99 & Counting

Today started early with a few tasks on 'the house project' followed by a 100 mile drive for lunch.  My remaining aunt, Vi, turns 99 tomorrow.  Her father and two of his sisters lived to 100.  As a child I thought everyone lived to 100.  Vi's sisters left at 98, 98 and 93 respectively.  She's still pretty independent and complains that her hearing, sight and teeth are all rotten.

We ate with my cousin and her husband.  I suggested the local Asian buffet.  For years that was "China Wok."  WalMart recently moved and a new buffet came to town, located near the new WalMart and the China Wok became history.  The new buffet, "Wok & Roll" is not as good, the workers are surly and the bathrooms met the minimal mainland China hygiene standard.

The drive was down 35W south from the Twin Cities.   A long time ago I worked for the MN Department of Public Safety which worked hand in hand with the Department of Transportation which worked with the federal people.  It's clear that  more federal money has come down the road that has in a long time.  Certainly it has something to do with a Presidential election in the future.  Republicans and Democrats alike are going to beat the drums of putting people to work, improving roads, etc.

Minnesota consists of two seasons: 1) snow and ice and 2) road construction.  That's in a good year.

This farm belonged to my mother's cousin, Norval Nelsen.  He and his wife, Helen, moved there in the 1930's, first living in the settler's log cabin.  Along with raising two children it was a traditional farm with a few milk cows, hogs, chickens and enough field crops to sell and feed the livestock.  When my mother was small they'd visit be sent out in the fields to flip cow pies which were used for fuel.  Even in the 1980's Norval resisted propane and continued to burn wood.  As a kid I was overwhelmed by the animals, the annoying chickens and the smells but loved playing in the hayloft of the barn.  Now it's like many farms, a house, the barn is gone, the machine shed empty or storing someone else's boat or RV and a few leftover buildings not really re-purposed and surrounded by field corn and soybeans.

This past week I read about the new University of Minnesota Bee Research Lab.  The most eminnent of the people there, Marla Spivak, has done remarkable work in defense of the Varroa mite infestations in bee colonies.  Of particular note is the development of the Minnesota Hygenic Queen which provides a non-drug approach.  We all know that pesticides result in pesticide-resistent insect.

Dr. Spivak now is focused on colony collapse.  I've been losing colonies in the summer since 2008 which coincides with the release of neonicotinoid pesticides.  I don't have a PhD but from a practical perspective I know that bee colonies next to corn fields doesn't work any more.  The newspaper article said that the vast majority of Minnesota crops require honeybees for pollination.  Corn and soy beans don't need bees.  The farm that Norval and Helen had needed honeybees.  Minnesota agriculture is really an agri-business monoculture (actually corn, soy beans, potatoes and sugar beets). Honeybees are, of course, not native to the United States, and as such are an invasive species and have in many areas been a player in the depletion of native pollinators of which there are thousands.  Native plants tend to lose out to those which thrive under honeybee pollination.  I'm not sure how to argue this.  Moving forward I'll focus on organizations and information technology.