Doctor Visits

 

It seems unfair that only those of us in the senior generation are required to deal with changing health circumstances and unforeseen, sudden limitations, some of which require visits to the doctor’s office. I could go on, but instead I want to tell you about a recent happening that occurred during my recent visits to my doctor’s office. 

I have two regularly scheduled, annual doctor visits. The first is the “Wellness Visit” that was developed by Medicare and sponsored by a number of organizations that know my name and where I live. These organizations post advertisements promoting Wellness Visits and they send me periodic reminders that I should make an appointment to have my visit arranged. ‘They are good for you,’ seems to be their common refrain. And here is the kicker they use to convince us seniors to make a wellness visit appointment: the Wellness Visits are totally free! There is no charge, they are good for you, and a minor inconvenience for something that Medicare recommends. All this is explained in great detail if you bother to read the advertisements that come to the accounts that have my name on them.

I’m not a big fan of these appointments. I have now had several of them over a period of years and they don’t seem particularly helpful as they are all pretty much the same and I get little benefit from them. I’m also a little suspicious of all the claims made as to their value for the senior set, especially the claim of them being free.

At my Wellness Visit this year I had a heart-to-heart talk with the nurse. She admitted that her bosses, (the owners of the hospital that conduct the Wellness Visits in our area), encourages patients to schedule Wellness Visits because they earn a healthy fee from Medicare for each one conducted. Aha! So, it is not strictly free unless I am willing to ignore the monthly stipend that I must send to Medicare plus a payment to my health insurer. I knew money crossed palms somewhere in the long chain of related organizations and the ultimate payer is, you guessed it, YOU AND ME.

Nevertheless, I attended my Wellness check-up again this year since I hadn’t seen my doctor in a while. I knew he would be overseeing the check-up and I had a question for him concerning a few blemishes on my skin that were new. As soon as he walked in the examination room where the nurse was testing my wellness mettle, I blurted out my question. His answer was curt. He said I needed to make a separate appointment to cover the issue of skin blemishes. Apparently, things that are important to the patient are not sufficiently important to Medicare to be discussed. Some while later, the nurse explained that the doctor is allowed only five minutes of his time for overseeing each Wellness Visit. Scheesh! This, after I had sat in the waiting room, then the examination room for several of my important minutes during the part of my day that I had reserved for nap time, an important asset for us seniors according to my calculations.

As requested, I made a separate appointment to see the doctor about the skin issue. Since the supplier of my regular meds requires a new prescription each year that the doctor must approve, I figured I could get that done while I asked my question about skin blemishes at the upcoming appointment, the ol’ killing of two birds with one stone trick that would be my solace after the wasted time for the Wellness Visit. Accordingly, I decided that the second appointment would be a reasonable use of my valuable time.

At this appointment I told the sawbones about the ugly skin lesions that were decorating my face at the hairline and elsewhere. He examined each and announced that a separate visit was required for treatment since the treatment would take longer than an appointment for routine issues. I reluctantly made that appointment as well. The follow-up visit was for dermatological treatment of two kinds of blemishes on my skin, each of which had an unpronounceable, and unspellable name (at least for me). The treatment was the common procedure of freezing the skin at the site of the blemish. The doctor disappeared after I signaled my agreement for the treatment and returned with a small thermos bottle that had a nozzle and push button. The doctor seemed to relish this treatment as he smiled when he pulled the evil looking thermos to my face after a couple preliminary ‘wisches’ from the bottle that indicated its willingness to respond to the doctor’s trigger finger.

The white-coated medico began his use of the thermos, giving one or two wisches at each blemish that he found. I remained silent even though I was certain that a single wische was sufficient to destroy any living thing based on the amount of pain induced by a single wische. While administering the liquid nitrogen, the medicine man kept up a steady explanation about each of the blemishes and how some were precancerous, especially for those of us who grew up during the period of no shirts and no shoes during the warm summer afternoons when shirts and shoes were too warm to abide and no one suspected direct sunlight was not a good thing.

