The weather finally broke here. When I got up this morning, I had to put on a nightshirt. It is not just cool, it is a little cold.
I am sure that there are hot days ahead of us. September can be hot. I can remember going to high school in September, proudly wearing a newly purchased sweater and sweating like a Cub Scout at Neverland. Soon will come the halcyon days of Fall.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Politics again. Once more into the breach.
The political situation is heating up already. It used to be that we were only subjected to this fiasco once every four years but now the season has been extended. It reminds me of some of the professional sports seasons. The reason for the extensions is the same, more time to gather more money.
It also reminds me of a Mencken quote. "He is in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes him forever ineligible for public office.".
It also reminds me of a Mencken quote. "He is in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes him forever ineligible for public office.".
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Even the Heavens Celebrate
Yesterday was August twelfth, a most auspicious day. It is the birthday of one dear to my heart. Even the heavens celebrate this day. The sky is filled with shooting stars, the Sun shines brightly, the clouds are a glorious Simpson display. The Universe rejoices that the Big E was born this day.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
It's Coming!
It is five o'clock in the morning and the temperature in my home is still eighty degrees. It is cooler on the porch but this is mosquito time and I don't spend much time out there during mosquito time hours. There are a few nasty viruses aroud here this time of year.
It is quarter after five and the sky is lightening. A few weeks ago it began to lighten about four-thirty. Lo and Behold, that means that Fall is on the way! The tomatoes on the porch are huge but still very green. The peppers are on their way. Fall, when New England turns into a paradise. The days of sweaters and flannel sheets and wool socks and jackets and beef stew with dumplings and hot cocoa and spiced cider with cinnamon doughnuts. Fall, with ice-blue skies and cool breezes and Fall's palette of leaves. Fall, when the heat is gone and the heat is not on.
Soon will come the day when we gorge on our pre-hibernation feast. Then comes the glory of Winter, with its ice-cold winds, its layers of soft fluffy snow, its icicles dangling from the roof, its chickadees and juncoes dabbing at seeds atop the meringue of Winter. There will be hours spent on the porch without worrying about some virus gifted to us by the Old World.
I look forward to Winter as some people look forward to Spring. That is because I am a Swamp Yankee. Swamp Yankees look forward to Winter because they get ready for it. Food is stockpiled, firewood is stacked, down jackets are taken out of closets, candles are laid out so that they are readily available, and cans of Dinty Moore are almost bursting the cabinets.
There will be walks where the crunch of snow and the brisk breaths of clean air clear the mind and the lungs. It is coming. As the Sun rises later and later each day, it foretells the days when we rise later and later each day because we want to stay snuggled under the wool blankets. Does Summer ever have the word snuggle associated with it ? Winter has "Mama in her nightshirt and I in my cap". The treasures of that day do not come from unwrapping the boxes under the tree, they come from unwrapping the nightshirt.
It is quarter after five and the sky is lightening. A few weeks ago it began to lighten about four-thirty. Lo and Behold, that means that Fall is on the way! The tomatoes on the porch are huge but still very green. The peppers are on their way. Fall, when New England turns into a paradise. The days of sweaters and flannel sheets and wool socks and jackets and beef stew with dumplings and hot cocoa and spiced cider with cinnamon doughnuts. Fall, with ice-blue skies and cool breezes and Fall's palette of leaves. Fall, when the heat is gone and the heat is not on.
Soon will come the day when we gorge on our pre-hibernation feast. Then comes the glory of Winter, with its ice-cold winds, its layers of soft fluffy snow, its icicles dangling from the roof, its chickadees and juncoes dabbing at seeds atop the meringue of Winter. There will be hours spent on the porch without worrying about some virus gifted to us by the Old World.
I look forward to Winter as some people look forward to Spring. That is because I am a Swamp Yankee. Swamp Yankees look forward to Winter because they get ready for it. Food is stockpiled, firewood is stacked, down jackets are taken out of closets, candles are laid out so that they are readily available, and cans of Dinty Moore are almost bursting the cabinets.
There will be walks where the crunch of snow and the brisk breaths of clean air clear the mind and the lungs. It is coming. As the Sun rises later and later each day, it foretells the days when we rise later and later each day because we want to stay snuggled under the wool blankets. Does Summer ever have the word snuggle associated with it ? Winter has "Mama in her nightshirt and I in my cap". The treasures of that day do not come from unwrapping the boxes under the tree, they come from unwrapping the nightshirt.
