Compost Tea

It's been a couple years since I made compost tea, but since I created a compost bin a couple months ago and now have some viable compost, I made a batch of tea yesterday. Instead of the 30-gallon brewers (plastic trash cans) I used previously, I used two 5-gallon buckets. Into the water went about a gallon of compost, a few tablespoons of blackstrap molasses (to feed the bacteria), and some ground kelp. (Daniel and I debated the addition of kelp and took the "couldn't hurt" approach and added it in—he to his tea in Columbia and I to mine in Charlotte. Credit where credit is due: Daniel and I both watched a video online of John Evans, a renowned Guinness record holder for giant vegetables in Alaska, who uses compost tea a lot. So it stimulated a resurgence of interest in brewing teas again.)

After brewing for 24 hours, and scooping the largest debris (un-composted bits of organic "stuff") off the surface of the tea, it's ready to be filtered:

I use a large plastic funnel stuffed with tule to act as a filter. Simply pouring the tea into the funnel catches the debris in the tule making the tea clean enough to go in a watering can:

I then poured the tea into a large watering can, diluted with water from the rain barrels:

Compost tea can serve three purposes: One, poured directly over the plants it provides a microbial coating on leaves that provides a defense against airborne disease spores; two, it serves as a foliar feeding source for plants to absorb nutrients through the leaf pours (stomata); and three, as a soil drench, tea adds microbial life and nutrients to the soil to aid in nutrient uptake through the roots. These pictures are of drenching young transplants:

For soil drenching, I used a different watering can, filling it first with rain water from the rain barrels. I love having access to this water from the barrels!

I then added tea to this water making a diluted mix to soak the roots of the cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and collards:

A few other pictures:

Daniel and I were agreeing the other day on what troopers the Swiss chard plants are. We both have plants that have been producing since last spring, going through the summer without bolting (going to seed). They are truly prolific staples of the home garden: (I tucked a couple cauliflower plants in around this chard)

My Russian kale plants, after surviving two severe attacks by the cabbage butterfly caterpillars, are re-sprouting for a third try this fall. The standard (organically approved) defense against these and other caterpillars on brassica plants is a bacteria called bacillus thuringiensis. When it is sprayed on the leaves of plants, caterpillars ingest the bacteria and it causes their demise in 1-2 days. The bacteria is harmless to humans or pets. I didn't have any BT on hand earlier this summer to protect the brassicas, but have some for the fall season in case the caterpillars show up again:

Finally, I don't think I've shown pics of my pineapple plants. I was at a grocery store back in the spring and saw a deli guy slicing the tops off some pineapples before chopping the fruit up for sale in the deli. I asked him if I could have the tops—brought them home and planted the two nicest ones. They were about a fourth this size when I planted them. Don't know what the outcome will be, but I'll probably try to keep them indoors through the winter. They have become beautiful plants:

More Research on Cell Phones and Cancer

Researchers at the Australian National University undertook a review of all the research done so far on the epidemiological evidence for "an association between long-term cell phone usage and the risk of developing a brain tumor."

There conclusion: Yes, there is evidence of a connection.

In order to be included in their review they only examined previous studies that met the following criteria:

1. Publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

2. Subjects studied had used cell phones for more than 10 years.

3. Brain tumors which corresponded to the side of the head where the cell phone was normally used.

Eleven prior studies met those criteria. The result of their review of prior studies based on the above three criteria: "The results indicate that using a cell phone for 10 or more years approximately doubles the risk of being diagnosed with a brain tumor on the same (ipsilateral) side of the head as that preferred for cell phone use." (Surgical Neurology 2009 Sep; 72(3): 205-14)

On the flip side, the research accompanying the release of these findings says that there have been no conclusive studies showing that cell phones DON'T cause brain tumors or other problems.

Most of the people writing about this issue are using tobacco-related diseases as a paradigm for warnings. It took decades for the health effects of tobacco to show up -- remember that a half-century ago many/most doctors smoked, many participated in cigarette ads, and many doctors recommended smoking to their patients. (I remember as a child a physician friend of my parents, Dr. Leo Harris in Decatur, Alabama, being in our home on social occasions and smoking. He was a kind man but was like most doctors of that era, simply didn't know the deleterious effects of tobacco -- nor did most people. My own parents both smoked until I was around 6-7 years old when my mother somehow knew they needed to quit. She did but my father was never able to break the habit, smoking under cover for most of his adult life. His addiction probably accounts for my own Draconian views on the subject.)

