Green Oasis Now Previous Blog
March-May 2021
March-May 2021
March 01, 2021
Tumbleweed: The Rambling Bramble
March 15, 2021
Two Worlds
April 01, 2021
The Burgeoning Interest in Home Gardening
April 15, 2021
Environment, Harmony and Balance
May 01, 2021
A Year and a Day
May 15, 2021
A Year and a Day, part 2
March 01, 2021
Tumbleweed: The Rambling Bramble
Since the 1930’s, when the song “Tumbling Tumbleweed” was introduced, tumbleweed has proliferated from the vast expansiveness of the Great Plains to the point of covering thousands of square miles from Canada to Mexico. This tenaciously persistent plant, not native to the US, has nonetheless found an ideal home on the North American continent.
While the song “Tumbling Tumbleweed” has demonstrated enduring and broad appeal for decades, tumbleweed itself has rambled far and wide. Blown by the wind and leaving a copious trail of fertile seeds wherever it roams, tumbleweed has been — and thus far continues to be — unstoppable.
David, our co-founder who also heads R&D for Green Oasis Now, well remembers his encounters with tumbleweed which occurred during his walkabout from coast to coast in the 1970’s. “It comes whipping and bounding across the plains, moving much faster than you are. Tumbleweeds sweep up sand and have a bit of a dust cloud with them. In those circumstances you try to walk either with your back to the wind, or across the wind, so they generally will catch you unaware. Because of the speed and the thorns, tumbleweed hurts when it whacks into you.”
Tumbleweed has also caught towns unaware. Many have been buried by tumbleweed. Others continue to battle encroachment without much success because the nature of the plant includes phenomenal survival characteristics:
Obstructiveness and Volatility — Tumbleweeds hook together into massive groups. They will obstruct roads and houses. They are also extremely flammable.
Superabundant Seeds — Each plant produces thousands of seeds. Small and not easily discernible, the seeds are enduring and patient; they will wait for rain and then sprout readily.
Proliferation — Fast growing, tumbleweeds have no natural predators in the Americas. (In other parts of the world, where they naturally occur, they are kept in check through grazing. They are also sometimes used as food when in the early stages of growth.)
Thorns — The aggressiveness of the thorns and the size of the tumbleweeds, together with their tendency to interconnect and their flammability, makes them difficult to bring under control.
Local townships and fire departments, and state governments — and the Dept. of Agriculture as well — have tried many different approaches to resolving the challenge presented by the tumbleweed — with limited success. Tumbleweed continues to rapidly gain more acreage.
The current tumbleweed situation was brought to our attention on February 20th of this year by the following animation which succinctly illustrates the extent of the ongoing challenge.
“The Trouble With Tumbleweed” — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsWr_JWTZss
This startling animation prompted us to immediately research more details about the issue.
As a result, we have designed a safe, effective, fireproof and simple device which will collect all the tumbleweed with which the mobile device is positioned to interact. This device will collect and eliminate tumbleweed even if it is already burning, thus safe guarding structures. It will produce profitable by-products while also sterilizing the majority of the tumbleweed seeds in its path.
The solution Green Oasis Now has designed will be environmentally positive as well as profitable. Our propriety protective groundskeeping services Tumbleweed Collection and Remediation Device will become available for lease by municipalities, corporations and individuals.
We plan to outsource the proprietary manufacturing, as well as the services leasing rights, to interested parties by contractual arrangement.
“Tumbling Tumbleweed” alludes to a landscape which has changed substantially since the song first became popular. What is called for now is a return to environmental harmony and balance where tumbleweed no longer dominates everything in its wide ranging path.
March 15, 2021
Two Worlds
Contrasts abound in our changing world. In every direction one can observe:
• reluctance or enthusiasm
• rigidity or flexibility
In stark contrast to reluctance, enthusiasm energizes. It is a powerful fuel.
As with a willow tree moving gracefully with the wind, and thus resilient, flexibility contributes to adaptability.
When looking at one of the basics of well-being — nutritious and reliable fresh food supply — the burgeoning interest in home gardening is an example of adaptability. Whether inspired by rising food prices, or concerns about quality and availability — or a desire to actively interact with nature — this is a direct and common sense way of addressing changing circumstances with resilience.
As though within two different realities, side by side, some see persistent problems where others see solutions. Point of view is the difference.
Albert Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
He was referring to an encompassing view wherein breakthrough solutions are accessible.
Fortunately, in our changing world, in every area of endeavor there are those who are awake to solutions — often quietly productive.
Green Oasis Now lives in this world-of-solutions.
April 01, 2021
The Burgeoning Interest in Home Gardening
The burgeoning interest in home gardening is a clear indicator of changing circumstances.
With this new proliferation of gardens comes some surprises:
• The demand is exceeding supply for both garden seeds and mason jars.
• In some areas, suburban dwellers are turning their front lawns into vegetable gardens.
While US consumers are beginning to recognize the need for their own food independence and are prioritizing accordingly, in England small farming is being actively encouraged.
