THE MOUNTAIN SAYS, NO NEED TO COME TO ME -- JUST PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

Had an early July 4 barbecue yesterday -- I think I'm attending five this weekend, plus a pancake breakfast (yum!) in an hour. Anyway, 'twas a gas to be able to "harvest" basil from the garden for one of the dishes I served (tomato, basil and mozzarella in olive oil). So, here is my new update on two seasons' worth from

THE CITY SLICKER'S HARVEST TALLY

8 cherry tomatoes

1 yellow squash

1 cherry

8 sprigs of basil

Belay that laughter, Peep. I'ma gonna squeeze munificent bounties from that space labeled "vegetable garden" yet!

Speaking of how we should appreciate nature's bounty, I finally saw "An Inconvenient Truth". At one point, it made me glad Al Gore lost the presidency as this refocused him on environmental work -- nature needs more attention. Check this out -- we already have the science available to be able to protect the environment without resulting in economic losses (this is the false binary always raised by those protecting big oil). What we lack is political will -- in California, for instance, (and speaking as a former alternative energy banker), it's possible to install wind power facilities that could take care of a third (a third!) of the state's energy needs. We also should be moving people towards hydbrid cars -- politicos should offer the same tax incentives that, for example, allowed us to install a solar field here on Galatea's mountain.

Anyway, we should educate ourselves on this -- Global Warming is not a problem over which individuals can make no impact -- go HERE for starters.