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On Tuesday, I got the annuals into the whiskey barrel planter. It's full of slugs, so I put in a slug trap, which I still have to fill with beer, of course.

Then the shipments kept arriving - two sets of trees for Angelika's orchard yesterday, another delivery from Miller yesterday, and then our St.Lawrence Nurseries order.

Angelika moved a rose and planted two dwarf cherry trees and a lot of daylilies, while I planted four blueberry bushes, two American Highbush cranberries, two Titania black currants, two mulberry trees, and some more daylilies. I still have to plant twenty lingonberry bushes, five horseradish plants, and twenty-five asparagus crowns.

Lots to do! More soon.

It's been a busy few days.

If you have the chance, please go to the Recreation master plan discussion tonight. Recreation's been a key topic in Dryden for years, and an area that the Town has pushed hard to improve in a lot of directions. If you'd like a chance to suggest more directions - activities, trails, parks, facilities, and more - tonight's the best time to get into the conversation.

Cathy Wakeman's Dryden Town Talk offers a roster of events for Mother's Day weekend and beyond.

It sounds like drinking led to a collision at 13 and Lower Creek Wednesday.

The county legislature is aiming at a 3% tax levy increase this year.

There's also more rabies i the county this year. Be careful!

There's an article on the new I Love NY campaign, which I have to agree is about the worst thing to happen to upstate NY since... oh, wait. They're canning the upstate development guy. That's probably worse than squirrels, butterflies, and grass growing. Or maybe we just need the grass to grow over the Empire State Development Corporation?

Gadabout needs more volunteer drivers.

I'll cover the opinion pages in a separate article.

I've always wondered how the actual Democratic National Committee gets chosen, and this piece by Liz Benjamin explains a lot of it:

But the governor more than made his presence felt at the [state committee] meeting, abruptly calling for the halt of a scheduled vote on the state's slate of DNC committee members that was supposed to take place Thursday afternoon and angering a number of rank-and-file Democrats in the process...

New York has 14 DNC committee member positions, two of which are automatically held by the state party leaders (that would be Chair June O'Neill and Executive Committee Chair Reggie LaFayette, since Co-Chair Dave Pollack stepped down).

The positions carry a four-year term that starts immediately after the national convention, so the lack of action last week doesn't affect the current members ability to attend the festivities in Denver.

Paterson apparently wants his own selections considered for those positions, hence the conflict that leads to the article.

You can find a 2004 roster, though I'm guessing that Clarence Norman is no longer a member. These folks are superdelegates, too.

We still don't have plants in the ground. Given the frost I found on the ground yesterday, that might be a good thing.

What we have done is:

• Installed a bat box - that only took two years!

• Built a new chicken paddock behind the old one (with Josh's help), installed a gate, and mostly secured its edges with poultry wire. (Ran out of garden staples.)

• Moved the chicks out of the rabbit cages to the new paddock. Gave them the heating plate, which they seem to love.

• Moved the ducks out of their paddock and into a 20'x20' electroplastic netting fence in the back. We'll be moving the fence around regularly. (Darth has been reunited with the flock, and all seems well. Feather cannibalism is over.)

• Bought annuals for the whiskey barrel out by the road, to be planted today.

• Planted a lot of basket willows that Josh had coppiced.

• Brought ancient rusted garden fence and tomato cages to metal recycling.

• Angelika moved the second compost pile to the third spot, freeing the second spot for the pile in the first spot.

• Farewell, cat litter.

Josh also took down some trees in preparation for the duck pond work, so it looks pretty messy back there right now. There's an old collapsed shed I need to empty (barbed wire and other unpleasantness) as well.

Update: Wow, the overall state data is a snarl. The Journal's Saturday article used old data, making the discussion below into an incredible tangle. Start with the latest article on it, then jump down to Varna.

Saturday's Journal also noted that state legislators were handing out $147 million for community projects, in member-item spending. It's a grotesque system, and the article notes for example that Senate Republicans, who have a 32-30 majority, have $88 million to hand out, while Senate Democrats get $992,000.