Those who study the effects of changing weather patterns on agriculture, and have graphed — over a number of years — the increasing weather extremes and ramifications, continue to see an escalation in these patterns. It is expected that the 2021 growing season will further demonstrate changing circumstances which will once again translate into:
• rising food prices
• an impact on availability and/or quality
Home gardeners who have decided to grow, and preserve, their own food are positioning themselves favorably in these times of change — insofar as that is possible. The need for seeds and mason jars has not come to the forefront for a long time (since WW II) — until now. There is obviously a growing change in perspective.
April 15, 2021
Environment, Harmony and Balance
One week from now, Earth Day will be acknowledged. Has there been progress environmentally since the initial Earth Day was celebrated on April 22nd of 1970? Depending on the direction in which one looks, the answer to that question is both “yes” and “no”.
What is clear, however, is that the potential for progress is unlimited and the need is gigantic!
A renowned humanitarian leader continues to emphasize repeatedly: “Mother Nature and humans are in an agitated state.”
As an example: Among the hundreds of volcanos worldwide, between 50 and 70 are variably active, any one of which could exhale a plume which would cause a global artificial winter. Volcanic particulates in the air are already dimming sunlight and adding to the potential for larger hailstones.
Globally, extreme weather events are ongoing including: torrential rain, flooding, hail, tornadoes, record snowfalls. Numerous low grade earthquakes appear to be producing multiple sinkholes.
Concurrently, in humanity’s interaction with nature, sustainability is becoming increasingly recognized as essential. Where there is imbalance caused by wasteful use of Earth’s abundant resources, increasing attention is being placed on recovery and reuse.
Energy storage systems are becoming transformed. Numerous new developments are being integrated into a potential future. The effectiveness and longevity potentials are yet to be determined. Old technologies are being superceded rapidly. All this points to new levels of renewable energy storage systems — and thus more widespread application of sustainable renewable energy.
Through these innovations technology is serving nature — rather than dominating nature. It is this fundamental shift in attitude which is beginning to contribute to harmony and balance environmentally.
Everything we humans do to serve nature also serves us. All of our activities, whatever they are, take place on the planet which sustains us. Increasing harmony and balance environmentally mirrors to us the possibility for the enhancement of our own well-being. There is no disconnect from nature, regardless of the blinders some may choose to wear. Our well-being and Earth’s well-being are intertwined.
Although it is obvious that “mother nature and humans are in an agitated state”, those who choose harmony are the forerunners within the potential for progress.
May 01, 2021
A Year and a Day
This blog, distinctly unlike our usual writing, provides more insight into the earlier roots of what has become Green Oasis Now.
Our head of R&D, interested in meeting someone receptive to his ideas, decided years ago on a perspective-enhancing experience which would utilize some of his other developed skills: Extensive walking (the equivalent of thirty-five miles a day having been typical for years). Long distance swimming. Familiarity with edible plants and plant identification and gathering from Nature’s wild bounty.
It occurred to David, then in his early twenties, that he would enjoy working as a shepherd in Patagonia, so he decided on an extended walk to southern South America. He also decided that, for one year, he would not interact with money or go inside a building of any kind. This was to be entirely an outdoor experience.
He left Connecticut in early Spring as soon as the temperature was reasonable for his plans. He progressed steadily, as envisioned, averaging at least thirty-five miles a day,
I asked what he was learning at that point during his extended walk.
He said, “I learned how little one needs to survive and how everything is provided if you’re capable of looking around and noticing what is available, without panicking.” He then added. “I often woke up in sight of something edible.”
Walking in a flat desert area in Mexico in late June or early July, he saw in the distance that something was flapping in the breeze. He walked toward it and found that it was a long, thin banner which included the words “avatar will bring peace” and the announcement that a spiritual teacher would be present at an outdoor event in western Colorado at the Full Moon in July. David immediately changed his direction to North-Northeast, stepping up his pace to arrive before the event began. He was determined to meet this avatar face-to face.
Arriving early he built of substantial rocks, weighing as much as 300 pounds, a rock garden and a staircase positioned for the avatar’s entrance into the place where he would be staying.
Near the end of that event, David fell into a hole amid a thorn bush and injured one ankle. It was with a mending ankle that he continued his walk, having changed his direction to westward towards the ocean.
Within a week, walking in the dark after nightfall, he slipped off the edge of a steep riverbank into a shallow river. The cold water was therapeutic for his ankles, both of which were now sprained. For three days, he drank crystal clear water while soaking them. When he was ready to leave, he wrapped vines around his boots for compression.
He then proceeded upstream along the river bank for several hundred yards until he was met by a chain link fence anchored across the river and up the sides. Beyond the fence, as far as the eye could see, there were pigs “like a blanket on the earth and the river”. While the fence helped him climb out of the river embankment, he also realized the quality of the water he had been drinking for three days.
As he continued his walk he found fruits in orchards which had been harvested — late season ripe sweet fruit.
