual, and nope, NOT gay, and nope, don’t have time to tell a
long-drawn-out story every time…) I just say “queer”. We’re good, right?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, you cis/hetero folk who have made it this far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friend, if you are still here and reading.
<b><i>Most of us alphabet people aren’t as scary strange as you may think we
are.</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are just ordinary (some of us
extraordinary, some of us a little quirky, some of us still oddballs)….what I
mean to say is <span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">we are just people, just like you. </span>So I may be queer, but it’s
just a step off the path you’re used to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not a jump into some bizarre lake full of razor-tooth snakes or
anything. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And if I got the chance to choose another song to live in?
For this, I would proudly choose The Greatest Showman’s “This is Me”. I hear my
daughter boldly stand and sing her solo in a clear voice, this song making me
cry near the end of her senior year of high school, as I am just discovering
who I really am, already four decades old, and just figuring out <u>it is not a
failure to be girly enough, but a proud queer individual who can stand, no mask
in hand, and say, “This. Is. Me”. </u><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Are you okay with that, too? Are you proudly standing up,
accepting who you are? Do you love the whole of what you see in the mirror?
Don’t let the cookie cutter of culture tell you who to be.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Be you.</b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thinking of you and loving you just as you are.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Love,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Julie<o:p></o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-18218674847862408732023-08-30T08:45:00.005-05:002023-09-13T09:44:00.110-05:00Dear Friend Letter Three: What Disability; You're Crazy<p> August 30, 2023</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>What Disability;
You’re Crazy</b></u></span><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilWNFBMGf2ugDjZKbsZhEwSeI2oD-xRVWLYfzidhY69JdKrIRYJY-SNiUDe9cEAMnkvB4nUCB6Kn18VPwhqueFzXo9GIBECZ6g3S8cFfWo5ii1w2ydIhLUhNV4dQfYwIP4G6VnYln90dBs0MqTHJqCxfOdhR7EPUHdWQjXzSGJ0sQPYYbAy05WrZHcTIA/s3836/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Three%208.30.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2374" data-original-width="3836" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilWNFBMGf2ugDjZKbsZhEwSeI2oD-xRVWLYfzidhY69JdKrIRYJY-SNiUDe9cEAMnkvB4nUCB6Kn18VPwhqueFzXo9GIBECZ6g3S8cFfWo5ii1w2ydIhLUhNV4dQfYwIP4G6VnYln90dBs0MqTHJqCxfOdhR7EPUHdWQjXzSGJ0sQPYYbAy05WrZHcTIA/w443-h274/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Three%208.30.23.jpg" width="443" /></a></div><br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Dear Friend,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Here is one of the letters where I start talking and I
imagine you running the other way.</b></span> Even farther than we are right now. Not only
have you learned that I have been unsuccessfully married two times, but there
was that odd time I mentioned in the last letter about feeling like I was two
people and having a disability.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>What does that mean?</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And wait a minute, if I have a disability, how can I work
full time? And why can’t anyone see it on my body?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">First, I don’t talk about my disability much because I am
sick of talking about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I don’t
hide it. It also has stigma attached to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And some people don’t believe me because of how well I adapt my
surroundings to deal with it. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>My disability is actually a cumulative effect of several
different events and diagnoses. </b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It started when I was in my early twenties. Again, I was
dating that farmer boy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went to my
general physician, and explained that <i><b>it felt like I was two people:</b></i> the normal
shy one, that was often sad and tired, and one that was outgoing and risky. My
doctor had this sorrowful look on his face and sent me to a psychologist AND a
psychiatrist. This was in the late 1990s. They diagnosed me as depressed,
naturally extroverted, and put me on antidepressants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It only made things worse. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While this was happening, I was dating the farm boy, but my
“alter ego” that I call Rita—the outgoing hypersexual temptress that didn’t
seem like me but possessed my body—was hooking up with anyone she could get her
hands on. I broke up with the farm boy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He didn’t like it, found out I (or Rita) was sleeping around, got angry,
and decided he would “take what I was giving to other guys for himself”, as he
put it. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Enter first husband, pregnancy, engagement, and a sudden
huge depression. Rita disappeared. <i>I thought I was cured.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right? After baby number two, we had to be
creative about our money management, so in order to cut costs for childcare,
hubby worked days, I worked nights and took care of the kids during the days.
So I didn’t sleep. Know what happened? Yup, here came Rita again. Another
doctor tried diagnosing me with dissociative identity disorder (multiple
personalities), but that didn’t feel right to her. I had a sort of affair with
one of the board members of the place I was working at. Hubby got angry, put a
hole in the wall right beside my head after cornering me in the closet of our
bedroom. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What was our solution? Let’s move. We tried to settle down
into a small town, but we’ll just say you can’t move away from your problems,
and can’t drink them away, either. A doctor finally noticed something was very
wrong….and found a correct word for it. They use the word Bipolar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I use the phrase Manic Depression. I <u>hate</u>
having a buzzword for a diagnosis… and feel “bipolar” is an inappropriate term
for the illness. That was in 2006.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I couldn’t get my illness in order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hubby and I had married for the wrong
reasons, and the stress of that kept popping up in my illness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did finally get sober in December 2013, but
after years of self-treating a mental illness with alcohol and an eating
disorder, I wasn’t stable right away. He couldn’t (or wouldn’t) handle this,
and left (with the kids and a threat to use my illness to never let me see them
again if I tried fighting him) in 2015. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Somewhere in here is a series of catatonic episodes where I
lost consciousness that led to a traumatic brain injury from a doctor giving me
too much medication, becoming toxic from that, and falling down stairs dozens
times and a car accident while losing a week of my memory—in April 2016. I
fondly call it <b>The Incident.</b> It really messes with my current ability to recall
basically anything. It is why I have notes and what looks like chaos around my
house and desk at work: they are constant reminders of how and what to do. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then there was hubby number two.<i> I don’t talk about him.</i>
Some people don’t even know he exists. I don’t say his name (I say dickhead
instead… even asshole is a compliment… there’s a poem for that, if you want to
know more). <i>We will just call him a sociological project turned parasite that
ended up abusing me via gaslighting techniques, verbal threats, and cumulative
stresses that brought up farm boy rapist memories and created my PTS</i>D. Enter
the second time I’ve had to get a protection order, the second time I’ve
divorced, and the final time I have gone out on my own… this time more
determinedly on my own two feet. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So diagnosed with Bipolar in 2006, sober but alcoholic in
2013, handed another neat diagnosis of PTSD around 2020 (happy COVID… here’s
another label for you)… <b>I didn’t feel put together until sometime in late 2021.
</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And from all this rambling, it sounds like I’m complaining,
and it sounds like a bunch of made-up rubbish, <span style="font-size: medium;"><u>which is why I HATE talking
about it</u></span>. But now you know.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes, I am disabled—trust me, some people have actually
watched me have a psychotic episode outside a house in the town where I live
now (a moment I am very ashamed of), I DO have hallucinations (including seeing
a huge 6’6” 280 pound son of mine in my house when he wasn’t there and a
pangolin in the middle of a road in rural Nebraska), and I have actually
thought I could be in two places at one time because <b>I thought I was two people</b>
(Julie and Rita…they can entertain two groups at once, right? oh my what WAS I
thinking). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now you can run the other way. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">But wait.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Because I don’t sit down and roll over when it comes to my
disability.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></b> I don’t let it take over
anymore. I pay attention, and I listen.
I see a specialist monthly. I take medication that we alter regularly. I log
triggers daily. I am still sober. <span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>I fight</b></i></span>—every day, every hour, I fight. I am
not normal, I will never be “cured”, but I am better now than I ever have been,
and I believe these experiences have taken me where I am today. I believe my
creative spirit comes from this mis-wired brain as well.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At this point, if I could choose another song to live in
(besides the “You’re Gone” from Letter One), it would be P!nk’s <i>F**kin’
Perfect</i>. Because no one is perfect, and I’ve fought hard to be where I am now. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So if you can put up with a slightly crazy, mis-wired but
eccentric, never normal but unique, wonderful ever-changing me, welcome. Don’t
go away. I miss you.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thinking of you, every crazy part of me.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Love, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Julie<o:p></o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-48878460157267042642023-08-22T12:46:00.003-05:002023-08-22T12:46:32.000-05:00Dear Friend Letter Two: Why Stay, In Love<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">August 22, 2023</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;"><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Why Stay, in Love</span></u></b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77XlTAv60HtzqrEpT7qYM41S_vGe9J3Wri143t8YpIkwC2WyXd2yIYqABoTWpsDjbH1RMlTzOaxlw-irnldVGeo5WKq7Ix9mnPyoRwVswYomvRGN18i2dOrkeNEmf4JmJhc7HZkdrVniTldV25sfRIQxHWeCqs33Rx3RMjY5vORc5LZsQzM9g3vl2G38/s3771/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Two%208.22.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2352" data-original-width="3771" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77XlTAv60HtzqrEpT7qYM41S_vGe9J3Wri143t8YpIkwC2WyXd2yIYqABoTWpsDjbH1RMlTzOaxlw-irnldVGeo5WKq7Ix9mnPyoRwVswYomvRGN18i2dOrkeNEmf4JmJhc7HZkdrVniTldV25sfRIQxHWeCqs33Rx3RMjY5vORc5LZsQzM9g3vl2G38/w380-h237/Dear%20C%20Letter%20Two%208.22.23.jpg" width="380" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook", serif;">Dear
Friend,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">I am
still here. You are still there. I am still writing to you, reaching through
the miles and the silence with words, written words about me and you and all of
us, about how love can be and can’t be, how the journey of life can find us
guessing at what is and what we thought it is supposed to be. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">My
parents celebrated their fifty-year anniversary last year. My mother’s parents
were also married over fifty years. My father’s parents made it to 65 years. I
have two friends from grade school who married their high school
sweethearts…and at their late forties, are still happily married. <i>I am elated
for each of them</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;"><i>Growing
up, long-time married couples surrounded me. There wasn’t a question of what my
future would entail</i>: I would get married, have children, and stay married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Divorce wasn’t an option.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember as a youngster, having a
discussion with one of those friends who is still married to her high school
sweetheart about love: we thought love is less a fleeting feeling, and more a
deciding to continue with the same dedication as before. We were young; we
hadn’t seen rough times or gone through anything yet. Our bodies hadn’t hit
adolescence or felt lust, we didn’t know that changes can be severe and even
understanding ourselves can be a challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-size: medium;">When I was young, it seemed so simple</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">And it
can be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t assess why every couple
decides to marry, but the ideal situation is that two people choose each other
because they have a common bond, they like and love each other, they want to
spend their lives together because of what they see in each other now, and what
they think they see the other person becoming with them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>And
couples can make it through those tough times. </b></span>Even when people change, couples
can adjust. Even when they hit a rough spot, they can cling to that original
reason they chose each other, can renew those reasons they first fell for each
other, can find a new way to reach each other. Every couple has rough patches;
every couple has the potential to get through them. My dad’s parents made it
through the Second World War, when my grandpa was a medic in the army. My
parents made it through a terrible farm accident. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">I
wanted to be one of those couples. I wanted to find love like that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">When I
was in my early twenties, dating one of those farmer boys perfect for settling
down with, I started having strange symptoms. I went to three doctors, told
them it was like I was two people. They said I was just an extroverted person.