The doctor explained how the treatment worked and what would happen to my skin. He explained that the pre-cancerous tissues would be destroyed by the blast of freezing nitrogen. (I might have guessed that based on the pain of the freeze. It seemed to me that nothing could possibly survive even a single wische, let alone his preferred double wische.) In any event, he explained how the freezing would create a blister on the skin that would turn red and look hideous. “Then a scab will form after the blister drains. Leave the scabs alone,” he said, “they will fall off after several days to reveal fresh, new skin.” He continued his monologue, “In the meantime, your skin will develop a nasty-looking red spot.” He continued blasting away with the annoying nitrogen until he had counted 12 spots. I imagined that if he had not found at least that many he would have begun the dreaded double blasting again. “Not all of them are precancerous,” he said, “some are just blemishes that I can take care of while I’m doing the others.”

He paused to see if I had some objection. Since I was still wincing from the last wische, I was unable to respond. He took that as my agreement.

“I’ll treat these also so you can get back to your modeling career,” the doctor intoned with a hint of a smile. I couldn’t think of a thing to smile about until he had finished.

He put away the nitrogen bottle and I immediately felt better. In fact, his comment about the modeling career seemed to have done the trick and I decided right then that this doc was a likeable fellow who knew his stuff. Before I left his office, I found myself signing up for next year’s Wellness Visit.

So, there you have it. As a part of the senior set, I expect to continue being a consumer of the services of the doctor business that is alive and well here in Roscommon and I hope you will do the same.

 

Petition for Michigan Voting Change

 

A Petition to End Voting in Michigan as We Know It

 

In Michigan, The Republican Party controls both chambers of the Michigan Legislature, thus enabling them to propose any legislation that they want. Like other Republican-controlled legislatures across the nation, Michigan’s legislature has proposed changes in the process we use for voting. They are calling their latest voting initiative “Secure Michigan’s Vote” and they have a petition circulating to enable this proposed change.

It sounds good, right? Surely everyone wants secure votes.

The truth is that this proposal is intended to restrict voting access, not expand it nor make it more secure. Like other Republican-dominated states, the Republican Party in Michigan is hell-bent on reducing voters’ access to free elections. What they really want is to expand their control of the election process and make it harder to vote. In some cases, Republicans are asking voters for the right to overturn election results if the election doesn’t’ go their way.

But back to Michigan; The “Secure MI Vote” petition is a deceptive effort to silence the voice of the people. It is not about election security. It’s about making it harder to vote and more difficult for clerks to run elections. It’s a continuation of the Big Lie that’s anti-voter and anti-democracy. Michigan already has secure elections and strong, effective voter ID laws that work as post elections studies have proved. We just had the most secure, accessible, high turnout election in our state’s history. This new initiative is simply a deceitful ploy to change the rules because those in the Republican Party didn’t like the results of the 2020 election that they lost. The League of Women Voters want us all to be aware of this deceitful plan and they are explaining the details of a Republican-endorsed petition that is now being circulated.

Here is what the new initiative is intended to do:

·       Require people to disclose partial social security numbers when registering to vote

·        Eliminate the option to securely verify their identity and vote normally  

·       Require registered absentee voters to furnish their driver’s license, personal ID, or partial social security numbers when applying for their ballots

·       Throw out the ballots of registered voters who can’t satisfy these new identity requirements, unless they go in person to their clerk’s office

·       Prohibit election officials from making absentee ballot applications available except upon the voter’s request

·       Ban volunteer time and charitable contributions to help administer elections

None of that sounds like securing Michigan’s vote, does it? Especially when our votes and the process of voting is already secure and free from overt influence by election officials or poll watchers.

Perhaps most egregious of all, the Republican Party has found a way to implement these changes to our election process without a vote of the electorate. In an underhanded fashion, they have found a loophole in the laws governing voting that they say will allow for this proposal to become law without a vote of the populace. They say that if the petitions that are now being circulated are signed by 4% of Michigan residents, their proposal will automatically become law. Whoa! Another thing that needs to be fixed.

