Traditionally Crossbred VS Genetically Modified

Genetically modified chestnut trees are helping the near extinct American chestnut ready for a comeback. The tree has been genetically modified to survive a deadly fungus and its seeds have fungus resistant genes. The fungus originally appeared and began its deadly rampage in the 1900s from chestnut trees imported from Asia. The American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project spent 20 years trying to save the native species. Using biotechnology a wheat gene has been added to the new trees and several other strains of the same gene are improving the chestnut’s fungus resistance. Their goal is to plant these trees in the wild (outside currently permitted plots in the near future.

A parallel project begun in the 1970s by the American Chestnut Foundation is working to produce a fungus resistant chestnut tree by crossing American and Chinese chestnuts. Over several generations the Chinese component is bred out. Their latest generation is 94 percent American chestnut and has similar resistance to the Chinese species.

I have read a lot about how mistrusted genetically modified foods are in Europe and this country too. The plight of the American chestnut and these two different tactics for saving it has made the difference between genetic modification and traditional cross breeding in plants easier for me to understand. Both seem to attempt to speed up evolution, traditional crossbreeding by humanized natural selection and genetic modification by even less natural mutantized selection. This is why I have come to believe in gardening and growing my own food and eating organic food whenever possible.

Cowabunga! It’s TMNT Time!

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have really bulked up! I haven’t seen the latest movie but from the ads and the trailer I wonder if maybe they are finally (after 30 years) not teenagers anymore. In the past 30 years the TMNT have been animated in a couple of TV series, they've been heroes on a half shell in a bunch of movies, and they've even come out of their shells (something true turtles cannot do) for a live Broadway musical tour. I have always liked turtles and I’m partial to the TMNT gang too. I have turtles on my ankle bracelet and a peace turtle in my pocket, but it seems like when I write about turtles of the marine and land variety this blog doesn't garner many views. I daresay this summer’s TMNT movie blockbuster will not share the same fate. I know I’m looking forward to watching it!

Ebola, Bubonic Plague-They’re Back

Actually these old diseases never really left, but they've made it back into the headlines recently.

Ebola is a viral disease that effects humans and can be transmitted to us by contact with infected primates (monkeys), pigs, and/or fruit bats. Once it infects humans it becomes ‘airborne’ meaning transmitted through the air and of course the Ebola virus can also be transmitted through bodily fluids. Ebola starts out with fever, muscle aches, sore throat, and flu-like symptoms and progresses to bleeding problems, hence the designation, hemorrhagic. There is no cure for this disease and it kills from 50 to 90 percent of the people infected. Its origin is in Africa and there is an outbreak of this deadly disease there right now. There is an ongoing effort to develop a vaccine and some other experimental drugs to stem the tide of deaths from Ebola.

Bubonic Plague (or Black Death as it was called in medieval times) is spread by the rats and their companion fleas. These plague bacteria (transmitted by flea bite) enter the body through the skin and travel through the lymphatic system. Without treatment, the bubonic plague kills about two thirds of infected humans within four days. With treatment, especially with in the first 24 hours, the infected person’s prognosis improves. The plague if properly diagnosed can at this time be treated and cured with antibiotics that weren't available in the 14^th century when it killed 25 million people, (30 to 60 percent of the entire population of Europe at that time). Just last month the Chinese government sealed off a city of more than 100,000 people, fearing the spread of a plague outbreak. More than 151 people exposed to the deadly disease were quarantined in that time, and one middle-aged man died from the infamous bacterial infection.

Ok, now that I’m done here I’m going to wash my hands and spray myself with some insect repellent! 

Challenges

Every once in a while I like to take on an old word with a new meaning and today is one of those days. I Googled the word challenges looking for a quick definition and right away I came across You Tube’s Top Ten Challenges to do at home when you are bored. So I guess I’m going figure everyone already knows the traditional definitions for challenges (as a verb or noun) and get right to the new social media meaning. The meaning I’m referring to here is the challenge part of things like the cinnamon challenge and even more dangerous the more recent fire challenge. The cinnamon challenge had kids swallowing (and sometimes aspirating) mouths full of cinnamon, and the fire challenge has kids setting themselves (their bellies anyway) on fire and posting a video of the whole experience online. The public posting is a big part of these challenges because I guess kids want to ‘share’ with their friends how harebrained they are too. They should add the resulting ER bill and following pain, suffering, and scarring as part of the credits at the end of the video. Perhaps the popularity of shows and movies like Jack Ass or reports like the Darwin Awards have contributed to this new media category of so called ‘challenges’ I don’t know, but the more I see, hear, and read about them the more I dislike this new meaning to the word challenges. 