Eventually he came upon vast bean fields where women were picking green beans and filling large bags which they would then have to drag to be weighed. They were paid by weight. They told David that they knew they were being cheated. Typically efficient, David offered to carry the bags himself while they kept picking. “He won’t cheat me.” For about two weeks, until there were no more green beans, David carried the bags, four at a time, from all over the field to be weighed. Because they didn’t have to drag the bags themselves, the women could fill the bags more completely than before, they had more time for harvesting and they did not have to deal with the person who was cheating them. They offered to pay David, but he declined. For him it was fun. He also had resolved not to interact with money for one year.
Throughout this harvesting, everyone — including David — survived on green beans. After the green beans diet, David craved a more substantial food. He happened across someone who was demonstrating peanut butter and giving away sample jars.
He continued walking toward the ocean, eventually arriving at the Baha peninsula. From that point, carrying nothing that could be salt water damaged, he walked along the beaches and periodically swam northward along the Pacific Coast Highway.
(to be continued)
May 15, 2021
A Year and a Day, part 2
This blog continues the narrative which began in part one — a glimpse into a perspective-enhancing walkabout by our head of R&D when he was in his early twenties. David had decided that, for one year a day, he would not interact with money or go inside a building of any kind. This was to be entirely an outdoor experience. His initial plan was to walk to southern South America (having started in New England) and work as a shepherd for a while… The narrative continues on the Baha peninsula, with a changed course…
To refill his canteen, David found fresh water in streams which flowed from the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Sometimes he climbed the cliffs to forage. “Nature always provides a bounty if you know where to look — mosses, lichen, fungi, tree bark, clover, roots, nuts and acorns, berries, seaweed, fish, shellfish and more.”
He continued north, near the coastline, through Oregon and into Washington state where he met indigenous peoples cooking around a fire. They shared with him elk chops and bear salami. “The grease content was both shocking and invigorating.”
From there his northward trekking took him into British Columbia where, walking through a forest of trees which were minimally four feet in diameter, he was met with a surprise. “I stepped out between two trees and within arms reach was a giant bear at least six times my size! We looked at each other in shock. I evaporated quickly with the bear in hot pursuit. After some distance it became apparent that the bear had lost interest but, since I had a good head of steam up, I continued running vigorously for a number of miles until I reached a high point that assured me I was quite alone.”
After crossing back into the US, in Idaho, the adventure unfolded with new surprises:
“On two different occasions there were rainbows that were actually grounded on the country roads where I was walking in the early morning — rainbows in the mist. I was actually able to walk through the colors. Farther along in Idaho, I was walking along and I saw a flash and heard an explosion a few feet above my left side. It was a small meteorite, a piece of which hit me directly over my heart and bounced off onto my left forearm leaving a burn mark scar which remains in both places. It broke into tiny particles when it hit the ground. Otherwise, I would have kept it for sure.”
Walking across Montana he turned toward the Canadian Rockies intending to go to a small town named Rose. However, it was too cold to continue north in Canada at that point. He then headed to North Dakota where he stopped at the Lakota reservation to see an elder couple he had met years earlier.
From there he walked to Minneapolis/St Paul in search of bakeries he had learned about previously during cordial encounters with Scandinavians. He had now been walking for eight months. His original plan to walk into summer in South America had been redirected northward. His first steps from outdoors into indoors were at a bakery in Minneapolis/St Paul.
He then walked across Wisconsin to Milwaukee where the wind chill off Lake Michigan was a further reminder of the coming cold season.
The layered clothing in which he had begun his walking tour when he left Connecticut the previous February had been abandoned in the warmer months, together with the backpack which had contained other useful winter gear. The shorts and shirt which had sufficed since then were not sufficient for the increasing autumn chill. It was time for a new plan.
Consistently interested in manufacturing processes, he decided to go on a tour of a large Milwaukee brewery. As part of the tour ample beer was provided. It was the accompanying substantial food which was of interest, however — particularly the sausage. During the tour he was offered a ride on a delivery truck which was immediately going to Connecticut. He accepted.
Outdoors in the parking area, after the tour, he saw two pennies and decided to pick them up. This was his first interaction with money in eight months. Shortly thereafter, he was headed back to the starting point of his walkabout — with two cents and a wealth of perspective-enhancing experience.
Having been nourished primarily by foraging for eight months, he had closely observed Nature’s simplicity, efficiency and abundance. With knowledge, discernment and sensitivity foraging had allowed comfortable survival. What he learned from Nature, in the wild, had also provided additional knowledge about growing food indoors — discerning what is necessary as differentiated from what is superfluous or undesirable. “Everything is provided if one can slow down enough to see what is there.”
Now, signaled by the wind chill, he had recognized it was time to conclude his North American walkabout. A ride back to Connecticut, his starting point, had been made available immediately.
David’s original plan to not go inside a building, or handle money for a year and a day, had been shortened to eight months as a result of his unanticipated change in course which took him northward instead of south. (See the previous blog: “A Year and a Day”.)
Seeing that it was time to continue his walkabout in a warmer climate during the winter, he now had an idea to walk from Amsterdam to the pyramids in Egypt. From there his walking continued for several years, through eighty-three countries.