droughtiness

DROUGHTINESS
it seems to be everywhere
this lack of water
the life blood of us all


kxan.com
it was interesting to read an article on straws that are put
down into the lakes from homeowners to suck the water
out of the lakes
these lakes supply the water for several cities around this area
the amount sucked out by these straws is 1.6 billion gallons
enough to empty out the smallest of these highland lakes that
sevices austin and the surrounding cities

the regulators only have one person to try to catch these folks
skimming off the water

they are thinking of putting meters on these straws

seems ok to me


we will be in trouble around here waterwise until
this sometimes island in lake travis disappers again
soon i hope

while in san francisco last weekend i read an interesting
article about the drought there in california
after reading it i realized the drought there is going to
affect us big time when it comes to our food we buy
in the near future
since
thats where most of our food comes from

san francisco usually gets 20+ inches
last year they got less than 4 inches
its the same all over the state
you would think with all those roofs in sf they could
do a heck of a job of collecting rainwater
but
it just all goes down the drains into the ocean
theres very little uncemented asphalted land there


whats those farmers out there doing to water their
plants
when i went to the farmers market i talked to some of the
organic gardeners
their usual sources the rivers and reservoirs are drying up
so
they are sucking it out of the ground
like those homeowners here
there sucking it up in giant straws to use it on
their fields
the problem is the aquifers are getting depleted
as they get depleted
the ground collapses so that
in some places the levels drop 3 feet
which of course crushes those straws


what they gonna do when the aquifers are gone
so
they are doing a lot of planning
water conservation
shutting down production
using rainwater collection techniques to keep the water
on their properties
like swells tanks areas to soak the water in to the soil
not planting part of their fields to act as a sink to soak up water
heck we do that in texas already
especially in austin and san antonio where its all encouraged
these
rainwater conservation methods

their crisis is our crisis
they grow our food
we hope they figure it out
well help if we can

no straws please is what we should be saying around here

at your level
conserve water at home like dont run faucets
use first run shower water in the yard
consider reuse of sink and wash water
shorten shower time
do a rain garden
collect rainwater off the roof
build berms in the landscape to slow down rain runoff
xericise your yard
dont waste any water

we are all in this together
the goal
is to survive

the organicgreen doctor

it comes from above

IT COMES FROM ABOVE
the other day as i was skimming the news i saw this article
on this guy that was sentenced to 30 days for collecting
rainwater
i didnt read the article but thought last week as i was planning
this weeks blog
that i would write about his right to collect rainwater
but
when i read the article
he was collecting 13 million gallons of rainwater off his
property
seem a bit much to me
you can collect rainwater off your roof in his state oregon
just not dam things up and put up a 20 ft dam and
stock it with bass and fish

the folks around here have made ponds all over the place
in texas they are called tanks
which do hamper the flow of water down the streams
to get to the rivers
im sure a permit is required nowadays

heck they are now looking at requiring permits to do a rainwater
system in texas and have it inspected before its used
hope mine is grandfathered it

as i lay in bed this am i counted my tanks
someone asked me the other day if i had very many tanks
well i cant hold 13 million gallons
but i can hold close to 30,000 gallons

so i have 24 tanks
ranging in size from 15 gallons to 50 gallons to 300 gallons
to 500 gallons to 1100 gallons to 1500 gallons
to 3,000 gallons

i did my rainwater system in stages
people said you want this tank
i took it and hooked it up
then i gradually bought the others as they became available
i put them wherever i can



i have about 10,000 gallons for irrigation and
about 20,000 gallons for the house use
yes we drink rainwater cook with it wash dishes with it
wash our clothes and shower with it

its the gold standard for water

so i watched with interest as i saw  a video on a town in
california who has some of the strictest water laws in the
state
the state just passed more stringent rules on water use
this town was already doing it

i noticed in the background as a group was biking through
the park that the grass was a brown as brown could be
i think maybe around here we may need to do some of that
as the lakes are again on that downward slope of being empty
like someone opened the drain

then in california we have friends and relatives that live there
yes some of them have added rainwater collection tanks
to their houses and they aggressively conserve water since
they are running out
thats what happen when you build large cities in the desert
duh

here at the country n
we do all these conservation things every day whether
we have full tanks or half empty tanks
as we know we are at the mercy of