Update: There's more on the Assembly spending at The Albany Project. The Assembly Democrats, who have a 106-42 majority, spent $57.3 million on their projects while Republicans spent $4.9 million.It's a mere 11-1 ratio instead of an 88-1 ratio, but only looks better because the Senate numbers are so grossly disproportionate. Update: It looks like the Journal article's numbers were wrong, or maybe for 2007. This piece on the Senate spending suggests that the Senate Republicans have $76.096 million to hand out, and Senate Democrats have $8.983 million. That's more like 8-1 than 88-1, though still pretty awful.

Some of that money, of course, is coming to this area. I haven't managed to sort out Senator Seward's spending yet, but deep inside the barely-organized PDF file of Assembly items (they couldn't make it easy to see the spending, you know!) is this item:

SFY 2008-2009 LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE FORM
Legal Name, Address, and Telephone Number:
VARNA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, INC.
943 DRYDEN ROAD - P.O. BOX 4771
ITHACA, NY 14852
(607) 272-2658
Name of Project Director:
DAWN POTTER
Purpose of Project:
FUNDS WILL BE USED FOR THE PURCHASE OF A 40KW MULTI-FUEL GENERATOR. WORKING WITH TOMPKINS COUNTY RED CROSS, VARNA COMMUNITY CENTER HAS BECOME AN EMERGENCY SHELTER.
Funded Amount:
$20,000
Requested By:
LIFTON
Name of Administering State Agency:
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

The Varna Community Center also now has a walk-in refrigerator and freezer to support the emergency shelter project, which has had mixed levels of support from the town in past administrations. I hadn't heard that much about this piece of it lately until I stumbled on it in that file.

I've put the rest of the items that were solely sponsored by Assemblywoman Lifton in the extended entry, and I'll do the same for Senator Seward when my patience returns. Search... cut... paste... argh. Feeling impatient? Here's the Senate list of 5,191 items, on 5,191 pages.

Saturday's Ithaca Journal was quiet on Dryden, but their continuing series on poverty is well-worth reading.

Energy East, the parent company of NYSEG, saw its earnings fall.

In today's paper, Bolton Point water, which serves western Dryden, won the annual taste test of local waters. (The article also mentions a Town of Dryden treatment plant - I'm pretty sure they mean Village of Dryden.)

Just to the east, it looks like a teaching winery will be coming to Cornell Orchards soon.

In Darts & Laurels, the Finger Lakes Land Trust thanks volunteers who helped in a clean-up on Irish Settlement Road.

It's probably fair to report here on some failed garden experiments, just for completeness, especially when they took a few hours of my morning.

Two years ago, we decided to try composting cat litter. Angelika has two cats, Rowena and Puschelwuschel. We switched their litter to SwheatScoop, which works pretty well.

Because cats are carnivores, their litter smells pretty awful to start with. They also carry a variety of diseases you don't want to get, so you should use the compost only where it won't come into contact with anything you're going to eat.

Unfortunately our composting efforts never really succeeded. The compost worked long enough to make us think it was a good idea, but results got worse over time. Aerating and adding straw and newspaper didn't make much difference. Then we took in two of Angelika's cousin's cats for a while, and that totally overwhelmed it.

The composter had to be fairly close to the house, which meant that eating on the deck was best at times with no wind at all. The prevailing winds definitely took the stench right to the deck.

This morning, I finally ended it, emptying a foul container into trash bags and taking them to the dump. Six hundred pounds of incredible nastiness, going to the one place where it might actually fit in. Then I cleaned up the area where it had been, which still has some lingering odor, and took apart the composter and cleaned it out too. Finally, I took a shower to get the stench off of myself. I threw out a pair of gloves, and probably need to throw out a pair of shoes.

We'll try again eventually, probably with vermiculture, in smaller quantities, but for right now we're just going to stop the experiment and focus on other less dreadful projects.

