Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

When I say that Frozen II was a profound spiritual experience for me, I know that makes me sound a bit insane. But its nevertheless true and I know from conversations Ive had in the week since the films release that Im not alone. For me, it spoke to my own spiritual practice as a Wiccan and student of goddess lore but it works on a deeper level too. Frozen II is an amazing film that takes its heroine on a profound journey and in doing so it touches on elements of paganism and goddess archetypes in a way thats rare and astonishing.

Fair warning, we are going to get into deep spoiler territory for this examination, so if you havent seen Frozen II, be warned.

When I talk about paganism, it means a few things and that works because the paganism of Frozen II exists on several levels. The term pagan was first used to refer to people who werent Christian, and pagan religion can mean anything from pre-Christian or non-monotheistic religion to specific religious beliefs and practices that still exist to this day in the form neo-Pagan religions, like Wicca, and well be talking about the movie in both such terms.

Paganism in many ways is the opposite of Christianity whereas the Christian tradition focuses on a single God who holds power and grants salvation, the pagan worldview sees not only many gods and goddesses, but also divine power in all things, especially nature. Paganism in the modern day is deeply rooted in recognition and veneration of the female divine often in terms of the Great Mother Goddess. In religions like Wicca, the divine power in everything and everyone is seen as something that can be bent and worked with, in what we call magic.

So, what has this got to do with a Disney movie? Well, Frozen II is all about magic and power and where it comes from; and it shows magic and female power in a way that fits with pagan teachings old and new. For one, Frozen II is all about the balance of the elements.

Frozen II has no real villain, which is cool. The conflict in the film begins when Elsa, called by a voice only she can hear, wakes the spirits of the enchanted forests and those spirits represent the elements familiar to anyone with a passing familiarity with modern Wicca or whos seen The Craft: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. This might also be familiar to fans of The Fifth Elementor Captain Planetor Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The idea of the elements is ancient, and comes in all sorts of different forms, from Platos four elements to the similar five elements of Chinese Feng Shui (earth, wind, fire, wood, metal). The elements are the forces of the natural world and they exist in balance and that balance is what Frozen II is all about. Its a balance that is out of whack because the people of Arendelle more modern and disconnected from the Earth murdered and manipulated the indigenous Northuldra, who live in harmony with the elemental spirits, and are closer to magic.

Elsa is magical and she goes on a magical journey to reveal the past and, along with Anna, restore the balance. The sisters journey is about realizing that they do not exist in opposition to nature, but as part of it and that its power must be respected and allowed to be free. Elsa confronts and tames three elemental spirits, all inspired by real mythology, in her questand Anna completes it. Anna doesnt tame her elemental force the earth giants but she still works with them and thats magic too.

Of course, there is a fifth element and the journey to discover and master it where Frozen II journeys into the unknown realm of The Goddess.

The Goddess in Wicca and neopaganism is many things: shes a mother and we begin Frozen II as Queen Idunna sings her daughters to sleep with a lullaby recounting a legendary location called Ahtohallan. This river isnt a real place or myth, butthe idea of an in-between place where the elements meet as a spiritual nexus is a real feature of much mythology and paganism.

Idunna is named after a real goddess, Iduna, the Norse goddess of spring and keeper of the apples of immortality. Its not a coincidence that Elsas journey brings her closer to her mother, who she learns was Northuldra and lived and worked with the spirits of nature and the four elements. Elsa is called to Ahtohallan by a voice she believes to be the fifth element, but what she discovers is so much more.

There is no bible or holy book in paganism, but there are certain texts that express, simply and beautifully, the essence of the Goddess and what she means and is. One of those is The Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente and it applies so perfectly to Frozen II that its almost magic. In this work, the Goddess speaks to the seeker, the reader to tell them where to find her and what her essence is.

For I am the Soul of Nature, who giveth life to the universe; from me all things proceed, and unto me must all things return.

Thats Ahtohallan, the place where Elsa ends her quest. In the beautiful ballad Show Yourself she pleads to the divine female power thats been calling her, asking Are you the one Ive been waiting for all my life? But in Ahtohallan Elsa finds her past, connects with the divine spirit of her mother and discoversthe fifth element, the divine thing, is her.

And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not, unless thou know this mystery: that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee.

For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.

These words of the Goddess are the essence of the modern pagan teaching, that divinity and power dont come from a distant god but from the divine within us. When Elsa and her mother sing: Show yourself, step into your power, they are sharing the same message. The greatest power is right there inside you.

Elsa reaches Ahtohallan by taming a water horse called Nokk, real figures of germanic and Scandanavian folklore. In doing so she channels the Celtic-Roman goddess Epona, a horse Goddess who brought both fertility but also served as a psychopomp guiding souls into another world, which is where Elsa must go on her heroines journey.

Youve heard of The Heros Journey but there is a Heroines journey too, an archetype of myth specifically goddess myths like that of Persephone that involves a journey through the underworld and death to rebirth and thats exactly what Elsa goes through. She (and Anna) must journey through their darkest moments. Anna is the one that completes that journey, step by step through the darkest moment in a literal underworld as she chooses to Do the next right thing.

Elsa and Anna find themselves and their power and journey through death itself, to be reborn. For Elsa its literal, and by claiming and embracing the power that was always inside her, she becomes and becomes an awesome, divine, magical womanthat is, a goddess.

You are the one youve been waiting for, is a powerful, essential Goddesss message. Its not new. In fact, its a fundamental sort of truth weve seen in other films with heroines journeys from the Wizard of Oz to Moana. But here, in this film, as a message of affirmation from a magical queen surrounded by the elements and goddess imagery, its especially powerful.

Frozen II, is a movie about the feminine divine. Its about magic and power and elements, mothers, sisters, daughters and goddesses finding their way through the dark to restore balance and light. That may sound silly talking about a kids movie, but stories for children are often where we teach our most profound and important lessons. These are our myths in a new form, so of course, well find a goddess or too there.

Perhaps I see a goddess in Elsa because I see myself in her, and thus, I see the divine in both of us. We are the ones weve both been waiting for.

(images: Disney)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Read more from the original source:
The Pagan Power of 'Frozen II' - The Mary Sue

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Gnarled tree roots and thick underbrush block the dirt path to where Im told my grandfathers long-abandoned ranch house still sits decaying in a remote part of the Philippines.

