SO GLAD you tackled that one, ken! LOL Actually, I didn't find him as 'cranky' at all--but he IS 'to the point' without a lot of 'dressing it up'! He's right about the 'Mars' and 'Venus' thing! We gals can 'think' and be very intelligent but we usually kick into the 'feelings' of a thing, ultimately and react and act from that base. Guys--from Mars, are to the point, logical (in their minds--MOST of the time) and really have a hard time figuring us 'feeling' gals out. For instance: Why can't we just lash out and get over it--right? I think ken is someone you need to meet and spend time with, (in person) in order to understand he's typing like he's thinking, quickly to the point, fast in and fast out--with little emotion, which includes irritation or anger!! I'm not saying he may not have a moment or two of crankiness, on this forum (at least it does come across that way SOMETIMES--who doesn't have those moments, anyway?) but I really think he genuninely does not see how what he types, CAN come across that way at times! You have to know, that we cannot know the mood of any of us when we try to communicate this way--the one typing or the one receiving the words, used to make a point! I'm glad I got to meet him and figure this part out and now I can visualize him saying what he's typing, and how he's REALLY saying it, and I can just see him making those quips as in person, not crankily but 'quick to the heart of the matter' (as previously said) with little rehashing or dressing it up! I had come to think that he reminds me of a man I use to work for, and I was right--his delivery and way of communicating is very similar, and after I sort of figured him out, (that his bark was much worse than his bite) we got along just fine!! If he DID seem cranky, I'd just ask him (in a teasing way), "Why are you so grumpy today?" He seemed to appreciate that I'd hit him head-on rather than turning and running out crying and feeling all hurt and sulking the rest of the day! :o) Did I describe you even close to your reality, as you see it, ken? Janice (Venus girlie-girl)

This thread began as a means to discuss the issue of Sunset zones. The secondary motive was for me to try to explore the notion that elevation is a factor to RMG but not the only factor. Over the course of looking at climate data, I discovered that annual precipitation and the time of its occurrence may be a defining feature for the RMG region. Aridity cannot be the only determinate or wed all be over in the Southwest Gardening forum. Previous and somewhat naively, I had thought that these evergreen mountains here and there indicated that there were areas with rather high rainfall amounts - what hadn't quite sunk in was that while that is true, these areas were all at elevations where gardening becomes impossible. I began wondering if a particular native plant species was representative of the broad RMG region. I'm no expert on native plants so this was a fun exercise even if it doesn't appear to be absolutely successful (perhaps, an impossibility). It seemed to me that the Arrowleaf Balsamroot was most broadly representative. I'm hoping that other gardeners are giving this some thought and will comment. By way of encouragement, my question now is - what the heck is this plant whose image is used here on GardenWeb to represent Rocky Mountain Gardening: Steve

Wild bears, coyotes, wolves, all kinds of nasty beasts, like dogs raised in homes! They think they are rather tasty, and will try anything to get to yer fine dogs! Here, where i live, near Pittsburgh, Pa., coyotes have come here to live, and to feast mainly on the large deer herds that have taken up residence in suburbia, what with all of the nice shrubs and plants we grow just for them! And, the stray cat population, which at times was getting out of hand, has fallen off to almost nothing, along with stray dogs, and even a few dogs chained out back! I suppose nothing will persuade you to leave the dogs at home, though! But, please, don't go away for the day, from yer camper, and leave the dogs tied outside of it! there's nothing worse than having to sit all day and listen to 2 dogs ("our babies") barking their fool heads off! Ask me how i know! And, there must be some other reason why they don't want dogs in the forests, and its not because they "water" the trees! I think its more because of thoughtless dog owners who don't carry a poop bag, or some other method of cleaning up after the dog does what dogs do in the woods! Also, i haven't seen any dog sitters advertised in camping magazines, but, you might find one out there someplace! Probably some terbaccy chewing, bib over-all, straw-hatted individual,who hasn't had a good meal in weeks, and will enjoy some tasty ribs, etc.! Have fun: Rusty Jones

I was kinda surprised too when DD noticed he was coming back to ND!! A year or 2(?) ago, he was in Bismarck, ND. DW said 2 of his band-members were kind of an "opening act" called "The two Cellos"! They played electric Cellos, and one song was "Highway to Hell" from AC/DC!!!!!!!! DW & DD said..."Even I recognized THAT song"!! They also said he started right @ 8pm, and played 3 hours!! DW said a row right behind them left about 10pm, and some other small areas. I'm sure there was many reasons, but if they thought he'd be done after TWO hours, and just to beat traffic....they'd be pretty disappointed!! At 65 y/o today, he probably isn't doing it for the money?!?!? Faron