Tag: environment

Gardens Under Glass–A Whole Lot More Than Gardens!

Its not easy being green, but the Gardens Under Glass project at the magnificent Galleria structure in downtown Cleveland hopes to make going green easy to achieve! The ultimate vision for the initiative is to provide a neighborhood functional retail and business “eco-village” of learning, local food, environmental sustainability, and green product technology that will provide the core city and region with many green products and services to promote lifestyles that are rewarding and leave a much lighter footprint on the earth!

Some examples aim to promote greener ways leading by example, such as incorporating more recycling and reduction of waste within the facility, more efficient use of existing energy supply…..and even composting! Local food and produce production is the project’s anchor focus. But, Gardens Under Glass does not stop at producing local and healthy produce year round through aquaponics and conventional growing methods. For example, local and independent merchants who are already promoting sustainable philosophies, green products and/or technologies, have the opportunity of being consolidated along one indoor street and under one roof—to increase their competitiveness amidst a highly chain and/or franchised business and retail scene these days.

Customers who want to support local and or independent businesses offering something unique rarely found elsewhere, can come here to find many things without wasting fuel driving all over the area. Such stores like galleries promoting local art and handcrafted products, many made from recycled materials. Thrift and clothing stores with garage sale prices—selling not only unique vintage items, but lightly used and like new items all displayed professionally as in a traditional retail store. Need a blender? Looking to decorate your home with an original theme?…..How about a unique furniture item, article of clothing….or even tools? How about an original gift item? You may find something fantastic here for under $5.00! All this within a charming, clean and attractive high end facade in the facility itself. Best of all you will know that your purchase has helped to promote recycling, less oil dependency, preservation of forest and farm around our city’s buffers—and thus maintaining a vibrant urban core!

In addition to the above, Gardens Under Glass is currently developing an educational center which focuses on air, water, and soil pollution—and will also promote products, that if used instead of current ones in the home, will result in cleaner air, water, and soil in the outdoor environment. The learning center will entertain and inform groups wishing to implement more green practices in their daily lives, as well as school children who will ultimately inherit this planet. They will learn how to become wiser and greener consumers and stewards of the world by discovering how choices they make in their daily lives can either have negative or positive impacts locally and globally.

Gardening aspects of the project will promote less energy dependent yard care and those which attract hummingbirds and butterflies by using native plantings. You can even discover how to make the most of even the smallest bit of soil in the urban environment whether you plan to grow, or attract backyard friendly wildlife on your rooftop garden!

As you can see, Gardens Under Glass is no cookie cutter idea for any kind of mixed use retail and business center. Its vision is so much broader than growing produce under glass. In the bigger picture, it can serve as a national example for progressive adaptive and functional reuse of a building. The project is ultimately about encouraging and fostering a community of walkable neighborhoods, local foods, products and business—to in turn—help promote self sustaining neighborhoods. Gardens Under Glass can demonstrate that their is an economy and jobs to be created in a healthier environment—and can serve as the regional centerpiece and powerful voice for green initiatives and innovation that can be implemented locally and nationally.

Lastly, if you are an entrepreneur or existing business that believes in the objectives and vision of this project, and would like to join forces by locating here, please contact us to discuss the economic advantages you can gain in positioning your business or nurturing your idea here. Together, we can help “grow” your green idea or business! You can contact Gardens Under Glass at the website below.

www.gardensunderglass.net

Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 9:18 PM No comments:

Gulf Oil Gush: When will we learn–What does it take?

Anyone paying attention yet?….

I often have wondered what will it take for people to start waking up to the realities of how much our environment is plundered everyday at the expense of, or in the name of profit. I have also thought that what good is the profit, if we have no world left to enjoy the fruits of good life that it supposedly bares in the first place? Nothing has slapped me in the face with these kinds of thoughts more than the Gulf Oil Gush (Hell of a lot more than a “spill”) catastrophe that continues to spew thousands of gallons of crude oil into the sea water ’round the clock now approaching a month and a half.

I am completely flabbergasted that for some people, even this event does not seem to spark even a sub-conscious thought in the back of their minds that we really need to curb the oil addiction, NOW. Are cheap happy meal toys, Sprawl-Mart STUFF, green lawns, meat with each meal, allowing the SUV’s to idle for moments on end (“S.U.V….”A.K.A. “Selfish Unaccountable Vice!”)—and the list could go on and on for many oil dependent acts/products—worth destroying that which sustains life itself? Perhaps we need to do a personal audit on ourselves to see how much our daily lives involve acts that can be connected to a frivolous use of oil, and maybe consider alternatives that would result in less consumption of this finite resource.

