This week (Aug. 20) on Listening Lyrics, I link the story of cats, theft and a special story about Sam the cat in Amsterdam. It all revolves around music.

She was a brilliant songwriter and song interpreter who helped define the Americana genre. Steeped in the traditional folk tradition of her parents' generation -- by artists like Odetta, Malvina Reynolds, and Pete Seeger -- her artistic vision was strongly influenced by "outlaw" Texas singer-songwriters like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Jerry Jeff Walker. Her songwriting and vocal collaborations were far-reaching. On today's show we merely scratched the surface of her work with tracks from the Chieftains, John Prine, Tom Russell, and Eric Taylor.

Let's have music talk about soccer and money ... an eclectic mix of music, on today's Listening Lyrics (Aug. 13).

Lots of listener questions today! 

Wide-ranging answers keep returning to common themes: beneficial insects -vs- applying poisons, hosing things off -vs- applying poisons, saving bees and other beneficial insects -vs- applying imidacloprid (a neo-nicinoid systemic poison that makes flowers poisonous to pollinators), thwarting phytophthora by watering deeper but less often, and conserving water in this drought year.

Specific discussions about:

plants for a dry front landscape [with LOTS of ideas!];

Colocasia ["elephant ears"] and taro root [for poi] CAN grow here!;

what ethylene gas is and what it does (ripening bananas and apples, strenghtening tree trunks) [including Don's suggestion for some kids' science fair projects!];

spider mites, predatious mites [which are small and red but are not chiggers!], and other beneficial insects;

'What causes leaf burn on maples?'; and

more about phytophthora [a word which traslates as "plant death"].