Honeysuckle Will Be The Source of Our Ruin!

Recently I've become intensely against honeysuckle plants. I will explain the problems that the plant is creating in our fair city to any one who will listen! Honeysuckle (pictured here) is everywhere in Kansas City. Any place where people aren't carefully attending to their yards the stuff grows. I think I've spotted some yards that are cultivating it, although luckily those foolish gardeners are in the minority.


The problems with honeysuckle are these: it is an invasive exotic species that grows leaves earlier in the season than other trees and plants. The shade that the leaves create block the sun from reaching new trees growing under the honeysuckle bush. This means that new trees cannot grow when the honeysuckle is around, so urban forested areas with the stuff are doomed to become honeysuckle forests after the current trees die (from old age and stuff). Can you hardly believe this outrage?!!


I learned about the TERRORS of honeysuckle mostly from this Walt Bodine episode and also from the grumblings at arbor day festivities in Liberty, MO

The Walt Bodine Show - Plants and Trees, Native or Invasive?

Big news! Kids LOVE ham radio!

Hot news! HAM radio class in Parkville, MO. Hard hitting news! Kids love HAM radios!


(I photographed the HAM radio class for kids this past weekend for the SunTribune)

New Blog

So, I've started a new blog. Its not a competing blog, and it will definitely not take the place of posts about pets, self promotion, or obnoxious behaviors. What it will do is provide those hungry minds eager for Kansas City politics a place to satiate their desires for info graphics, committee meeting updates, and links to city ordinances! Check it out!

Jungle Kitty : Friend and Foe

Now, I usually refrain from posting about various pets that I see, mostly because its kind of like hearing about other peoples kids or dreams: boring. But here you go blog readers! Pet story!
Our neighbors have a cat that we have named "Jungle Kitty". When we moved in and there were still thriving plant life, neighborcat would hang out under the plants. It was like he was in the jungle.
Then winter came and all the plants everywhere died, and we worried for Jungle Kitty. It appeared that he lived outside and would be trudging through the snow! We doubted that the neighbors loved or cared for him at all, because they weren't cradling him in their arms and shielding him from the snow. But then things started to warm up again, and the neighbors have ventured outside, mostly to take photos of Jungle Kitty! Tons of photos all the time! So it turns out they do love Jungle Kitty and want to share that "photos of Jungle Kitty" love with others! I've caught them in the act!
Oh also, his real name is Perry! Don't be fooled though, Jungle Kitty is in fact mean, and yeah, you know it, a scaredy cat!

Photo Intern

For those that wonder what do I do with my time besides make biblical type scarfs and look at neighborhood pets, rest assured, I am busy! I've been interning with the Sun Tribune, a newspaper company (they have several weekly papers in the area) that's north of the river. (Jamie and I live south of the river, which is sometimes described to me as "scary" by people I talk to north of the river. why this is should probably be its own blog post!). With the internship, I've been taking photos of high school sports, Easter egg hunts!, arbor day events, and an Easter service. Its pretty interesting and I get to go places that are nice old small towns that I would have no clue about otherwise. A few of them are centered around turn of the century universities (Liberty and Parkville Missouri) and have older downtown areas.

Parkville, MO (photo by neal1960)

This Easter I took some photos of the Grace Community Church in Smithville. There were too many people to use the usual church, so they were in the Smithville High School gym! Here's the associated article, the photos and text are from yours truely!