Earlier in the week we ran a story about commercials for unhealthy cereals that were making our kids fat. Well, I thought about this for a while and then asked myself "who's buying these cereals" ? A viewer expressed the same opinion in McGinty's Mailbag last night. I will agree the ads are promoting rather unhealthy cereals and other foods targeted at kids but we, as parents have a secret weapon…it's using the word "no" to our kids. It is ok to say "no" to your children. If you want your kids to eat healthy buy them healthy foods. It is always better if you are eating the same foods that they are eating. This is a case where saying "do as I say rather than as I do" probably won't cut it. Sure, you can have chocolate sugar bombs once in a while but that's the point once in a while. The same can be said about the amount of television that kids watch. We have a simple rule in our house: school night no TV, period. We, as parents can put limits and set boundaries on our kids and you know what they may not like it at first but they will end up loving you more for it in the long run.
You may have noticed lady bugs crawling on the inside and outside of your windows. Winter is over and they are trying to get back outside after wintering somewhere in your house. You will find more of them on the walls of you house they receive afternoon sun. (south and west facing walls) They are completely harmless but can be a nuisance. My youngest daughter called me to come up and remove one from her bathroom the other day. I got rid of it and on the way down the stairs I mumbled that's the first of about a thousand more she will see. Fortunately my daughter did not hear this comment but my wife did and I received the wife death ray stare.
According to entomologist, Dr Nancy Breischrom from the
The gypsy moth was brought to this country in 1869 to start a silk industry. They got out and are now eating the forests in the eastern
There are two types of traffic lights: timed and tripped (pre-timed, semi-actuated, and fully-actuated). Timed lights are best in rush hour when a lot of traffic is leaving or entering the District. What is annoying is idling, wasting gas at a timed light with no cross traffic whatsoever. The 'topper' to that, no pun intended, is waiting for your light to turn green with no cross traffic and then waiting for the green left turn arrow of the oncoming traffic also of which there is none before you can go on your merry way. Imagine if all lights were 'smart' lights how much gas and time we would save. Even if that number were only 5% that would be significant. I think we would all be happy to put 5% less CO2 in the atmosphere every year. As a country we use 300,000,000 gallons of gasoline every day. Even just a one percent drop in consumption would mean saving 400,000,000 gallons every month. Making every light a ‘smart’ light would be an easy step in the process of going 'Green".
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When I was a young boy my father and I would pick up trash every weekend on our property that lined the road. We would fill a large garbage bag every week. This was back when anti-littering campaigns were on television. Remember the public service ad with the crying Native American ? Back in the 1970 we were, as a society, trying to clean up the environment. I'm not so sure what happened since then. We had the "I" decade in the 80s but the 90s came and went with very little rising of our environmental consciousness.
My wife has taken up my father's crusade. She picks up trash along the road in our neighborhood. I'm not just talking about some coffee cups and soda cans, although there are plenty of those, no we are talking about end tables, metal frames that hold those annoying signs and bottles. When the bags are full and too heavy to lift I enter the picture. We usually throw the bags in my car and take them to our curb for our trash guys to pick up. I strongly recommend that when picking up garbage you use those construction garbage bags.
Tiger comes to Town this July. Have you seen the garbage along side of
We've got a lot of work to do to clean up our environment as we try to go 'Green'. If we cannot stop throwing trash out our car window and dumping trash we are in a world of hurt.
We may average a trace of snow in April but when the Cherry trees begin to put on their dazzling display of color and fragrance no one's thoughts , not even a snow lover's, turn back to winter. This year marks the 45th year of the festival which runs from this Saturday, March 31st, through Sunday, April 15th.
On March 27th, 1912 with little fan fare First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, the wife of the Japanese ambassador planted the first two cherry trees. That year some 3000 trees of 12 varieties were shipped to
Peak bloom has arrived as early March 15 in 1990 and as late as April 18th in 1958. This year we are right on the average peak bloom of April 4 or 5. The single white blossoms belong to the Yoshino trees. Akebono have a single pale, pink blossom. When the blossoms are in peak bloom you have 10 12 days to enjoy them. After they bloom wind is their biggest enemy. Next week will be turning colder and windy. The 3500 to 3800 trees, depending on whom you talk to, that line the tidal basin will attract more than 700,000 visitors. Take the Metro it will save you parking headaches. More info on the festival can be found on wusa9.com .
The purple martins will return in the next week or so. Purple martins are the largest member of the swallow family. If you have a purple martin house you should remove the winter door stops by the first of April. Purple martins are a great natural, 'Green' way to control your mosquito problem. Purple martins can consume their weight in mosquitoes every day. The can digest them almost immediately. Some scientists estimate that a single purple martin can eat 2000 to 3000 mosquitoes each day. They like being around humans and provide endless entertainment from watching their flight patterns. In spring and summer they can be found in most of the
These birds winter primarily in
Native Americans would hang out empty gourds to attract these birds. When Europeans arrived in
If you want to get rid of mosquitoes go "Green" and put up a purple martin house. Below is some info if you are interested. It can be a family project.
naturesociety.org (http://www.naturesociety.org/)
1-800-255-2692
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It is getting to that time of year to think about putting out/refilling you hummingbird feeders. The ruby throated hummingbird usually returns to our area in late March or early April. These little birds are amazing. They can fly at 30 mph yet only weigh about 3 or 4 grams. That is about what a penny weighs ! Hummingbirds can hover, fly backwards and even fly upside down for short distances. Their wings on average beat 78 times per second !
Hummingbirds are in the process of returning from Central and
So fill 'er up and enjoy the show.
The next warm weekend I think I will take my snow plow off of my tractor and put the mowing deck back on. Winter is over for us. It is time to start thinking about baseball, (Opening Day is April 2nd !) barbeques and your lawn.
This is a good time of year to throw down some grass seed and to aerate your lawn. We have acidic soil in the Metro Area so it is a good time to put down some lime as well. It is safe to turn your hose bibs back on as well. ¶ 10:20 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