Surely, the Republican-controlled State legislature can find something better to do with their time (that we pay for) than to work on changing our voting process when there is nothing wrong with the current practice.

If a petition circulator sticks one of these petitions in your face and asks you to sign, just say politely, ‘No thank you, I am a patriot who knows better,’ and then walk away. Our democracy is at stake.

Oh! By the way, this is likely not to be the only attempt at election interference. Stay vigilant.

 

Happy New Year! I hope this message finds you and yours in good health and good spirits.

I am sitting here in my new office looking out the window at a snowy landscape, a not unexpected tableau for this time of year. My window overlooks our ice-covered pond that is framed by a ring of spruce trees on the east and Norway pines on the north. The side below my window is not tree-covered, although there are a number of shrubs on this west side of the pond where I have grown a mix of shrubs and flowers in two flowerbeds that are interrupted by a grassy area. The fourth edge of the pond has white birches, balsam firs, and a number of quaking aspens that hang over the water. Everything is white as the snow has fallen several times over the last few days, leaving a thin veneer of white on all the evergreen trees but none on the shrubs since they don’t seem to like snow and have surfaces that are not snow friendly, allowing the snow to pile at their roots instead. The wreath of white over the entire pond area is calming, peaceful and pleasant.

My office is now at this high spot on the first floor of our house instead of the former area I reserved in the basement for scribbling or calculating how much money I owed the government --not that I regretted paying, you understand, but I do enjoy complaining about it. The basement has but a single window and it is colder there in the winter than is my current office area. I seem to be a slow learner since it has taken me almost twenty years to decide that a window view and the warmth of my wood stove offered some distinct advantages for an office. Now that I am here with the window and the closeness of available snacks, I have no desire to spend time in the basement. Besides, I am now where my beloved computer rests whenever I am able to tickle the keys in developing some important message like this one, although some might argue the point and substitute the word ‘trivial’ instead of ‘important’.

This is my first blog of the year. For the first time in several years, I failed to compose a Christmas message. That is not factual. Actually, I composed a Christmas message but then decided it was too trivial even by my relaxed standards to justify sending it along to both of my eager readers. This then, is the first blog from me in some while. My excuse for not issuing an earlier blog or Christmas message was that there was nothing to write about since the Pandemic had prevented a rich harvest of material from tumbling into my lap. In other words, I couldn’t think of anything to write about.

I believe things are finally starting to return to a more normal basis. I have fond hopes that the Pandemic business will come, if not to an end, at least to a measure of normality that we can all live with. The Missus and I have done all the science-based things we can do to resist the dreaded virus and I am beginning to feel that, with the aid of our government, we can beat this disease into submission. As one example of a joyful return to normal, I have begun work on a new book of local history. It is consuming effort as I work to tease facts from the jumble of events over the last 150 years.

I’ll let you know what happens. Stay safe. 

 

National Recycling Day is November 15

 

 

According to “National Geographic,” Americans send 64 tons of waste to landfills during their lifetime. That’s 246 million tons of waste each year. National Recycling Day aims to reduce this waste by encouraging Americans to recycle more and purchase more recycled products that can be re-used, recycled or composted.

I am a big proponent of recycling. Putting things that you no longer want into the garbage bin so it can he hidden underground somewhere (but not near you, of course), and too often sent to poorer regions of the country or poorer regions of the world seems like an infantile means to manage a problem that seemingly, we don’t know how, or don’t want to fix. We are still in the mode of making more, throwing away more, and failing to consider the future. If you have never seen it, I recommend the old movie “WALL- E known as (W aste A llocation L oad L ifter - E arth-Class” for a realistic, yet humorous picture of life in the future if we don’t do something constructive about handling our waste.

I am a member of Roscommon County’s Recycling Committee. Michigan used to be a leader in recycling when we were one of the first to place a ten-cent fee on beer cans, bottles and glass bottles to stimulate recycling via the Michigan Beverage Containers Law of 1976. Fast forward to today. We are still at 10 cents and a Michigan State Senator recently proposed a bill to cancel even that piddley amount (the rate should now be 50 cents to keep up with inflation).

