A farm couple in Colorado opened their fields in November to gleaners, giving away what was left of their harvest. Expecting about 5,000 people, they were shocked when 40,000 arrived. This might be a sign of the times. As the economy plummets, we enter an environment ripe for scavengers. From field gleaners to garage-sale aficionados, they are everywhere and are coming from everywhere. I am one of them, a modern hunter-gatherer. ...more

December 6, 2008

This week brings the first days of autumn, which still isn't exactly sweater weather around here. ...more

September 21, 2008

Rain was falling in the Tampa Bay area this year, producing a surplus of 3.5 inches through April. ...more

May 28, 2008

Rainfall around the Tampa Bay area was doing pretty well this year, racking up a surplus of 3.5 inches through April. Then came May. At 0.73 of an inch, rainfall at Tampa International Airport so far this month lags almost 1.5 inches below normal, and the deficit has chewed away nearly half of the extra rain accumulated in the first four months of 2008. ...more

May 27, 2008

Hundreds of Marines were conducting a combat training mission in the Mojave Desert when an air patrol spotted something kicking up dust: A civilian pickup speeding across the barren landscape. ...more

May 24, 2008