Organic food is not better for you. Nor is it better for the environment. I’ve been saying this for years. If we all want to live together on this planet for a long time to come, dragging agriculture 100 years into the past is not the way to do it.*
* But we do buy organic milk, at my behest. Maybe it is time to rethink that decision.
Over the Canada Day holiday our entire family went camping in Lassen Volcanic National Park. We there briefly in 2006, and I was back last summer for an astronomy trip, but this was the first time we’d spent any time there as a family.
It was quite smoky when we arrived because of wildfires elsewhere in Northern California. But luckily the first day was the worst for smoke and it cleared up after that. The only downside was the ravenous mosquito population at Summit Lake North Campground.
We went on 2 hikes (Bumpass Hell and Cinder Cone), swam in a mountain lake (really Katie, Amelia, and Jackie did it, I chickened out), made smores and friends, and generally had a fun time.
Sometimes dragging your family kicking and screaming out of the house is a good thing™.
During my trip up to the Golden State Star Party over the July 4th weekend, I spent a day exploring Lava Beds National Monument. There are tens (maybe hundreds) of lava tube caves to explore, and the craters and cinder cones are tres cool. It is also the site of the only Indian war fought in California. Most definitely worth the trip if you happen to be in far Northern California.
Here are some pictures, including some of the ancient petroglyphs at Petroglyph Point.
And here are a couple of panoramas from Lava Beds. First, the Fleener Chimneys.
Next, the Black Crater.
(apologies to Marty Robbins)
The big steel beam is in, and the last vestige of the old kitchen wall is gone. In this panorama you can see the beam and it’s connection to the iron and wooden posts holding it up. Also the pantry walls are framed. We met with the electrician today and he starts tomorrow putting in the new lights, switches, and romex.