Green oasis

Criteria for a green oasis:The fundamental element of the oasis must be plant systems consisting of multiple species. The conditions for the air, water, energy, soil and fauna must continuously be improved, and pollution must be reduced. The local care-takers must maintain the oasis in a sustainable manner, using a minimum of energy. The oasis should generate more energy than it consumes. The oasis must be ecologically cultivated by applying, for example, a compost system instead of using pesticides and artificial fertilizers.

Arsenic- contaminated mulch is being spread across South Florida's flower beds, gardens, parks and playgrounds.

We strive for the former, while accepting the inevitability of the latter. What I have a hard time coping with sometimes is the fact that the latter exists at all, sort of spoils the fun of the green oasis, being it or living in it. We are such funny creatures in the ways we have chosen to live.

And life can be so much fun, too, when we let our natural intelligence out to play.