It's southwest Dryden education morning here, but there's also an event Saturday:

ELLIS HOLLOW NURSERY SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE
May 3, 9-11am
At the Ellis Hollow Community Center

What's it like to be a 3- or 4-year old child at the Ellis Hollow Nursery School? Find out!

Meet our nurturing and creative teachers, Ellie Biddle and Regi Carpenter

Pot a plant for Mother's Day

Do 10 things with dots (and a lot more)

Listen as Ms Regi weaves a story at 10am

Thinking ahead to the 2008-09 school year? We'd love to tell you more about our community school.

At our non-profit, parent cooperative nursery school, children learn as they do best -- with hands-on activities for observing, exploring, and experimenting.

Classes are held Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 9am-12noon, from mid-September through mid-June. Find out more online at http://www.ellishollownurseryschool.org/ or contact us at ellishollowns@gmail.com or 227-8006.

On May 9th and 10th, there will be construction days at Caroline Elementary School playground. It's in Caroline, yes, but that school serves Dryden kids from Varna, Ellis Hollow, and Bethel Grove.

I had a good time at a similar building day at Dryden Elementary. This is definitely a great way to help kids, meet people, and even have fun.

Now there's a fun headline. The Dryden schools' property tax levy will climb less than 1% this year. Spending increased 6.48%, but state aid increased 10%. This is a year to be nervous about state aid, however, as the prospects for the state's economy look dim.

There's now an $8,800 reward for the safe return of Bethanie Dougherty, $500 of which was raised at a candlelight vigil Wednesday night.

In yesterday's Journal, Dryden resident Mac Larsen was among those who filed to run for the Ithaca City School Board, one of six for four seats.

On today's opinion page, the Journal wisely shoots down the gas-tax holiday proposals, and some punk named Simon St.Laurent of Dryden writes to suggest that the values that get promoted for school boards may actually get in the way of them doing their job.

If you're interested in Town recreation, there's an important meeting May 8th at the new Town Hall that you won't want to miss. The Town is creating a new recreation master plan, which will set out priorities for the town. There isn't much detail in the release but I'm guessing the conversation will include:

• Parks, trails, and facilities - what do we need, and where?

• Children's activities - sports and more

• Adult activities - what would people like to do?

• Entertainment - Music in the Park, Music in the Hollow, and beyond

• The relationship with the County Recreation Partnership

You might also want to visit the Draft Official Map of the Town of Dryden, which shows parks, trails, preserves, proposed trails, and more.

Here's the full official announcement:

Important Announcement from the Town of Dryden Recreation Department!

Dear Dryden Resident and Recreation Department supporter,

Please read below for information on a very important meeting coming up on May 8th.

ATTENTION TOWN OF DRYDEN RESIDENTS WE HAVE A RECREATION MASTER PLAN PUBLIC MEETING

MAY 8TH, 2008 7:00 PM at the NEW DRYDEN TOWN HALL 93 EAST MAIN ST, DRYDEN NY 13053

This Plan will create a vision for future recreation programs and facilities offered in the Town. It is important that the citizens of Dryden let their voices be heard on this matter

Additional questions regarding this meeting can be directed to Melissa Bianconi at the Town of Dryden Recreation Department at 844-8888 ext. 228 or the Town's consultant, Thoma Development Consultants at 753-1433.

WE HOPE YOU CAN COME - WE NEED YOUR HELP!

NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

I look forward to seeing you there!

Melissa Bianconi
Town of Dryden Recreation Coordinator

If you'd like to know what's been done in the past, you can review the results of a 2006 survey (936KB PDF) conducted by SUNY Cortland.

There will be a vigil for Bethanie Dougherty tonight in Marathon at 7:00pm.

Dougherty, of Killawog, was a manager-in-training at the Freeville XtraMart on Routes 13 and 366 until her disappearance April 1st.

There's no Dryden Town Talk today, but Ulysses Town Talk leads off with this item, complete with Dryden phone numbers:

The Tompkins County Dairy Promotion Committee is seeking young ladies between the ages of 12 and 24 for the roles of Dairy Princess and Dairy Ambassador.