Many researchers today fear that the effects of cell phones, and other devices that produce similar "radiation," may have results that don't show up for many years -- especially among the many children who are now using cell phones since their skull bones are much thinner than adult skulls.

As I said in previous posts on this topic, I'm taking a "where there's smoke there's fire approach," and trying to err on the side of caution. And trying to remember Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 10:23: "You say, “I am allowed to do anything” —but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything” —but not everything is beneficial" (NLT-SE). (See Dr. Mercola's site for his comments on the new study mentioned above.)

Odd Couple

I know these odd animal couple videos are all over the web, but this one from National Geographic is very nice: an orangutan and a beautiful hound (a Bluetick hound? not sure):

Hopeful Signs

The following two-minute video highlights a program hosted by Ohio State University in which OSU students and Metro High School students are getting hands-on experience in growing vegetables organically. Produce from the farm is sold to campus dining facilities, at a local farmers market, and at a farmers market started by the students at Metro High School. It's amazing that such ventures qualify as "news." But in an era when a few large agri-corps produce most of the chemical-laden food the nation consumes, this venture (and others like it) are indeed good news. This venture is one of thousands of small, hopeful signs about how seriously people are beginning to think directly about the quality of food in America -- and indirectly about the quality of food and its impact on the quality of life. It's one thing for old folks to do these things but quite another for students -- especially high school students. It bodes well for the future. (Note: in the age of uber-videos, this small slide show will rate low on the Wow! scale. Look past the simplicity of the production to the hopeful hearts and hands of the students and those mentoring them.)

One Take

It's all over CNN and YouTube this weekend -- this music video shot by a group of students at the University of Quebec in Montreal. It involves 172 students -- two rehearsals, two takes -- and the second take was a wrap with NO EDITS. The students who produced it spent a month planning it, but the idea of a 4.5" music video in one take is amazing. Check it out -- set to the Black Eyed Peas "I Got a Feeling:"

A Cure for Cancer?

Kathy Freston is a blogger at The Huffington Post, not one of my regular reads. But I read Kathy Freston's blog because she writes well about the connection between health and a vegan lifestyle. She comes from a "New-Agey" perspective (my opinion) that shows up in her books on wellness and lifestyle, but she definitely does her research when it comes to veganism and health.

She is beginning a new series of interviews with well-known doctors and researchers on the health benefits of a plant-based diet. The first was published today and she has started at the top of the mountain, interviewing Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, a book based on the largest study ever undertaken on the connection between diet and health. (Dr. Campbell became a vegan as a result of his own research. 'Ya 'gotta love scientists who have an objective commitment to evidence when it leads them away from where they've been all their lives.)

In the interview, Dr. Campbell affirms what he wrote in his book—that casein, which makes up 87% of beef protein and milk/dairy products, is the number one dietary cause of cancer. And the case isn't a lot better for other non-beef meat protein. Here's a snippet from the interview:

KF: This is sounding like it's a cure for cancer; is that the case?

TCC: Yes. The problem in this area of medicine is that traditional doctors are so focused on the use of targeted therapies (chemo, surgery, radiation) that they refuse to even acknowledge the use of therapies like nutrition and are loathe to even want to do proper research in this area. So, in spite of the considerable evidence--theoretical and practical--to support a beneficial nutritional effect, every effort will be made to discredit it. It's a self-serving motive.

Did you see that? A cure for cancer! You would think this would make the headlines of every news outlet in the world. Dr. Campbell has never been afraid to implicate government and medical establishments for their unwillingness to follow the trail of evidence or participate in research that would support nutritional protocols.

No one is trying harder than Lance Armstrong to find a cure for cancer vis-a-vis his Livestrong Foundation. I noticed yesterday that Lance wrote a strong back-cover recommendation for Rip Esselstyn's book, The Engine 2 Diet—a vegan diet book. Esselstyn is the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn who wrote Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (based on a vegan, plant-based diet). Rip was a professional tri-athlete for 10 years before becoming a firefighter in Austin, Texas. (His firehouse in Austin—Engine 2—has become almost completely plant-based with tremendous reductions in weight and cholesterol counts among his fellow firefighters, and has garnered national media attention.) He knew Lance Armstrong through professional athletics and their Austin connection, so Lance was happy to write a rec for Rip's book. So here you have one of the world's leading cancer fighters writing a recommendation for a plant-based diet book in spite of the fact that he doesn't follow a plant-based diet himself nor does he use his bully pulpit to press for more scientific research into the power of plant-based foods to cure cancer. All this in the face of T. Colin Campbell, one of the world's smartest scientists (in this area) saying, "Yes, diet represents a cure for cancer."

It's all very puzzling.

Anyway, I hope you'll read Kathy Feston's short interview with Dr. Campbell. It's very encouraging to read the hopeful words of one who has done so much research on why we get cancer and how it can be prevented and cured. The interview is here.

A Bleak Future?

Marc Faber is a 63-year-old Swiss-born economist and financial analyst who has spent a lifetime living internationally and studying the economies of the world. He's smart (magna cum laude Ph.D in economics at age 24) and highly respected, living in the U.S. now. His financial newsletter is read by all major investment houses and wealthy individual investors. I've seen him quoted for years, though have not subscribed to his newsletter.

A short video interview with Faber, posted yesterday at Yahoo Finance, has him predicting the fall of capitalism in the U.S. and the radical fall of standards of living in the West in the coming years -- in other words, an economic revolution due to the U.S. government's inability to manage its debt load and resulting inflation. Given that the U.S. dollar has lost 95% of its value since the inception of the Federal Reserve in 1913 -- a century, in other words -- he doesn't feel it will take but a few years for it to lose the remaining 5% of its value, meaning it will become worthless and devaluation will occur -- and an economic tsunami (revolution) of some sort -- the institution of some new form of currency by the government. (These kinds of devaluations have occurred frequently in other countries throughout history, most notably Argentina in recent years, but never in the U.S.)

Here is what he wrote in his September newsletter which he expounds on in the interview:

"The future will be a total disaster, with a collapse of our capitalistic system as we know it today, wars, massive government debt defaults and the impoverishment of large segments of Western society."

I would place more weight on Marc Faber's opinion than I would those in Washington today who continue to promise a bright future while implementing policies that cannot but produce the opposite.

It is not too soon for people to be aware of these possibilities and start creating the defenses they think best for surviving what may be a rocky future -- and the younger you are, the more likely you will live to see this scenario unfold. As for me, my hope is not in the policies or intelligence of men. But that doesn't mean that godly people won't suffer along with the rest, so I am concerned about these issues as well. I think self-sufficiency (food, water, shelter) is the first place to begin thinking about from a long-term perspective.

The interview with Faber is only 5-6 minutes long, and worth watching more than once to grasp the import of his words as they are filtered through his Swiss accent. You have to go here to watch the video.

The Obese Elephant in the Room

A couple of weeks ago I posted some thoughts on President Obama's speech to Congress on his healthcare proposals. My chief observation was that his efforts are focused on fixing a "system" that is oriented around disease management instead of disease prevention. Health and food writer, and national spokesperson on all things related, Michael Pollan, addressed the same issue in his usual thorough and eloquent style.

The heart of his article (and complaint about the president's "plan") is this:

No one disputes that the $2.3 trillion we devote to the health care industry is often spent unwisely, but the fact that the United States spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care can be substantially explained, as a study released last month says, by our being fatter. Even the most efficient health care system that the administration could hope to devise would still confront a rising tide of chronic disease linked to diet.

That’s why our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry.

He concludes his article this way (with my addition in brackets drawn from his article):

All of which suggests that passing a health care reform bill, no matter how ambitious, is only the first step in solving our health care crisis. To keep from bankrupting ourselves, we will then have to get to work on improving our health — which means going to work on the American way of eating.

But even if we get a health care bill that does little more than require insurers to cover everyone on the same basis, it could put us on that course.

For it will force the industry, and the government, to take a good hard look at the elephant in the room [i.e., obesity based on a broken industrial food system] and galvanize a movement to slim it down.

You can read his whole New York Times op-ed piece here.