what comes from above

the organicgreen doctor

droughtiness

DROUGHTINESS

droughtiness according to my spell checker on the computer
is not a word
they suggest using naughtiness or haughtiness instead

first if you live here or eg in california you probably can figure out
what the new word means
since we and thee are experiencing it

second naughtiness may not be a bad word to substitute
since its naughty that we continue to overuse water here
and there
watering our lawns wasting our water showering washing dishes
and even shaving or brushing our teeth
planting landscapes that over utilize water

third haughtiness is what we all are going to experience when
our level of good fresh thirst quenching water drops or goes away
or
the level of potable water all contaminated becomes the norm

sorry drinking refurbished sewer water just doesnt sound
appealing to me
i know what crap ive put down the toilet before i knew better
so im sure theres lots of people doing it
not so sure all that crap gets removed
so we can drink it
i just know theres no way they can get what ive put down
there so its ok to drink

you notice i didnt mention global warming or climate change
since apparently that doesnt exist
i just know i see those glaciers overmelting
why thats happening i guess doesnt matter
but it is

then i know that polluting things like the air and the water
and our food system can not be good for us

then somehow all this affects our weather
that gives us this droughtiness we all see and feel right now

i went out and checked the levels of my irrigation tanks that i
use for my garden
usually this time of year they are overflowing
they arent
they are about 25% full
doesnt bode well for my summer garden does it


i go out and look at my bluebonnets those classic flowers
texas is known for
just south of us 40 miles they got a lot of rain this winter
their bluebonnets are larger and more beautiful than mine
which
are smaller and droughty looking and seems sort of faded
out some
the effect of droughtiness

im afraid thats what going to happen to all of us eventually
the drought and weather
will make us all droughty looking
well all suffer droughtiness

the organicgreen doctor

drought, men, football musings

DROUGHT

earlier this year i was so excited that we got a lot of rain
luckily i was able to capture a lot of it in my rainwater tanks
but we never completely filled up to full capacity

its looking like we wont do that this winter
we have not had any rain in the month of november
the last time thats happened was 115 years ago
we arent headed towards the dust bowl again are we

we are now classified where i live in a severe drought
again
i watched as northern california got plummeted with rain
this weekend
why cant some of that stuff head our way

the meteorologists just tease us with 10% and 20% chances
of rain each week
i know they do that one to make us feel better and to have
hope
and two
so their weeks prediction map wont be the same
hot dry no rain no clouds

heck this weekend i went outside to take a leak
as i do live in the country and thats one of the benefits and
to save rainwater of course
it was so dry the moisture never made it to the ground
just evaporated before it hit the ground
thats how  i was going to kill those weeds
that way i dont have to use roundup

MEN

one of my classmates who was a gyn doctor for over 25 years
had to stop practicing following a terrible accident after she
fell asleep driving back from delivering her niece back to college
she went over  a cliff and sustained multiple injures that
resulted in a long painful rehab and recovery
at least my medical retirement is painless at least physically

she seems  to have kept her sense of humor though

one of my favorite rotations i did when i was a resident was
my obstetrics rotation as an intern
luckily it was later in the year
so when i rotated with her she had done so many deliveries
and procedures that she took her time to allow me to
do things that normally i might not have been able to learn
thanks jrc

she posted on facebook this funny entry
after practicing for 27 years she had never thought much
about this but noticed how so many of womens
problems begin with men

menstruaton
menopause
mental breakdowns

FOOTBALL MUSINGS

the eagles have not landed
theyve crashed

how about them cowboys
they sure mess with us dont they

jets sanchez out of game
now tis tebow time
nope it was mcelroy time
and he got it done

old man steeler qb did his job

best bowl matchup i want to watch is
the oregon ducks fast break team vs kansas states
just get it done offense and defense
and mr collin klein who does the same
he does what is needed to win

then oklahoma got bumped from the bcs bowl
and landed a game against the aggies and johnny football
in the cotton bowl
thats a game ill watch also

then the horns get the alamo bowl against the beavers
for the season theyve had thats about where they need to be

now for the long long long wait for the bcs championship game
by then we probably wont care who wins

the organicgreen doctor

its hot and dry

ITS HOT AND DRY

yesterday it got up to 109 degrees here
for central texas thats hot
at 900 last night you could still feel the heat
there was no breeze