This overgrownvegetation halts us in our tracks, 90 minutes from the closest town. For one helpless moment, it appears well have to turn back, an 8,600-mile trip from where my mom lives in New York all for naught.

Then the ranch hands accompanying my mother and me on our journey unsheathe their wide bolo knives. They hack at the growth and direct every turn of our drivers steering wheels as we crawl through inch by inch.

Ten minutes later, were in the sunlight again. The path winds its way up a hill and terminates at a cluster of cinder block buildings. Theyre the first man-made structures Ive seen in miles. Weve arrived.

Sprawled across the grassy hills of Masbate Island the rodeo capital of the Philippines my grandfathers cattle ranch was so remote that getting there from where he raised his family in Manila during the '60s and '70s usually involved a small plane and at least one outrigger boat.

Ranching was an unusual venture for my grandfather, Francisco Lee-Llacer, who died before I was born. He was a Chinese-Filipino accountant based in the bustling Philippine capital. And yet, Im told he would trek to this sweeping ranch he had cobbled together after World War II as often as he could, braving the swirling undercurrents that make navigation near some parts of Masbate Island treacherous, and bouncing down the provinces then-unpaved roads aboard makeshift buses sometimes hitching an open-air ride on the roof.

Read this: For this hiker, a mountain rescue washes away angst of turning 50

Many times, hed bring his wife and kids, my mother among them. All her best stories are tied, in some way, to the ranch.

It was not far from the ranch that my mom learned to shoot bats with an old Winchester rifle, and it was also en route there that my grandfather encountered the sea turtle that, for a brief period, would become a beloved family pet, before my grandparents sent it back into the wild.

The far-flung ranch sat miles away from town, an outpost on the Philippine equivalent of the Old West. There, my grandfather could take his family back to a simpler time as all around them life was growing increasingly uncertain, first because of a threat of a communist uprising, then the subsequent imposition of martial law in 1972 by then-President Ferdinand Marcos.

I cant help but wonder whether the ranch was my grandfathers slice of the American dream in a land that 73 years ago was a commonwealth of the United States.

Family photo albums that I discovered on a trip toManila last year contain images of my grandfather, always sharply dressed in a suit and tie, posing beside American ranchers in their cowboy hats and jeans. Its unclear whether he actually knew these men but Im told the photos were souvenirs from his trips to cattle shows in America, where he'd watch small vials of bull semen sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

His love of American culture was likely born out of his experience in World War II. Like many veterans, my grandfather didnt talk much about his time in the war. A Chinese national living in the Philippines, my grandfather wasnt even supposed to be conscripted into the Philippine Army. But in the chaos that preceded the outbreak of war, relatives say he was drafted anyway, to fight alongside the Americans.

On Dec. 7, 1941 Dec. 8 in the Philippines the Japanese launched their infamous surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and other U.S.- and British-held locations in the Pacific, including the Philippines. Outgunned Philippine and American troops stationed in Manila endured a monthslong siege before surrendering. They were then forced to walk at bayonet point some 65 miles to a woefully inadequate prisoner of war camp. My grandfather was among them.

Thousands of Filipino soldiers and hundreds of Americans died on the way, either succumbing to starvation and illness or at the cruel hands of their captors in what later became known as the Bataan Death March.

You may like: For my family, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was true test of faith

With their floppy ears and distinctive hump, Brahman cattle are well adapted to the Philippine heat.(Photo: Alfred Miller)

My grandfather survived and was eventually released along with thousands of other Philippine captives who were wracked by disease. When he recovered, he joined the Philippine resistance movement until the end of the war.

Im told he wasnt bitter about getting drawn into World War II. On the contrary, in later years, his idea of a good time was listening to a well-worn album of American military tunes. Maybe his outpost in Masbate was a tribute to those days. He planned to retire there.

But it was not to be.

In November 1984, shortly after he had arranged for his children to seek out their own American dreams new lives in the United States my grandfather died of a sudden heart attack while working on the ranch.

It took my mom, who had moved to New York, met my dad and started a family, years to bring herself to come back to the Philippines, let alone the ranch. Maybe she was in denial that my larger-than-life grandfather had been anything but invincible. But prompted by the death of her brother last year also of an unexpected heart attack she decided to return. And she wanted me, her only child, to come along.

That is how I found myself, a native Staten Islander who now lives in Louisville and who, like my Russian-Jewish father, hadnever slashed my way through tropical vegetation,fresh off a predawn flight from Manila early one September morning. I was in Masbate City, a town of 95,000 people 230 miles southeast of Manila, and about to become the highly unlikely passenger of an unfamiliar white Kia pickup truck.

My guide and driver that day was the chatty son of a prominent Masbate rancher who had helped establish the provinces rodeo scene in the early 90s. His father trundled ahead in a red Toyota pickup containing my mom and her sisters.

Some 40 years ago, my accountant grandfather would start his treks to the ranch with a visit to a local baker, a friend whose books he kept. But that bakery is long gone, replaced by a building with a store advertising knockoff Lee jeans (Stylistic Mr. Lee). So we begin our journey instead by pulling up to the drive-through window of Masbates only McDonalds, which opened two years ago.

The smell of America or, at least, of McMuffin sandwiches and hot coffee fills the cab as we start down a two-lane highway that will get us to where my grandfathers ranch house was abandoned more than three decades ago, the perfect spot for a bill hilly, jokes my guide, who knows I now live in Kentucky.

See also: DNA test leads Louisville woman to dad across the world in Australia

Family photo albums that I recently discovered contain images of my grandfather, always sharply dressed in a suit and tie, posing beside American ranchers in their cowboy hats and jeans.(Photo: Alfred Miller)

Squint and you might actually mistake the cattle ranches of Masbate for those of Kentucky. Locals, like my guide, encourage such comparisons to America.

Freedom is no seat belts, my guide says, in English, with a smile. So youre freer here than in the U.S.

I cautiously unbuckle my seat belt for a taste of that freedom. The trucks dashboard doesnt yell at me. How liberating. But I clutch the door handle a little more firmly now.

Along the highway, palm trees, stray dogs and water buffalo punctuate the dusty landscape. Crossing a river, we spot goldpanners below. My guides cell phone rings. Its the theme to the old Western film The Magnificent Seven.

Perhaps my guide has watched too many such films. He talks casually of hired guns and standoffs as we speed heavily down the road, stray dogs fleeing in our wake.