Volunteer and Help Put a Dent in Food Insecurity

A friend of mine, Kelly Daily, posts on Face Book about feeding people in the park (in Oregon) pretty regularly, usually with a request for others to come out and volunteer. I always “like” her posts and have thought about how I’d like to volunteer. Today I finally figured out a way. No, I don’t have airline reservations or plans to head to Oregon, but there is need in our community and in the surrounding area for food and I found a way to volunteer. Journey Church in Fernandina has partnered with Second Harvest to create a food ministry that provides boxes of food for families and the elderly. Today (Tuesday) I got the opportunity to participate in a bunch of different facets of this ministry’s mission. The Journey Food Ministry has it down to a science. I got to bag fresh fruit and veggies, bread, and box a variety of meat items. I put 2 boxes of saltine crackers (a pallet full) in almost 300 boxes as they were being distributed. Milk, baby food (options for folks with littlest ones), and dessert (chosen by each customer) along with dry goods completed each box. Then each box (or cluster of 2 or 3 boxes) was delivered to the parking area sometimes with a hug, a prayer, a smile, or any combination of the aforementioned. As if this wasn't remarkable enough all this was packaged between 7:30 and 10:30 this morning, then the 300 boxes sent out the door between 10:45 and 12:30 and this dedicated group of volunteers does it all over again for a different group (as many as 300) every Thursday too. As I write this all I can say is “Whew!” The operation today was a lot to take in but I know be back volunteering there again and I‘ll sleep really well tonight.

Finding a Balance between Tech and No Tech

This green glass jug and an old water bath canner are the last two things in my possession left from my late father. Before I went on my sojourn (Summer’s Last Blast) I attempted to can some pear jam, not to be confused with Pearl Jam though I do like music while I work and oddly enough this computer wants to auto correct pear to pearl, as in Pearl Jam... Anyway to make a long story shorter, I put the water on, in my old trusty, slightly in a few places rusty, canning pot, blue with white speckles, and proceeded to peel pears, wash jars and lids in hot and soapy before sterilizing etc., etc., when suddenly there was on the stove top sparking, steaming, dripping, and leaking all at once and in no particular order. My Dad’s old canner had sprung a leak. After the mop up the pear jam ended up being refrigerator packed, not canned or preserved. The rest of the jars, the majority of them, dried and returned to the cabinet above the fridge. I related this sad series of events to my husband via SKYPE later that evening and went the next day on the grand grandkid adventure, Summer’s Last Blast. When I returned I found a very large box on my doorstep and in it was a brand spanking new water bath canner identical to the leaky one I’m planning to turn into a planter. Here in lies the tech side of this post since canning food is a no tech (and no brainer because I love to can) operation for me, all that remains to be considered is the tech side, SKYPE, online ordering and delivering of my new canning apparatus, and writing about it in this blog. So today for me, finding a balance between tech and no tech means after I finish this blog post and Google some sugar free or low sugar jalapeno pepper jelly recipes with this ol’ laptop, I’ll be putting my water bath canner to good use!

Summer’s Last Blast

Though it’s only the first day of August, it’s also the last weekend before school starts for a bunch of my grandchildren, hence we are convening for this summer’s last blast in Cocoa Beach. We (Ethan, Jonas, and I) await the arrival of some more cousins tomorrow but in the meantime we are enjoying the amenities at the International Palms Resort. It’s right on the beach and has a pirate ship splash area beside the big pool that the boys fell in love with when they were little. It is an older hotel (I've stayed in many nicer) but memories of fun times here keep us coming back. We’re only a short distance from I Dream Of Jeannie Lane, Lori Wilson Park, and East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame. Also nearby are Dinosaur Store and Museum and Cocoa Beach Skate Park. As a matter of fact Cocoa Beach and the surrounding area are full of fun and exciting activities, from the Kennedy Space Center to the Cocoa Beach Pier to the Ron Jon Surf Shop (open 24/7) and plenty of good places to eat. We don’t really need a structured plan of events (other than making time to spend with family) when we come here because never run out of things to do during our visits. Yep that’s my foot in the photo I took as I was relaxing on a lounge chair, enjoying the pool and beautiful sunset with some of my favorite people and looking forward to the fun that tomorrow will bring.