I haven’t even read anything in your article past the weeds. I just wanted to comment that it’s the same with me and my backyard. I have stuff growing out of every corner, raspberries, garlic, vines, weeds, mustards….none of it is managed and I don’t care. It reminds me, like you, that nature is da boss. I can mow, weed, hack and chop all I want, that shit is coming back. I don’t care. My neighbours are probably tearing their hair out but they’re all voting Liberal so FUCK EM
Oh shit. I am remembering now that I when I was a teen, I was friends with a couple who kept a lot of wild animals at home, including a monkey. They lived, well, naturally, in Moscow. The monkey seemingly considered the husband of that couple her own, and was very aggressive toward women. I don't know why I thought about it but I am posting as a warning. Moscow is a hotbed of aggressive monkeys!!
remember as a child visiting Knotts Berry Farm and my parents would give me a penny and the organ grinder’s monkey (dressed in a suit and cap and on a leash) would snatch the penny from my hand... the monkey hand was bony with long, unclipped nails ... felt creepy... think the monkeys disappeared in the 1980’s with AIDS... hope the monkeys were properly cared for, seemed like a weird, abusive situation.
So true about the weeds! Here in Australia there is a true obsession with grass mowing and manicured gardens. We never see grass higher than 1.5 centimetres. My heart is bleeding every spring when one morning meadows get covered with dandelions and other wild flowers and next morning you hear a too familiar sound of a mower in the park….and all the beauty is gone! Heartless and thoughtless! Finally this year thanks to a La Niña extreme rainfall lasting for the last 5 months we saw a lot of grass and weeds growing without much control of the municipal gardeners. Looks like they are not coping with all that abundance of greenery around! Finally me and my mom feel at home here as it looks so similar to un-manicured Russia!
Mass democracy goes two ways: extreme artificiality and hyper-regulation, and at the other hand 'back to the wild nature'. Two extremes, an inspiring and enjoyable style and cultural selection of its own is impossible. The back to nature is the reaction against extreme top down control which stifles the culture and sucks the soul out of things.
Wow. I just know that Edwards two-word-masterpiece of a sentence, "Monkeys everywhere," will cause me embarassing and unwelcome fits of manic public laughter for at least a week.
I love your nature tastes. I love the wild wisdom of natural growth. thanks for sharing. I also enjoyed your perspectives throughout the article. Made me chuckle again, and also brought tears to my eyes as I viewed the nature. Nostalgic of a vacation view I haven't seen in a while, yet I do attempt to keep my own yard a bit wild. Nature grows best where it sows itself. It feels very cushioning from the chaos. Wild wisdom. Relieving comfort.
With abundance of rain in Western New York and a perfect balance of colder and warmer weather vegetation this year is like I didn't see it for at least a decade - every plant in my yard is huge and luscious. Most neighbors must hate me for all the incredibly large weeds in my garden beds, but a neighbor girl that works for New Your State Parks as w "nature interpreter" complemented me for it calling it "surprisingly beautiful". Well at least someone appreciates it ))) Btw, I would love to see you, Riley, decorated with Alexander Nevsky order. You deserve it way more than most of the foreigners that got it for murky political reasons.
You're obviously a talented story-teller, or at least have the talent to be one. I hope you pursue fiction along with journalism. You obviously have the gift.
I just passed a monkey chained to a motorbike side cart an hour ago and yet I have no fear of monkey pox. For one thing it didn't attack me, for another I'm hoping I don't catch the new label for VAIDS. I'll stay unmanned thanks. Love the insights into Russia. At least no one thinks that the leaders are all powerful Gods. It's a good start!
If this is right then it's game, set and match, Russia is the place for me:
"..relentless mockery of authority, total and complete skepticism of basically every official narrative, and a long tradition of dignified resistance against institutionalized stupidity. "
Two things I know about modern Western humanity's *grass uber alles* obsession with lawns:
1) lawns were a sign of wealth when wealth often centered on how many animal and how much land a person owned. SHeep, goats, cattle, munch grass and crop it down while fertilizing the soil. So having a lawn was a major prestige concept two centuries ago, and the aura lingers still.
2) some writer in (I think it was) 1880s America wrote a bestseller touting the wonders of GREEN, especially grass lawns.
So now we waste valuable resources to grow and micro-harvest (mowing once a week) a crop that we throw away and give to the city so it can make compost to use for its parks or sell for profit. And we're all familiar, I'm sure, with how so many cities and housing tract codes prohibit anything but lawns and flowers in one's front yard.
I haven’t even read anything in your article past the weeds. I just wanted to comment that it’s the same with me and my backyard. I have stuff growing out of every corner, raspberries, garlic, vines, weeds, mustards….none of it is managed and I don’t care. It reminds me, like you, that nature is da boss. I can mow, weed, hack and chop all I want, that shit is coming back. I don’t care. My neighbours are probably tearing their hair out but they’re all voting Liberal so FUCK EM
I know nothing about gardening... but a wildish garden or backyard looks so much more beautiful than trimmed and groomed one.