A gluttonous and insatiable appetite for such a limited fuel source that took millions of years to form, yet is used faster than it can be taken from the ground, will not be satisfied no matter how many holes we drill in the earth, as long as we waste it on crap we don’t really need. The same goes for any energy source. We need to start taking account of how we waste what the earth currently yields. To think we can continue to use oil or any resource with no accountability and recklessly is like expecting a 10 pound capacity bag to carry 50 pounds of potatoes.

What they save, we pay for….

The Gulf oil disaster is brought to you by not only an all too often and unnecessary hoggish appetite for fuel that humans have conditioned themselves to think they need—but also by unaccountable and irresponsible industry types who do not want to play by the rules, and will lobby tooth and nail against measures that demand for better safety and regulation standards that could possibly prevent such disasters as this oil gush—as well as lobby against any further risky fuel extraction endeavors that jeopardize both our future well being—as well as the planet’s of which we are connected. What such industries do not wish to pay for now, comes back to cost all of us so much more….economically, socially, and environmentally. Their short term profits become everyone else’s long term problems and costs. The classic externality.

You may have guessed correctly that I am thinking of the film documentary “THE CORPORATION”—And, since “the corporation” as so eloquently outlined in that production, wishes to be treated as “individuals” in our community—AND demand the same rights, then perhaps it is time they be punished for their crimes just as anyone else (“individual”) would be. With every fiber in my body and setting all news reports aside to use my own conscious, the Gulf disaster somehow violates every natural law of the universe, as well as every environmental law ever written. Yet, I feel in my bones that BP will somehow get away with it and eventually continue as business as usual. The fines will be considered a cost of doing business.

Furthermore, I have also heard the opinion floating around that suggests the incident is being projected in the mainstream news as something far worse than it is. But, while I tend to seek out alternative news sources from those such as “Faux” News, I witness a side that insists it is a lot WORSE than what we are being told. Again, setting all sources aside, I will use my own conscious and place my trust in information that is not orchestrated by a BP PR machine or any chamber driven entity that represents the interest of stockholders and not stakeholders.


How is this poison?….

As an avid naturalist, I do know a little bit about how the earth works myself, and I can tell you…this oil gush is in no way something that will simply cleanse itself in a short while. How it is poison, I describe like this: Just as the human body is one living organism, so is the earth. Just as the human body has substances contained within that are stable; such as what is traveling though our intestinal tract, so does the earth. The human body: Feces. The Earth: Crude oil. If I poke a hole in the human intestine and allow all that foul waste to escape in the rest of the body and contaminate the human body as a whole, then the same is analogous to poking a hole in the earth and allowing the otherwise—stable in its place—crude oil, to escape in the water. Get it?


Money…Money…Money….MONEY!

I don’t think The O’Jays could have said it better. It is a sick and utterly pathetic testament to the de-evolution of the human sense of compassion, ethics, and moral responsibility to be good stewards of this world to have talked with many people about this and hear the concerns only rooted around somebody losing money. While granted, I feel for all the smaller family owned businesses that will suffer from the devastation, I am not about to cry an river of oil tear drops for BP and their stockholders and act as though they are our benefactor. Besides the small and independent local businesses that, again, I DO feel for….What about the scores of innocent animals that are suffering a painful death at the expense of what is ultimately about appeasing a disgusting out-of-control lifestyle that has not learned the meaning of the word “limits”

Our ability to exercise compassion for this world is what should be the one cornerstone and basic attribute that would warrant our position in this world as its care-takers. But when this is thrown out the window because of the dependence on money, I feel we are slipping into an oblivion of regression and chaos. Do we want to be the generation that will be looked upon as the plunderers who could have made a difference but chose not to? Time will tell of the grave repercussions of this disaster. I hope that this is well documented with photos that will say a thousand words. The kinds that may just help people pull the blinders away from their eyes. It will be difficult for any marketing or PR team to hide this one–Even as BP does not wish to have aerial photos taken! Makes you want to say “Hmmmm”


Just one other thought worth the quick mention….

Lastly, and in my extreme editorial opinion….I am in total disrespect and disgust in people like Sarah “Spill Baby Spill” Palin and Rush Limbaugh, who cannot resist the opportunity to turn this into a “Blame Obama and environmentalists” campaign, solely to further their own opinionated agenda. They have proven time and time again which beds they’re sleeping in, and that they are more interested in “being right” even if they’re WRONG…than doing what is actually RIGHT—“Right”, as long as it fills their bank accounts no matter what the expense…even if it is the entire Gulf Of Mexico or beyond. Their arrogance is only exceeded in size by this oil gush! Anyway, maybe Rush can invite Sarah over for dinner at his Florida home and they can dine on shrimp glazed with petroleum sauce…and drink black wine, vintage 10 million years! High tide is here…the oil should be washing in anytime. And Sarah, you’ll have plenty of dead animals to stuff. Shame on both of you. Your lies you pass as truth must stop. Maybe we ought to plug the leak with both of them!

Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 11:16 AM No comments:

CLEVELAND IS NOT AN ASHTRAY?–A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!


The top photo was taken at Edgewater Beach near downtown Cleveland. This condition has existed for a long time now and appears to be getting worse. Obviously many residents and city leadership think this condition is acceptable, or are not thinking about it at all. The photo below is of a public service announcement recently displayed in The Sydney Morning Herald, in Sydney, Australia.

Obviously the problem there was enough to warrant needed attention—and truth be told, for a metro area of over 5 million, their 100’s of miles of local beaches are virtually litter free, in contrast to just 50 yards of beach that cannot even be maintained properly at Cleveland’s Edgewater Park. I think this is a pitiful testament to the lack of regard for the environment these days. Sure, all the “going green” and “sustainability” propaganda suggests otherwise, but pictures speak a thousand words.

I think our city should employ the same public service promotion as Sydney–as the message for cigarette butt litter ALONE desperately needs to be sent here. DCA could maybe consider making this a part of any downtown signage themes in which they’re involved, like the “Change Where It Counts” and “Junk-In-The-Trunk” campaigns. Afterall, if we can say something about junk-in-the-trunk we can surely say something about litter on the streets in making for a safer; more sustainable, desirable, and healthy city.

It is alarming to realize that to many, seeing cigarette butts or black and mild tips laying all over is perfectly acceptable—or that there is nothing we can do about it. It looks as though Sydney, Australia, on the other hand, IS trying to do something about it and maybe Cleveland can learn something from such an example. Maybe such a message will help to seed the beginnings of fostering a new populace, many of whom just might learn learn why tossing butts on the ground is unacceptable.

photo sources: Sydney Morning Herald/Christopher Hubbard

Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 6:13 AM

CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Forget about what you hear on the six o’clock news, your mainstream radio airwaves—what you read in the local newspaper—OR what you hear from your overweight, sports, chicken wings, and Rush Limbaugh addicted suburban neighbor with the chemically addicted sterile lawn, noise-making leaf blower, and titanic SUV!

Instead, Have a watch of these four short films that address climate change through the voices, eyes and ears of the world’s indigenous people’s. I hope that such films will shed a bit of light on a public who’s idea of global travel is riding the “ITS A SMALL WORLD RIDE” at Disneyland!

http://www.lifemosaic.net/filmsforcopenhagen.php

Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 7:01 PM

Introducing Gardens Under Glass For Cleveland And North East Ohio!

There is a new concept in the works tilling in downtown Cleveland that will offer local restaurants, small farmers and community gardeners as well as individuals to grow their own food year round! It is the Gardens Under Glass concept that will transform a former specialty shopping mall called “The Galleria” into a neighborhood community institution that will offer the above gardening opportunities, specialty art galleries and unique shops/businesses and services already housed in the building—as well as an expanded selection of eco-friendly merchants carrying many independently and locally made products to serve life’s daily needs. Some of the products such as art, furniture or clothing you can find in the place will be made from recycled materials.

Gardens Under Glass at the Galleria can also serve as a “bookend” of sort for the adjacent emerging Asia Town neighborhood—as it is located in central downtown Cleveland’s northeastern most edge, opposite of Asia Town. These places are already virtually linked by nearby Rockwell Avenue. There can be a great synergy between the two places as local residents and even restaurants can rent/lease out spaces in hanging gardens to grow foods locally and hydroponically.

That said, in the simplest of words, is the very basic concept; and what a great re-invention of building and downtown district this can be! I don’t want to spoil the surprise on this…so please visit the website for further details about the proposed project.

www.gardensunderglass.vpweb.com

Note: If the above link does not work, please copy and paste it into your browser window.

Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 3:59 PM

Stop Funding Sprawl-Start Funding Urban Cores!

The recent decision of the Cleveland Regional Transit Authority to discontinue the service of smaller circulator bus services inspired the following thoughts which I shared with several state representatives……

As Ohio moves into the future we must find was to help preserve its urban historical heritage and its rural/natural historical heritage.

I believe we can do both, but only if we cease this archaic spending pattern that has rural interests being represented more than urban. By shifting funding interest and support in favor of urban, Ohio will boast attractive urban cores that will promote economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, less dependency on oil—as well as social and economic diversity. We will create thriving and world wide competitive urban cores that are truly one of a kind.

