Purpletigron

Mater took a tumble on Tuesday, and is only slowly recovering. It's not entirely clear which of her symptoms are cause and which effect at this point. But nothing broken this time at least.

Sunday is the climax of a big piece of paid work for me - anyone in the UK who can watch the Great North Run on Sunday might catch a glimpse of why (no, I don't run :-)

The summer is definitely drawing to a close, and I'm looking forward to going again to tend the trees I've been helping to plant over the last 3 springtimes.

My new year's resolution is definitely going to be to spend more time outside and around trees ... something about 'nobody ever said on their deathbed, I wish I had spent more time stuck indoors'.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=53226

"The Aspen Institute ... Community-based Forestry Demonstration Program ... report "Growth Rings: Communities and Trees" [finds that]:

-- Rural communities have the passion and on-the-ground expertise to make real forest restoration happen. Federal and state governments cannot accomplish their mandates without their involvement.

-- Declining forest health and rural economic growth will continue to decline without federal investment and commitment for restoration, collaboration, and community capacity building. When there is such investment, current trends are reversed.

-- Markets for environmentally and socially responsible products can be developed and used to further forest restoration and community development goals, but they require public and private investment and commitment."