At a Philippine Army checkpoint, we slow down and my guide turns unusually quiet. There must have been a killing, he says, noting the presence of a soldier armed with a large rifle.

For decades, the New Peoples Army, a communist rebel group that the U.S. and European Union have designated as a terrorist organization, have essentially owned the hills of some of the Philippiness most remote regions (other isolated areas are dominated by ISISs Southeast Asian affiliate Abu Sayyaf and the unfortunately nicknamed Moro Islamic Liberation Front, MILF). But the NPAs grip here is said to have loosened in recent years, thanks in part to roads like the one were on.

Why join a terrorist organization when you can now ride to work in the city?

An hour and a half into our drive, we turn off the highway and onto a dirt road. Six ranch hands, who work for our guides, are there to meet us.

The ranch hands of my moms stories rode horses, but these sit astride motorcycles. Ranch hands prefer motorcycles to horses these days, my guide explains. Motorcycles are less temperamental.

In the lead is Ulde, the rodeo king. Well into his 60s, hes still able to wrestle steers to the ground with his bare hands, my guide assures me. Studying his gait after he hops lithely from his motorcycle, I see no reason to doubt this.

Up and down the grassy hills we roll. Its been nearly two hours since we left Masbate City.

Read this: Peru's Machu Picchu is worth the trip, but here's how to avoid the crowds

My mother takes me on a tour of the tiny building that loomed so large in my imagination.(Photo: Alfred Miller)

The land is still part of an active cattle ranch and we pass some Philippine cattle now. Growing up, Id sometimes hear, but never really appreciate, my mom waxing poetic about the virtues of different types of cattle when wed drive past farms. Then again, the cows Ive seen in upstate New York never looked quite like these.

With their floppy ears and distinctive hump, Brahman cattle are well adapted to the Philippine heat, I learn from my guide. Ranchers here like to cross-breed them with the Angus cattle that we are more familiar with in America. Suddenly, my moms obsession with cattle breeds starts to make a little more sense.

We drive on and I see a flock of black and white ducks land furtively behind some tall grass. My guide says Im lucky. If they're the kind of duck he thinks I saw, theyre endangered and his family has been working to protect them. I wonder whether my grandfather, who Im told loved animals, was familiar with these ducks.

Finally, we approach a hill and the terrain becomes heavily wooded. It's herewhere we fear the path is impassable until the ranch hands draw their knives.

Afterward, in the sunlight atop the hill, I see the first of three buildings, and in it, I can almost see my grandfather, though I never met the man. The buildings largely unblemished cinder block walls are strong and practical, while its corrugated metal roof gives it a vaguely Chinese feel.

My mom and aunts get out of the truck in front of me and dont bother to wait. Stepping gingerly over the weeds that threaten to obscure the path to the house, I join my mom and aunts a couple of minutes later.

The front door is gone, but somehow the wood shutters of my grandfathers beloved ranch house have survived decades of neglect. I cross the doorways tall threshold (a nod, I wonder, to the feng shui my mom is always so concerned about?) and into the house.

The room smells of the dead leaves that have piled up in its corners and at the base of a white-tiled sink at the far end. Below the leaves, the floor is level and firm, as are a short set of red brick steps leading to another room.

Im not sure my mother, a no-nonsense Tiger Mom,is capable of crying, but as she walks down these steps I notice her eyes are bright, the way they get when shes recounting memories of my grandfather. She takes me on a tour of the tiny building that loomed so large in my imagination. Here is where she used to strum the guitar; and here is where the food was prepared; and here on the porch is where the family gathered after dinner.

Thats where we gather now to hear one of the ranch hands tell a harrowing tale involving the NPA, and I feel transported to the Philippines of my moms youth. The hulking tree that today dominates the front porch is a skinny sapling again, and I have a clear view of the open fields beyond.

I realize its a scene not unlike the landscape of rural Kentucky. Perhaps something about my grandfathers unfulfilled dream has called me through the generations to make my home there instead of my native New York.

Suddenly, less than 20 minutes after we arrived, its time to go. The NPAs presence makes lingering here unsafe.

Satisfied that my grandfathers American dream still lives, were back on the road, down the hill, past the Brahman cattle that still feed on the land and back to town.

Reach reporter Alfred Miller at amiller@gannett.com or 502-582-7142. Follow him on Twitter @AlfredFMiller. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.

Follow this link:
Chasing the American dream: I found my grandpa's slice of the Old West in the Philippines - Courier Journal

Chinese Americans have been active participants in St. Louis since the 1850s. While the population of Chinese Americans in the city numbered only in the hundreds for most of the 19th century, they faced intense prejudice and discrimination, much of which is now forgotten. Forced to live in a single block of downtown St. Louis, they endured decades of suspicion and misunderstanding that lasted into the mid-20th century and is well-documented in the pages of newspapers.

To understand the Chinese American immigrant story in St. Louis and the United States in general, we must look to the West Coast, and particularly California, where the twin economic engines of the Gold Rush and the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad encouraged immigration to the newly admitted state. China, then ruled by the Manchu Dynasty, was suffering a series of military and diplomatic defeats in the Opium Wars, which allowed for British and American merchants to import the drug into Chinese ports. The drug epidemic in China, coupled with the Manchu Dynastys flagging fortunes, encouraged emigration.

At first Chinese immigrants to California, mainly men, were greeted with curiosity, but as economic circumstances changed on the West Coast, they quickly became easy scapegoats for white Americans. A series of legal decisions and laws passed over the course of the late 19th century assured that Chinese Americans would not be relegated to second-class citizens, but to no citizenship at all. Bigotry can be cloaked in pseudo-intellectualism, as well, such as when the California Supreme Court ruled in 1854 inPeople v. Hallthat a Chinese man could not testify against a white man in court. The ruling reasonedthat because historians had posited that Native Americans had crossed over to the Americas via the Bering Straits Land Bridge, and thus were descended from Asians, and becauseNative Americans were lesser humans, by extension then Chinese were lesser humans as well. This was not a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, the Court assured, because the penalty for a conviction would still be the same.