What the above will in turn mean for rural interests is that we preserve Ohio’s family agriculture community from being overrun with unsustainable, unethical, and environmentally destructive factory farming. Additionally we will help protect many other small locally owned and independently operated businesses from the homogenization of the clone zone franchising scene. We will preserve Ohio’s unique natural heritage/environment—and rural identity.

I do not comprehend how anyone who is thinking on a long term future basis—can be supporting measures that lead to the kind of land and energy consuming sprawl we do not need. Supporting spending stimulus money for rural over urban, for example, contributes to making rural Ohio go extinct. Where was the gain? How does this end up ‘supporting’ or benefiting rural areas, in the long run when they will be destroyed along with the quality of life they offer? Is such support looking out for the best interests of the identity forged for years that became the charm of rural America??? No, its not… And people need to learn that sprawl in areas that do not need it, is not some sort of benefactor as conventional misguided wisdom seems to suggest.

By taking federal stimulus money and spending most of it outside the urban core, we only dig a deeper hole in being more oil co-dependent–by creating energy consumptive cities outside of cities outside of cities and so on. When does this aggressive cycle level off and strive to achieve sustainability?

No more spending on, and construction of roads, bridges, and other infrastructures that will eventually become a maintenance spending never ending nightmare—if we cannot even maintain what we have already. What kind of mess is this state visually going to look like in the future? Do you think such a chaotic seen will foster the kind of quality of life people or businesses seek when deciding to locate somewhere. Why hasn’t Ohio learned after all these years, that such sprawl and financial support of it, only benefit’s a few, and not the state overall?

Ohio is still following these outdated spending models that favor rural over urban. As a taxpayer with a say in the matter, I do not want more money, especially stimulus money, spent on new rural roads and bridges, etc., that will just promote more sprawl…..UNLESS they are existing items that are in need of repair. Otherwise, we should be spending the majority of the money helping to build healthy and competitive urban core scenes that we can be proud of in Ohio. Part of helping to achieve creating the thriving urban core means increasing spending for encouraging and promoting alternative means of transportation such as busses, trains. It means MORE funding for public transportation, NOT less!

This state for too long has been given limited choice in the transportation scene as we have had cars and highways crammed down our throats for too long, which helped to foster and promote this very costly ongoing habit of the automobile, in the first place. Had trains and busses had the luxury of finance, advertising and promoting as do anything associated with cars, highways, etc, you would see more people riding these alternative modes. Ohio had it right the first time when the state designed a comprehensive network of rail service. Then, suddenly, we scrapped that, and allowed the auto industry to get us hooked on cars. While that certainly has purpose, by no means should we be so limited in choice.

Environmentally, we need to pull our heads from our tails and the sand…get out of denial and understand we are reaching a pivotal tipping point in this world. We will have to chose which direction we will want that scale to fall before there is no turning back–and all goes downhill, economically, socially, and environmentally. 1. On a side that has negative outcomes….by supporting sprawl and becoming more co-dependent on oil and other limited recourses—leaving us on this never ending treadmill rat race to nowhere and thus becoming the ‘good ‘ole boy’ closed minded laughing stock of the nation. OR 2. We chose to create positive impacts that will gain international kudos—and be an example setter and leader—by rebuilding the urban cores to achieve the kind of sustainability which is essential if we are going to become a place of choice for anyone or any company with forward progressive thinking. I hope for the sake of our state’s future, you will consider taking the latter choice.

Please do not undermine our urban cores OR our rural heritage anymore by supporting this mis-allocation and balance of funding that continually favors rural. The time for that kind of thinking has long passed. I do not want to be embarrassed of this state anymore by decisions that are contrary to what we should be doing for a more sustainable future for both urban and rural environments.

Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 12:55 PM

CLEAN IT UP CLEVELAND-NORTH EAST OHIO!

LITTER, TRASH, ILLEGAL DUMPING ISSUES NEED TO BE COVERED MORE BY THE LOCAL PAPERS—AND THE CITY NEEDS TO BE ASSERTIVE IN ADDRESSING AND BEING PRO-ACTIVE ABOUT SOLVING THE PROBLEM.

I have a story idea that needs attention drawn to it:

How about the litter/trash/debris problem all over all the corridors into the city on the highways. In ditches, under embankments, bridges, waterways, along shoulders, in medians, and the list could go on. This cost Ohio 3 to 4 million last year to clean up—mostly because people have still not learned what a trash/recycling can is for. Should have learned that 38 years ago when the Indian cried on the commercial.

If we have not even learned how the above situation leads to a declining quality of life, property value, bad images, etc. then its hopeless. The burning river cast a grim shadow on our city in the past—we know the struggle it has been to take years to shed this image, as much of it still exists—so why are we inviting, and leaving go unabated, yet another legacy of community and environmental abuse that will secure another 50 plus years of Cleveland bad mouthing?