We do a lousy job in hiding our waste. For some reason, dropping things in a trash bin and keeping them enclosed until the waste removal truck drops them off at a land-fill seems more than we can manage. The evidence lies in the form of two islands of floating plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean that are larger in area than the state of Texas. Sheesh! If we can’t do the easy thing, think of how bad we are in doing recycling; like making something re-usable from our waste.

America Recycles Day (aka National Recycling Day) became a national holiday on
September 15, 1990. Pass the word. It is time to take this problem seriously. Some European nations do a much better job in recycling than we do.

 Sweden was one of the first countries to establish an official recycling system for glass bottles with refund deposits. I visited an automobile factory in Sweden in the ‘90’s and I was surprised to find McDonald’s had recycling bins in their dining rooms. Thirty years ago! Can we not do as much?

Here is the text from the National Recycling activity that makes a lot of sense to me. What do you think?

1.    Join An Event

Recycling events can be surprisingly fun (and educational). For instance, an event in Missouri involves making bracelets from plastic shopping bags, doing a composting activity, and building something out of recycled goods. Look for events in your area, bring your friends, and get involved. The more you know, the more you can make a difference!

2.   Fully Commit

Recycling is more than just dumping cans into a recycling bin (although that’s part of it). There’s so much more you can do! Make your commitment to reduce, reuse, recycle, and buy recycled.

3.   Share The Love

Excited about your latest recycling trip? Share it on social media using the hashtag #BeRecycled. The more we get the word out, the more we encourage others to recycle and help save the planet!

​3 POWERFUL WAYS RECYCLING SAVES ENERGY:

​It fuels your binge-watching--One recycled tin can would save enough energy to power a TV for three hours.

​It maximizes social media time --One recycled glass bottle can save enough energy to power a computer for 25 minutes.​

​It keeps the lights on--One recycled plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 3 hours.

It can truly change the world: Think just one person can’t make a difference? Lauren Singer developed a zero-waste lifestyle where she’s able to reduce, reuse and recycle everything she consumes. She’s got this down to a science — and is now able to fit all of the trash she’s produced within the last four years in a single mason jar. Her website proves that if everyone lived similarly, waste wouldn’t be nearly as much of a problem. What do you think?

 

 

                                        Massasauga

Yesterday afternoon I mowed the front portion of our lawn next to the sidewalk and adjacent to the flowerbed where resides a number of tall plants that are in the last stages of color and vibrant life. As is my wont, I failed to clean up the sidewalk or the flowerbed after putting away the mower. And so it was, in the early evening as I was relaxing with a cocktail to rejuvenate my spent energy, and the Missus was sweeping the sidewalk that I had managed to ignore, she came rushing up to me, camera in hand, and asked did I want to see a snake, a Massasauga. Of course, I did.

I arrived at the sidewalk just in time to see the aforementioned snake strike at my trusty roommate who was just then creeping close to the coiled rattler. The strike did no damage since the critter was so small – seemingly, a baby massasauga. While I watched she bent closer for a better picture and the little devil tried again with the same results. Apparently, the size of your opponent is of no concern to a baby rattler.

Her second attempt with the camera included a close-up photo of the snake’s triangular shaped head and his regular diamond pattern flesh that had no interruptions in color or shape from head to tail. The only thing missing was a distinct rattle, but that may have been because the pose the animal struck prevented a clear view of his nether region or because it was still a baby. After another moment, the snake finally had enough and he slithered back into the tall flowers, presumably to re-occupy his hiding spot.

Since my afternoon libation was beginning to be diluted with the necessary ice-cubes, the Missus and I retreated to the deck to study the photos she had taken. After a close look at the results and a quick consultation with Mr. Google, we concluded “there is no possibility of refutation or doubt,” * that the little creepy, crawly, snake was indeed a massasauga, Michigan’s only rattler and only poisonous snake able to inflict harm and possibly death to a human by his venom. Of course, the last is only true if one exempts those who are likely to die of fright after an encounter.