I looked back at my shy life, my constant feeling that I didn’t fit in
anywhere, and this didn’t make sense. My two sides split further. <b><i>Why</i></b>
did this happen? That is for another letter. <u>What</u> happened is that
farmer boy turned into a rapist. Lovely they-lived-happily-ever-after flew out
the window. <i>And I fell farther into my confusion. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">I
married my first husband because the pregnancy test I took was positive. He proposed
by asking me if I could find it in my heart to marry a drunk like him. Our
daughter was 13 months old and was our flower girl at our wedding. We put the cart
before the horse, so to say. But I was convinced this could still be that
childhood love story in our dreams… the house, the children, the happy couple. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">I think
some couples <u>can</u> stay together if they marry for other reasons than if
they are truly connected as an equal couple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But many can’t. We couldn’t. We weren’t together for ourselves; we were
together for the children. There were other problems; I won’t go into that now.
But I believe if a couple is together for reasons other than each other, the
stresses between them may often be too much to create a healthy marriage. Or a
stable, long-term one. I resisted this divorce; I held resentments for a long
time. It took me a while to let go of this. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Why
should someone stay?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When should they
go?</i></span> If a person must hide something in order to stay, that is a red flag. If
they are giving up something or someone that earnestly makes them happy, that
is a red flag. If they have changed enough through the years that they no
longer walk the same path or have an epiphany that significantly alters their
course and the other person can’t follow, that is a red flag. If their reason
for being together in the first place was based on something other than truth
and each other, that is a red flag. If they didn’t know who they were, and
discover that later, and the other person can’t change with them, that is a red
flag. If they are staying together to make someone else happy, that is a red
flag. If they are staying together because they are scared, that is a red flag.
If there is less trust now and more jealousy, that is a red flag. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">That
seems like a lot of red. I thought I could stay, sacrifice contentment for the
kids. Cover it up with dedication. Paint a good picture. Pretend. My miserable
sickness kept bleeding out through the cracks. Who am I to be giving advice?
<i>Perhaps I know what to do now because I have done what you are NOT supposed to
do. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">But if
a couple can bend, can change together, can make the commitment to truth…if a
couple isn’t hiding or looking elsewhere…if a couple started out looking at
each other, and are still looking at each other…if there isn’t a piece of themselves
they are destroying in order to stay together …then I believe they have a
chance. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>So am I
urging “stay” or “leave”? Fight or flight? We or me?</b></span> That is not my choice to
make. That is not my journey. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>What is
love? </u></b></span>Perhaps it does start with a fluttering, a fleeting feeling, a bit of
lust. Perhaps it is, like my friend and I were discussing, a little decision
each day, to continue with the other, on top of that fluttering. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;"><b>Perhaps
love is also letting the person choose their own journey. Perhaps love is
wanting them to be happy, no matter where that leads them. Perhaps love is not
a possessing, but also a releasing. Perhaps love is holding the fluttering,
then watching the horizon between you, no matter what distance that becomes. </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But the
most important person to love is yourself. Is what you are doing each day a mirror
of the self deep inside? Are you loving YOU, too?</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">Thinking
of you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">Love,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">Julie<o:p></o:p></span></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-88113613609960638762023-08-16T17:18:00.002-05:002023-08-16T17:18:45.841-05:00Dear Friend Letter One: Feeling Music & Being Left, Alone<p style="text-align: left;"> August 16, 2023</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Feeling Music and Being Left, Alone</b></u></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1DZQxobwonrLSlNOofVPnzjjfA1QHaM_QOVBdOumJ7fHwibJHHU0Hd93OVR1UOwY9pvjfdNouRjymm0EiAedMr02BufywjmCFBJeynBcqY3R9PSpJy3vg9Tvs4h9rNH8i3eAh5-E2z4xmdCXyTHvnsW4MvNOFOQqayWMOMpuNmCFnEVPsh6NMhbm6ko/s3814/Dear%20C%20Letter%20One%208.16.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1951" data-original-width="3814" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1DZQxobwonrLSlNOofVPnzjjfA1QHaM_QOVBdOumJ7fHwibJHHU0Hd93OVR1UOwY9pvjfdNouRjymm0EiAedMr02BufywjmCFBJeynBcqY3R9PSpJy3vg9Tvs4h9rNH8i3eAh5-E2z4xmdCXyTHvnsW4MvNOFOQqayWMOMpuNmCFnEVPsh6NMhbm6ko/w420-h215/Dear%20C%20Letter%20One%208.16.23.jpg" width="420" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Dear Friend,</b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am here. You are there. We can’t or don’t or won’t talk in
ways I wish we could. <i><span style="font-size: medium;">So much, oh there is so much I want to say to you</span></i>. Since
we do not talk, I will say these things to you here. I am afraid the words will
not come out right, that I will scare you away, that what I mean to say and
what I do say will not match. This is not poetry. I can do poetry: I dream, I
think in verse. <span style="font-size: medium;">So have a kind heart as you read these letters. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>I was numb for years</i>.</span> I was numb not only from the three
years and four months (yes, I have been counting them) since the protection
order was first issued for my second husband, in order to keep me safe from him
and allow me to start my own life. My PTSD started before that. I was numb from
the trauma during the abuse, numb in order to stay in a situation that I needed
desperately to get out of. Then I was numb in fear. Numb out of habit. Numb out
of lack of trust. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But then I trusted you. <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>This past week, suddenly, I have
started feeling</i></span>. It is amazing. It is partly because of you, because I trusted
you. I woke up. I am learning how to manage my emotions again. It is similar to
when I first got sober nine years ago. <i>Everything is amplified and messy.</i> My
brain is now sorting it all out, but slowly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, as I was told by a wise friend, feeling “wrong” feelings for a
person is better than feeling nothing at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i><span style="font-size: medium;">After all, there is no such thing as a wrong feeling</span></i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it is there, it needs to be
acknowledged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is coming from
somewhere. I have learned that the hard way: I used to drink to drown those
confusing feelings. They stayed there until I acknowledged and dealt with them.