Laws passed starting in 1882 restricted immigration and stripped Chinese immigrants of their rights as citizens; further laws continued this trend over several generations. While initially Chinese workers were lauded for their hard work, they were now characterized as being lazy and shifty, always looking to steal or swindle from white Americans. And of course, in a pattern seen throughout American history, drug abuse was blamed on a small minority: Opium addiction was blamed on Chinese drug dealers, ignoring the fact, of course, that the opium originally reached the United States from India or Turkey on American- and British-owned ships.

Then there were the massacres and lynching of innocent Chinese immigrants.Jean Pfaelzer, inDriven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans,has documented over 150 major incidents of violence in American history. Perhaps the most infamous was the Rock Springs Massacre on September 2, 1885, when a mob of white miners attacked a Chinese mining settlement, killing at least 28 people if not dozens more in Wyoming. Most of the bodies were burned or mutilated. While in many of the instances of anti-Chinese violence, federal troops were dispatched to the scene, little could be done when the entire white population of the town was behind the violence. In a scene that would be repeated throughout the West, the soldiers could do little more than escort the survivors to safety.

Months later, the ethnic cleansing of the entire Chinese population of Seattle ranks as one of the worst incidents of racial violence in America, following similar actions nearby in Tacoma, Washington, in 1885. On February 7, 1886, a huge mob invaded the homes of hundreds of Chinese residents, forcing them to hurriedly pack their belongings before beginning a march to the docks where a steamer waited to take them to San Francisco. Sheriff John McGraw responded in force, shots were fired, and both police officers and members of the mob fell in the streets of Seattle, seriously wounded.McGraw regained control of the city, but as had happened in Rock Springs, it was the sheriff against thousands of his citizens. Shortly thereafter, the Chinese community departed from the city, and McGraw was voted out of office in the next election.

Back in St. Louis, the plight of Chinese immigrants followed a similar path as their countrymen on the West Coast, though thankfully there was no outbreak of violence seen in the late 19th century. The first Chinese resident of St. Louis was Alla Lee in 1857, as Huping Ling inChinese in St. Louis, 1857-2007recounts, and he would marry an Irish immigrant. He was also viewed as a curiosity, was fluent in English, and assimilated to local European American culture. When hundreds of fellow Chinese laborers, who immigrated internally from other parts of the United States to work in mines, came to the city, he served as a sort of go-to source for information on his native culture.

But discrimination in employment forced most Chinese immigrants into the laundry business, which was hard, dirty work that required very little startup costs. Likewise, de facto housing discrimination forced the several hundred members of the Chinese community to live in one block of downtown, known as Hop Alley or Chinatown, surrounded by Market, 7th, Walnut, and 8th streets, which is now the location of noted architect Philip Johnsons General Life Insurance Building (Spire Gasheadquarters). The district was not, as frequently and erroneously stated, demolished for the construction of Busch Stadium, which was not even on the same block; an aerial photograph from 1955 reveals that most of the historic structures were already demolished for surface parking and other early 20th-century buildings long before the stadium was built in 1966.

Likewise, an examination of Compton and DrysPictorial St. Louisfrom 1876, and fire insurance maps from 1874, 1892, 1897, and 1907, reveal that Hop Alley was far from some sort of Midwest version of Hong Kongs Kowloon Walled City, a densely packed multi-tired slum of Chinese people living in horrid conditions. In reality, those primary source maps reveal that the block containing Hop Alley was actually less dense than many blocks of low-income tenements surrounding downtown. There were even large swaths of open land throughout the backyards of many of the buildings. While there were small apartment buildings lining the alley bisecting the block, for the most part there were just the standard two-story commercial building typical of Soulard fronting the major streets. One begins to wonder if the tales of cramped conditions arose more out of newspaper accounts own prejudices than actual direct observation. There was, however, a giant lead smelter upwind from the block, which certainly was not a positive contributor to the health of the residents. Their houses also probably shook every time a train passed by in the tunnelunder 8th Street heading to the Eads Bridge. Burials were restricted to Wesleyan Cemetery and later Valhalla.

Unfortunately, our main source of information of life in Hop Alley comes from racist and sensationalized accounts, mainly concerned with linking Chinese immigrants to drug dealing and miscegenation. The authors seemed most concerned with the white women who were married to Chinese men, as onePost-Dispatchauthor makes the assumption that since a Chinaman knows his inferiority, that he must treat his white wife better in order to keep her loyal. The description of Hop Alley in the article as far as density simply does not match up with contemporary documentation. Likewise, while there were certainly some opium dens in the neighborhood, the author chooses to only focus on those businesses, despite evidence that there were grocery stores, restaurants, carpenters, and other legitimate businesses. Another articles headline from 1900 simply proclaims Superstition Wields a Strong Influence Over All Chinamen, before going into a bizarre explanation of feng-shui.

The fortunes of Chinese Americans in St. Louis and elsewhere changed in 1943 in the midst of World War II. While many Americans forget today, China was an ally of the United States, and had been fighting its own wars against Japan since the 1930s. The image of China changes again in the American conscience, as war propaganda now showed Chinese soldiers fighting bravely against Japanese imperialism. Along with aid, the anti-immigration laws that had been in effect throughout much of America were abolished in 1943 in tandem with the war effort. Anti-Asian bias of course shifted to Japanese Americans, 120,000 of whom were then forcefully expelled from their homes and interred in camps for the duration of World War II.

More:
What was life like for Chinese Americans in 19th-century St. Louis? Our accounts from Hop Alley might be too obscured to really know - St. Louis...

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--There are approximately six million commercial buildings in the U.S., nearly half of which are more than 40 years old, according to a 2019 report from the American Institute of Architects. Within their lifespan, window system solutions and energy standards have evolved significantly presenting an opportunity for building owners and occupants to reduce energy costs, improve tenant satisfaction, and increase the value of their properties.

Apogee Renovations recently published whitepaper, Window replacement: Unrealized benefits to building owners, addresses these opportunities and benefits sharing several case studies, along with considerations regarding energy payback, fossil fuel savings equivalents, code compliance, and incentives and credits. Furthermore, the publication includes a renovation specification checklist, thermal imaging comparisons, and an energy study example.

These resources are critical as building owners and developers seek solutions for not only increasing building value with aesthetically improved facades, but optimizing energy efficiency, especially given the impact of building energy use on the environment. According to a 2019 whitepaper published by the American Institute of Architects, buildings account for 45% of overall energy consumption worldwide, and urban areas account for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to heightened sustainability standards, building owners are also faced with the challenge of ensuring occupant comfort and productivity while minimizing maintenance and energy costs. Kevin Robbins, Director of Apogee Renovation, explains, New, high-performance window systems offer significant energy savings while delivering occupant comfort to ultimately enhance tenant satisfaction and lower vacancy rates. Furthermore, there are opportunities to improve building and occupant safety, such as blast hazard mitigation and electronic eavesdropping protection.

The case studies included in the whitepaper give insight into the breadth of Apogee Renovations services and solutions and the opportunity to deliver significant value for a wide range of building types. Evaluating existing building conditions, establishing clear goals and aligning expectations for renovation will help building and property managers maximize the benefits of window system upgrades, concludes Robbins.

Apogee Renovation, an initiative of Apogee Enterprises, Inc., provides high-performance glass, aluminum framing and window system solutions to optimize energy efficiency and enhance aesthetics of commercial properties, drawing upon the resources of Apogees business units: Alumicor, EFCO, Harmon, Linetec, Sotawall, Tubelite, Viracon, and Wausau Window and Wall Systems. With these solutions, building owners and developers can reduce energy costs, increase tenant satisfaction and improve the overall value of their buildings. In addition to their updated whitepaper, Apogee Renovation has further resources available on its website at http://www.apogeerenovation.com.

About Apogee Enterprises, Inc.Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: APOG) delivers distinctive solutions for enclosing commercial buildings and framing art. Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, we are a leader in architectural products and services, providing architectural glass, aluminum framing systems and installation services for buildings, as well as value-added glass and acrylic for custom picture framing and displays. For more information, visit http://www.apog.com.

Excerpt from:
Apogee Publishes Updated Whitepaper, Window Replacement: Unrealized Benefits to Building Owners - Business Wire

By Mallory Reetz

ARENAC COUNTY During the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribes semi-annual 2 percent distribution ceremony, a total of $930,881,79 was granted to Arenac and Northern Bay counties. The fall distribution took place Nov. 22 at the Saganing Tribal Center.

The tribe awarded $651,617.25 to government agencies, and $279,264.54 to education.

Interim Public Relations Director, Erik Rodriguez who hosted the ceremony, said, between Isabella and Arenac counties, over $3 Million was disbursed this cycle.

To start off with the disbursements, Arenac county received a total of $338,504.66, with $91,828 of that for the paving of Worth Rd. $40,000 for Arenac trial court facilities improvements, $40,000 to a jail transport vehicle replacement, and $40,000 to geographic information system mapping for Omer, Sterling, Turner, and Twining.

The remainder of the disbursement will go towards animal control expansion, county building and courthouse window replacement, air unit upgrade in the county building, computer-aided design workstation, the food pantry, and tax collection software.

The City of Au Gres received a total of $18,583, with a majority of it going towards a comfort station in Harbor Park.

$52,417,59 was given to the City of Omer for highrise training and equipment, park benches, and resurfacing East Broad St. Last year, they were given funds to resurface West Broad St.

The City of Pinconning received $66,700 for firefighter personal protection equipment, and for general allocation. $25,000 was given to the City of Standish for playground improvements.

Deep River Township received $19,500 towards a ballpark fence and a breathing air pack replacement. Lincoln Township got $14,300 for its park and Mason Township received $21,000 for the fire department and road stone.

Pinconning Township and Sims Township both received $1,000 for general allocation. Moffatt Township was allotted $1,880 for playscape completion and the Village of Twining was funded $17,000 for a fire department cement approach.

Standish Township was given $7,000 for software updates, cemetery and township hall improvements. Turner Township received $7,500 for parking lot improvements and ceiling fans in the township hall. Whitney Township received $16,000 for a water meter replacement and towards a lead abatement project.

The three schools that received funds from the distribution are Au Gres-Sims, Pinconning Area, and Standish-Sterling.

Au Gres-Sims received a total of $74,051 with $20,000 of it going towards one-to-one chromebook technology and 10 other items.

Pinconning received $94,713.54 with $28,320 going towards its computer lab replacement and the remainder towards 14 other projects.

Standish-Sterling Schools received $110,500 with a majority of that going towards a high school track.

During his speech, Standish-Sterling superintendent, Darren Kroczaleski mentioned that he was at a Bay/Arenac superintendent meeting that morning where they received a graph of literacy scores for about 28 school buildings in the area. The top three scores of those 28 schools were Au Gres-Sims, Standish-Sterling, and Pinconning Area. Kroczaleski said they wouldnt be able to do that without this support that provides the students with what they need.

Tribal Chief Ronald Ekdahl said, This is always a great time and a great opportunity for us to give back to the community. I look forward to continuing to have wonderful partnerships in this area and this community and continuing to give back in a good way.

SIDEBAR

Arenac County $338,504.66

City of Au Gres $18,583

City of Omer$52,417.59

City of Pinconning$66,700

City of Standish$25,000

Arenac Township $36,000

Au Gres Township$8,232

Deep River Township$19,500

Lincoln Township$14,300

Mason Township $21,000

Moffatt Township$1,880

Pinconning Township$1,000

Sims Township $1,000

Standish Township$7,000

Turner Township $7,500

Village of Twining$17,000

Whitney Township$16,000

Au Gres-Sims $74,051

Pinconning Area $94,713.54

Standish-Sterling $110,500

Read the original here:
More than $930k distributed to Arenac and Northern Bay counties. - The Arenac County Independent

For years now, Apple has been pushing the iPad as a laptop replacement; with the arrival of iPadOS, it might just have a serious shot at getting you to ditch your computer for good (or at least leaving it behind on trips). To test the current state of play, we put an iPad Pro up against a MacBook Pro in five key computing workflows.

In this case we havent added a mouse to our iPad setup, just a keyboard: Mouse support remains an Accessibility option in iPadOS, so Apple doesnt yet appear to consider it ready for prime time. Essentially, mouse support on iPadOS as it currently stands is designed to let you use a mouse instead of your fingers, rather than providing a proper desktop-level pointing-and-clicking experiencewhich, if that ever arrives, would change some of the observations weve made below.

This is something an iPad can do well: Slot in a keyboard at the bottom, prop it up like a laptop, and youve got a very capable writing machine in front of you. Get a bit of dust on your keyboard, and it doesnt even matteryou carry on. Even better, all the keyboard shortcuts you know and love are carried over, only you have to work your fingers in a slightly smaller space.