Michigan is one of the regions where massasaugas continue to have a tenuous hold on life. This snake is the victim of ignorant and frightened humans who seem to believe the only good snake is a dead snake, hence its numbers have been steadily declining in the wet areas where it feeds on crayfish. This one is the 4^th of its type that we have spotted in our neighborhood over the past 20 years. Since they are so rare, this must mean that we have a colony somewhere nearby … or maybe we are just lucky. In any event, it seemed a treat to us to see such a rare and beautiful example of nature, despite his animosity at seeing us.

 

*A common refrain from my Geometry teacher of 60 years ago, Mr. Broman, when we finished a ‘proof’ in our geometry class.

I hope you are having a nice fall,

Bill T

Vacation Time & Climate Change News

 

I am sitting outdoors for the 2^rd evening in a row enjoying the warm air and the sights and sounds of a busy river front at Sault St. Marie, Michigan. We camped here just downstream from the Soo Locks alongside the St. Marys River watching the comings and goings of the large freighters plying the cool and clean water. We have camped many times at the Sault, but never has the weather been this warm.

One of the pleasures in sitting along the river is watching the sun turn from its brilliant yellow afternoon brightness to a muted red color as it moves toward the horizon. However, it is a bit sobering to understand that the red color stems not from some natural occurrence as the sun marks the passage of time, but rather results from the smoke and wildfires that are burning out of control in the western US. The fires are prompted by the unusually dry conditions in California and elsewhere in the west and have nothing to do with forest maintenance and everything to do with climate change.

The forest fires that cover thousands of acres now provokes the smoky air in several parts of the west. The ongoing air pollution has added to the woes of those who have recently contracted Covid 19. As we might have guessed, the pulmonary distress from Covid has been found to be more severe for those who are forced to breathe the polluted air near the firestorm areas. Disasters really do multiply when things go wrong.

The red sun reminds of the recent announcement from the United Nations Committee on Climate Change that things are getting worse, not better. The August 2021 sixth report compiled by an impressive coterie of scientists concluded that time to correct the ills of increasing air pollution is slipping away from us. The report projects that in the coming decades climate changes will increase in all regions.

The report is at its heart a scientific assessment of the earth’s response to the continuously increasing amount of carbon dioxide that humans release to our atmosphere. The data shows that even if we achieve net zero emissions of carbon dioxide soon, we will still have excessive heat and the consequent insults of fire, flooding, drought, storms and so forth in regions all around the world. The amount of air pollution we have already released will cause an increase in temperature of 1.5°C in the next decade.

Here are a number of conclusions from the report and press release.

“Each of the last four decades has been successively warmer than any decade that preceded it since 1850….and there will be increasing heat waves, longer warm seasons and shorter cold seasons.”

“Climate change is intensifying the water cycle. This brings more intense rainfall and associated flooding, as well as more intense drought in many regions. Climate change is also affecting rainfall patterns. In high latitudes, precipitation is likely to increase, while it is projected to decrease over large parts of the subtropics.”

 “Coastal areas will see continued sea level rise throughout the 21st century, contributing to more frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-lying areas and coastal erosion. Extreme sea level events that previously occurred only once every 100 years could happen every year by the end of this century.  Further warming will amplify permafrost thawing, and the loss of seasonal snow cover, melting of glaciers and ice sheets, and loss of summer Arctic sea ice.”

Recently, and for the first time in recorded history, it has rained on the Greenland ice shield instead of snowing.The report provides a terse summary. “This is a code red for humanity.”