Agreed!
Oh shit. I am remembering now that I when I was a teen, I was friends with a couple who kept a lot of wild animals at home, including a monkey. They lived, well, naturally, in Moscow. The monkey seemingly considered the husband of that couple her own, and was very aggressive toward women. I don't know why I thought about it but I am posting as a warning. Moscow is a hotbed of aggressive monkeys!!
Sexist Moscow monkeys!!!
remember as a child visiting Knotts Berry Farm and my parents would give me a penny and the organ grinder’s monkey (dressed in a suit and cap and on a leash) would snatch the penny from my hand... the monkey hand was bony with long, unclipped nails ... felt creepy... think the monkeys disappeared in the 1980’s with AIDS... hope the monkeys were properly cared for, seemed like a weird, abusive situation.
I don’t know why I’m thinking this but I do know why: Moskypox??? So bad, so sorry😬
Riley, please write a book. And please send me a copy :)
deal :)
‘spring fever’ is spreading faster than any ‘pox’... enjoy it!💕🐱💕
So true about the weeds! Here in Australia there is a true obsession with grass mowing and manicured gardens. We never see grass higher than 1.5 centimetres. My heart is bleeding every spring when one morning meadows get covered with dandelions and other wild flowers and next morning you hear a too familiar sound of a mower in the park….and all the beauty is gone! Heartless and thoughtless! Finally this year thanks to a La Niña extreme rainfall lasting for the last 5 months we saw a lot of grass and weeds growing without much control of the municipal gardeners. Looks like they are not coping with all that abundance of greenery around! Finally me and my mom feel at home here as it looks so similar to un-manicured Russia!
Mass democracy goes two ways: extreme artificiality and hyper-regulation, and at the other hand 'back to the wild nature'. Two extremes, an inspiring and enjoyable style and cultural selection of its own is impossible. The back to nature is the reaction against extreme top down control which stifles the culture and sucks the soul out of things.
Wow. I just know that Edwards two-word-masterpiece of a sentence, "Monkeys everywhere," will cause me embarassing and unwelcome fits of manic public laughter for at least a week.
Thanks, Edward.
I love your nature tastes. I love the wild wisdom of natural growth. thanks for sharing. I also enjoyed your perspectives throughout the article. Made me chuckle again, and also brought tears to my eyes as I viewed the nature. Nostalgic of a vacation view I haven't seen in a while, yet I do attempt to keep my own yard a bit wild. Nature grows best where it sows itself. It feels very cushioning from the chaos. Wild wisdom. Relieving comfort.
Great write-up, Riley!
With abundance of rain in Western New York and a perfect balance of colder and warmer weather vegetation this year is like I didn't see it for at least a decade - every plant in my yard is huge and luscious. Most neighbors must hate me for all the incredibly large weeds in my garden beds, but a neighbor girl that works for New Your State Parks as w "nature interpreter" complemented me for it calling it "surprisingly beautiful". Well at least someone appreciates it ))) Btw, I would love to see you, Riley, decorated with Alexander Nevsky order. You deserve it way more than most of the foreigners that got it for murky political reasons.
Thanks, Stanley! Your garden sounds lovely))
You're obviously a talented story-teller, or at least have the talent to be one. I hope you pursue fiction along with journalism. You obviously have the gift.
thank you for making me laugh
Good read, Riley. Linking today @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
and you have natural fuffly clouds too, something I havent seen in my place for a long long time. Thats a good sign. The sky talks.
I just passed a monkey chained to a motorbike side cart an hour ago and yet I have no fear of monkey pox. For one thing it didn't attack me, for another I'm hoping I don't catch the new label for VAIDS. I'll stay unmanned thanks. Love the insights into Russia. At least no one thinks that the leaders are all powerful Gods. It's a good start!
If this is right then it's game, set and match, Russia is the place for me:
"..relentless mockery of authority, total and complete skepticism of basically every official narrative, and a long tradition of dignified resistance against institutionalized stupidity. "
“Vaxism”?!? Why hasn’t that caught on? Stealing!
Two things I know about modern Western humanity's *grass uber alles* obsession with lawns:
1) lawns were a sign of wealth when wealth often centered on how many animal and how much land a person owned. SHeep, goats, cattle, munch grass and crop it down while fertilizing the soil. So having a lawn was a major prestige concept two centuries ago, and the aura lingers still.
2) some writer in (I think it was) 1880s America wrote a bestseller touting the wonders of GREEN, especially grass lawns.
So now we waste valuable resources to grow and micro-harvest (mowing once a week) a crop that we throw away and give to the city so it can make compost to use for its parks or sell for profit. And we're all familiar, I'm sure, with how so many cities and housing tract codes prohibit anything but lawns and flowers in one's front yard.
Brawndo Lawndo!