We were able to write this post in Google Docs on the web thanks to the enhanced support that Safari on iPadOS now has for desktop versions of sites (more on this below). Google will keep pushing you to use the iPadOS app for Google Docs, because it has support for offline editing and better integration with features like Split View and Slide Over, but you get a fuller suite of editing and formatting features in the web app.

As for other appstheres Microsoft Word for iPadOS, but you have to live without the most advanced and sophisticated features found on Windows or macOS. For most users, thatll be fine: If your word processing needs dont extend to the level of an academic or a professional publisher, youll be okay (and plenty of minimal writing apps are available to help).

Obviously youre on a smaller screen and a smaller keyboard with an iPad, but in terms of the software differences between iPadOS and macOS, theres not a huge amount of differences anymore. Its here that an iPad makes most sense as a laptop replacementwriting reports, replying to emails, composing letters, and so on.

As for the new cut, copy and paste three-finger gestures, we dont find them all that usefulusing an attached keyboard is much more straightforward, and app support is spotty anyway. In fact, any kind of text selection with your fingers remains occasionally annoying: Its better than it used to be, for sure, but its not yet the kind of super-intuitive, super-magical experience that Apple seems to think it is.

This is when the rubber hits the road for a lot of people on iPadOS: Editing images. That might be why Apple has been so eager to trumpet the arrival of Photoshop on the iPad, something that up to this point has been a crushing disappointment. Typing out words on iPadOS is fine, manipulating images less so.

On a MacBook Pro running macOS, you have two clear advantages when it comes to handling images: More sophisticated software, and finer control over the pixels in front of you, whether youre trying to select the bottom half of a leaf or carefully smudge along the top of someones eyebrow.

A select number of broad brush functions transfer over to the iPad and iPadOS, but without the precision of a two-button mouse or a trackpad, and without the depth of desktop-level software, youre always going to be limited. There are some fine image editors on iOS and iPadOS, but they only excel in certain areas (filters, brushes, tweaking colors and brightness).

Plowing through bunches of images to resize and crop themto specific dimensions and aspect ratiosis something were constantly doing on macOS every single day and which just isnt possible on iPadOS at the moment. For this article, all the images were taken on an iPad, then tweaked and resized on a MacBook Pro.

Our experience here has been the same as everyone else: You can fudge together certain image editing workflows on iPadOS, but it lacks some of the nuts and bolts essentials that power users need to get pictures ready for production. Unless youre sketching with the Apple Pencil or just doing the simplest of tweaks, youre going to go back to your laptop for image editing.

The main difference with browsing the web on iPadOS to browsing the web on macOS is using your big fat finger (or slightly more svelte Apple Pencil) instead of a mouse. That can make selecting individual links and menus a little more tricky, but on the whole we werent bothered by itmost of the time youre going to be able to get around just fine.

Were pretty impressed with the desktop-class browsing that Apple now says its been able to engineer inside Safari (so not 100 percent desktop browsing, but a close enough emulation). Most of the sites we tried, from ancient Content Management Systems to places like Feedly and Gizmodo, looked and functioned exactly the same as on a MacBook Pro. Even the desktop version of the Gmail web interface works fine, though its a bit crowded on the smaller display.

What you dont get, even if you hook up a mouse or a trackpad, is right-click support, or clicking-and-dragging. In some caseslike opening new tabs in the backgrounda long press does the job instead, but once you get beyond the basics then support is more limited. It does slow you down a little when it comes to getting around the web, and when youre dealing with complex web apps.

Keyboard shortcuts are supported on iPadOS however, so if youve got your trusty Smart Keyboard Folio attached (or a suitable third-party variation), then you can Tab between fields, and navigate through lists with J and K, and close tabs with Cmd+W, and use all the shortcuts you rely on on your laptop.

There were occasional problemslike something oddly positioned on a page, or pop-ups that open in entire tabsbut on the whole the web browsing experience is already a good one. Like a lot of our experience using iPadOS instead of macOS, its not a complete replacement, but youre going to be fine for most of the time.

Both iOS and now iPadOS have been growing as fully mature file management systems in recent years, and the Files app was added back in 2017 with iOS 11. At the same time iCloud Drive has been getting more powerful, and easier to access for end-users, and all those improvements come together in Files for iPadOS.

Its a lot better than it was thenyou can actually save files to your iPadbut its nowhere near the experience you get on the desktop with macOS yet. Selecting multiple files takes longer than it should, drag and drop operations are limited, and you dont get the fine control you do with a keyboard and mouse.

Files is one of the apps you can now run two instances of in iPadOS, so that means copying files between folders is fairly straightforward. Another plus is the long press option: A mass of options will now show up if you long press on a file or folder, from duplication to markup, showing the versatility of the Files app these days.

Theres no doubt that being able to plug in external drives and USB sticks really moves the iPad forward as a device that you might take out instead of your laptop more often than not. You can do just about everything you need to in terms of file management, it just takes longer and is less intuitive than on macOS.

Ultimately if youve got some serious digital filing to do then youre going to choose your MacBook Pro if youve got the choice, if only for the ability to select 300 files and move them to the Trash in the time it takes your mouse to move an inch.

Finally, weve been revisiting the Slide Over and Split View options in iPadOS, and the other multitasking features (like the Dock) that make it a bit easier to jump from app to app. As weve said, you can now run multiple instances of the same app on iPadOSbut this is limited to a certain number of Apple apps for now.

Split View undoubtedly makes a huge difference: Two apps! Side by side! Of course it does make the screen rather cramped, but if youre writing up notes, or referring to an email, or checking Twitter and Facebook at the same time, then its very handy (maybe even more so than on macOS, because the windows just lock into position).

Slide Overwhich floats a little iPhone-style window on top of your main displayseems less useful to us, but your mileage may vary. Admittedly it is good for checking apps like Mail, Slack, Twitter, Messages or whatever while youre busy working on something else. Most of the time though it just feels like its getting in the way.

You can actually Cmd+Tab between apps if youve got a keyboard attached to your iPad, which definitely helps from a productivity perspective, and the app switcher than appears when you swipe up and hold from the bottom of the display is well thought out too. In fact wed say the iPad wins in terms of jumping easily from app to app.