C’mon people, pitch in and get with it! C’mon PD…ADDRESS this issue and offer solutions. All those who participate in clean-ups once a year is not enough. To make this problem better, we need to make keeping after it a lifestyle–and maybe start reminding people that dumping/littering in OHIO is illegal–and Cleveland is not exempt. While the problem is pervasive, can we spare the complacent comments like “Weeelll.. its everywhere” and at least do OUR part to clean up our corner of the state?

This problem is among the first things people will notice when coming into our region/city… and it casts a strong message about where the civic pride has gone and a lack of respect for the environment as well–at a time when we should darn well know better to at least be able to curb this very preventable problem. It is quite embarrassing.

Is this the image we want to project of ourselves to all who come here—especially during the Rock Hall inductions? It is bad enough we have to continually clean up after people in neighborhoods who find it convenient to pull up along a curb and dump their McDonald’s trash onto someone’s tree strip, let alone all the crap that does not adequately get cleaned up on the main streams into the city.

Just because times are tough, just because there is poverty, and just because people may be stupid……does not mean we have to look as though we play the part perfectly; being slobs! Hey Cleveland… Get this.. CIVIC PRIDE is FREE!!! Doesn’t cost a DIME to embrace it and start using it, no matter what walk of life you come from—but it costs all of us millions when we DON’T exercise this pride!

Adopting such pride again means we foster a populous that will not allow the kinds of things to happen that end up tearing down a city and region in the first place; the kinds of things people spend all day winging about on these posts, but offer to do NOTHING about, and instead become a part of the problem by telling everyone how they cannot wait to take the next train out of here!

Please cover the trash/litter, illegal dumping issues, PD.

Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 8:39 AM

FISHES OF OHIO’S HOCKING HILLS REGION

People who are familiar with Southern Ohio’s Hocking Hills are quick to take notice to the many stunning rock formations found in the hollows and gorges in the region, such as Old Man’s Cave and Ash Cave. No less noticed, is the abundance of water spilling over rocks forming the many pools and streams which slice through the many gorges. In addition to the many waterways and natural works of rock art sculpted by nature over long periods of time, this region holds many best kept secrets of its diverse animal and plant life.

One such fascinating secret lies beneath the surface of the many streams you are likely to hike near during your visit. There are many small fishes schooling about lazily. Have you ever noticed what kind of fishes they are?

This is a general introduction guide to the fishes of the Hocking Hills region, especially focusing on some of the more abundant, yet lesser known species of the waterways. Interestingly enough, North America fosters the most diverse temperate fish fauna in the world, and the Hocking Hills are an ample part of this diversity!

The following observation of the fishes of the Hocking Hills is not from an angling perspective, but rather what a “fish watching” perspective, in just the same way bird and butterfly enthusiasts explore their creatures of affection!

Let’s begin with the DARTERS

Darters are a family of fish that include the familiar perches and walleyes. They could be represented as “underwater hummingbirds” because of their size, quickness and colors. They are small, colorful or intricately patterned fish, seldom exceeding 5 inches in length. They require clean, clear running streams for their optimum survival. They are elongate fish, with a physique designed perfectly for remaining stable in swift moving water on stream bottoms. In the Hocking Hills they feed on small insect larvae, worms, crustaceans and other small organisms. Darters swim along the bottom of streams in a quick “darting” fashion, hence the name “darters.”

Hocking Hills, of course, is a haven for many kinds of darters, including the endangered eastern sand darter. Other darters finding home here are the rainbow darter, fantail darter, Johnny darter, banded darter, greenside darter, verigate darter and more. It may be surprising that one of the world’s most colorful fishes makes Hocking Hills its home! If you ever happen to be a part of one of the park naturalist’s stream life observation programs, be sure to look closely at the rainbow darter as the naturalist holds the fish up into the sunlight light for viewing purposes in the viewing container.

Next up, the MINNOW family.

There are approximately 231 species of minnows in North America., so the next time you gaze down into a stream while crossing a trail bridge try to identify which kinds of minnows you’re spotting. Even the most camouflaged or mundane colored minnow seems to come alive with the color and shine of sparkling jewels during spawning season when stream waters warm up a bit (approximately late March to late May). Watching a group of spawning minnows can be a sight to behold! You know something unique and complex is happening. Such a scene is similar in appearance to a flock of birds all darting about in tight formation in every direction.

Some minnow species, such as redside dace are indicators of higher water quality, while others, like the creek chub are more tolerant to the erosion and sedimentation that can occur in the gorges where trails are heavily hiked or after heavy rains. By the way, just a small tip for leaving a light footprint on aquatic environments: It is best to not hike too close to stream banks, because trampling plants along erosion sensitive banks eventually kills the plants, and ultimately the root structures stretching into sandbanks.

