I know this isn't local, but it's too good to pass up sharing with my fellow OlyBloggers. Enjoy.

The following is an attempt to give myself a memory enema from the hours of TV junk I absorbed as a child in the late 50s-1960s.

OK, back in the 1960s and maybe into the 1970s there was this TV ad for Imperial Margarine that went like this: Some common schmoe would eat a piece of toast that had Imperial Margarine on it, and suddenly, in a bad stop-action piece of cutting room ineptitude, an oversize crown would jarringly appear on the cranium of the consumer. "Imperial Margarine, fit for a king!" the announcer would state in triump while a little trumpet heralded the event in a regal jingle.

So, several questions come up. Did this happen with every bite? Was it possible to have multiple crowns on your head as a result of eating one piece of toast in several bites? Did the crown have a shelf life? Did it dissolve after a short time? Since matter cannot be destroyed, where did it draw the physical substance from? And if it dissolved, where did it go? And if those crowns are still around, shouldn't we be drowning in them by now?

Also, since our nation was based on a revolution against the nonsense of having a monarch, doesn't it seem strange that being like royalty should have any kind of appeal? Oooooo, you're a king! Get in line like everyone else, pal. That's what a real American would say.

Well, as it turns out, Imperial Margarine is actually a Canadian product, which explains a lot about the deferential attitude toward the monarchy. Don't get me wrong. I love Canada. Clean, color paper currency, a sane health care policy, SCTV, Kids in the Hall, an entire province that speaks a form of French and has crazy fashion and architecture. But let's face it, they never really kicked the ass of the English royalty like we did in order to gain their independence. We are not so polite. In my way of thinking, eating Imperial Margarine and gaining a crown is like some form of royalist brainwashing. The whole ad campaign was sort of elitist. Shame on you, Canada! We have our own problems with economic class warfare without you butting in!

Tip of the hat to the NYT from Feb 11th, 2007 - want to read the article?

Farmers in Niger are reported to have noticed a few decades ago that all of the trees had disappeared as more and more ground around villages was tilled. The increased tilling happened as the population increased dramatically.

With no encouragement or scientific assistance from the agencies who are "helping" poor countries with development issues, the farmers decided among themselves that the loss of trees might have something to do with the loss of fertility of the soil and the risk of desertification, so these poor subsistence farmers agreed among themselves to protect and nurture saplings in the middle of their crops. This meant extra work, plowing around the saplings, giving up some crop for the trees.

And it worked. The article in the Times reports:

In this dust-choked region, long seen as an increasingly barren wasteland decaying into desert, millions of trees are flourishing, thanks in part to poor farmers whose simple methods cost little or nothing at all.

Better conservation and improved rainfall have led to at least 7.4 million newly tree-covered acres in Niger, researchers have found, achieved largely without relying on the large-scale planting of trees or other expensive methods often advocated by African politicians and aid groups for halting desertification, the process by which soil loses its fertility.

The Olympia Community School situated on the beach right here on Evergreen’s Campus offers full-time Kindergarten through 3rd grade in a hands-on, small class size, and environmentally rich setting. They are having an Open House on Sunday, March 4th from 2 to 4 pm.

Bring the kids!

For more information call (360) 866-8047 or visit the www.olympiacommunityschool.org

photo by enpen