Dairy Princess candidates must be at least 16 years of age, and connected to or sponsored by the dairy industry. The Dairy Princess holds her title for one year, and her responsibilities cover a wide range of public relation activities. A state training seminar is provided to help prepare for the role. The Dairy Princess will be selected at a banquet on May 10.

Dairy Ambassador candidates must be at least 12 years of age, and will assist the Dairy Princess with her duties. She should enjoy meeting people and promoting the dairy industry. For more information on the program, contact Brenda Carpenter at 844-8049, or Linda Foote at 844-8781. The application deadline is May 2.

The rest of today's Dryden news is basically about the county. There's an article about the need to fill recently emptied positions at the Sheriff's Department, which quotes Dryden legislator Martha Robertson. The state of emergency banning outdoor burning has been lifted, and the county's economy looks a little less healthy.

I've had a couple of conversations lately with people I like that led to strange places. One was about the seemingly crazy investment I'm making in ducks, chickens, and all the infrastructure they need, and the other was what I...

I've had a couple of conversations lately with people I like that led to strange places. One was about the seemingly crazy investment I'm making in ducks, chickens, and all the infrastructure they need, and the other was what I get for saying that I think we need to take a serious look at one-room schoolhouses as an alternative to busing kids everywhere.

I'm doing a lot of things that might strike people as strange or even inconsistent, but the driving force in most of it is an expectation that energy prices are going to keep climbing. I could, of course, be wrong, but unless we discover fusion technology, I feel pretty comfortable arguing that this is going to be the case for a long time. Demand keeps climbing, while supply isn't looking so great.

This doesn't mean I've disconnected my house from the grid, built a barbed-wire fence around my compound, and set up a world that's all about preserving me, whatever prices may do.

It does mean, however, that I'm looking at the world in a very different way. I'm trying to invest in things now that will serve us well later. The new roof, furnace, and insulation were key components of that, as is all the gardening, the apple trees, and terracing the yard. We've learned how to can and freeze food.

All of these are good things to do anyway, even if energy prices don't climb. Okay, I do worry that converting my yard into a garden may make the house harder to sell in this lawn-obsessed country. On the other hand, the return on investment for some of them will take a long time. The furnace and insulation have probably paid for themselves by now, and, well, you always need a solid roof.

The rest of the investments are pretty much a gamble. I can certainly drive to East Hill Plaza and buy groceries more cheaply at P & C than I can grow them here today. Setting up the garden, and especially the fenced areas for the chickens and ducks, is an expensive adventure, if an interesting one. How many eggs does it take to pay for a $200 fence? Plus a coop, and all the feed the chickens ate in the meantime? And the time it takes to feed and attend them?

If I run these calculations based on current costs, I'm pretty clearly going to lose money. If, however, I calculate these investments as advantages in a world where energy and food rapidly become more precious, I may well come out ahead. (Looking at the rapid climb in wheat and rice prices, it's looking like a good bet sooner than I expected, though I expect they'll come down again before climbing over the long term.)

I'm already coming out ahead in knowledge, since I now know all kinds of things that I had no clue about before. (I still have much to learn.) Because I'm showing these ideas off both here and on my gardening site, I hope to plant seeds in people's heads as well - the "I can do that" seed that develops into projects.

(And I'm also taking a look at policy related to these issues through the lens of TCLocal.)

So if I come off as kind of strange, pushing ideas that don't all make sense at first glance, try to remember the context I'm working in. I live in the current world and do enjoy it, while planning ahead for a world that I expect will be pretty different. We'll see what Sungiva thinks of all this when she's older.

The biggest Dryden story in this morning's Ithaca Journal doesn't mention Dryden. Route 79 in Ithaca is getting resurfaced between Mitchell Street and Bridge Street, closed to all through traffic. (This closes 79 above the intersection with 366.)