Now I get to do this again. It is wonderful and mild-swirling and overwhelming
and awe-inducing and made me cry for the first time this weekend. I haven’t
cried for months. I think this is good.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am listening to music again. Really listening. I had been
stuck in silence before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have started
with familiar songs, the music of my past. I am recalling memories attached to
those songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has made me wonder: <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>what
song would you choose to live in?</b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If I had to live in a song, it would be <i>You’re Gone</i>
by Diamond Rio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be a bittersweet
living. This is for two reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The first is because I remember my friend Timmy when we were
both in graduate school in Nebraska.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was my dancing partner; we would go to street dances and country bars, wherever
there was a band playing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could dance
to anything—two-step, waltz, polka, you name it: he led, I followed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even danced to Metallica; we also made up
our own steps to <i>Ants Marching</i> by The Dave Matthews Band. <i>You’re Gone</i>
was our song in a way; he would sing it to me because we knew he was going to
Hawaii for the Pioneer Seeds breeding program after graduation. I never heard
from him again. He was a respectful, fun friend. <i>The choices we make affect the
rest of our life</i>. It is a good memory. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The second reason I would choose <i>You’re Gone</i> is
because, although I have supportive family, many people who used to be in my
life aren’t in it anymore, or they are on the outer fringes, looking in. I
acknowledge that my disability and who I am in general is not easy to live
with, and I have changed over the years, but few people have had the courage to
see me as I am, and stay close. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I say that is okay, because <i><span style="font-size: medium;">I am used to being alone</span></i>. That
seems strange coming from a twin. When I was first forced into a situation
where I had to make it on my own, I resisted it. I was scared. I made some strange and poor
choices. This is a discussion for another letter. <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Now I believe it is better to
be alone and find contentment in myself than be with someone and pretend things
are okay: to be together and be miserable or living for someone else’s wishes
or their supposed happiness only spreads sorrow.</i><i> </i></span> It took me years to come to this realization.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Today’s devotion in my book <i>The Promise of a New Day</i>
opens by letting me know “A path is only a path, and there is no affront, to
oneself or others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do”
(Carlos Castaneda). I certainly am on a path I didn’t predict when I was
younger, and have had to back up, start over, switch paths at different moments
in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>But that is okay</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Revisiting my compass, where I am, is better
than plowing down the wrong path for the only reason that I started it and I
think I have to finish everything I start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Buddhism teaches that joy and happiness arise from letting
go. Perhaps as I get older, I have learned to try to control less (especially
people) and do more of what I need, not what others want. <b>This has given me a
certain freedom, and a certain peace. And I think that peace is what can bring
some sort of happiness, if I let it. </b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But this is my path, my story, my truth. Every person has
their own. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>What song would you live in?<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>What song are you living in now?</i></b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thinking of you,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Julie<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">P.S. Before you freak out that I am telling everyone to get
divorced and leave if things are tough, I’ll tell you why I’m glad people stay
together—and why I would have, and wish I could have taken a different road. <o:p></o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-7055378442272064472023-08-06T11:46:00.004-05:002023-08-06T11:46:22.896-05:00Once, Again: An old poem revisited<p>Posting an oldie but a goodie. I wrote this for my sister, who was a state officer in the Order of Rainbow for Girls. But the symbolism in this can touch so many other people at this point in the political and cultural scheme of things. If you have reached out and fallen; rest. But don't stay. Find a rainbow, and reach again. You will indeed find a friend. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Once….Again</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSREw8bzGeQERuZ3QpoW7se54QZs4iilw902lTa1cMSqMcmn_39xxsYRmrIwyKQ3uj_wZlH4J_M2BUxTRbhINNfjEL2ao5tA3o933n4zDpkpPDSiZ-98JbHeaieHhnFtV26xi7M3ExdI7umZyQH_XtPgXNb2RoCNN5L3nTmGmi4k1G8tJCE76i6fmIuUs/s2774/Once%20Again.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1813" data-original-width="2774" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSREw8bzGeQERuZ3QpoW7se54QZs4iilw902lTa1cMSqMcmn_39xxsYRmrIwyKQ3uj_wZlH4J_M2BUxTRbhINNfjEL2ao5tA3o933n4zDpkpPDSiZ-98JbHeaieHhnFtV26xi7M3ExdI7umZyQH_XtPgXNb2RoCNN5L3nTmGmi4k1G8tJCE76i6fmIuUs/s320/Once%20Again.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal">Once I tried to<br /> touch
a star<br /> reach
a constellation.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I s t r e t c h e d <br />my hand way up there,<br /> but I
couldn’t<br /> touch
the stars.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once I tried to<br /> touch
a star<br /> reach
a constellation.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I struggled, hanging on to nothing<br />Hoping for my life.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But they t h r e w me back<br /> and I went
hurtling<br />to the ground<br />where I began.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Yes, once I tried to<br /> touch
a star<br /> reach
a constellation.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But instead of getting everything—<br /> the
heavens and unknown—<br /> I ended up
back on the ground.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The stars were not my own.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Yet later,<br /> in a cloud<br /><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>I found a ladder made<br /></span> of
a rainbow, arched<br /> and
to take step by step.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, daring once more to <br /> touch
a star<br /> reach
a constellation</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My hands grasped the edges<br />and my feet found a rung.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I began my climb once more.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> ***</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tansy Julie the Soaring Eagle Paschold<br />June 1994</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-55321224580949102162023-07-02T14:49:00.002-05:002023-07-02T14:49:33.305-05:00Just Fishing: a poem<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Just Fishing</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh58l4euGDwklRRLxUKZSugGcP6yTJf63SZFFbvba1lFefEYBK962cEO3wMS5pnyl9m8c3q26e-F_kRHL1T-PDGhAaqcfTXINWLU7IaxXy-c6d129vv3tsyCDkO2mU4Z-qXwZmr09tj3xFvtopGb8IGWbRhr6LQBmAyGo_ImgvLwQj7xd-uO-M2P-WA6LU/s2048/long%20fishy%20this%20way%200723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="581" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh58l4euGDwklRRLxUKZSugGcP6yTJf63SZFFbvba1lFefEYBK962cEO3wMS5pnyl9m8c3q26e-F_kRHL1T-PDGhAaqcfTXINWLU7IaxXy-c6d129vv3tsyCDkO2mU4Z-qXwZmr09tj3xFvtopGb8IGWbRhr6LQBmAyGo_ImgvLwQj7xd-uO-M2P-WA6LU/s320/long%20fishy%20this%20way%200723.jpg" width="91" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Something fishy this way comes<br />or he wants it to<br />standing on the
edge of the riverbank,<br />a new spot he’s
found now that<br />he’s moved away
after high school,<br />feet standing
in the tall grass<br />remembering
days of chasing<br />popcorn frogs
and water bugs<br />by the sandy
rim of the lake<br />when he was
knee high to a<br />grasshopper and
too excited to<br />concentrate on
his own fishing line.<br />Now he
straightens his cap and<br />recasts,
reflecting on the bird<br />quietly
watching him from the tree<br />branch across
the water, wondering<br />if it’s one of
the few wandering in<br />from the south,
visitors from the<br />warm climates
who can’t handle<br />the midwestern
winters; an example<br />of each
immigrant species laying<br />with wings
folded and feet clutching<br />invisible twigs,
their backs pressing<br />against glass
shelves in the University’s<br />new exhibit in
the museum, colorful<br />feathered
bellies rounded, facing up<br />in the case he
walked by on the way to<br />the mounted
insects, pointing out<br />each one he has
encountered in his<br />short two
decades here on this planet,<br />now listening
to the water trickle<br />by against
small stones as the fish<br />he waits to
hook create rings on the<br />small still
surface of a pooled outcrop<br />beside him, and
the time, the sun,<br />this afternoon,
for once seems to<br />almost stand
still, as still as the<br />moment before
his pole bends and<br />his bait yields
a bite and his shout<br />sends the
startled bird off flapping,<br />tree branch
waving goodbye, goodbye.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Tansy Julie the Soaring Eagle Paschold</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-84830984844188425412023-05-30T10:35:00.003-05:002023-05-30T10:35:40.353-05:001971 to 2023: Have We Really Changed?<p>1971 to 2023: Have We Really Changed?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was perusing the discards of our local library’s book
sale, and came across some issues of LIFE magazine from 1971. Interested, I picked
up a couple to read later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Scanning through the issue for May 7, 1971, I was encouraged
to see the things that have changed, and depressed that so many haven’t in the 52
years that have passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4Q42p5yE7TLoP9Cdbx5pRl9jmsoczPlLUjJqh4gVgV7O10xYZPrbcyOshf6aG-36Mw-gH3Tkek9PpBfG9nuBYMvQTWqdDAGWn5xlcCgmD5ZDBDIPpKh445-gO3mxHv6itflBiPxlGH1RW01fMgJgJy2b5-UOs-NRZsngtI-oAyHf7LaaSYSQ6zUM/s4160/Life%20Saucy%20Feminist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2935" data-original-width="4160" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4Q42p5yE7TLoP9Cdbx5pRl9jmsoczPlLUjJqh4gVgV7O10xYZPrbcyOshf6aG-36Mw-gH3Tkek9PpBfG9nuBYMvQTWqdDAGWn5xlcCgmD5ZDBDIPpKh445-gO3mxHv6itflBiPxlGH1RW01fMgJgJy2b5-UOs-NRZsngtI-oAyHf7LaaSYSQ6zUM/s320/Life%20Saucy%20Feminist.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">You’d like to
think that we have progressed, but I’m not so sure. On the front, in bold huge
white letters, proclaims there exists a feminist that even men like. Our
culture is still very reliant on the prejudices that define the binary genders
of man and woman, even though some of us are trying very hard to step out of
that limiting world. But here are some of my observations while reading this
magazine:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Something that hasn’t changed: the alcohol ads, especially
whiskey. We are still addicted to our chemicals, and like the feeling it gives
us, or need the feeling it gives us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
keep it legal because some of us can control our intake, and only socially
drink the liquid, while more and more of us have developed into alcoholics, where
it dictates our lives.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Something that has changed: the cigarette ads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were so many in this magazine, it amazed
me. We still have tobacco as legal, but we stamp the warnings all over the
packaging, and you don’t see advertisements for the cancer-sticks in every
other page that you read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of these
even implies that you don’t have to light it, just keep it in your mouth,
because smoking makes you look cool and sophisticated. Does anyone else miss
the Marlboro Man?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1971, they were still getting used to the Civil Rights Act
of 1964.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was still relatively new,
and especially in the southern United States, some areas were having trouble
adjusting. Now, you would think we would have had time to fully integrate our
neighborhoods and lives and cities and businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That isn’t the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some neighborhoods are still not desegregated
or treated equally; we are still dealing with racism and healing from wounds
due to treating “different” people cruelly. We can put a law on paper, but you
can’t force a person to stop handing their bad attitude down to their children.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Technology changed drastically in 52 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were cameras with film, window air
conditioners, a “new” concept in whole house air conditioning, the new toaster
oven to try. Now, we take digital photos with our cameras, you can’t find
window air conditioning because every house comes with central air, and who
uses a toaster oven? We have air fryers and hot pots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You would almost think their minds were primitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least they weren’t scared of a vaccine. An
article reminded us that, starting in 1923, they proudly came together and rid
the world of diphtheria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That disease is
extremely rare today because everyone possible got vaccinated. Ditto with
polio; every person bared their arms for the vaccine to eradicate the
disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do we have today with
COVID-19? A situation like the flu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
the flu epidemic hit in 1918, they didn’t stop it with a vaccine; it ran its course
until everyone either died or became immune. That made the virus able to
survive, and mutate into variants that still hit us today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It keeps on mutating, so we are unable to eradicate
it (there are too many variants now), we just fight it the best we can with the