At times it feels like Apple wants to present the iPad as the future of computing or whatevers after computing, but its not going to want to ditch its MacBooks any time soonand the way that iPadOS is right now, its in no danger of having to do that. The OS makes iPads better than ever at doing a variety of jobs on the go, but that extra screen real estate, the sophistication of top-end desktop software, and the precision of a mouse (or trackpad) and keyboard mean professional users are only going to make one choice.

Read the original here:
iPadOS vs a MacBook Pro in All the Tasks That Really Matter - Gizmodo

Image: ShutterstockHackers are using BlueKeep to break into Windows computers and install a cryptocurrency miner. The vulnerability only impacts systems that are running Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008. If youre running one of those three versions of Windows you should download and install a patch from Microsoft to correct the

Hackers are the utter of BlueKeep to ruin into Windows computers and install a cryptocurrency miner. The vulnerability totally impacts programs which shall be working Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008.

Whenever youre working one among these three variations of Windows you must quiet download and install a patch from Microsoft to appropriate the discipline. The patches were available since Would possibly well presumably merely, so theres a honest chance youve already as much as this point.

That said, ZDNet experiences that safety researchers perfect spotted the main mass-hacking campaign the utter of the exploit, so some Windows users didnt rating the memo.

When Microsoft issued a warning regarding the exploit in Would possibly well presumably merely it concept it would doubtlessly be inclined as a self-spreading worm. As an alternative, hackers are the utter of it to mine cryptocurrency, with some assaults dating again to October Twenty third.

Whereas the cryptocurrency mining is nowhere approach as catastrophic a hack as could per chance maybe furthermore very successfully be done with the exploit, you must quiet quiet createobvious your pc has the patch installed so that you simplyre no longer inclined going forward.

Read More

Read more:
If You'd furthermore very successfully be Collected The utter of Windows 7, You Need This Security Replace - CONewsIndustry

The suites pneumatic elevator brings its residents directly up from the houses front entrance.

An attic apartment, up all those steps, might seem a poor choice for an elderly resident. But with the addition of a clever elevator, Jonas Carnemark, owner of Carnemark Design & Build in Bethesda, created what his clients dubbed the Peninsula Suite in their 1920s Tudor in Forest Hills.

The homeowners asked me if they could do something with their attic, but the steep staircase was an issue, says Carnemark. The solution: a three-foot-diameter pneumatic elevator installed in a corner by the foyer, with a stop on the second-floor landing and another in the attic suite. The pneumatic system works just like a bank-deposit tube, riding on a cushion of air, Carnemark says. Though the style isnt big enough for a wheelchair, it can fit up to two people at a time.

ELEVATORS AND THE BOTTOM LINE

$30,000$60,000A small pneumatic elevator fits two people but cant accommodate a wheelchair.

$100,000+Expect to pay six figures for a larger elevator that reaches four floors and requires remodeling on each level.

The configuration works well for the family, not only because the elevator will come in handy if the in-laws develop mobility issues down the road but also because it gives them a direct route from the front door up to their suite. In other words, it allows them to avoid intruding on the rest of the house.

Their suite includes a living area with a coffee bar, a bedroom, and a spa-like bathroom whose shower doesnt have a thresholdfor any future accessibility needs, explains Carnemark.

AVOIDING IN-LAW INSANITY

Dont skip on soundproofingYour in-laws may love their grandchildren, but they probably dont love being woken up by them in the middle of the night.

Do accessibility rightFuture buyersand current elderly parentsdont want a space that looks institutional or built for disabilities.

Create enough private space Without a sitting area and at least a spot to make coffee, an in-law suite is just a guest room.

Build an outdoor spaceEven better than a sitting area: a private deck or patio.

Or go all out A private backyard guesthouse may someday also add value as a rental unit.

This article appears in theNovember 2019issue ofWashingtonian.

Join the conversation!

Michele Lerner ([emailprotected]) covers real estate, interior design, and personal finance.

Excerpt from:
This Luxe In-Law Suite Has an Elevator That Works Like a Bank-Deposit Tube - Washingtonian

On November 20, multinational technology company Apple announced that it had broken ground on its new 133-acre office park in Austin, Texas, that will cost an estimated $1 billion to construct, and released a first look at the project. The campus, which will contain over three million square feet of usable interior space across 10 buildings once complete, will initially house 5,000 employees, with plans to eventually make room for over 15,000.

Apple currently employs around 7,000 people throughout Austin, more than twice as many as it had just five years ago, and the company shows little signs of slowing down growth in the area. A production facility near the city has recently taken on the important task of building the latest fleet of Mac Pros and shipping them out to customers in December. With the construction of our new campus in Austin now underway, said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a press release, Apple is deepening our close bond with the city and the talented and diverse workforce that calls it home. Responsible for 2.4 million American jobs and counting, Apple is eager to write our next chapter here and to keep contributing to Americas innovation story.

The company has partnered with Bartlett Tree Experts, an Austin-based tree and shrub care company, to ensure that the diversity of native trees on the property are responsibly preserved while increasing their numbers to stock the 50-acre nature and wildlife preserve planned for the site. In addition, the new campus will run entirely on renewable energy from locally-sourced solar power. The construction of the new campus reflects the companys commitment to contributing $350 billion to the US economy between 2018 and 2023, during which time it also plans to create 20,000 jobs.

Like other buildings in Apples portfolio, the new campus will be awash in crisp white surfaces contrasted against floor-to-ceiling glass to reflect the companys minimalist identity. The new Apple campus is expected to be completed by 2022. While Apples UFO-like headquarters building in Cupertino, California, was designed by Foster + Partners, the company has not as of yet released information on who designed their Austin offshoot.

The rest is here:
Apple breaks ground on its new 133-acre campus in Austin, Texas - The Architect's Newspaper

After recent cold and snow, the fire of fall has mostly dimmed from the landscape. Gone or fading are the brilliant reds and pinks of burning bush, a popular ornamental shrub that lights up local yards each autumn.

Pretty as it is, the shrub is considered invasive by most experts.

Its not on the same scale as honeysuckle, its more a slow-moving thing, local landscaper and horticulturalist Bob Moore said in a recent interview.

Still, Moore avoids using burning bush in his landscaping practice, opting instead for native bushes and small trees.

Burning bush is one of a trio of invasive woody shrubs the News is highlighting this month. Rounding out the triple threat is common privet, often used as a privacy hedge, and Amur honeysuckle, the most widely known, and widely reviled, invasive plant species in our area. November is a good time to identify these species and remove them from your yard.

