1. WRRC Presents A Seminar Entitled, “ Know About Water, Green Valley – Sahuarita.
November 16, 2019. Time/Location: 10:00 a.m. – 11:30, Green Valley Recreation (GVR)
East Campus, 7 South Abrego Dr., Green Valley, AZ
Everything you wanted to know about water resources in the Green Valley-Sahuarita area will be touched on in these interactive presentations. The culmination of a project funded by the Freeport McMoRan Community Investment Program, this presentation offers neutral, independent information on water supplies, uses, and quality, as well as community and individual actions to conserve and augment water resources in the region.
The Water Resources Research Center at the University of AZ presents the “Know About Your Water” project goal to promote informed individual actions and engagement in community decisions on water resources. Last year more than 250 Arizona neighbors responded to
a survey stating their prime concern is a secure, sustainable water supply. Water quality and a healthy environment were also important.
2. Water l Ways Coloring Book Offed By the Friends Of Arizona Humanities.
Arizona Humanities created a “Water is Life” coloring book to complement the Water/Ways exhibit. The coloring book presents the water stories of the 12 communities hosting the exhibit. Each site collected unique stories and artifacts from their respective communities. The result was an array of drawings, historical photos, paintings, and poems. Artist Isaac Caruso transformed these into colorable illustrations. Isaac is an illustrator, graphic designer, creative director and muralist born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. The coloring book’s front and back covers represent the vibrant and rich history of water in Arizona. Explore the stories of the 12 Water/Ways communities! Click here to download printable PDF versions of the coloring book pages. Or go to waterwaysaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/WaterWays-Coloring-Book-Host-Site-Pages.pdf EnviroInsight.org To Participate In City Of Glendale’s G.A.I.N Event. The people who bring you this newsletter will be hosting a canopy at the City of Glendale’s “Getting Arizona Involved in Neighborhoods“ event on November 2, 2019 at the Glendale, AZ Sahuaro Ranch Park, 9802 N. 59th Ave. Meet the people behind EnviroInsight and possibly learn something about recycling in Glendale by interacting with EnviroInsight’s staff. The event runs from 1:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m.
Dear Stakeholder, You are receiving this message for your engagement in ADEQ’s water quality initiatives.
Dear Stakeholder, You are receiving this message for your engagement in ADEQ’s water quality initiatives.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that they intend to publish a new definition for Waters of the United States (WOTUS) by early 2020. If published as proposed, the definition change would remove federal environmental protections for many Arizona waters.
As stated in a 2017 letter to the EPA, Governor Ducey welcomes this clarification in jurisdictional authorities, as well as the opportunity to provide consistent state-runprotection of Arizona waters.
Waters of Arizona Updates
This fall, ADEQ will launch a community engagement program and Tribal consultations to hear from people throughout Arizona about how “Waters of Arizona” should be protected.
If you are interested in receiving email notifications about our progress, including upcoming stakeholder meeting and Tribal Listening Session information, join the Waters of Arizona email list by clicking the link below, entering your email address, and clicking SAVE.
Subscribe to the Waters of Arizona Email List >5 . Upper Agua Fria Watershed Partnership Meeting November 5th. Upper Agua Fria Watershed Partnership Tuesday, November 5, 2019 10:00 am at Arcosanti Red Room Draft Agenda
Introductions and Announcements
- Satellite Data on Watershed available from JPL/ ECOSTRESS Project – Dr.Josh Fisher –https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/JFish
- WaterSMART Cooperative Watershed Management Program, Grant opportunity announced by BuRec, due mid-November BOR-DO-19-F010, Bandwith to complete lacking
- AZ Water/Ways http://azhumanities.org/water-ways/. Update, September Meeting, Research what Canon School in BCC is doing; explore possibilities for Mayer area grammar and high schools, Spring Ridge Academy, Orme School,
- Friends of the Agua Fria – annual meeting, October 21, 2019,report from Tim Flood
- Orme Ranch Conservation Easement Update, Other Central AZ Land Trust Projects – Jean Trupiano
- Verde State of the Watershed Conference – report from Tim Flood
- Other Business2020- Goals
Brainstorm a wish list for next year
Livestock for Landscape- Kathy Voth
Cordes Junction Projects – Love’s to start construction December
6. Beekeeping 101: A Home Beekeeping Primer. There are a number of reasons Americans are taking up beekeeping — a backyard colony can help your garden produce more fruits and veggies, harvesting your own honey cuts down on your grocery bill, and honey bees continue to be threatened by colony collapse disorder. Take your pick, and join the growing ranks of urban apiarists.