i lived in the desert for several years and it
would commonly get over 100 degrees every day
but there was usually a breeze and it would cool off
at night
and the humidity was low
all this made that heat more tolerable

here in central texas 109 degrees is intolerable
our humidity is higher
and there is no breeze
the dogs are a panting and the chickens are too

at 400 am today the temperature is 90 degrees on
my front deck
that doesnt not bode well for a comfortable day outside

how did i ever grow up in a house without air conditioning
in this summer heat
must have been miserable all summer long

in the afternoon under my nice air conditioner which kept
my living room at a comfortable temperature of 78 degrees
i read  an article in this months texas monthly on the drought
past and future and on the water situation in texas

did you know there are huge amounts of water in east texas
that is not allowed to be taped for use in other areas
politics are involved
there is this fear that what will happen to east texas will be like
what happened in owens valley in california where los angeles
got the rights to all the water there and sucked it all out of
the river which is now dry

i think about water conservation a lot
as did those people who were in the droughts here in
the 30s and the 50s
we do waste a lot of water
watering our lawns and gardens to keep them green
why do we do this
showering bathing brushing teeth washing dishes washing clothes
with no concern for reusing some of this water or restricting the
amount used to do these things

some of you in your lifetime will see the restriction on all this
water use and the limit on growth because of the lack of water
much like what happened with the droughts of the past

we need to learn from the past
read the article or read it online
or listen to npr pbs/texas montly online
or the npr pbs show on it

this will affect you significantly in the future

we at the country n are ahead of the game as
we limit water use
grow only xeric plants
have no lawn grass
catch rainwater
generate some of our own electricity

but
this is what we all need to be doing

the organicgreen doctor

water conservation, butterflies, bad thing good thing

WATER  CONSERVATION

one of the local water conservation districts that controls water

use for the edwards aquifer/barton springs has declared stage 3

water restrictions

this covers a large number of people in the austin area and the 

barton springs area where large groups go to swim in cool clear

water in the heat of the summer as it comes up from the springs

now they are in stage 3 conservation and those barton springs are 

slowing down 

hopefully they wont stop flowing

all outside irrigation of lawns and landscaping is prohibited

only essential indoor water use is allowed

only lawns needed for fire protection are allowed to be watered

or watering to protect your foundation

no new water well drilling or new users are allowed during this 

stage 3 restrictions

these restrictions will probably be in force for several months

many of the wells will go dry in this area 

minimal use is recommended

we have a rainwater collection system for our only water source for

both our home and for our outside use

our last rainfall was in june and it wasnt much

as mentioned before when we got all of our rains last year and this

spring i had several tanks undone for repair and for new water line

placement

so i missed several inches of rain that would probably have carried 

me through this long drought without problems

we have been on our own stage 3 maybe stage 4 water restrictions

what does that mean

if you come to visit bring your own water and go to the bathroom

before you come or you will have to do what we do 

we recycle as much of our shower and kitchen water as possible

we use an outdoor facility as much as possible to relieve ourself

(just like the old days but i refuse to use the old slop jar we 

bought at an antique store) i do have limits 

if its yellow let it mellow if its......

we have have low flow shower heads that use minimal flow

just ask anyone who comes to visit us about the flow

whine whine whine

we use the shower water to flush sometimes that saves 2.5 to 5 gallons

we dont run the water while we are brushing our teeth

i dont run the water when i shave-luckily i have a beard

we do a navy shower

any water or liquid that can be recycled in the kitchen is placed in 

a 5 gallon bucket to be used on plants outside or for flushing inside

we hand wash our dishes and rinse them but all of that water is 

used again inside or outside

our washing machine has low water use 

its a side open model

outside i drip irrigate everything that i will water 

most of my plantings are native and have been on their one for the

drought 

many of the non native plants havent survived

survival of the fittest is what thats called

my garden has only a few things and for that im drip irrigating also 

so this summer we had to order water delivered in bulk 

what that means is that a large truck like a gas tanker truck 

goes to a local source and brings you bulk potable water in 

large quantities of 3000 gallons or more (but is cheaper than 

gas)