few antibodies we have in the flu shots you get each year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what happened to the COVID-19
virus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because not everyone was willing
to get their vaccine, it survived to mutate again and again, and lives among us
to kill again and again. We are so hung up on our individual rights, that we
can’t see what is better for the human race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is all about me, me, me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1971, they had a photo of a child playing with a gun to demonstrate
danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You would never see that ad
today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What you saw then, and still see
now? Complaints of city crime and overcrowded, clogged prisons, and varying opinions
on how to solve that.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1971, people wanted the Vietnam War to end, even to the
point of running against Nixon in the election (Paul McClosky).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know how that went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now we are arguing over gun policies. Should
we regulate guns, make you apply and pass a series of tests, and wait for your
gun, thus handing out less guns to fewer people; or should we let anyone own a
gun to fight their own crime in their own home; put the law in their
hands?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which one would lessen the
violence? Again, is it about what is better for everyone, or is it all about
me?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Other things that have changed:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Station wagons are no longer cool, especially
the ones with the fake wood paneling<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Cars no longer cost only $2174<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Automatic transmission in a car is no longer a
novel thing<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Music is available on other medium than records<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Water and ice dispensers are standard now on
refrigerators<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Some things still haven’t changed:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->We have a fascination with death and hell and
gore (then, The Exorcist was just coming out in book form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, we have everything from IT to The
Walking Dead to the creatures that you can kill in video games)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->We use comedy to cover trauma; we laugh to
change something painful into something that is funny (Neil Simon said this is
why he wrote comedy instead of drama).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->We are more concerned with political parties:
Republican or Democrat: with how we differ than how we can come together to get
along. Our politics and the outspoken on the soapbox are the rich, old, and
extreme governing the masses, who fuel our anger, catch us off guard, and gather
the vulnerable and uneducated under their wings.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The average person is ambiguous in their true
beliefs on social issues. They are sorry for the downtrodden blue-collar worker
and the hard-up person who can’t get ahead, but they blame them, too. They don’t
want to hate anyone different, but they don’t want them as friends or living
next door, either. They are frustrated and fearful, and this is what leaders
feed on.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Feminism is still fighting. Germaine Greer’s big
issue in 1971 was speaking out against marriage and abortion. Roe v. Wade hadn’t
happened yet (1973). Who knew we would be back there again, running 52 years
backwards? We need feminists even more than ever.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->We are still hurting the environment. The Clean
Air Act had just been written in 1970, and the government was still figuring
out how to regulate it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It went through
a big change in 1990. We are getting better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But. In 1971, there were wilderness fires that occurred because of
draining wetlands. Now, we are still affecting global warming, and we are
fighting wildfires and forest clearings, lowering native fruit tree yields that
kill wildlife and melting ice, increasing global temperature and our continued
use of coal. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Something I have learned from reading 52 years into the
past: it’s an old saying….<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">The more things change, the more they stay the same. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Time moves so fast—sometimes, though…it doesn’t move fast
enough. And sometimes it seems to be moving backwards. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Thanks for reading<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">May 30, 2023<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Tansy Julie Soaring Eagle Paschold<o:p></o:p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-77455650648570977372023-05-05T09:47:00.000-05:002023-05-05T09:47:11.031-05:00Water: Diving into Fear<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmErC-M2rm0nqbFVwEBbRw88v3-tqBbC44q-gCi11Mvwk2J4IxqZBzx6-lpuwtjozDr90SptVBhbK61ImmhsSDG96WsxbDAoIpQ6Nl5z4hNZ-hGjr0FqJtEa2pZu1B_l-6yMd_nzHpYvl5XyXzWM3THtsKcVLixMepGBJtLdvqkTcRqZ_pbqBejXy/s4000/water%20lake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1954" data-original-width="4000" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmErC-M2rm0nqbFVwEBbRw88v3-tqBbC44q-gCi11Mvwk2J4IxqZBzx6-lpuwtjozDr90SptVBhbK61ImmhsSDG96WsxbDAoIpQ6Nl5z4hNZ-hGjr0FqJtEa2pZu1B_l-6yMd_nzHpYvl5XyXzWM3THtsKcVLixMepGBJtLdvqkTcRqZ_pbqBejXy/w449-h219/water%20lake.jpg" width="449" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">Water:
Diving into Fear<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">Most of
us love water. We float on it, we swim in it, we cleanse ourselves in it, we
make love in it, we fight in it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">We
gravitate towards lakes and oceans to relax on vacations, baring our skin in
colorful suits of strings covering just the essentials to not embarrass our
neighbors. We stand in front of rivers, holding poles with hooks to catch
animals with fins for fun just to be near the wet substance. We build floating
vehicles to travel on top of water; we build tanks that will take us deep into
the dark, past the light, to see the creatures that swim and live beyond our
land. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">We use
it to wash the grime and stink off our bodies, the dirt and smell of everyday
living; we scrub the surfaces of our houses and cars with it to rid our
belongings of the evidence of time and use and age. We stand under cold sprays
to wake us up, our kids run through sprinkles with glee for fun, we sit in it
to refresh ourselves after a hard day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">We are
made of it. Our brains are 85 percent water, our whole bodies are 55 to 60
percent of the basic liquid that supports this life. We are walking water bags
on bones. We need to take in 2 ½ to 3 ½ liters of liquid a day just to stay
alive. The planet needs it. We give water to our pets, we water our plants, we
wish for rain in the drought so our lawns don’t dry out and our gardens don’t
fail. Elephants walk for hundreds of miles in search of it. Deserts dry out
because of it; rainforests thrive because of it. Each living thing needs water.
It is an essential part of every living being here on earth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">So why
would you fear water?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">Ever
hear that you can have too much of a good thing? Even water can kill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even something that is so good for you, can
kill you. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">Yes,
you can drown in a body of water. We humans can’t breathe underwater with our
mouths and lungs. But it is possible to drink too much water as well. Heathy
kidneys can handle filtering about 20 liters of water a day, but if you have
any health problems, or don’t intake enough vitamins or minerals or
electrolytes, you can drown your body in the amount of water you drink, because
your kidneys won’t be able to keep up, and your body will be holding too much
water. You can kill yourself with a life-giving substance. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">You can
have a fear of water. Why would someone fear such a beautiful thing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine the ocean waves lapping over the
sand, or a lake, the sun glinting off it, or the smell of a swimming pool,
ready for your toes dipping in, your arms swimming laps back and forth.
Beautiful, right? What if you were a previous drowning victim?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a wheelchair? What if you had a prosthesis,
a limb loss or difference? What if a physical disability didn’t allow you to
walk confidently along the shoreline or the slippery tile around the pool?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if you never learned how to swim? What
if you watched your friend drown in front of you, and there was nothing you
could do to save them? If your home was lost in a flood? What if you were in a boat that sunk, left you stranded
out in the open water, drifting, helpless? I would fear the water as well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">How
does one get over the fear of water? Do you throw them into the great wide open
ocean, let them figure out how to swim on their own? Seems unkind, scary to me.
When something lifegiving turns cruel and foreboding, when life-giver turns
into murderer, what do you do? Can you stay away from water forever? I doubt
it; it is a part of us; we are literal walking water bags on bones, remember?
Are we scared of ourselves, then? In a way, yes, scared of too much of
ourselves. Do we start gradually, one glass at a time, one pitcher, one
bathtub, one kiddie pool, moving up until we can crouch at the edge of
something larger than us? Can we grasp another’s hand along the way? Can we be
brave enough to admit our fear to someone else? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">Wait,
brave enough to fear—does that make sense? How are you brave if you fear? It
takes courage to admit you are fearful. It takes courage to stand up and do
something about your fear. It takes courage to stand up against what makes you
afraid, to change something, anything about yourself that you feel may need
changing. It takes courage to stay open to the world around you, open to
change. But we can. One drop at a time, we water bags on skeletons, we brainy
calcified oceans, we lung-filled air breathing liquid earth walkers can
challenge what we fear, can appreciate what we are made of, if we only learn to
lean on one another, dip our arms, dip our legs, dip our torsos into the very
substance of which we need to cleanse the dirt that clings to us, coming out
not necessarily brand new, but refreshed and cleaner, somehow more whole, more
ourselves, better for taking the dive into the unknown. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">Tansy
Julie Soaring Eagle Paschold<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif;">5-4-23<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-36858685210198456592023-04-17T11:42:00.001-05:002023-04-17T11:42:30.400-05:00Thresholds in Crop Scouting<p style="text-align: left;"> We are quickly entering the spring season, when planting is on the mind, and we start thinking about weeds and pests. Our anxiety rises when considering treatment options for the critters out there who want to eat or crowd out what we are trying to grow for our livelihood. I thought it was a good time to review just why it is a good idea to have a professional out there looking at your fields, and why, sometimes, they don't recommend doing anything, even when you think you see something that worries you. Read on! </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thresholds in scouting<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Why we don’t always treat when we see a problem<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I scout a field, I look for anything out of the
ordinary during the growing season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each
part of the season brings a new set of challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early on, there are weeds to consider,
emergence problems, and seedling diseases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Later in the season, I look for nutrient deficiencies, insect feeding,
and root and foliar diseases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I look for
damage from wind and drought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I do see something that is out
of the ordinary, I don’t always recommend acting on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not just looking at insects for the
opportunity to spray insecticides, and I’m not going to tell the producer to
find a fungicide whenever I see a disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Why is
that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NpojteDcmhVrCAtnCg5ECq8lHrLjE669Hiru6SGztHCT3UdHq2Jgw3DClbZndwRjf4ZmwppeunQXc_M4Tzyaj-zA0cRhh_3Bi1pU3YfIKaLChNVl34Z5vrOhvO7VVOiRj4GPLL7NvW1AWZ0iw1NXdMZlzxgGHOeeJsYo05Vwbuq0u34VmNpOvyjx/s3601/blog%2019%20sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2005" data-original-width="3601" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NpojteDcmhVrCAtnCg5ECq8lHrLjE669Hiru6SGztHCT3UdHq2Jgw3DClbZndwRjf4ZmwppeunQXc_M4Tzyaj-zA0cRhh_3Bi1pU3YfIKaLChNVl34Z5vrOhvO7VVOiRj4GPLL7NvW1AWZ0iw1NXdMZlzxgGHOeeJsYo05Vwbuq0u34VmNpOvyjx/w555-h308/blog%2019%20sketch.jpg" width="555" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There are several reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">First, there isn’t
always something we can do about the problem.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, if there’s a water shortage or a
drought in a dryland or rainfed field, I can note the leaves curling and plants
wilting, but there’s no pivot to turn on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All we can do is hope for rain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In another case, there’s a relatively new pest haunting
soybeans in my area called the soybean gall midge. We have a couple years of research on this the little
fly-like creature, </span>but the adults spend their
time in the ditches and woods surrounding the fields and only come into the
fields to lay their eggs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once they
hatch, the larvae, which are barely visible to the naked eye, quickly find
cracks in the stems to hide away, burrowing into the interior of the
