Heat and growth and after

Heat

I think it is the heat that is draining my energy. This morning, while not energetic, I felt fine. Late morning / early afternoon I went out to check my gopher traps and cattle. I was dragging by the time I returned an hour and a half later. The temperature was over 90 F. When I got home I laid down for a minute and woke up over an hour later. I was still moving slow the rest of the afternoon, and also during my bicycle ride uptown to attend the Flathead Growth Policy public comment meeting. Now, you'd think I'd fall asleep at the meeting, but I didn't. It was cooler after the meeting and now, after midnight, I have the most energy I've had all day.

I decided to check on the cattle this morning because my "sixth sense" was going off. Earlier in the morning I heard one cattle from my herd bellow a couple times. From the echo off the ridge I wondered if it was somewhere where it shouldn't be, i.e. on the "thumb" or south of the "thumb" near the ridge. Also I saw no sign of the cattle from the pasture as I checked the gopher traps.

I walked across the east river channel to the big island. It wasn't that hard to do as the deepest part was less than 6 inches. The hard part of the crossing was I did it barefoot and the river bed is gravel and rock. Ouch, ouch, ouch!

No cattle on the big island. Then I saw some of them across the main channel over on the small island. It was their siesta time and they were in the back of the island. That is why I couldn't see them from the pasture.

After I returned to the pasture a few cattle saw me and came from the river over to me. They associate me with treats. I didn't have any. Half the herd lined up in the south pasture along the fence as I checked pocket gopher traps in the middle pasture. Sorry girls. The treats are back at the house.

I brought a couple regular gopher traps back home. No activity at all. I have put dirt into the gopher holes I found to close them. No activity by the gophers to reopen the holes. You'd think they would come up to open the holes to allow air movement into the holes.

Growth Policy

Tonight (Tuesday) the County held the first of two public comment meetings on their draft Growth Policy for the County. It was from 6 to 9 pm. The County planners were in attendance along with all but one Planning Board member.

I had planned to speak as I didn't get all my written comments in by the August 1 deadline. But I found the general comments and tone of the meeting was either general arguments for or against the policy with little in the way of specific comments. I also learned one could submit written comments as long as they handed them in during the meeting. I plan to submit my comments at Thursday's meeting.

The "property rights" people were out in force. They were very emotional and the impression I got is that they were fearful. They feared change, and not knowing how the policy affected them. They also didn't make too much sense. One speaker would accuse the Planners of communism; another would accuse the Planners of being Fascists. Other than both ideologies being totalitarian in how they have been implemented, communism and fascism are far apart.

The property rights people were against the Growth Policy, and seemed to want things to be how they have been, or back to the "good old days". The problem is growth is occurring and to ignore it or not try to manage it is like to be an ostrich and sticking one's head in the sand.

One speaker was so worked up I think he thought the growth policy meant the County would seize his property as, in his obscenity laden tirade, he claimed to have a gun and wouldn't give up his property without a fight.

One woman I initially thought was a "hippy chick". She wore a long billowing dress similar to what hippy chicks I knew in the past wore. She started her talk describing her neighborhood and how she owns property and she and her neighbors grow alternative crops. No, not marijuana! Sounded like a hippy chick lifestyle. Then she launched into a property rights tirade and rant. Whoa! She turned scary. Part of her rant made the local 10 pm news when they picked one speaker to show during the news segment. She sat back down across the aisle from me near other property rights radicals. I noticed she had no rings on her left hand. I am not surprised as she went from attractive to scary once she started her tirade. I certainly wouldn't want know her any better.

A number of state representatives from the area spoke. All were Republican. All urged delay and claimed the October 1, 2006 deadline was not mandatory. There was a three minute restriction on speaking and all of these long winded legislators had to stop before they were done. I was not impressed by the speaking ability of any of them.

The person who most impressed me was a 16 year old boy from Kila, MT who spoke at the end. He eloquently spoke to make his points and did so within the three minute period. He was not a property rights person and spoke in favor of the growth policy. After the meeting Linda was trying to act as matchmaker between him and a few of her granddaughters.

Linda and Emy spoke in favor in the growth policy and did so very well. And bravely as many of the previous speakers were property rights people who ranted against the policy. Linda worked in an allusion to "not being afraid of the alligator" in reference to the recent find of an alligator in a local pond used for swimming and fishing. I think the reference went over the heads of the property rights people.

After the Meeting

The meeting finished around 8:30 pm. When I went outside I found it had rained. What?! It was hot and sunny when the meeting started. I had laundry hanging on my clothesline back home. It also was much cooler. It felt good.

During my bicycle ride back home I passed Depot Park and found the Tuesday music concert was in progress. The rain hadn't scared everyone away. I decided to stop to listen to the music, and to let the rain clouds move east and to allow the roads to dry. The music was good. A jazz band was playing. They did an interesting jazzy version of the Beatle's song, "Norwegian Wood".

By the time the music ended at 9 pm the roads were dry. I stopped by a grocery store on the way home as, after making a loaf of pumpkin bread this afternoon, I had room in my freezer for a half gallon of ice cream. I hadn't bought ice cream since visiting my mom last winter. I think I am losing my sweet tooth as eating ice cream tonight wasn't satisfying. Maybe making it my supper and not dessert had something to do with that?

It is raining lightly now. Good! We really need the rain. And no thunderstorm wind or lightning this time. During my ride home I rode near an area where the electric company was repairing a power line after the wind blew a tree over on it. Lots of lightning earlier over the Swan Mountain Range. We'll see tomorrow how many fires were started from the lightning.