only problem this time was that the fires in the austin area

caused a slow down in the availability of the water to these

bulk water trucks

also because of the drought and heat the water levels are

falling in all of the aquifers so many people in the hill country 

have wells that are dry now or are barely producing water

many of them are getting regular deliveries of water until

the water levels return or until they just give up and move

we watched as our water levels dropped to at one point to 

only 50 gallons of water that would easily be used up by 

a teenager taking a long shower

our stage 3/4 water restrictions managed to get us through

this crisis

we plan to continue those restrictions into the future

and realized that this is what may be a partial answer to the 

water problems we are in now and will be facing in this area and 

across the us

look at your water bill and look at how much water you are

paying for each month

we use 2500-3000 gallons a month

and dont feel like we are over restricting ourselves too much

just being reasonable

everyone needs to look at ways to save water

xericscape your yard

when this is over or this fall ill list those plants that look

good and have survived this drought without any watering

maybe those are the ones everyone should be using in their

landscaping

why do we need all of that yard full of green grass anyway

we have removed all of our yard grass and xericaped it with 

mulch, raised beds of xeric plants and crushed granite

walk ways

we have learned to appreciate the water we have

dont wait too long to get that appreciation where you live

if you live in the area where we live it will be happening to you

soon

BUTTERFLIES

the monarchs are coming

and they dont got no food to eat

please provide it

a local garden show recommended buying milkweed and lantana

and putting them in pots in your landscape so they would have 

blooms they could access

also provide dishes with sand in them that is kept moist

this provides minerals and water for the monarchs to access

BAD THING GOOD THING

the drought is a bad thing and has very few good things

associated with it 

but there are virtually no mosquitoes anywhere around our house 

and we have seen very few grasshoppers which have overran us 

the last few years

the chickens sure miss those grasshoppers though

now if they would just lay more eggs

the organicgreen doctor

 

fires, skin cancer, rash

FIRES
lately around here because of the heat and lack of rain fires
seem to be a daily or weekly occurrence
when i drove to dallas this week there were quite a lot of
areas that had burned around here

when we got back from our wedding journey this summer and
after we heard the story of the fire that burned the peoples
house we stayed at during the wedding we mowed a large area
around our house as a protective barrier
one cigarette onto our pastures would burn all my property
we have had several old hackberry trees die from the drought
also and these would burn easily

the fire would go fast and probably couldnt be stopped before
the fire departments got there
luckily my house sits on a 1 acre enclosed area inside the middle
of my property
we have kept the grass cut low this summer on this 1 acre
(we only cut it once since it was dry as it all went dormant
it is all native grasses)
the rest of the pastures have been allowed since we have been
here to go completely la naturale
i have planted native grasses also in bare spots over the last
few years
so 90% of my property would burn rapidly
this is what use to happen on the prairie before we all got here

near here a fire broke out this week and burned 15 homes and
displaced quite a lot of people
luckily the fire departments acted fast to contain the fire
a few days before a few miles away hundreds of acres were
burned and was eventually contained
luckily no loss of life occurred

what we need is an end to this drought
on a recent walk i stuck my walking stick (thanks jr for the stick)
into one of the cracks in the pasture and the stick went down
3 feet into the ground
that first rain we get will probably disappear down all those
holes

in my pastures there are patches of green stuff growing
everything else is brown and dormant
as i went to a grass seminar recently on native grasses i was
able to identify the grass-it was switchgrass which is a native
grass that is good to have on your property
it got there when i planted the seeds a few years ago
maybe it will spread since the others arent seeding this year

a new storm is brewing in the caribbean
maybe it will head this way and give us some rain
lets go h-------- storm

SKIN CANCER
today i pay the price of sun worshipping a lot during my lifetime
i have a lesion that has popped up on my left cheek that
appears to be an actinic keratosis (a pre cancerous lesion) that
grows from too much sun exposure
if it is this ak (actinic keratosis) it willl be frozen off and be gone

if it has developed further as i have neglected to have it taken care
of for a few months (doctors make bad patients)
then it may have developed into a squamous cell cancer which
will have to be surgically removed
or
it may be a basal cell cancer which is also treated surgically
once it is removed it rarely returns

the one you dont want to get is melanoma
here is a picture of what it may look like



