The world is cruel and ugly. There are plenty of justifiable things to be upset and distraught over. I don’t want to hear about those. I want to know what bizarre out of left field takes you have that infuriates you.
I’m still upset about Tenochtitlan falling and being buried. I’m a gringo, I shouldn’t have an opinion about Lake Texcoco being drained centuries ago.
Invasive species.
My region is absolutely infested with Siberian Elm and Tree Of Heaven (A.K.A., the “semen tree”). You cannot cut them down, because they will resprout like a hydra from the stump. You cannot dig them out, because the smallest root left behind can and will resprout wherever it is, leading to a many-year game of whack-a-mole.
I have near-daily fantasies of going around with a powerful backpack sprayer filled with glyphosate (Round-Up) and an application wand that can extend from 1m to 10m, and hitting everything just as they’re sending nutrients to the roots for winter.
The problem is, Glyphosate is highly restricted to purchase and own in Canada unless you have both the appropriate class of Pesticide Applicator’s License (an agricultural variant, for example) as well as the venue to use it in (own or manage an orchard, for example). Thankfully my family owns an orchard, and I am starting the process for the former.
But still. It’s an absolutely bizarre thing to be obsessing over and I. Just. Cannot. Help. Myself. Every time I drive and see clumps of those disgusting trees, I start to uncontrollably strategize how I could hit them with glyphosate in late September.
I hate the spotted lanternflies! When they’re small and black and white they hop and scare me! When they’re a bit bigger and red they’re more scary! Then they get WINGS. Eurgh.
We also have the tree of life around which is what they enjoy munching on. I’d like both gone!
I found out all the ladybugs here are the invasive ones. And if I want to buy ladybugs for pest control, I can only buy the invasive ones. Annoying.
We do at least still have some native pollinators and other bugs.
Russian thistle. These asshole things pop up all over the yard and driveway and I go around and pull them out of the ground with welding gloves. Sometimes I get stabbed even through welding gloves. I can completely understand why someone would blast a cancer causing chemical across their whole yard. I’ve been experimenting with everything else but I’m too worried about my dog to do roundup.