Southern red belly dace are another type of small minnow which are found in the Hocking Hills headwater streams and in clean, clear, quiet pools, such as those at Ash Cave. During spawning season, southern reds are surely to capture your attention easily, as they are brilliantly colored with a bright “stop sign red” underbody, yellowish- green fins and dark black stripes running the length of the body from near the head to tail.

The central stoneroller is colorful and easily recognized in the Spring. It sweeps clean the bottom of streams by eating excess algae off of rocks, as well as a host of other small organisms. This is a fish that keeps streams clean without anyone paying any extra taxes!

Among many other types of minnows likely to inhabit Hocking Hills streams, are blacknose dace, sand shiners, bluntnose minnow, horny head chub, common shiners, silver jaw minnows, rosefin shiner, creek chub, mud minnows, northern hog sucker, white sucker, and trout perch. Some of the fishes names are as interesting as their physical features! You can identify most of these native fishes in the PETERSON’S FIELD GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN FISHES

NATURE’S SIDESHOW!

Now let’s have some fun visiting nature’s fun house side-show in exploring the many ODDITIES OF THE STREAMS……. Hurry hurry, step right up…right here you see the scary looking …mottled sculpin….The sculpin is a small but voracious eater, which like darters, are bottom dwelling fish, never turning away at the chance to lunge up and swallow an unsuspecting baby minnow! They have larger mouths than most small fishes so this is quite easy for this little guy. Against the stream bottom, the sculpin’s camouflage can fool even the sharpest eye. The easiest way to describe the sculpin is that it has the body of a darter, with the head of a toad, or even resembling a bull dog. This description may sound silly, but when you actually see the fish, this description will make sense!

Brook Lamprey is another strange fish. Lamprey are one of the native fishes that have been swimming around in fresh waters before the dinosaurs, and have changed little in millions of years. Resembling eels, an interesting role lamprey play in the underwater environment is preying off of sick and dying fishes. By doing this, the lamprey help to keep the overall fish population strong and healthy, by “removing” those sick fish which may spread disease to others! They literally attach themselves to the weaker fish with their jawless and sucker-like mouth and suck fluids from their prey, eventually killing them! I guess you can call them the “Draculas” of the creek!

The lamprey is different from all fish because it is actually jawless and as mentioned earlier, most notably resembles an eel and slithers along the bottom of the stream like a snake searching for food. Certain native lamprey species are endangered in Ohio and are excellent indicators of cleaner water quality. Like most fishes which are either threatened or endangered, loss of habitat and poor water quality contribute to their declining numbers.

Continuing with nature’s sideshow, Hocking Hills streams are home to Madtom catfish. Madtoms are small catfish usually inhabiting grassy and weedy river and stream banks, in shallow, moderately calm waters. They are very small fishes usually found under 5 inches and can deliver a nasty sting if handled improperly. A common species of madtoms found in the Hocking Hills region is the mountain madtom.

Yet another oddity lurking in the hills are the stickleback minnows. Sticklebacks are small, elongate fishes, olive green and yellowish in color with small spines jutting up from their backs. They are a distant relative of the salt water seahorses and pipe fishes, and resemble a little wind up bath tub toy, as they propel through the water with great precision, stopping instantly in mid-water like a helicopter hovering still in midair! During spawning season, sticklebacks become little carpenters with fins. Carrying in their mouths, they will actually move small detritus (sticks, leaves, stones, and other small debris) to a safe spot, where a family nest can be constructed and guarded!

Lastly, let us not forget the gars. Gar fish are also fishes which have changed little since the days of dinosaurs! If an alligator could do it’s best impression of a fish, it would look like a gar fish! In fact, one gar fish, although not found in Hocking Hills waters, is appropriately named the alligator gar–a fish that has historically been known to reach a length of 12 feet! Short-nosed and long-nosed gar, however, are found in the larger deeper rivers in the Hocking Hills region in backwater pools and along quiet banks where there is heavy weedy vegetation. They are passive predators feeding on other small fishes. Gars often swim just under the surface of the water basking in sunlight. Most gars reach a maximum length of 3 feet.

Now let us finish up our tour of the Hocking Hills waters taking a brief look at the popular SUNFISH FAMILY.