Trucks are being diverted at Richford to take Routes 38 and 13 into Ithaca. That should give folks in Bethel Grove a brief break (until around May 30th) from truck traffic, while adding to the traffic pouring through the four corners intersection in the Village of Dryden and down 13. I'm curious whether this will include the controversial garbage trucks - I guess we'll see how those respond to the blockage.

Speaking of the garbage trucks, the Journal's editorial lets Lifton off the hook, mostly, focusing on Governor Paterson's stepping in to address the issue and leaving the rest in a confusion of Democrat vs. Republican fighting - which it really isn't. Oh well.

On the opinion page, Liam Murphy writes about county courthouse security.

Sadly, the Cortland Standard keeps shrinking the amount of news they put on their website. (They did have a piece on TC3 students trying out teaching.)

Elsie Gutchess let me know that the Standard had an article on April 21st, about Ithaca College students filming a 10-minute piece about a 9-year-old who tries digging to China, and the support his community gives him. Thanks to some green paint and artificial flowers, they managed to make it look summery even before the recent weather. There's a picture, and hopefully there will be more to this story when the DVD gets shown at the Dryden Community Cafe eventually.

I know I'm missing a lot of Dryden news in the Standard, and I should call them again to see if I'm still too far west for them to get to. If you see something interesting, let me know.

I missed an interesting article in this morning's Ithaca Journal - thanks to David Makar for pointing it out.

Borg-Warner will be moving 174 jobs from Oklahoma to their Lansing plant thanks in part to a $400,000 incentive from NYSEG. I'd love to see more details on how this works, and the article sounds kind of like a press release, but I'm guessing this will increase demand for housing across the line in Dryden as well.

Today's colder and rainy, sure. My ducks like it, and we need the rain, but it's not a lot of fun.

If you'd like something brighter, stop by Craig Cramer's Ellis Hollow blog. He has all kinds of pictures from the past few weeks of "hyper-spring."

A few quick notes while everyone is asleep and all the animals are fed -

This morning's Ithaca Journal has an editorial on state laws and energy, citing bills that might make some small dent in the cost of a tank of gas. The ones that just plan to lower the taxes on gas seem unlikely to have much effect to me - I never noticed the prices on the Thruway dropping much below the surrounding stations despite the signs proclaiming reductions. I agree with the Journal that locking A9211 to be "held for consideration", probably forever, is ridiculous, yet another abuse of legislative procedure. I don't think Senator Winner's proposal for reducing the power of gasoline brands is likely to make a whole lot of difference either.

Gas prices march toward $4.

The problem with our gas prices, though, is not the oil companies, state or federal taxes, or (especially) the gas station owners. Sure, I'd like to see oil companies operate at a lower profit margin, but that's not the cause of our higher prices. The cause is simple: supply and demand. The "invisible hand of the market" doesn't always work in our favor.

We've built our nation and grown our economy on the assumption that energy costs will remain cheap. That lets us live wherever we want, taking advantage of cheap energy to drive to more exciting housing filled with all kinds of energy-using devices that make our lives easier or entertain us. Americans have taken this further than anyone else, but there are lots of people out there working to emulate us. Not only that, but they're using lots of energy to make things to sell us.

On the supply side, we still have plenty of oil and coal for now - but little room to grow, and what looks like a long slide toward more and more expensive energy. We've used up the best of our coal, though we still have lots left. On oil, new discoveries keep getting big headlines as saviors - but then a few days, weeks, or months later the reality of the new fields looks smaller, more expensive, and generally less bright. Production can't climb as fast as demand.

New York never had the Pennsylvania coal fields or even their oil fields, though we do have a bit of oil in western New York. We certainly have hydropower - think Niagara Falls - but we've blown way past that capacity. New York State as a whole is much more energy-efficient than the rest of the country, but that's largely because of the New York City area's concentration of services, especially transportation.

We're on the edge of a strange new world, one in which everything we've learned about energy for the past century and a half is going to change. We'll still have energy, even oil - but the prices aren't likely to come down over the long term. It's a good time to batten down the hatches and get ready for a long (probably slow) change in the way we live.

Update: This doesn't help.