see the brown areas around the edges with the black
areas in the middles
thats what a melanoma looks like
if you have one of this dont sit around and watch it grow
it can metastasise to anywhere in the body
if caught early it can be cured as cured as cancer is cured
if caught later it becomes more difficult to treat

why did i get this lesion on my face
i worship the sun
i have always been an outside person all my life
and have not been a good sun screen person until the
last several years
a lot of damage got done when i was younger that now im
paying for
there probably will be more that will show up as i get older

note: most of the melanomas ive seen in my career were
in young people in their 20s and 30s

so wear a wide brimmed hat
wear long sleeves when possible
use a good suncreen that doesnt sweat off
reapply sunscreen when needed during the day
avoid going outside the hottest times of the day
wear sunglasses
if you get a lesion get it checked
dont do like i did and wait awhile before you get it
taken care of

RASH
videomedicine is the way of the future assisted by skyping
texting and emailing

(i recently was a participant as a patient in a videomedicine project
of the university of texas medical center in dallas using it to do
long distance videoconferencing of a neuropsychological exam
this will be used to do assessments at isolated clinics miles
away from the university)

my wet suitcase sisterinlaw is in central america with her family
something always happens to her every summer when she goes
there
last time she got a bad staph infection in her foot from stepping
on coral or something when surfing
she eventually recovered but was miserable for days with fever
and pain

now this time she got a kidney infection and was running fever
this started the same day she got zapped by a sting ray on the
heel which caused a great amount of pain

after two days of the antibiotic she developed a rash and felt
miserable (again)
so she texted my wife she and later emailed me so i could get
a better history without having to read all that text jargon some
of which i couldnt understand
rsh rd swln fvr nd yur hlp
so i got a good history from her by email
we tried skyping but the connection was bad and i needed a
finer picture to look at
so she texted me a picture of a body part that appeared to be
a thigh
it was the rash that you commonly see in a reaction to antibiotics
she was told to stop the offending antibiotic
take benadryl every 8 hours until she could get into the doctor
in a few hours
and to drink extra fluids to help flush her kidneys well

so this is how we may all communicate to get health care in
the future

i didnt mind doing it for her as i owed her for the wet suitcase story

she eventually went to the er there and got a shot (probably a
steroid shot) and got a new prescription for a new antibiotics
24 hours later she felt much better

austin texas october 15, 2011



the organicgreen doctor

dusty, planking, cowboys football

DUSTY
last week when i was driving back from dallas after getting
my mri i drove twice into an area where there was  a dust storm
with winds and dust that affected the visibility momentarily
can only imagine what a haboob would be like to drive in

wonder if this had anything to do with how dry it is here
some areas in texas have their cotton crop suffering from such
severe dry conditions that are like the dust bowl of the 1930s
maybe well all have to move back to california like they did
in the 1930s

have been collecting rainwater for 8 years now for our drinking
water and this is the first time we have completely ran out of
rainwater
part of that was my fault as i had some of my tanks unplugged from
my system twice when we got 10 inches of rain and when we got
6 inches of rain so if i had been plugged in i probably would not
be out now
live and learn

we did buy water
its cheaper than gas
and should have enough now until we get rain
have improved my guttering and collection system so hopefully this
wont happen again

am encouraged though that with the worst drought in our history
we probably would not have ran out of water if i had not had
things disconnected

just am glad we are not settlers 100 years ago
as so many ponds (tanks in texas) and streams and rivers have
completely dried up here

can see how whole communities could disappear back then

there are two areas forming off the coast of africa that could be
promising
we have a 10% chance of rain here for the next 2 days
they are just trying to make us feel good

PLANKING
this is a picture of the organicgreen doctor planking on the
entry way to our property

COWBOYS FOOTBALL
am so ready for football to start
look forward to the cowboy vs broncos tonight
think the starters on both sides may play a little longer
than in past years

maybe well get a look at tebow also for the broncos
play him or trade him please

the cowboys need to produce this year as last
year they sure didnt except in the end
maybe coach garrett has them all lined out to play well
this year
we went to a practice in the alamodome in san antonio
last week and they all looked pretty rusty
the defense blitzed a lot and was breaking through the
offenses line frequently
romo would have been creamed several time in a real game

hopefully they pull it all together

now bring on the real season and bring on college football
am ready
its too hot to do much else anyway