plant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither the adults nor the larvae
would be affected by an insecticide treatment in the field—the adults aren’t in
the field for very long, and the larvae are too well protected by their
burrowing habits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So alternate and
preventative treatment considerations are being discussed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For now, we observe and report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Second, it isn’t
always the right time of the year to treat the problem</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recently saw some corn plants with yellow
whorls and interveinal chlorosis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
definitely could be the sulfur we had yet to apply to the field, but more
likely it was due to a pH problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
the plants are in the field, it isn’t the right time to be applying lime to
correct the pH.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, again, we can apply
the sulfur, but have to schedule the lime for after harvest in the fall or next
spring before planting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alternately, the
problem could be larvae that had eaten their way through much of the
vegetation, but most of them were already in pupae—they won’t be eating
anything as adults, so it doesn’t warrant treating pupae who won’t respond to
the insecticide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, just because you
see evidence of feeding on plants, doesn’t mean you see the critter that has
been feeding on them—you may be treating a critter that isn’t even there
anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Third, the problem
isn’t always at the economic threshold to be able to warrant treating the
problem. </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No field is going to be
perfectly pest-free, and no plant is going to be perfectly free of some sort of
feeding or disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Universities come
out with what they call “economic thresholds”, or the point at which a pest is
going to create enough harm to the plant that yield will be adversely affected,
and the extra expense of treating the field is worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only are you paying for the chemical, but
there’s the application fee if someone else does the application, and equipment
cost, fuel, and time spent driving in the field if you do the application
yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The potential income from
yield lost has to outweigh the cost to treat the pest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the case of insects, it may be number of
insects per plant or amount of total feeding on the plant (percent of
defoliation), in which every leaf on the plant is considered for total
loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the case of diseases, it may be
percent of the field affected by the disease or number of lesions on each
plant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sometimes, scouting a field is more
of an art form than a cut and dry numbers game.</span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just because you see the critter out there—or
even the evidence of it, doesn’t automatically mean there is something that can
or should be done about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that
also doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be out there watching things grow, and keeping
an eye on things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the moment
that threshold is crossed, and the season is right, timing is of the
essence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It helps to have someone that
knows what they are looking for, and knows what they are looking at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It helps to have someone outstanding
in the field. </span></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Yup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to throw that pun in there.]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Who’s looking out for your crops?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks for reading.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Julie S. Paschold<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">originally written June 16, 2020<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">repost April 17, 2023</p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-83046609952558727162023-02-04T11:09:00.002-06:002023-02-04T11:09:27.204-06:00Danger: Don't Drink This<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Danger:
Don’t Drink This<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">or
How stupid are we?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Responsibilities
in wise chemical use<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><i>This is a repost from early 2020, when RoundUp was facing lawsuits. It is still a good read today, about being smart when using chemicals, or anything that could possibly damage you. My son and I had a good conversation about pocket knives last night. A pocket knife can be used as a tool for many reasons (a good agronomist is never found without one), but it could also be used as a weapon, so they are banned from some college campuses and in your carry-on in airports (I found that one out the hard way). It is also a good laugh about the silly warnings companies put on their labels. It will make you go out looking for more.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;">I was minding my own business,
chilling in my living room with the television on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I frankly don’t pay much attention to the “boob
tube”—I’d rather be doing something like reading, sketching, walking, putting
together a puzzle, talking to my kids, or making up horrible puns with my
dad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;">[Okay, I have to interrupt this blog for a good one: my
parents were on vacation, walking along the beach, counting jelly-fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being a midwesterner, I had no idea that they
just wash up on the shore and lay there on the sand, so my dad took a photo of
one and sent it to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His caption:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“A picture of the marmalade-fish”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here’s the little guy now (the fish, not my dad):<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdCgNk2qO0scHNU4sMKvdUNMEqEkU2GAd14PTZ-eqQJpi24Jk-EteVJQ8dQYEi6MhuLQohQsXbgkkIFKu9KlfzczQY-ZOaZWz-eSejqmYktNrT2Kb764Pj_dReZuZd_zeeCyNKITtDq--FzZSZqA4KVD8zR8-qHKC7t7VUdqnDE2W1O7FKOlbwJAum/s1280/marmalade%20fish.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdCgNk2qO0scHNU4sMKvdUNMEqEkU2GAd14PTZ-eqQJpi24Jk-EteVJQ8dQYEi6MhuLQohQsXbgkkIFKu9KlfzczQY-ZOaZWz-eSejqmYktNrT2Kb764Pj_dReZuZd_zeeCyNKITtDq--FzZSZqA4KVD8zR8-qHKC7t7VUdqnDE2W1O7FKOlbwJAum/s320/marmalade%20fish.jpeg" width="320" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></i><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;">So I responded—“If you see any with a guitar, I guess it
would be a jam-fish, then, wouldn’t it”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Double Ha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…Come on, didn’t I at
least make you groan?]<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;">Back to our regularly scheduled
program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m barely paying attention to
the channel, glance up, and there’s this lady with GIGANTIC eyes telling me
that I quite likely am on my death bed if I’ve even come near the weed killer
RoundUp, and need to call her number immediately to be connected to a lawyer
who can include me in a lawsuit for damages, but I need to call NOW because
there’s no time to waste!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">[Frankly, her scary face is what might lead
me to my death bed—there’s so much make-up on there and her eyes are pasted so
wide open, I thought the color in my TV screen had gone wacky!]<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;">If any of you have watched or read
any news, chances are you have heard about EPA’s recent reexamination of
studies related to the active ingredient in RoundUp, glyphosate, and whether or
not it causes long term health problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The latest decision from EPA is that, if used as labeled, there is NOT
proof that glyphosate causes cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;">But people are still scared—and
skeptical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ad I saw is one example
of how lawyers play on that fear, and the line between facts and rumors becomes
hazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;">This got me thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>I agree labeling, restrictions, studies,
research, guidelines, and regulations are all very helpful and absolutely
needed when using any sort of chemical anywhere.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we didn’t have guidelines on rates, times
of day, temperatures, wind speeds, cautions to stay away from wildlife habitats
and being aware of those cute little honeybees, we’d be in trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the definition of chemical can be so
loosely and diversely applied, that it’s a subject for another debate
altogether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>However, where do we draw the line between putting the
responsibility on the chemical manufacturer and using our own common sense when
utilizing their product?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></u></b></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimTE1JUweDPrmxfuKwEFqH9IYF0ycU-M-f2s6w8ELFJhhjzsVeAEpwjfebfJ5hm0iYnkHzUl9-2534-d1hm1ujzygifWo8ALVDz-xy4jY0vPxFdbBRe9DS_rT0ajTmu9Z_MAPAwIr3DVMxeo66QtjFPL2N6R8UpYdXnLdQ93i7FRa0CaD55jEdajmV/s3989/warning%20sketch%201%20blog%2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="3989" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimTE1JUweDPrmxfuKwEFqH9IYF0ycU-M-f2s6w8ELFJhhjzsVeAEpwjfebfJ5hm0iYnkHzUl9-2534-d1hm1ujzygifWo8ALVDz-xy4jY0vPxFdbBRe9DS_rT0ajTmu9Z_MAPAwIr3DVMxeo66QtjFPL2N6R8UpYdXnLdQ93i7FRa0CaD55jEdajmV/w632-h169/warning%20sketch%201%20blog%2015.jpg" width="632" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Remember the woman who sued
McDonald’s when she burned her skin spilling coffee on herself?</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How silly was that—you ordered coffee, coffee
is hot, you spill coffee, hot coffee can hurt.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Common sense, right?</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why does
there need to be a warning label for a natural consequence that an average
person would understand?</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Have you ever
read the warnings in the fine print on some other products?</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For example, on my sleeping medication, it
warns me “may cause drowsiness”—well I should hope so!</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s why I’m taking it!</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And on a department store stroller, in order
to not forget your child is in there—to place something valuable in the
stroller as well, so you don’t forget to remove your child [</span><i style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Um, isn’t your child probably the most
valuable asset you have?</i><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">]</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On skin
creams, to not ingest.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On carpentry
drills, to not use as a dental drill.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or
the advice to not eat those little silica gel packets [</span><i style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">but they look so yummy!</i><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">].</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On
saws, to not grab the blade when it’s running.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On thermometers, to not use it orally once you’ve used it rectally [</span><i style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">ewwww</i><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">].</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Reminders to not operate machinery while unconscious or sleeping [</span><i style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I didn’t even know that was possible</i><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">].</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The fact that the manufacturers had to put
these specific warnings on their products is an indication that </span><b style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">someone has actually tried it</b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> at some
point in time.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Blows your mind, doesn’t
it.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcoL3PjDvZueI8On5VWIu5RyNLevIPcoeK4kIqZLDkh1OeFletawGWzHttW8_YrWw63CaLNlIc7m1eGBiRXpxdsLfieuGXRaWmMpuu0NZeJNOu8RXKf7gq8ssQXPG0lQrBPA9MlDy_AxfZMQR8kjgaI9KE-eWh4OS2tbK0M2C1_mbE4lbs3u6EA4VI/s3890/warning%20sketch%202%20blog%2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2150" data-original-width="3890" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcoL3PjDvZueI8On5VWIu5RyNLevIPcoeK4kIqZLDkh1OeFletawGWzHttW8_YrWw63CaLNlIc7m1eGBiRXpxdsLfieuGXRaWmMpuu0NZeJNOu8RXKf7gq8ssQXPG0lQrBPA9MlDy_AxfZMQR8kjgaI9KE-eWh4OS2tbK0M2C1_mbE4lbs3u6EA4VI/w526-h291/warning%20sketch%202%20blog%2015.jpg" width="526" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Back to our herbicide.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’m not saying there isn’t proof that
glyphosate doesn’t cause cancer at all in any circumstance.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">But just because using glyphosate </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">as labeled</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> doesn’t cause long term health
problems doesn’t mean I’m going to put it in my morning coffee or bathe in
it.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Any chemical intended to kill
something isn’t meant for us to breathe in or be exposed to in large
quantities—isn’t that common sense as well?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Obviously not, because Bayer is still facing lawsuits.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I talked to a gal last night who used to work
for a tree nursery.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">She told stories
about how they would get phone calls about people calling about their sick
trees, and come to find out the individuals had sprayed weed killer around
