Start a New Year’s column with a catch phrase from the early 1970s? Crazy, I admit.
Local Columns
It’s pretty hard to go wrong with an excursion to Valley of Fire State Park this time of year.
Using verse to speak to young athletes, Lesynski highlights the excitement of the game and all its facets to kids for can’t get enough hoops. I liked the way author Loris Lesynski moves between spectator and player POVs here (for kids who are one or the other), and the action-packed cartoon drawings by Gerry Rasmussen just add to the enjoyment.
Question: The low temperatures affected the citrus trees. Most of my new growth is on the suckers. Should I remove them or just let the tree be?
Here’s something you might care to dwell on with more than just a bit of candor: Hundreds of military veterans in the state who are in need of full-time nursing home care are being turned away from the Nevada State Veterans Home in Boulder City, due to insufficient facilities.
For those who would like quality roses, Plant World Nursery on West Charleston Boulevard has brought in Weeks roses. These are high quality roses. They will cost more than roses produced for mass merchandisers but they are high quality. For a recommended rose for the desert, visit my blog and search for “best roses for the desert.”
Reading. Pfft. Who has time? Who can take hours and hours to actually read a book, especially if it’s not all that good? Why waste that kind of time? You wonder that often, which is where I come in. It’s my job to find the good stuff for you and, for this calendar year, these are the books I loved best that you shouldn’t miss.
Question: Do oranges grow in Las Vegas? Also, when is the best time to plant a new tree?
Q. Are these nematodes on my tomato roots in the picture I sent to you?
Well, if you did it again — waited until the last minute to buy Christmas presents for your favorite hiker or camper — you’re not in so much trouble as you may think. Some of the most practical and appreciated gifts for outdoorsmen can be purchased at a CVS, Walgreens or hardware store through Christmas Eve. Furthermore, they’re inexpensive, so you can buy several items, making it certain the recipient will truly love at least one. Buy a low-cost stocking, fill it to the brim, and it will even look like you planned ahead.
Question: During the excessive hot spell in July, our irrigation failed while we were out of town. As a result, one of our queen palms lost all of its branches. In spite of subsequent life support, it does not appear to be coming back. Is that too much to hope for? Is there anything we can do to help it recover, or should we just mourn its passing?
Reports from the weather station at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension orchard in North Las Vegas put the low temperatures Dec. 6 and 10 at 20 F with daytime highs around the same as the inside of a refrigerator. I am sure this caused some damage to plants. I posted the weather report on my blog for those interested.
You might ask what kind of a misfit would deliberately destroy a tiny forest of pine trees on a golf course, so they might have a better view of the Strip, or a better view of somebody hitting a golf ball, or maybe just to satisfy some kind of dysfunctional jollies? Well, that’s what happened to approximately 13 stately pines at Highland Falls Golf Course in Sun City Summerlin.
If you’re looking for a Kwanzaa-Christmas-Hanukkah book that will dazzle your 2- to 6-year-old, this one’s it. Read it, and “Dusk” could become one of her favorite things.
Thanks, everyone. Just a brief follow-up to last month’s column on skin cancer. From it, I learned five things: