I accidently used the term "vacant lot" the other day as we passed a small corner of land that had all the symptoms of imminent development. Then I remembered that any patch of ground that boasts flora (no matter how scraggly and yellow) and fauna (no matter how small and chitinous) is never truly vacant. When developers come in and tear all of the existing life out so they can plop down some cookie-cutter condo or office building, the lot goes from being full of life to a state that more nearly reflects my interpretation of the word "vacant". All of the fields I played in as a child are now vacant. More of them disappear everyday. What can we do? I think one clever thing we could do is to fill all of the remaining fields with owls. I'm not just talking any owls here. I'm talking Burrowing owls. Burrowing owls are a threatened species. Environmental Impact Reports have to be filed for new developments. Building on land that houses threatened species is a big no-no. Of course, this isn't a realistic plan of action. Being a threatened species, Burrowing owls shouldn't be hustled all over the place on a whim. Instead, we could collect some owl pellets, and dig some "owl" holes on sites in danger of enforced vacancy. I like the idea of a condo being nixed because of a few clumps of hair, bone, and owl spit. It could happen...

cds I listened to on a night that started out pretty darn Indian and later on became less so: Buffy Sainte-Marie "Best of...Vol.2", John Trudell "Johnny Damas and Me", Flux of Pink Indians "Not So Indian", and Dead Can Dance "Toward the Within"

now, as I try once again to get this darn computer to behave: Angelo Badalamenti "La Cite des Enfants Perdus" soundtrack