their actively growing trees.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">You didn’t think about the fact that a tree
is a plant? And weed killers are
designed to kill plants?</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">]</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;">The public scare is growing to the
point that Bayer is considering removing RoundUp as a product available for
private users.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So no more spraying your
rocks or driveway or garden with glyphosate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I understand the scare about chemicals causing health concerns, but I
also understand the move towards taking the chemical away from the common
citizen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s better to be safe than
sorry, and prevent more people from ending up like the gal that spills hot
coffee on her lap and can’t believe she got hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;">I guess sometimes even a warning
label can’t fix things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thanks
for reading!<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">February
25, 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Julie S. Paschold<o:p></o:p></span></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-47486125922872786422022-12-31T14:48:00.003-06:002022-12-31T14:48:34.153-06:00Slo-Mo Soil<p> Originally Written May 15, 2020, during a time of ample water. Rewritten December 31, 2022, for our drought situation. </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Slo-Mo
Soil<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">One
of the world’s greatest resources moves at its own pace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">When I worked in Wisner, I would drive a half hour one
way down the same highway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During that
time, Nebraska raised the speed limit on many of the highways, theoretically
lowering the amount of time needed to spend on the road on your way to your
destination, but also increasing the chances of something not-to-pleasant
happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that as time passes,
so does everyone’s insistence upon going faster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the character Brooks found in the movie The
Shawshank Redemption when he was released from prison, the world has
progressively got itself into a hurry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We also don’t want to wait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fast food, instant drinks, guaranteed
delivery times, drive-up services, overnight orders, no appointments
needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We call the postal service “snail
mail” because it isn’t electronic, and who writes a letter by hand
anymore?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speed and online dating have
been available for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Technology
does everything now—there’s even an app available for crop scouting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too bad it can’t actually walk out there and
tell you what’s wrong with your crop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Some of the best things aren’t created overnight,
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s nothing like a well
thought out, hand-written card sent by mail, addressed to only you, your name
written in ink on the envelope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
although you might meet someone online or via a quick date, can you really get
to know them in one date?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes time
to know someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A good wine must
age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So must a good personality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Soil knows this, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It takes a LOT of time to create soil in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soil comes from a “parent material”, which is
ancient windblown, rain-washed, weather-worn, and time-stamped minerals and
materials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re talking eons here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes so long, we consider soil one of our
limited resources: because we can’t recreate it in our lifetime. Or several lifetimes.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynvpFFJA1UkCFNHOEHzvyPh-GJL9g3Z9-MHBYrweEIPc97cAXwcC5k6PMI8aUTdwvZBTxZiFsAz5oEtU-n37_UmM0nTIrjG6AytHdxhaZtQQ1Q8mxZVGEmjp3LfL517_YU6Zo8AqRniQvikOmyiGyb2dhqFPQBVfJdCd9JtYmtOFW6Ij_8e6EQzCl/s3063/slo%20mo%20soil%20sketch%200520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1927" data-original-width="3063" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynvpFFJA1UkCFNHOEHzvyPh-GJL9g3Z9-MHBYrweEIPc97cAXwcC5k6PMI8aUTdwvZBTxZiFsAz5oEtU-n37_UmM0nTIrjG6AytHdxhaZtQQ1Q8mxZVGEmjp3LfL517_YU6Zo8AqRniQvikOmyiGyb2dhqFPQBVfJdCd9JtYmtOFW6Ij_8e6EQzCl/w363-h228/slo%20mo%20soil%20sketch%200520.jpg" width="363" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Organic matter content in soil is related to many
positive qualities—including aggregation, water infiltration, water holding
capacity, soil structure, biological processes, long term nutrient content and
capacity, and yield response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Organic
matter is a mix of decomposing manure and plant material, earthworm casts,
microbes, invertebrates, and humus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
takes time to build.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years, in
fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t just dump some manure on
a field, wait a year, and expect organic matter to jump up significantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soil takes time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not in a hurry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t honk a horn at it, flip it off,
pass it in the passing lane, or tail it bumper-to-bumper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will still take its own time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">That manure you applied and that old plant matter and
those dead critters (microbes, invertebrates, insects, arthropods) in the soil
will eventually break down and change into that lovely organic matter to help
you out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes chemical and physical
reactions that we can’t rush—and we can’t duplicate, either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have to feed the system, and create the
right circumstances to allow the processes to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it will happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">There is a difference between surface and ground
water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since groundwater is held in the
ground, and soil is the ground, recharging or a change in groundwater takes a
long time to show up as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recharging
the groundwater from the drought of 2012 was just regaining strength in 2020; groundwater
levels were rising until our current drought situation, which depleted it
considerably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the crazy weather we
had in 2019?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was mostly surface
water changing through flooding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
years we have extra surface water: give it time, and extra water hanging about in
the surface trickles down into the groundwater, too, and we’ll have more of it
in stores—if it doesn’t all run away first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it will be accounted for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soil just takes time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Soil isn’t one big block of solid mass—there are very
small “holes” in it, too, and that’s where the air and water are held.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gradually, the water on the surface travels
down to the storage area—the groundwater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Little by little, if it isn’t used right away for another part of the
water cycle, water drops from one “hole” to the next via gravity and osmosis
until it is collected into the aquifer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then it can be stored until needed later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a good thing, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just takes time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which soil knows it has.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s always time for soil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We as humans just don’t think we have
any.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Perhaps we need to take a page out of soil’s instruction
book and learn to wait a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s
another couple of minutes, of hours, of weeks, of years?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">After all, the best things come to those who wait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or so I’ve been told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Thanks for reading,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Julie S. Paschold<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">May 15, 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Rewritten December 31, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-54093899346909711672022-11-06T12:30:00.000-06:002022-11-06T12:30:02.166-06:00Water and the Hydrologic Cycle<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Water<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BaKzvpW2vxujfWJG9RmiFVRGIg1r1SUc-XivIuYYzwGCnl1TlJP-kRU0jWbJ0d2VV7hCPdpAQLwE56E-kX7kCTCdJ8yH1dfhwOYc5_aTO4hoJahsZu4WZkA5waHVuQ_L-6nV82xbdGq4t0DcmHNgmTnyY_cYjOpr6DoJKrIPoymiturbrK9cY3wX/s4000/IMG_20181019_181914068_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BaKzvpW2vxujfWJG9RmiFVRGIg1r1SUc-XivIuYYzwGCnl1TlJP-kRU0jWbJ0d2VV7hCPdpAQLwE56E-kX7kCTCdJ8yH1dfhwOYc5_aTO4hoJahsZu4WZkA5waHVuQ_L-6nV82xbdGq4t0DcmHNgmTnyY_cYjOpr6DoJKrIPoymiturbrK9cY3wX/s320/IMG_20181019_181914068_HDR.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">When you see a picture of the earth,
you see that a majority of it is blue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Three-quarters of the surface of the earth, in fact, is covered in
water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s 118,500,000 square miles covered
with the stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">If there is so much of it on earth,
why has the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency been freaking out for decades
about water?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The government developed
the Clean Water Act, and allowed states to establish and enforce regulations
enforcing the quality of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Neighboring states argue about water rights, and who has the right to
what amounts at what times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why all the
fuss?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Well (ha!), of the estimated 327
million cubic miles of water, 97.22% of it is in the oceans—which means it is
salt water, and not usable as is for growth; and 2.15% is fresh but frozen in
glaciers and icebergs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That leaves only
0.03% left to circulate through what we call the “hydrologic cycle” and on
which every growing thing depends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This fresh
water cycles through snow and rain, rivers, lakes, ponds, underground, in the soil,
and evaporated as water vapor in the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Xz0_QPWUMu67UtLsOQ8bgStxd4-IpswEFNl1uJZa7P7XBgS2IsQix8KSrgLFyVg7Wk2NKiYsJO_l3YBdgrNB7ip911G435wAcuM8yvX74gvVplEoLmdEPM7MUiKn7BPYRTmbna0L8xqCGpQCXlSk6Ye6BSyMkUi4Jin3BX25gEnpb6ie6zp1ZuXi/s4000/hydrologic%20cycle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1934" data-original-width="4000" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Xz0_QPWUMu67UtLsOQ8bgStxd4-IpswEFNl1uJZa7P7XBgS2IsQix8KSrgLFyVg7Wk2NKiYsJO_l3YBdgrNB7ip911G435wAcuM8yvX74gvVplEoLmdEPM7MUiKn7BPYRTmbna0L8xqCGpQCXlSk6Ye6BSyMkUi4Jin3BX25gEnpb6ie6zp1ZuXi/w606-h295/hydrologic%20cycle.jpg" width="606" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Although we have 981,000 cubic miles
of water in the whole hydrologic cycle at any one time on the entire earth, the
water in the air as vapor or awaiting precipitation (say, 25% of the hydrologic
cycle) isn’t immediately available for living things to utilize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That leaves us water in rivers, lakes and
ponds (surface water), and water in the soil and under the ground (groundwater).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">So, with the surface and groundwater,
we have 735,750 cubic miles of fresh water for every single living thing here
on the whole earth to utilize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How much
of this water that is available to us can we see?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For every lake or mile of river on the
surface of the earth, there is a volume of water 25 times that
underground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This groundwater is stored
in aquifers, or reservoirs of rocks containing pores and holes that the water
flows through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Okay, so I’ve thrown a whole mess of
numbers at you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s the bottom
line?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of all the blue that you see on a
photo of planet earth, a small drop of that is available for us to share with
the plants and the birds and the bears and the bees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That means we have to take care of what we
have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If chemicals or contaminants leak
into one part of the hydrologic cycle, it can infiltrate the whole thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And although the earth does tend to heal
itself, there is only so much it can do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Certain chemical compounds don’t disappear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have to be responsible caretakers of this
planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">So be kind—not only to each other, but
to Mother Nature as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you take
care of her, she will keep on taking care of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Julie S. Paschold<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">March 30, 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 9.0pt;">Reference: Soils in
Our Environment: Seventh Edition by Raymond W. Miller & Roy L. Donahue.