Keepers of rooftop and backyard hives extol the spiritual benefits of beekeeping, as well as the tasty ones.
“It is a joy to have them around and observe their intricate dance with life,” says Ruby Blume, a Bay Area beekeeper who teaches courses on the subject at The Institute of Urban Homesteading in Oakland. “When the bees come out in spring there’s a huge uplifting feeling in my spirit, and I know it’s time to start gardening and engaging with the outside world again.”
A single hive in an urban setting can produce as much as 60 pounds of honey, requires less management than a cat or dog, and has relatively low start-up costs, making it an appealing way for city folk to connect with their country roots. Here are a few things to consider when contemplating a hive of your very own:
You will need to do your research. “The more you know, the better beekeeper you’ll be,” advises Blume. There is a wealth of resources out there for aspiring beekeepers, from books to classes. Take several classes, says Blume, or find a mentor. Most cities have beekeepers associations full of enthusiasts who would be happy to help. But first, investigate your city’s laws — you don’t want to unintentionally become a fugitive while pursuing your apiarist dreams.
Consider the financial investment. While the initial cost is not outlandish, beekeeping will require some funds. A beginner kit can cost anywhere between $150-$400, and doesn’t include bees. But don’t lose heart just yet; some beekeeping organizations have resources to mitigate the financial burden of classes and equipment, and catching your own swarm will alleviate the cost of the insects themselves.
Will your yard or rooftop make a good home? Bees thrive in many conditions, but your neighbors may not be as adaptable. Your bees will travel up to 5 miles away from the hive to forage, so be respectful and do your best to keep your bees safe and out of others’ way. Provide them water, flowers, and an unobstructed flight path. Most colonies will stick to one route as they travel to and from the hive to forage, and humans routinely walking through the colony’s flight path can upset both the bees and the pedestrians. In Keeping Bees, author Ashley English advises constructing a high hedge or tall fence to encourage bees to fly up and over the heads of passersby.
When it comes to weather, bees like morning sun, afternoon shade, and very little wind or fog, says Blume, so choose a spot for their hive carefully.
Procuring your bees. A starter colony can be ordered from a supplier and will set you back $60 – $150, but be careful to consider your environment — bees shipped from warm weather won’t do well in cold climes. Catching your own swarm solves this problem, as does finding an established beekeeper who will split their colony for you.
Do you have time? Most likely, yes. “Being a good beekeeper is mostly about observing and only intervening when you can see something is wrong,” says Blume. Depending on the system you choose (Top Bar vs. Langstroth hive), you’ll only need to visit your hive weekly, monthly, or even yearly, depending on the season. When your bees start producing honey, expect to set aside a few hours for extraction. Otherwise, according to Blume, most people interfere too much. “Bees are incredibly developed creatures,” she says. “They do what they do very well without help from us.” Source: Sierra Club
7. History of Halloween. It’s the spookiest Time Of The Year. Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.
This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the 400 years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of bobbing for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 9th century, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted older Celticrites. In 1000 A.D., the church made November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It’s widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, church-sanctioned holiday.
All Souls’ Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints’ Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
Borrowing from European traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition. Young women believed that on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors.
In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, pranks and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season and festive costumes.
Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations. Because of these efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.
Pumpkins
Glowing jack-o-lanterns, carved from turnips or gourds, were set on porches and in windows to welcome deceased loved ones, but also to act as protection against malevolent spirits. Burning lumps of coal were used inside as a source of light, later to be replaced by candles.
When the Irish arrived in America, they found the perfect choice for jack-o-lanterns. Halloween didn’t really catch on in America until the late 1800’s and has been celebrated in so many ways ever since.
Pumpkins are indigenous to the western hemisphere and were completely unknown in Europe. In 1584, the French explorer Jacques Cartier reported from the St Lawrence region that he had found ‘gros melons’, which was translated into English as ‘ponpions’, or pumpkins. In fact, pumpkins have been grown in America for over 5,000 years. Native Americans called pumpkins ‘isquotersquash’
Source: https://stairnaheireann.net/2017/10/28/history-of-pumpkin-carving-and-halloween-samhain-2/