Birthday, Garden, and Congaree

Went to Columbia for Ellen's eighth birthday party last Friday. Seems like yesterday when she was water-born in a tiny cabin in Ashe County, NC:

Jen fixed an amazing vegan chili supper and cake for Ellen's guests (and parents) and a cool piñata modeled after their dog Blue:

Their garden has one of the nicest arrangements of raised beds I've ever seen:

Farmer Dan hard at work early Saturday morning:

On Saturday Daniel and I spent a few hours at the Congaree National Park which contains "the largest tract of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States." Cedar Creek flows through the park:

The cypress trees are enormous:

The cypress tree roots send up shoots, called "cypress knees," the purpose of which seems unclear to the experts:

Notice the size of these "knees" in front of Daniel:

We didn't see any large wildlife (we saw signs where the wild pigs had been rooting), but the butterflies and other wildlife are everywhere:

The butterflies seem to sense the salt (?) on our skin, landing on my hand and on a vent hole in Daniel's "Croc" shoe. I took a cool movie of the butterfly on my hand opening and closing its wings, but accidentally deleted it off my camera. Bummer:

A huge wasp nest:

Amazing to think of how wild our nation once was—especially how many huge trees once existed—and sad to think how few of these places remain. I was very impressed with this park—the facilities, staff, etc. There are a couple miles of boardwalks and other hiking trails, making it easy to see the bottomlands. I'd like to make a return visit to see more.

"Don't Come Cryin' to Me . . . ."

Although I've never used the phrase, "Don't come cryin' to me . . . ," in the right movie and the right scene, there's nothing better—and it fits well here:

"22 Tools You Should Keep in Your Car"

(No, I don't—but I'm thinking about it.)

A Higher Standard

Just a couple quotes from today's reading in Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest --

You must maintain continual watchfulness so that nothing arises in your life that would cause you shame. . . . If you act deceitfully, God's blight and ruin will be upon you. What may be craftiness for you, may not be for others—God has called you to a higher standard. Never dull your sense of being your utmost for His highest—your best for His glory. . . . The greatest spiritual crisis comes when a person has to move a little farther on in his faith than the beliefs he has already accepted.

The full reading for Sept. 15 can be found here.

Tomato Bouquet

An avocado tree is growing in this white bucket with a small tuft of green also evident:

On closer examination, the tuft of green turns out to be a bouquet of tomato sprouts. Apparently a cherry tomato fell into the soil, got buried near the top, and all the seeds in the cherry tomato sprouted (sorry the pic is a little fuzzy):

I've had lots of volunteer tomatoes come up, but never scores from the same single tomato:

Always something new in the garden.

David and Abby In Town

From Philadelphia came David and friend Abby this week for a few days in Charlotte and Columbia. I got them for a full afternoon where we talked, made smoothies, hummus, and got a juicer ready for Dave to take back to Philly:

Caught this pic of the swallowtail butterfly caterpillars devouring a parsley plant where they hatched:

Is "Calling Out" Citizens Part of the President's Job?

Last night I watched the president's speech on healthcare—the first of his televised speeches I've had the heart to endure. And I watched to see if he said anything about "prevention" or "personal responsibility for one's own health" as a key variable in his plan to "fix" healthcare. And he didn't.

His plan seems to be, "Companies, you are free to call anything you want 'food' and offer it to Americans to eat, regardless of whether it is good or bad for one's health. And citizens, you are free to eat whatever you want and live however you want without negating your right to have unlimited amounts of money spent in an attempt to clean up the mess you create." (I am well aware that there are individual cases of illness and need that occur apart from a cause-effect scenario for which individuals can be deemed accountable. But those relatively few cases have not created the healthcare problem in America.)

The president's focus seems to be on the healthcare "system," not the health and well-being of individuals. It's a well-known fact that America spends more money per capita on "healthcare" (read "disease management") than any nation in the world, but ranks way down the list in terms of actual health. We are number one in trauma care, but in the "30's" (last time I checked) in "healthiness." It seems that the president's plan is focused on the "per capita" problem: How do we spend less money per capita on healthcare and move America's ranking higher among the developed nations of the world? We could spend less money and still have a nation full of unhealthy people. The per capita number would be better but it wouldn't change the health of people.

But the national goal ought not to be having the most efficient "system" of doctors, insurance companies, drug companies, and government. It ought to be to have the healthiest people. That's why this whole debate is mislabeled. It's not a healthcare debate, it's a disease-care debate. The focus is on sickness, not health.

