Not sure that this is the place to generally chat, but feck the police. Froggie’s got warts anyway, what’s he gonna do?

Anyway, I just wanted to thank whoever made this art on the canvas a while back

Beneath the extensive geology of memes that occupy my brain, lies an introspective and somewhat sensitive persona. I’m really disillusioned with a lot that goes on in the world, and frustrated that we don’t do better as humans. All the negativity out there, blatant disregard for our environment, and complete lack of comprehension on environmental cumulative effects tends to give me a dour outlook on the future.

Hell, COVID was a perfect analogue for how humanity responds to existential threats. There, we had people literally dropping dead, not the slow, implacable deconstruction of our environment, and we barely got our act together, and not without much squabbling, scheming and stepping on the necks of others. It’s no wonder I’m borderline a doomer.

And yet, a simple message of “Hope is rebellion” resonated with me. At first, it was just a little meme that my brain picked up and didn’t know where to store. I kept mentally turning it over in my hands and thinking about where to put it. hmm, that shelf over there, for now. And it’s sat there, on its little shelf in my mental kitchen next to the coffee pot. When I find myself wondering what the point of a lot of stuff, or find myself in a tough situation (or I’m helping someone in one), I tend to look up at the shelf, and see the message: hope is rebellion

this little painted rock with its inspiring message has wormed its way into my brain, and changed the way I think - or perhaps finally put into words my innately stubborn nature. I don’t back down easily. I have a knack for executing daunting tasks. I enjoy type II fun. Heck, I even don’t mind Type III fun (which is not fun at all). All of that is enduring when all seems stack against you. Hoping, and rebelling against a seemingly dire situation. You may not be able to fix or solve the problem, but then again, global problems like those going on in our environment can’t be fixed by one person - but you can refuse to let it beat you. You can continue to hope. You can keep looking for opportunities to make a difference, and to me, that’s the essence of solar punk.

… … …

I mean, i guess…

Pedologists often lay out soil from each horizon like this for great profile overviews, even though the horizons are thicker

Check out the coarse prismatic structure of the fragipan (water impermeable layer). This is caused by movement of aluminum, iron, and clay and recementation from available silicon. Freeze thaw cycles also play a large role.

Fertilizer and fungicide applications are commonly used in lowbush blueberry cropping systems (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton and Vaccinium myrtilloides Michaux) to enhance fruit yield. Such crop inputs can significantly affect soil fungi, a topic that is not well documented, even though these organisms impact the development and survival of lowbush blueberries in natural forest ecosystems. We evaluated soil fungal biomass and community structure in a commercial lowbush blueberry field located in Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec, Canada. Since 2017, mineral fertilizers and fungicide (Proline 480 SC®) have been applied once every 2 years. In-growth sandbags were incubated for 90 days during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons to collect fungal hyphae biomass in vegetated and unvegetated areas. Soil samples were also collected to analyze the structure of the fungal community using next-generation sequencing. Our results showed that applying fungicide alone increased hyphal biomass in sandbags by 40%, whereas adding both fungicide and fertilizer or fertilizer alone did not change hyphal biomass compared to the control. The structure of the fungal community was only slightly affected by the applications of fungicide and fertilizer, with fungicide decreasing the relative abundances of plant pathogens and fertilizer negatively influencing saprotrophs. Low doses and infrequent applications could explain such weak effects. Among the 33 amplicon sequence variants that were positively associated with the presence of lowbush blueberry plants, eight Penicillium species, four Clavariaceae, two Serendipita species, and one ericoid mycorrhizal fungi (Oidiodendron maius) were identified.