arbor day

ARBOR DAY

i thought arbor day was arbor day
in april sometimes
then i got a message about arbor day in texas
yea you know since texas thinks its an independent
country
they had to have their own arbor day

well
its not the same day in a lot of states
eg
arkansas its the third monday in march
california its march 7-14
utah its the last friday in april
colorado its the third friday in april
and on it goes from state to state

but
in texas its the first friday in november
huh thats tomorrow
i am writing about it today since tomorrow is
alzheimers day on this blog
thats every friday here

so i am glad that arbor day is in november here
in texas
since this time of the year is the best time to plant
trees in texas

it allows the winter time for the root systems to grow
and allows the trees to get established before that
onslaught of our harsh dry hot summers
the death blow for a lot of trees around here

i have written recently about how to plant a tree
correctly
when i blogged about helping my friend plant his
humongous monterrey or mexican white oak tree
a back breaking event

so i went to www.arborday.org
the website for the arbor day foundation
found the texas site
again thank you arbor day for making this friday in november
texas day

i looked at the 10 trees they would send to you if you
opened a donation with them

thats a burr oak
planted 14 years ago
it will eventually cover all
the front yard




in the 10 oak selections
dont plant around here trees are red oaks pin oaks
scarlet oaks willow oaks
the only one that is a good one is the burr oak
remember we have oak wilt here and it wipes out
red oaks and live oaks

in the 10 tree selection the only one that i would plant
would be the redbud knowing though it would be gone in
15 years

that burr oak the only one i would plant of the group
will last forever

plus these things come as a little slither of a plant
like a twig stretched out long and thin
real fragile

once i ordered some cedars from the texas forest folks
i got about 20 of them little toothpicks
put them in  the ground 10+ years ago as a border in
my front pasture
now they are about 4 ft +- tall
wish now i would have just planted a plant from a pot
and got it all over with

now im glad the arbor day folks are encouraging folks to plant
trees
since we need them to suck all that extra co2 out of the
air
that some folks dont think is a problem
whatever is what i say

best tree choices in this area are
burr oak-got two of these
uh by the way these guys get real real big one day
monterrey or mexican white oak-got 6 of these
cedar elm-got probably 20+ of these
they seem to plant themselves

all are native here
all are disease free
all are drought tolerant
in fact i never water mine
they will outlast you and your kids and their kids

so my recommendation is to make a donation to
the arbor day foundation at www.arborday.org
if  they send you 10 trees
pick the 10 oak trees
chunk all of them but the two burr oaks
pot them up in a pot
and dont be in a hurry to put them in the ground
you have plenty of time to do that
a few years in fact

now i have planted about 20 trees on my 1 acre lot where my
house sits
most are oaks
not counting those cedar trees in the pastures

three things i have noticed are
there are a ton more birds and animal life around here now
my house stays much cooler in the summer
and
when i take a deep deep breath it just seems the air
is cleaner and more crisp
or
is that my imagination

plant a tree today

the organicgreen doctor

best test(s), arbor day

BEST TEST(S)

the new amyvid beta amyloid pet scan recently was approved by the
fda to scan for amyloid deposits in the brain for helping diagnose
alzheimers disease

thats helps to diagnose alzhiemers
because you can have amyloid plaques form in the brain and not have
alzheimers disease
so the test is not a definitive test for alzheimers
it just adds icing to the cake to make the diagnosis

for example
if my younger brother had a neuropsychological exam done when he was
first evaluated it would have shown then that he had definite defects in his
short term memory
all of the blood tests and mris and depression screens would have been
negative
a amvid scan would have probably been positive
his diagnosis then would be as definite as a person could be in 2012
now several years later we know he definitely has it as he has progressed
a lot over this period of time

he did not have the spinal fluid analysis and the apoe 4 genotype done
but more than likely he would have been positive for both

for me
i had a normal mental status screen that was normal then two years later
a full neuropsychological test showed the development of early short term
memory changes
all my lab tests and mris were normal
my apoe 4 gentotype was posistive for the double gene
my spinal fluid tests for beta amyloid and tau protein were borderline
my fdg glucose metabolism test was normal
my beta amyloid test similar to the amvid test was done but again i dont
know the answer to the results

if i had the amyvid test and it was positive then my diagnosis would be
more certain
although it would eliminate any hope for my future
i would know what i was facing for sure

so in summary the neuropsych test and the mri of the brain are the most
important tests to have done in evaluating someone for alzheimers disease
as well as ruling out other causes with labs and a good medical history
and examination
the amyvid scan just adds more certainty to the diagnosis

folks if you appear to have alzheimers or if you have a family member in
this situation
please dont resist taking medication as you want to be on this stuff as soon
as you are diagnosed
as it slows the symptoms of the disease for awhile
failure to take the medication may make your love one progress quicker

it may save a few weeks or few months or if you are lucky a few years of
slowed progression of this terrible disease

thats why im taking aricept (donepezil)
i know it has no effect on this disease at all but only just slows the symptoms
for awhile
but there is nothing else available
yet

ARBOR DAY

whether you believe in global warming or climate change or what ever you
call it there is pollution of the air
i think most reasonable thinking people can agree at least on that
but im sure there are people who dont even believe that

not sure then what all that stuff is in the air that wont let you see across
the grand canyon or see the mountains in the distance or here where
we live you cant see the hill country  across the horizons
you cant dump all the stuff we dump into the air and have it be good
for you-just ask asthmatics or emphysema patients

one thing you can do is plant a tree
today is arbor day
the trees will suck the carbon dioxide out of the air to help
purify it
the more we plant the more gets cleared out of the air

here at the country n over the last 10 years we have planted
at least 30+ trees
besides sucking out yalls pollution from my air it provides
shade to cool things down, leaves for my compost pile, seeds for
birds, flowers for bees and humming birds, nesting spots for birds
and other animals, fruits for us humans, and they just look good
in my yard

plant a tree today and help us all

the organicgreen doctor