The present article is the last in this seasons invasive of the month series, which began with a two-part article on the local impact of non-native invasive plants last spring, and continued with monthly features focused on specific invasives of local concern. The series was undertaken in consultation with Glen Helen.

We plan to return with more of our local least wanted flora in the spring.

How to identify

Burning bush, Euonymus alatus, is the easiest to identify. It grows up to 10 feet tall, depending on the variety, with leaves that turn pink-red in the fall. Harder to spot are its tiny, dangling red berries. The shrubs autumn color and general hardiness account for its widespread planting, according to Moore.

It was planted at every new house in our area for the last 30 years, he said.

Common privet, Ligustrum vulgare, is a large shrub reaching up to 16 feet. Its dense branching structure makes it a popular privacy hedge. It has small leaves, which turn yellow or coppery in the fall, and clusters of blue-black fruits that persist into winter.

Both burning bush and common privet are prevalent in yards throughout Yellow Springs, as well as in alleyways, weedy margins and local woods.

Amur honeysuckle, Lonicera maackii, bedevils the landscape across our region. Though deciduous, this species of bush honeysuckle hangs onto its leaves into winter, and is one of the earliest plants to leaf out in the spring. Honeysuckles tenacity gives it a competitive edge over native plants and makes it easy to identify.

See something green in the November woods, and chances are its honeysuckle.

The plant produces clusters of bright red berries in late summer that remain through the fall, another identifying feature.

Impact on local landscape

All three species are widely considered invasive, but honeysuckle is in a class by itself. One of 38 non-native invasive plants banned for sale in Ohio, Amur honeysuckle has profoundly altered parts of the local landscape over the past 30 years. Where it moves in, native plants are crowded out and die off, leading some to dub Amur honeysuckle a green death.

Honeysuckle has been especially destructive in local woods, where it takes the place of a rich understory layer. Honeysuckle-laden forests are less healthy and resilient, experts say.

Honeysuckle is by far the most pervasive of the woody shrubs; it occupies ecological niches year-round, displacing many native species, Glen Helens land manager, Ben Silliman, wrote in a recent email.

The Glen has cleared about 325 acres of honeysuckle to date, with a focus on higher-quality areas away from trails and roads, he added. The preserve occupies about 1,000 acres in total.

Burning bush and common privet are less harmful than honeysuckle. Neither is currently on the states invasives list, but area experts still consider these species a threat.

Burning bush is presently being assessed by the Ohio Invasive Plants Council, or OIPC, while several privet varieties are also under review. A fact sheet from the Ohio State University pinpoints the potential impact of common privet.

Dense thickets of privet can form and crowd out desirable native woodland species, the fact sheet states.

The fact sheet also notes that common privet thrives in sunlight but tolerates heavy shade, and leafs out early and holds leaves late all sources of competitive advantage over native plants.

A recent post to the website of the Appalachian Ohio Weed Control Partnership warns of the negative impacts of burning bush.

It thrives in the shade, where it displaces spring wildflowers and other natives. It is a very adaptable plant and can thrive in a variety of sites, wreaking havoc on a variety of native ecosystems, the post states.

Locally, burning bush and common privet have moved into the Glen. Burning bush usually pops up as individual specimens that are pretty easily eradicated, according to Silliman. Common privet grows in riparian corridors, along the Yellow Springs Creek and the Little Miami River.

Both species are spread by birds and other wildlife, which carry their seeds beyond landscaped areas into the woods. Seeds also get washed by rain and local waterways into the Glen. Such dispersal is the reason for avoiding planting these species in your yard or considering removing existing plants.

How to manage

Experts agree that honeysuckle should be removed. Period. But thats easier said than done.

According to a fact sheet from the OIPC, the most effective way to control honeysuckle is through a combination of cutting and the selective use of an herbicide such as glyphosate.

Well-established stands of bush honeysuckles are best managed by cutting the stems to ground level and painting or spraying the stumps, the fact sheet states.

This is the method the Glen uses.

Smaller stands, especially in shady areas where the plant is less resilient, may be eliminated by repeated cutting, provided plants are cut to the ground regularly over a period of years, according to the OIPC fact sheet. Consistency is key, because honeysuckle sprouts vigorously when cut.

Regarding burning bush and common privet, smaller specimens can be cut down and dug out of the ground, with care taken to remove their root systems. For both plants, cutting and digging is best done when the ground is moist.

Larger specimens of these species often require a combination of cutting and selective herbicide application, in the opinion of some area experts.

The Appalachian Ohio Weed Control Partnership recommends painting the stump of burning bush with an herbicide after cutting. A similar treatment is described as one option for common privet, according to the Ohio State University fact sheet.

Simply cutting the shrub off at the base will cause prolific sprouting and increase the number of stems, the fact sheet on privet states. Herbicide applied to the plants stump will kill its roots, the fact sheet continues.

A word of caution when cutting privet: the Glens Silliman notes that mature privet has multiple hard but brittle stems that can throw the chain off a chain saw.

Native alternatives

The good, indeed beautiful, news? There are many attractive and ecologically useful native alternatives to invasive woody shrubs, according to Moore.

In his experience, local residents want to plant natives, but hesitate to lose the privacy and sense of sanctuary that mature privet or honeysuckle provides.

People know honeysuckle is really invasive, but they dont want to lose that sense of enclosure, he said.

He works gradually with some local clients to replace invasives with a few native plantings a year, phasing out the non-native plants and allowing the new plantings to establish themselves and grow to greater size.

Native bushes that could replace invasive woody shrubs include bottlebrush buckeye, sweetspire and some viburnums Moore favors viburnum juddii. Some varieties of hydrangea are also good options; oakleaf hydrangea, which is non-native but non-invasive, is especially lovely in the fall.

Small native trees to consider include pawpaw, white fringe tree, redbud, American hornbeam, blackhaw, wahoo (a native member of the euonymus family, with bright pink berries in the fall) and dogwood varieties such as red twig and gray dogwood.

There are really great natives to fill the honeysuckle void, Moore observed.

Best of all, by replacing invasives with natives, homeowners can create a landscape that nourishes the soul, and the health, of local ecosystems.

Youre developing a true sanctuary not just for you, Moore said.

See more here:
Invasive of the month Impact of ornamentals not pretty - Yellow Springs News