Michigan has experienced our share of environmental disasters resulting from climate change and more is expected in the coming months and years. The flooding in Detroit, higher lake levels and decreasing shore lines at our Great Lakes and temperature increases like that in the western Upper Peninsula that has already warmed a whopping 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit since 1951. All the Great Lakes have suffered insults due to climate change. Chief among these has been algal growth that has dire consequences for water quality thereby affecting wildlife and drinking water for humans. Activists have been urging Michigan’s Governor Whitmer to stiffen resistance to the fossil fuel industry by eliminating give-aways sought for pipe lines and to increase the amount of required renewable energy beyond the measly goal of 15% by 2050.

A small measure of optimism can be taken from a close reading of the report. First is the impressive array of human talent that has been brought together for the work. Two hundred thirty-four leading climate experts participated in the conducting the studies and prepared the resulting report. These men and women came from 195 nations and represent humanity’s best thinking on the subject.

 The press release about the report indicates that human actions still have the potential to determine the future course of climate. The evidence is clear that carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main driver of climate change, even as other greenhouse gases and air pollutants also affect the climate. “Stabilizing the climate will require strong, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and reaching net zero CO2 emissions. Limiting other greenhouse gases and air pollutants, especially methane, could have benefits both for health and the climate.”

So, the future is in our hands. The question is whether we have the will to implement the changes needed to assure the future for our children. Those of us in Michigan should contact both our state and national representatives to let them know that now is the time we want action on climate change remedies.

 

 

 

What You Should Know About Composting (and other important stuff)

 

My Worm Ranch and Other Lies

 

I have been a composter for a long time after having read many ‘how to do it’ articles about composting. Most were glowing reports about the benefits of composting, and how you can help save the world by reducing the amount of your throw-away food stuff. Some of the reports included grandiose claims that aren’t quite true. My composting experience has taught a few things about what works and doesn’t work. Here is my story.

I got into the composting game as a consequence of a bad experience in fertilizing flowers with commercial products guaranteed to create bigger flower blossoms, more potatoes, redder tomatoes and so forth. My bad experience occurred when I was put in charge of managing flower gardens at our church. Early one spring after I had chosen and procured all the new flowers, I had the job of planting each of the tender plants that would provide a variety of colors and shapes in my newly created garden. Since there was talk of entering our church garden in the annual community garden walk, I wanted our garden to look its best. Since I had read too many ads about the benefits of ‘Super Booster Flower Food,’ I purchased a large bag of Super Booster determined to make sure that each of the tender seedlings had a generous helping of Super Boost right from the start of their new life. I reasoned that the best approach would be to put some of the fertilizer in each hole dug for the new plants.

It was a mistake. The plants soon kneeled over and died.

WARNING. DON’T EVER PUT FERTILIZER IN THE PLANTING HOLE DUG FOR NEW PLANTS. (Unless you enjoy watching your new plants slowly die from the effect of too much fertilizer that will ‘burn’ the plant’s roots.)

This grievous error provoked my interest in composting since most of the composting proponents claimed that with proper soil mixtures and generous helpings of composted material, no added fertilizer is needed. Why spend your hard-earned cash for fertilizer when you can make your own? For free, according to the gardening folks who know about such things.

I was hooked. I began my composting at home in a shaded, hidden part of the backyard that very fall. Within weeks I had a gargantuan pile of leaves, weeds and various food wastes that altogether formed a disgusting pile. “Just pile it up and forget it,” said one of the articles. I followed their advice, making regular trips to the backyard pile with left-overs and no thought of aesthetics or the critters that regularly visited the pile to consume those materials they believed were too tasty to ignore. My potato peels and dinner left-overs never went to waste as it always seemed there was someone in the world of wild critters who favored such a dish, leaving in its place a small pile of their wastes (already composted material, it seemed to me). I continued my treks to the compost pile in the winter. As fewer critters were about in the cold, snowy weather, the waste food began piling up, slowly changing colors and losing all semblance of form or color, becoming a pile of disgusting gunk. Fortunately, my pile was well-hidden and I was able to ignore the mess since it was mostly hidden from view and I consoled myself to its nasty appearance with visions of spring time, with a new source of fertile soil springing forth from the pile of wastes. Meanwhile, the pile continued to grow in size. I could hardly wait for spring to arrive.