1995. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-13761143400292217572022-09-18T12:59:00.003-05:002022-09-18T12:59:21.661-05:00Soil Organisms<div class="separator"><h1 style="text-align: center;">Soil Organisms</h1><div style="text-align: left;">I spent a full busy day digging in my soil after a long awaited rain, and I thought it was good to revisit what was in the brown stuff that was all over my hands, and supporting my new bushes and fall bulbs as they await the upcoming winter.</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">What critters are in soil, and what do they do?</h3><div class="separator">Soil may seem like just something to hold up houses or a place for our plants to grow, but there’s a whole world of living critters down there working hard in their individual niches—each critter has an important job that contributes to the health of the soil. But what are these critters, and what do they do?</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Animals</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6m3ZnnWgkqrggW-MSXfH2VjK2qtxjbL3jA2R3QznPJMPLnrr8alJzItjZ6bxfEe5hVF4ygmJSuOCQy7NME-BRrZKC3HTulIGbGJQ5MHsc83jQ7t8spDUzhmBN2qViGe3RgeX5et0epLN-algVXPfyIAPewX5wpjNb3gAgzXwfVNSSkQkZR4HxdW4b/s3606/animals%20sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1094" data-original-width="3606" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6m3ZnnWgkqrggW-MSXfH2VjK2qtxjbL3jA2R3QznPJMPLnrr8alJzItjZ6bxfEe5hVF4ygmJSuOCQy7NME-BRrZKC3HTulIGbGJQ5MHsc83jQ7t8spDUzhmBN2qViGe3RgeX5et0epLN-algVXPfyIAPewX5wpjNb3gAgzXwfVNSSkQkZR4HxdW4b/w567-h171/animals%20sketch.jpg" width="567" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">a.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Burrowing Animals:</b> <span> </span>These are larger animals, like rodents, moles, badgers, rabbits, armadillos, and such. They dig into the soil, so can aerate the soil. But because of their large size, and because some of them also destroy vegetation, they can be more detrimental than helpful at times. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator">b.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Earthworms:</b> These worms feed on plant residues, and their secretions create aggregates that aerate the soil and increase water filtration and root penetration. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">c.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Arthropods & Gastropods:</b> Arthropods are mites, millipedes, centepedes, and insects, including larvae. Gastropods are snails and slugs. These critters feed on plant residue and decaying vegetation, breaking it down. They can also burrow into the soil, aerating it. Some of these critters can be pests, feeding on living plants. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">d.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Nematodes:</b> Nematodes are tiny worms that come in several species, and eat a variety of diets. Some nematodes eat decaying vegetation, helping to create organic matter. Some prey on bacteria, fungi, and algae, controlling populations. And some nematodes are parasites to plant roots. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">2. Plants</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBLJy-1NH0nBl84iBKCOWjH_IKUS5Z_Q_G1IzIxMd73Ed6b-UlHl5PdIoQ_hA8LPRaZFKSvzR2rNve2mCXewxR4TOffG6lsElpH39__HZp40yTV88JwAPgniVrvBMWRGc80LzAiL4ByyK_YWFRGHkqkuMotx-yhdbwTB2yMtv0fwab2U1_Ev2F6z7/s3573/plants%20sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2089" data-original-width="3573" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBLJy-1NH0nBl84iBKCOWjH_IKUS5Z_Q_G1IzIxMd73Ed6b-UlHl5PdIoQ_hA8LPRaZFKSvzR2rNve2mCXewxR4TOffG6lsElpH39__HZp40yTV88JwAPgniVrvBMWRGc80LzAiL4ByyK_YWFRGHkqkuMotx-yhdbwTB2yMtv0fwab2U1_Ev2F6z7/w416-h243/plants%20sketch.jpg" width="416" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator">a.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Plant Root Systems:</b> Every plant has a root system that grows into soil, doing more than anchoring the plant from being blown over or washed away. Root systems have root hairs and mucous that create ecosystems for microorganisms. Roots also utilize and circulate water and nutrients in the soil. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">b.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Algae:</b> Algae are microorganisms that carry on photosynthesis. These guys are in the soil in moist areas, and produce organic material. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">3. Fungi</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Rw_o7_l7T5zCLlYTH2Mdnt3jIUvj31TqoBU9P70eCqcQSu2t4Za0OJpjEIh9rLAxeIHyvD4scKhjWP5tUtWpycEapfjYTezjuBuzWwVTyBqkLyr4vV62Nzb80a9ifZul0zmrT3qf6Z9TvW9hog3eap_-kLcJjuqkYJJ1U89TJrIhvuvlra3248LX/s3614/fungi%20sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2085" data-original-width="3614" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Rw_o7_l7T5zCLlYTH2Mdnt3jIUvj31TqoBU9P70eCqcQSu2t4Za0OJpjEIh9rLAxeIHyvD4scKhjWP5tUtWpycEapfjYTezjuBuzWwVTyBqkLyr4vV62Nzb80a9ifZul0zmrT3qf6Z9TvW9hog3eap_-kLcJjuqkYJJ1U89TJrIhvuvlra3248LX/w402-h232/fungi%20sketch.jpg" width="402" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator">a.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Fungi: </b>Fungi are organisms that do not create their own food, but live on dead or living plant and animal tissue. These include mushrooms, molds, yeasts, and rusts. They are integral in decomposing organic matter, and the soil contains an abundance of the critters growing within it. Some fungi can be predators on living cells, creating diseases. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">b.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Mycorrhizae:</b> Mycorrhizae is an association between fungi and plant roots. This is a symbiotic relationship that is integral in assisting with nutrient utilization. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKrfnLHVahPnVeD3il_D8zf1m_hghtu9NGKYW35odJBIWaZWj8dMx3YGU1T8zjap-qZtPgWnXbgBCzHr82I6srSg570ySDt8rhPGIa6Whtlpiy5o7SWFleILqZCyysvHakpDgh45XCWa9oCaIYP-UqaADxbBpE_v7qIwAsS092BmiTmH0yolMWoMP/s3880/bacteria%20sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="3880" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKrfnLHVahPnVeD3il_D8zf1m_hghtu9NGKYW35odJBIWaZWj8dMx3YGU1T8zjap-qZtPgWnXbgBCzHr82I6srSg570ySDt8rhPGIa6Whtlpiy5o7SWFleILqZCyysvHakpDgh45XCWa9oCaIYP-UqaADxbBpE_v7qIwAsS092BmiTmH0yolMWoMP/w557-h173/bacteria%20sketch.jpg" width="557" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">4. Protista</h3><div class="separator">a.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Protista</b> are one celled organisms such as protozoa and slime molds. They feed on bacteria, keeping the populations in check. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">5. Monera</h3><div class="separator">a.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Bacteria:</b> Bacteria are single celled organisms that are the most abundant critters in the soil. They have many functions, including creating organic matter by breaking down dead tissue, nutrient cycling, and fixing nutrients. These are very important critters that we would not be able to exist without. Some, however, can cause diseases to plants and animals. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">b.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Actimomycetes: </b>Actinomycetes are a series of branched cells that function similar to bacteria, but work together instead of being on their own as single cells. They also break down dead tissue, recycle nutrients, and create organic matter. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">6. Viruses</h3><div class="separator">a.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Viruses</b> technically aren’t living in the full sense of the word because they are not complete cells, and cannot replicate on their own. This is why they need to invade other cells to use their replication systems. Most viruses cause diseases and they can help control population sizes, but they do not usually survive long in the soil. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">So the next time you step out on to that blackish brown stuff holding up your plants, think of all the living things under your feet—and say a little thank you for all of their work. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator"><i>Thanks for reading.</i></div><div class="separator"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator">Julie S. Paschold</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">Written July 20, 2020</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">Reference: Soils in Our Environment, Seventh Edition, by Raymond W Miller & Roy L Donahue, 1995.</div><div><br /></div></div>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-2433174835830787362022-06-05T11:34:00.000-05:002022-06-05T11:34:24.725-05:00Fake Meat: Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">A repost from April 2020. In today's age, when we are finding so many ways to argue and find sides, this article seems applicable.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 14pt;">People
can be picky and tricky.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In this self-conscious age, there are just as many
opinions on how to eat healthy as there are personalities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The list of diets people have clung to
include low fat, low sodium, Mediterranean, vegetarian, vegan, no red meat, low
starch, Paleo, Adkins, juice, intermittent fasting, ketogenic, and DASH.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Take
your pick, and you’ll find someone who stands by it, and someone who can’t
stand it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the past few decades, vegetarianism and vegan
lifestyles have become more popular, whether they believe it lowers
cholesterol, extends people’s lifespans, saves animals, or saves the
earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vegetarianism eliminates meat
from the diet (and vegans eliminate all animal products), and when you take
something away—you have to put something in its place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Humans need certain amino acids and vitamins
that are readily found in meat—so creative ingredient management allows for
many of these items to be replaced by products from plants high in protein.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Enter
the veggie burger.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
remember my first taste of one of these in the 1990’s—a pressed, lumpy, chewy
disk reheated from a freezer box that had little more flavor than the cardboard
it was packaged in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Modern “faux meat”
or “plant-based protein” is supposed to look, taste, and act so much like the
real thing that manufacturers claim they fool even the most devoted red meat
eaters with their products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So even vegans can have a juicy burger, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Not
so quick.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who are faux meat
burger companies really targeting with their commercials?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you have a cowboy who is used to eating
red meat biting into a juicy burger, and then tell them you tricked them into
eating processed plants, are you targeting the cowboy, or are you targeting the
vegetarian?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know some vegans who gag
with the thought of biting into meat—much less watching a commercial of a juicy
burger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But then there are the vegetarians who are trying to eat
healthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just because you see the word
“plant-based” doesn’t mean it is healthier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If they look at the ingredient list of one of these new veggie burgers, they
are going to see some funny looking names, and a higher sodium content than
regular beef.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those people on Paleo
