Compost and clovers

It has been way too long since my last post and so much has happened in all our lives. I am happy to report that I will be homeschooling Sydney and Quintin this academic year. I am very excited and look forward to all its adventures and challenges. Today I would like to share something my mom wrote earlier this year when she was asked to write a submission for the New York Botanical Gardens blog which actually was never used. Anyways, I like the story so here it goes:

The Luckiest Girl in the World

Anita Guerrero, author

I have never found a four-leaf clover in my life, but my granddaughter has found many, maybe 100, I have lost count. She can find a 4 leafer in a minute or two. Her brother cried yesterday, he lost the only one he found in the clumpy mound in our mystical yard. I know it is mystical because Holly black, the writer of Spiderwick Chronicle books (before the movie came out) told my granddaughter Sydney so. Excited to meet the creative and young author, Sydney gave her a fresh four leaf clover she had found the day before. "Oh no! I couldn’t take your clover." Holly exclaimed! "Its alright, I have many in my collection." Sydney answered. "I have never found a four leaf clover in my life. Do you know what it means to find so many in your garden yard?" Holly asked. Sydney looked excited to hear the answer. "It means there are fairies in your garden." Sydney was so delighted, fairies and other magical folk are on the top of her list of favorite reads. She has almost every book on the subject of fairies. She knows all about flower fairies too, her botanical knowledge of flowers has grown surprisingly. Sydney almost fainted when she met her favorite writer. A very dramatic and brilliant child of 10, she attends a public school for the gifted with her budding entrepreneurial l brother of 8 years. Finding lucky clovers are easy for Sydney, must have to do with being part Irish, but she has a terrible time finding her shoes, and other less interesting stuff.
Speaking of clover, it actually affixes nitrogen to your lawn, no need for fertilizer, and you wouldn’t want to rid you lawn of a potential lucky clover find. That’s right. Too much fertilizer is polluting our rivers and streams, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We are in real trouble if we continue on the path of excess fossil fuel emissions on earth. Scientists have done their research and do believe within 10 years, global warming will probably have an impact. Global warming threatens an erratic climate with greater extremes of heat, droughts and storms. There are no cookie cutter answers they profess, but we all can help now in a lot of small ways that will add up to a big difference, and you can start in your own back yard and home. Compost, compost, compost! (no chemicals needed) Recycle! Use energy saving light bulbs (more on this later)....