What I learned last night was that anyone who (in the president's opinion) mis-characterizes his healthcare plan will be "called out" by his administration. But after hearing a commentator on the radio yesterday read a section of one of the developing plans, there's no way people will agree on what it means. It's hard to agree on something that can't be understood by the average citizen. So if, in the president's opinion, your interpretation of what he is saying is different than his, you will be called out and identified. Is this part of the president's job description—calling out citizens who disagree with him?

I would rather the president call out individuals who are not doing their best to live a healthy life—beginning with his own need to stop smoking. My son, Daniel, sent me a link to a post on the healthcare debacle that says it well (from the blog of retired philosophy professor Dr. Bill Vallicella—reprinted here without his permission):

The problem here is the liberal mentality. Faced with a problem such as obesity, the liberal wants to classify it as a public health problem -- which is absurd on the face of it. No doubt there are public health problems, and some of them are getting worse because of a failure to control the borders; but obesity is an individual problem to be solved (or left unsolved) by the individual and perhaps a few significant others. If obesity counts as a public health problem, then how could any health problem not count as a public health problem?

Here is the straight skinny on obesity: if you consume more calories than you burn, then you gain weight. If you burn more calories than you consume, then you lose weight. So if you want to lose weight, eat less and move more. Try it. It works. Of course there are people with special conditions. But I'm talking about the general run of the population. For the most part, people are fat because they refuse to discipline themselves. Liberals aid and abet them in their indiscipline. I am tempted to say that that is part of the very definition of a liberal. The liberal tendency is to shift responsibility from the agent and displace it onto factors external to the agent. So it's Burger King's fault that you have clogged arteries, not your fault. Nonsense on stilts.

The problem with liberals is not that they are stupid, but thay they stupefy themselves with their political correctness.

Evidence of Life on Planet Stallings

Am happy to report a new piece of evidence that there is a pulse on Planet Stallings. The last book on which I worked with Robert A. Schuller is available for pre-order at Amazon—should be shipping soon.

It was a good subject—what to do when life's circumstances work against all one's best efforts to maintain a relationship with God. Here's the "product description" from Amazon:

Robert A. Schuller explores the various ways individuals lose or experience interference with their connection to God. He explains that emotions such as shame, regret, fear, and disappointment can stand in the way of the intimate association God wants with His children. The good news is that when His people are struggling, God stays close. There are many ways to reestablish a dynamic connection with Him. Schuller calls these "Connection Corrections" and leads readers through identifying communication barriers and how to break them. Each chapter delves into the reasons readers fail to connect with God, how to begin repairing the broken wires, and the life-altering benefits of restoring a positive, power-filled relationship with Him. Readers who feel adrift from God will no find that no barrier is too big to keep them from a close, loving relationship with Him.

Habits, Habits

In the space of 24 hours this weekend I was confronted with three lessons on the same subject. I assumed they were for me, specifically, but perhaps they will create resonance in your thinking as well. The subject: habits.

1. I was standing in my neighbor's backyard discussing his amazing and fast-growing wild blackberry patch and how to cut it back before it takes over the neighborhood. His back yard, in an angular fashion, abuts the yard of another neighbor, separated by a fence. I was struck by the odd paths that were worn in the abutting back yard. You can see them in this picture, but they are even more pronounced, and further to the right, in person:

I didn't realize what they were until the black Lab that lived in that backyard came racing down to tear along the dividing fence with my neighbor's dog while we talked (see the worn path at the base of the fence on the Lab's side). After four or five laps the two dogs gave up and the Lab loped back up toward h/er house—on the central path you see in the picture. I was amazed. This dog's world seemed to consist of what s/he saw and encountered on the paths s/he had carved into the sod. The path branches jutting off to the right must have led to a couple of other points of (habitual) interests in h/er world. But I wondered: What pleasures and new horizons must the Lab be missing as a result of h/er habitual confinements to the same paths every day? More importantly, if I could take a God's-eye view of my life, what paths would I see in my world that I trod daily—loping mindlessly along like that Lab—without thinking; paths that act as blinders to what's around me? Indeed, those paths appear in the carpets of our homes over time. But what about the unseen mental and physical paths we create in the world? Habits.