As winter weather subsided and the month of May appeared, many of our spring birds had arrived before I decided to open up the compost pile and take some of the free, fertile soil for use on my garden beds. Upon examination, I was surprised to learn that the pile was frozen solid, unyielding to my piddling efforts with a shovel. I waited another two weeks as the wild flowers came into bloom and the weeds began to grow in my gardens. One inch below the surface, the hoped-for compost was still frozen solid, impossible to dig. In June, the compost yielded 2 inches of melted soil that I furiously hacked into while the garden weeks grew even higher. The ice was still several inches thick, impossible to dig. It took until early July before the compost pile had finally thawed, allowing me to dig into it, uncovering the still undigested left-overs, that no one would want to see on any garden bed. A new composting strategy was clearly needed. I decided to move my compost pile to an area exposed to the sun in hopes of an earlier melt. I also filled several plastic bags full of leaves to serve as insulation to keep my compost pile warm for next year’s compost. The experts said the leaves would become themselves composted even as they performed their insulating duty. I also decided to hedge my bets and begin a worm ranch in the basement where freezing would not be a problem.

Worm ranching, (or vermiculture, as we experts call it), involves creating a ranch for the worms and feeding them for a period of several months as they create fertilizer, otherwise known as a pile of worm poop. I spent a good share of my first vermiculture winter climbing up and down the stairs to the basement for feeding our left-over food scraps to the worms. In a few weeks I learned what the little red worms liked and didn’t like. Coffee grounds were favorites, while they disdained banana peels and most other left-over fruit peels. It turns out that red worms don’t need many left-over food scraps to be happy. My observation was that they favored eating their shredded paper bedding material since their bedding seemed to rapidly disappear while they ignored my food scraps save the coffee grounds and the odd morsel that was free of meat, diary, and citrus. Around Christmas, I finally gave up on much of the left-overs still adorning the ranch and removed the mushy, blackened peels and other detritus returning it to a rightful place in the trashcan. The worms didn’t seem to mind.

The following spring, I moved the worm ranch to the now-warm garage and opened the frozen outdoor compost pile early, using water to help the sun in thawing the pile. In the meantime, I found that the piles of leaves were just as I had placed them in the fall. The black plastic bags that were supposed to help make compost failed to do any such thing and the leaves were beginning to blow around the lawn due to the large tears in the bags from my rough handling as I tried to nudge them in place around the unforgiving pile of compost. I judged the leaf insulation to be a failure in my compost adventure, despite the garden magazine recommendation.

I kind of forgot about the worms in the ranch that was stationed in a corner of my garage while I watered, turned and fed the outdoor compost. The worms in the outdoor pile seemed much more forgiving than the ranch-raised red worms about their food. The outdoor worms seemed to delight in practically everything I fed them. I remember putting a melon peel in the pile and in several days the peel was coated with large worms, of the size of night crawlers. I assume they were happy with the melon peel while their cousins, the red worms, had earlier ignored all fruit peels. After the spring had turned into early summer and we returned from a camping vacation, I remembered the garage-based worm ranch. I opened the top (worms don’t like light) and was surprised that I hadn’t been greeted by several wrigglers. With no worries, I pushed my hand into the worm poop that now occupied most of the ranch. There was no sign of any worms. None. Apparently, the worms had all gone to worm heaven and they were now as one with the worm poop, leaving no sign of their adventures in the plastic bins that had been their homes. I was a little sad and I hoped they had a good life. Thus ended my six-month adventure into ranch-based vermiculture. I deposited the 12 by 16-inch tray of worm poop into my outdoor compost, certain that the worms there would happily make use of remnants of my ranch.

Now, here it is summertime with the gardens in full bloom and the worms still happily helping to turn lawn, garden, and food wastes into newly created soil. I should add that I have returned to the occasional use of purchased fertilizer, sprinkling it adjacent to growing plants but never in a hole dug for their roots. Sheesh! Who would do such a thing …

Your gardening friend, Bill Green Thumb