The following covers the most familiar fishes of the sunfish family, which are also found in certain waters of the Hocking Hills. In North America, this group of fishes comprises roughly 30 species. Many angles mistakenly refer to various species of sunfish as bluegill, when in fact, bluegill are just one particular species of sunfish. For example, one who is fishing may refer to what is actually the brightly colored central long ear sunfish or the pumpkinseed sunfish as a bluegill. Looking closer, however, there are distinct differences. As mentioned earlier, as with all of the fishes previously mentioned, these too, can be identified in the Peterson’s field guide.

The sunfish have all the earth-toned colors that seem to emulate and mimic the very same colors of the Autumn time woodlands to which they are indigenous. If you happen to enjoy fishing, examine the differences between these fishes in your catch. If you are catching and releasing, be sure to not handle a fish with dry hands, as this irritates their slime layer. The “slime layer” is a protective thin smooth coating over the body of fishes which helps to protect them from infection and disease. Some common types of sunfish similar in appearance, but which are not all bluegill, are rock bass, warmouth sunfish, red ear, shell cracker sunfish (named because of this fishes’ appetite for small snails), orange spotted sunfish, pumpkinseed sunfish and green sunfish. Sunfish prefer habitats ranging from weedy shallows to open pools in a particular river system.

Well, there you have it, an introduction to some of the fishes in the Hocking Hills region. If your interest in exploring fish in the Hocking Hills has been “baited,” learn more about what you can do to keep our streams healthy and clean. Contact your state wildlife division to learn more, or consider joining their “Adopt-A-Stream“ program. Additionally, you may want to consider joining or starting a local watershed stewardship group. There are other components of this region’s unique wildlife assembly that deserve just as much attention to conservation and appreciation as others, no matter how small, large, pretty or not they may be! To lose these local species of fishes through habitat neglect, is to begin to lose the clean water and life support systems that ultimately support our own lives–as well as lose an integral and delicate part of our region’s diverse natural heritage.

Note: You can search Google Images to find many photos of all the fishes mentioned in this article. To learn more about native fishes of North America, contact The North American Native Fishes Association http://www.nanfa.org or to identify all of the above mentioned fishes, obtain a copy of Peterson’s Field Guide To North American Fishes available at local book stores or from your local library.

Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 7:40 PM

 

ALTERNATIVE GIFT GIVING AND SPENDING IDEAS

Photo: Public Square Holiday Lights

Contrary to the big push in America by crash commercialism that suggests the more we spend the better our lives and the economy will be, I have some alternative thoughts about that idea. Let me share…..

For too long we have all bought into the myth that spending more will rescue the economy—when in fact the opposite is true, and that is, it simply creates more debt and increases default chances. There is an organization on the web, called The Center For A New American Dream that challenges the prevailing market driven mentality that ‘more’ or ‘cheaper’ is better. Reading their information over the years has helped me understand the difference between quantity and quality in our overall lives and particularly, the consumer economy.

Additionally, reading a lot of CFNAD material has helped set me free from staying on board of the robotic never ending tread mill of guilt trips we are on, instilled by heavy marketing–that if we don’t buy this time of year, we are not showing our loved ones we care, or that we‘re not patriotic….or any other number of warm and cozy guilt trip sentiments. Such mentality, in my opinion, is just another way the marketers have brainwashed and have the public under a spell. Mass marketers are running our lives and we rarely stop to see how and why. They tell us what we need to live well and be happy. Excuse me, but I’d like to make that choice myself.

The great news in all that commercial chaos is there is a different way to give during this time of year, and surprisingly it does not always have to involve a lot of STUFF that will one day clutter the garage or wind up at the curb, or worse yet—the landfill! One Christmas not long ago, every gift I gave was creatively crafted from recycled materials I found around the home. Adding to that, I found many other alternative gift ideas through the CFNAD organization. For example, I bought an old small book shelf from a local-independent retailer who sold second hand items…and refinished it myself.

I always thought using wrapping paper once and pitching it was such an injustice to our natural world so I used old comic sections from newspapers to wrap other re-used gifts I purchased in the same way I described above. As you can imagine, most of the gifts were second hand–but when they came together to make the new item, the end result was something new to the recipient of the gift!. I also did favors for loved ones. I did things such as clean their carpets or wash the car–and even offered the gift of time by cooking for someone. If you have any talents that may be useful to someone, you may want to consider offering them as a gift.

It really felt good to give and to help the local independent business economy AND the environment in this way by re-using and recycling through my gift giving. This is so very opposite of conventional ways—which makes Christmas time not the ‘most wonderful time of year‘…but, the most wasteful! Those who received my gifts really appreciated me taking the time and exercising a bit of creative fun in how I chose to ‘give’ Best of all, people were happy, and it was something I did not have to go into an insurmountable amount of debt to achieve! It was such a great feeling all around to break the bonds of the conventional consumer chains.