2. I was reading an interview with a former Wall Street investment guy who made a career shift and returned to medical school and became a doctor, and now combines both areas of expertise in his return to "wholistic" investment counseling. He was talking about the kinds of things that contribute to mental acuity as we age—well-known things like crossword puzzles, juggling, ping-pong, learning a new language or musical instrument, etc. But he also mentioned the importance of breaking habitual patterns—things like brushing one's hair or teeth with the "opposite" hand and getting dressed with your eyes closed in order to force the brain to create new neural pathways. Those last suggestions were new to me and spoke to the habitual parts of my life. Think how many things we do habitually (teeth, hair, dressing) that are passive; that require no new thought, concentration, experimentation, or learning, and therefore contribute nothing to the expansion of our experience, elasticity, or enjoyment in life. Habits.

3. I'm currently reading a book called Maximum Achievement by a well-known corporate speaker and trainer named Brian Tracy. (The book is great—really forcing me to think in fresh ways about where I am in life, and why, versus where I'd like to be.) I was reading his thoughts on "habits" (pp. 90-91):

Virtually everything you do is the result of habit. The way you talk, the way you work, drive, think, interact with others, spend money and deal with the important people in your life are all largely habitual. Your behavior in every area of life is based on the accumulation of all your experiences, starting in infancy. Probably 95 percent of your actions an reactions are automatic, unconscious responses to your physical and human environment

Your habits are major obstacles to your becomeing the kind of person you want to be. Your habitual ways of thinking, feeling, talking and behaving are often roadblocks that stand between where you are today and where you really want to go. They keep you "running in place" . . . .

The most dangerous habits you can form, however, are mental habits. Because of the fact that whatever you think about continually you create in your life, your negative or self-limiting thoughts hurt you more than almost anything else you can engage in. . . .

Success and failure, happiness, and unhappiness, are largely the result of habit, of the automatic ways you respond and react to what's going on around you. Changing habits that are no longer consistent with your higher purposes is one of the hardest things you'll ever do, and one of the most essential to the quality of your life. But unless you've already reached some level of excellence or perfection, you are living today with habits that you must discard if you are going to move forward. Remember, bad habits are easy to form, but hard to live with; good habits are hard to form, but easy to live with. Your job is to form good habits and make them your masters.

The good news is that all habits are learned, and they can therefore be unlearned.

Habits.

I was glad to be confronted with the dangers, and opportunities, associated with living habitually. There are good habits and paths, to be sure (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Jeremiah 6:16; 18:15). But I wonder if even the good ones can become the enemy of the best. Anything we do without fresh, conscious thinking—either reaffirmation to continue or sudden awareness of a new and better way—seems more passive than active.

This is fresh ground for me—at least as of this weekend. But I meditated on all these as I (rather mindlessly, except for continual prayers for safety) went up and down the ladders, pressure-washing the outside of my house. After hours of chewing this cud I decided it was worth passing on. (Maybe not the best image—but let me know your thoughts.)

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One path being worn in my yard is to my compost bin. Checked the temp Sunday and things are heating up:

Stunningly Beautiful Music

The better your speakers, the better this sounds, so turn up whatever you listen through to hear the soft sounds at the beginning and the deep harmonies throughout:

The Sad State of America

This is an example of numerous intelligent critics who see a dim future for America in light of the current (and a couple previous) administration's fiscal and economic policies. This video plays automatically when loading the blog, so I'll take it down after a few days since it becomes an annoyance by its always-on status after being shuffled further down in the blog. After removing the video player in a few days the video can be seen here.

Economy Car

Last time I bought gas for my car I set the trip odometer in order to check my mileage. Refilled my tank today with 7.304 gallons after driving 246.2 miles, which results in 33.71 mpg. And those are all in-town, stop-and-go miles, so I'm assuming highway mileage would be even better. I like it!

I drive under 60 mph (usually), skip at least one of the lower gears when I can, start and stop slowly, and keep my tires inflated. Signs of old age, I guess, but I think these all contribute to better mileage.

Every time I begin thinking about replacing my 1987 Honda I realize I'd be driving something that would likely not get as good mileage as I currently get. So I press on. Am really thankful for the divine blessing of a car that meets my needs so economically. Thank You, Lord.