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Assuming one has decided that keeping egg-laying hens, as opposed to meat birds, is the extent of the chicken program, taking care of them and harvesting the eggs is usually not difficult. But, before buying your first chicks, think about the final part of the program, in which it is time to give up your girls. What are you going to do?

In February of 2018, with help from friends and family, I installed the Liberator wood-burning rocket stove (https://www.rocketheater.com). The Liberator is the only rocket stove available on the market that is certified safe for home installation. I wanted a stove that uses small amounts of wood and burns so efficiently that I wouldn't have to deal with heavy creosote buildup or large amounts of ash. The Liberator has delivered on those aims. I also wanted a way to stay alive if the power or HVAC fails for too long.

There is surprisingly little information on the web about this subject, considering the presence of the plant throughout much of the U.S. and, especially, the severe consequences to many people who blunder their way into exposure to the toxic oil the plant exudes (urushiol).

But there is enough info to familiarize yourself with the basic facts about the plant (toxicodendron radicans).

After several years of dealing with the plant and contemplation of it, there are a couple of tips I can offer.

As a force that operates in the physical world, the self can be reduced to patterns of motions resulting from innumerable causes and conditions, including personal habits developed over the lifetime. This pattern persists for a lifetime (at least) and changes constantly as it interacts with patterns defined as other. And its continuity suggests, or causes one to feel, that a permanent, core self persists in the face of constant and ubiquitous change. Illusion or not, this is the experience of all of us, though a few claim to have awakened from it.