the organicgreen doctor

myths, duct tape, hotndry

MYTHS
these are 2 of the myths of alzheimers from www.caring.org

myth 1
mom cant have alzheimers she remembers all kinds of things
alzheimers affects recent learned and recent memories
memories from the long past may not erode until the middle
stages of the disease
commonly recently diagnosed patients will recall things in the past
quite well

there are good days and bad days
sometimes they can appear normal
they also learn to cover up embarrassing signs of the disease
like disorientation or memory loss

myth 2
if you live long enough youll get alzheimers
alzheimers and dementias arent inevitable as you age
we all forget things
but not everyone develops a brain disorder that affects
thinking ability, memory, judgment, and eventually personality
and behavior like alzhiemers does
millions of people reach the 70s 80s 90s with good memories and
relatively little decline in their mental abilities

what do i notice
remember im early in this process
much earlier than people usually know they have it
probably very few people have known they have it this early

my problem is in short term memory loss that shows up on
several mental status exams ive taken in the last few months

when doing this blog today i had to print out these myths and
have them right in front of me as i cant read the myth on the
computer and then go to my blog editing page because i
cant remember what i just read
i compensate by printing it out so i can refer to it as i write
this does affect me in my day to day life but not where anyone
but me notices it
if i was practicing right now this could be a problem in caring for
patients-i could compensate like i do here but there is or was the
risk of making a mistake

the other thing i notice is that im not as detail oriented on my paper
work here at home as i use to be
if i dont stay well organized i could miss things
like appt times and bills that are due
i get my bills on my computer bank page so i cant miss them and
they are sent to my email address also
paper bills are always put in a red file so i dont miss them
if you had worked for me as a nurse you know that i would not
ever have forgot these things

some days i cant remember what i blogged on that day but thats
not every day
you know im the one that thinks these things up and writes them
down on my blog schedule

i know that some time in the future i wont be able to do this blog
anymore but its looking more like that may be a while

but i can remember things in the past very well much better than
my wife she does
i think thats why she and others cant believe i have a problem

its like this fog that is there that gets in the way that wont clear
like those we get here in central texas in the am that
arent severe so you cant drive but is still noticeable in the pasture
and creek streams

more myths next week

DUCT TAPE
this is from one of my nieces facebook postings
thanks bt
duct tape is like the force-it has a dark side and a light side and
holds the universe together
may the force (duct tape) be with you

HOTNDRY
this is all not good
the last eight or so months has been the driest ever on record
for this area
most of the towns and cities around here are going to water
conservation measures and some are headed to severe
conservation measures

a town near here get its water from the river that runs through
the town however
the river is now a trickle and in a few days will stop flowing
completely
now thats dry aint it

we need rain please

the organicgreen doctor

drought, rain, bb

DROUGHT
this area is in one of the worst droughts since the early 1900s
according to the texas gardeners newsletter one of the writers
went  fishing and the lake was so dry they had to throw the fish
back because they were covered with ticks
(thats a joke)

the high heat and dryness coupled with the high winds we are
having will dry out your plants fast
most vegetables and flowers need about 1 inch of water a week
the best time to water is in the am
some type of drip irrigation is the best way to deliver the water to
the plants roots
dont water with sprinklers in the heat of the day

keep the veggies and flowers mulched well this time of year
to conserve water loss

trees need to be watered at the drip line
newly planted trees need to be watered more often

info from texas gardener newsletter

RAIN
well we got some relief last night from the drought here
we got two inches of rain
as usual for here we got it fast and furious
it comes down so fast it overwhelms our downspouts
ability to capture all the rain

collect rainwater and you know how much a rainwaterer
hates to see rainwater losses to a overflowing system

we got 2 inches of rain so it helps a lot for this area
we just need more to get closer to being caught up
we captured enough water to add 1-2 months to our
rainwater supply
whew was getting low on rainwater
the life of living with rainwater collection as your water source
in the middle of a drought

side effect of the rain storm was it knocked out our electricity
and our computer
our computer came on but slowly and said it was monday
may 17 2004
its working but slowly this am
hopefully this blog will come through ok today

BB
well the heat won the series over the celtics
that demon is released for them now
now for probably the bulls and the mvp

the thunder won against the grizzlies
one more please so this playoff can move on

the organicgreen doctor