The alternative ideas of gift giving and buying are endless and creative….and are such that actually help the local independent economy by supporting those businesses….as well as not creating insurmountable public debt. I urge people to have a glance at the CFNAD website and learn why Black Friday as we know it, is actually more destructive to the economy than it is helpful.

The moral of the story today is doing more of what matters and has meaning, instead of doing just more. The message is that sometimes less is actually more. If we are going to spend money on Friday, please try what I did for a change, if you never have….and support your local and independent neighborhood businesses as often as possible as an alternative to the big box chains. By doing so, you will help to keep neighborhood storefronts and town centers from becoming ghost towns. By doing so holds many benefits too numerous to mention—but for starters, you will likely develop new friends and connections with the merchants as well as help keep money, jobs, and taxes in the neighborhood, create more walkable and less auto-dependent communities—AND help to mend tightly the very fabric that makes up a real community of connections; people knowing and helping people!

One final note….The Center For A New American Dream will also teach you about what “BUY NOTHING” day is and how it can actually benefit the economy more than spending can –However, as I demonstrated above, if you still want to spend, ok, but try the suggested alternatives because they have a more positive impact on the local economy and environment. How about promoting a time of year when we focus on more of what matters, than simply “more” (stuff, that is) You’ll feel prouder and better, trust me!

Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 9:09 PM

 

Do You Have a Problem With School Kids Littering? Here is a letter I wrote to a local public school administrator

Hi Elizabeth,

I am following up on the litter discussions we had. I have been really busy with arranging clean-ups of litter in the neighborhood, writing to council to see that state laws are enforced more effectively, especially on illegal dumping, I have contacted McDonald’s to do their part to remind patrons to not litter (seeing that the majority of fast food litter is from there), have contacted the mission-like places in the neighborhood asking them to do their part and have spent countless hours every week picking it up all over with some block club help.

Simply treating the symptom by cleaning it up, however, and not addressing some of the causes is simply not enough. There are several constituents of litter and many sources. If we can reduce the input from each or many of the sources, we will have made a difference–because collectively many people/sources become a part of creating the problem, and so this is why I feel many can be a part of collectively reducing the problem Among one of the contributors to neighborhood litter is school kids. Junk food wrappers and sugar drink bottles lay everywhere, each day.

Originally when I contacted you I was a bit vague in what I wanted to achieve when explain it, but in my mind I knew exactly what I would have liked to see done. What I want to see done is for you or someone else who can spread the message of this letter to the students via school newsletters or public announcement—and ask students while walking home that they not discard rubbish of any kind onto people’s yards or anywhere else—and that they should wait until they get to a proper trash can for proper disposal. I have people who live in the neighborhood all the time telling me what they witness students doing and I have seen it as well.

Many see litter as a trivial issue but it is far from one and in fact the complete opposite–and something we should have evolved past not doing by now as more and more recycling is promoted. Ohio spent 4 million dollars alone last year retrieving litter just from around highways. Litter devalues property and the environment and harms its wildlife—here, especially harming Lake Erie and its wildlife and swimming areas, our biggest economic asset. It creates a health and public safety issue as well by attracting unwanted pests. Additionally, it degrades the curb appeal in any given area contributing to scaring off businesses that sustain neighborhoods with jobs—many of which could be for these same school kids in the future. Litter is a part of the broken window theory, which basically suggests if you let decline of any kind start in a neighborhood, it will only lead to and promote more—with bigger crimes to follow. Littering is among the first symptoms that foster this theory.

Considering the fact that it is against state law to litter for very valid reasons…. is reason enough to pay attention to this issue. Fines of up to $500.00 can be imposed locally and state wide. I think it is time we start paying attention to this law, so that when it is enforced, people will not look at the police like they are from Neptune.

Not that I think it will solve the problem–as more causes of litter are more deeply rooted—BUT, I do think it will show the schools are doing their part to exercise more social responsibility on this very important matter. I would still be interested in attending any meeting we discussed, but truthfully, I am very busy myself and would like to see the schools show some simple initiative on this issue by getting the word out. It does not take a host of meetings and debate to simply remind your students that littering is not acceptable. Then later, we can work on educating them as to why it is not acceptable. All common sense and all seemingly y lost on this issue.

As the new school year approaches and with the litter that will fall like rain from students, I would appreciate your assurance that you will get the message out. It should be announced daily. At least I can respect then… that like other places I have contacted have agreed to do their part to help, the schools also have done their part.

Sincerely,
Robert Carillio
Ohio City

P.S. I still think we should have the guests I was talking about attend an appropriate meeting in the future, but until then, announcements about littering are a start. With all of the neighborhood issues on my plate, I cannot go from school to school, Principal to Principal, etc. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 8:12 AM