diets and trying to eat less processed foods?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Don’t look at these faux meat puppies—imagine what has to be done to
peas, rice, mung beans, potatoes, apples, etc., to make it look like beef.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The beef folks have grabbed onto this concept to sell
their product—and shoot down veggie burgers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their ads make fun of the ingredient list of the patty, and that it has
to be highly processed to imitate what they naturally produce with one
ingredient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So now, through advertising, we have people fighting each
other—veggie or beef burger?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7PjxnCWcZedQH-WRUEJgH5KVTf9o6W4xibyIxQOJ6jUVCpXNaRdUd4ItYF7aia72WqPf8FkHlz58NPlZhjK_io0UXS92w5qH_nirCnoj5AgfIndXWRr7_o-fqdh9InMkZrLX8pdLcI4ZPClYowFPcfxWEOIKOUZQ35xLo5B1GTJzk0imhClDRiPH/s3447/fake%20meat%20fight%20sketch2%200420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2231" data-original-width="3447" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7PjxnCWcZedQH-WRUEJgH5KVTf9o6W4xibyIxQOJ6jUVCpXNaRdUd4ItYF7aia72WqPf8FkHlz58NPlZhjK_io0UXS92w5qH_nirCnoj5AgfIndXWRr7_o-fqdh9InMkZrLX8pdLcI4ZPClYowFPcfxWEOIKOUZQ35xLo5B1GTJzk0imhClDRiPH/s320/fake%20meat%20fight%20sketch2%200420.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Similarly, there is a fight between dairy milk producers
concerned with almond and soy “milk” manufacturers taking over their
market.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The alternate products are good
for those with lactose difficulties—but dairy farmers don’t like that they use
the word “milk” because they don’t come from animals.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They do have a point—I know someone who
thought almond milk was just cow milk flavored with almonds, not a dairy free
product that didn’t benefit the dairy producers.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This seems to me another advertising fight:
are you on the side of soy/almond or cow milk?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You
know who wrote about this years ago?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr.
Seuss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember the Sneetches?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Butter side up or down?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They launched a war over something as silly
as food preference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rings a bell, doesn’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Pretty soon, we’ll have the beef producers launching steaks
at the pea and mung bean producers, and the almond producers shooting the dairy
cattle with nuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">THAT sounds nuts to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As a
consumer, it is your job to be informed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do your homework—know what you are buying, know what is
good for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t rely on advertising
to tell you what you should be eating or doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And perhaps advertisers should be focusing more on the positive aspects,
rather than picking fights with what they feel are their competitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As far as what we should be eating:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>who do you know that only eats one kind of
food?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Chicken only, thanks”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Lettuce every day”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But we had shrimp last night, Mom!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boy, that would be boring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So unless you have Crohn’s or lactose
intolerance or a proven reason to avoid eating what you are avoiding—</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve found that variety really is the
spice of life, and if you eat with moderation, and eat with mindfulness—chances
are, you’ll do well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And respect what’s
on your neighbor’s plate, please.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Can’t
we all just get along?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hey—if we start agreeing to find a middle ground for our respective
diets, maybe we can talk the politicians into reading some Dr. Seuss—and bring
the Sneetches’ lesson to Washington, D.C.!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thanks for reading,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Julie S. Paschold<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">April 17, 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7686592581989225186.post-19186580658787868302022-04-24T12:34:00.000-05:002022-04-24T12:34:14.475-05:00Does Your Soil Have a Hangover?<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Does
your soil have a hangover?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">An
exploration into soil health<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The result of being a two-time graduate of the
agronomy program of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, spending many hours as
an undergraduate at the soil fertility research program working with Dr. Dan
Walters, and slaving away at my graduate work with the USDA-ARS Soil and Water
Conservation Research Unit associated with the agronomy department at UNL is
that I have been lamenting the loss and retirement of many of the professors
that taught me—the UNL soils team that was once so abundant seems to be sparse
at the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is going through
growing pains, awaiting reestablishment of its shaken foundation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Crop Production Clinic in Norfolk in 2020 was mostly geared toward pest management.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So when I saw an opportunity to view a soils presentation online given
by a Lancaster County Extension Soils Specialist, I grabbed the chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could there be hope?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Aaron Hird spoke of soil health, and he used a good
metaphor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he doesn’t mind, I’m going
to “borrow” that idea and run with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soil health is defined as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
continued capacity of the soil to function</b> as a vital living ecosystem that
sustains plants, animals, and humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you think of the soil as a body, then how do you
take care of its health?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Well,
how do you take care of your own body?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you ate junk food, didn’t exercise, sat behind a
desk all day and stared at a computer or laid on the couch and watched
television or played on your smartphone constantly, how would you feel?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you drank sugary drinks instead of water
and ate only processed foods, how would your body respond?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’d feel pretty cruddy, huh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more yuck you put into your body without
building muscle, the more fat you will acquire—and the less energy you’ll
have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t matter how much you
sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t put good stuff into
your body, you won’t have the energy to do anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So your body will crave energy, but if you
keep giving it the wrong stuff, it won’t use the food efficiently and won’t
find the proper nutrients it needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’ll get hooked on caffeine, eat more crap, and it’s a never-ending
cycle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s the same thing with soil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The microbes and plants living in the soil
have certain requirements to stay healthy and living—the soil needs to eat
healthy, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why we soil sample
and apply the correct fertilizer for the crop growing there each year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But fertilizer isn’t enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know how you feel when you wake up after
a late night partying?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s kind of
how the soil feels if you take too much out of it without putting the right
stuff back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, your soil’s going to
get a hangover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And just adding a bit of
fertilizer doesn’t do the trick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
like taking a vitamin and expecting to go back to normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That wouldn’t work for me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Yd1t159kxKGpy2a6ybzBgW2MnbCSxlPoDz7akN79P9J-3cISilsPcLyTj9B4JZt8ShfnY5oxNchnFP3-DhIeptBuZKDrygZvSNRNi7akPDL9Cm9D06d9WdHnL_a2gmjZCcnuM3LYWp1owfLs8p4FrH1iBdatY7B8wstohqRWgBJWhuwUbapQzCyl/s3156/IMG_20200207_100516633_BURST000_COVER_TOP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2341" data-original-width="3156" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Yd1t159kxKGpy2a6ybzBgW2MnbCSxlPoDz7akN79P9J-3cISilsPcLyTj9B4JZt8ShfnY5oxNchnFP3-DhIeptBuZKDrygZvSNRNi7akPDL9Cm9D06d9WdHnL_a2gmjZCcnuM3LYWp1owfLs8p4FrH1iBdatY7B8wstohqRWgBJWhuwUbapQzCyl/s320/IMG_20200207_100516633_BURST000_COVER_TOP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Soil needs the proper balance of air circulation,
water, nutrients, ability to maintain and build structure, create habitats for
microbes and other critters—a whole gamut of health considerations!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you look at that list, it doesn’t look
much different from ours—we need to breathe, drink, eat, build and maintain
bones and muscles, and protect the microbiome in our gut, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So when you are making your field plans this year—or
just out tinkering in your garden or yard—please consider all of your soil’s needs!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will thank you later, and you <u>will</u>
reap the rewards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jZeCUP31rIwOA9LEFClXtU4uxPex4ArvI4s4FgLge6iqVlp-5l2XT0Jc-41RVPPWWScPxXq3MOCFGR1X3BcCyEdROK6UwxJmOZTvRFFBNDNL3gMVYjORcUwrcqkvFumlbEAKN-YSj9wXa9uBK_jVsEfB-FI00AK3LxXxqTWApDthr1NxBxciL0cp/s3859/IMG_20200207_100631622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2190" data-original-width="3859" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jZeCUP31rIwOA9LEFClXtU4uxPex4ArvI4s4FgLge6iqVlp-5l2XT0Jc-41RVPPWWScPxXq3MOCFGR1X3BcCyEdROK6UwxJmOZTvRFFBNDNL3gMVYjORcUwrcqkvFumlbEAKN-YSj9wXa9uBK_jVsEfB-FI00AK3LxXxqTWApDthr1NxBxciL0cp/s320/IMG_20200207_100631622.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span><p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thanks
for reading!<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">February
5, 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Julie S. Paschold<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Reference</span></i><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">:
Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County’s Successful Farmer Series, January 31,
2020: Soil Management:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="https://lancaster.unl.edu/ag/successfulfarmerseries"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">https://lancaster.unl.edu/ag/successfulfarmerseries</span></a><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Julie S. Pascholdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714195989222053264noreply@blogger.com0