Friday, August 5, 2011
You Are Pre-approved!
The government debt crisis seems to be worsening. The solution that Congress seems to have selected is to get another credit card. I wonder if they have ever considered stopping borrowing. I assume that such a plan would involve quite a bit of belt tightening for some time.
The United States of America is a great, safe place to live. Americans are like tenants in a huge 300 million family home. We pay a certain amount of rent each year, called taxes, and we are able to use all of the facilities of the home. Corporations and oil companies are aware of the benefits of living here.
Now the landlord is in fiscal trouble but the dolt won't even consider raising the rent. Some very well off tenants live here practically rent free. It is much like having a relative that pays no rent. Some of the well off tenants have summer places in other countries. It is like having a child that has an apartment across town and therefore pays no rent at home but shows up at suppertime every day with a bag full full of dirty laundry. It might be time to tell certain corporations "You either live here and pay rent or hit the road permanently.".
Congress doesn't have to fret. I am sure that there is a letter in the mail, postmarked Beijing, that states "You have been pre-selected for our new Brass Credit Card.". Fees and credit terms will be printed in very small letters on the edge of the paper.
Belt tightening has one very large opponent. It is the Beltway! Maybe Congress should buy some Powerball tickets. That would be acceptable to both parties and if they win, they could go on with their life of limos and free lunches and cruises and sailboats and the really big shrimp and cigars and brandy.
I recommend that a motto be inscribed on the Capital building. "L'Etat c'est nous.".
As for the recent budget talks, I am reminded of something Samuel Clemens once said. "Facts are stubborn things but statistics are more pliable.".
The United States of America is a great, safe place to live. Americans are like tenants in a huge 300 million family home. We pay a certain amount of rent each year, called taxes, and we are able to use all of the facilities of the home. Corporations and oil companies are aware of the benefits of living here.
Now the landlord is in fiscal trouble but the dolt won't even consider raising the rent. Some very well off tenants live here practically rent free. It is much like having a relative that pays no rent. Some of the well off tenants have summer places in other countries. It is like having a child that has an apartment across town and therefore pays no rent at home but shows up at suppertime every day with a bag full full of dirty laundry. It might be time to tell certain corporations "You either live here and pay rent or hit the road permanently.".
Congress doesn't have to fret. I am sure that there is a letter in the mail, postmarked Beijing, that states "You have been pre-selected for our new Brass Credit Card.". Fees and credit terms will be printed in very small letters on the edge of the paper.
Belt tightening has one very large opponent. It is the Beltway! Maybe Congress should buy some Powerball tickets. That would be acceptable to both parties and if they win, they could go on with their life of limos and free lunches and cruises and sailboats and the really big shrimp and cigars and brandy.
I recommend that a motto be inscribed on the Capital building. "L'Etat c'est nous.".
As for the recent budget talks, I am reminded of something Samuel Clemens once said. "Facts are stubborn things but statistics are more pliable.".
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The Budget
All of this crisis over the Federal Budget and how to balance it reminds me of two ideas.
Maslow stated that all we need to live are air, water, food, and shelter. Clemens stated that "Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecesary necessities.".
As far as I know, the gvernment still has a Tea Tasting Board to maintain the the quality of the taste of this heavenly beverage but has allowed the air and the water and the food and the shelter of the average American to go to hell! Is the board that was appointed in the seventies to oversee the fines on oil price gouging still meeting regularly and still holding all of the money?
When the average American reaches a budgetary crisis, we check our pants and under the couch cushions for spare change and have a garage sale. Has the government checked under the couch cushions lately or checked the garage for exercise equipment still in the boxes?
Maslow stated that all we need to live are air, water, food, and shelter. Clemens stated that "Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecesary necessities.".
As far as I know, the gvernment still has a Tea Tasting Board to maintain the the quality of the taste of this heavenly beverage but has allowed the air and the water and the food and the shelter of the average American to go to hell! Is the board that was appointed in the seventies to oversee the fines on oil price gouging still meeting regularly and still holding all of the money?
When the average American reaches a budgetary crisis, we check our pants and under the couch cushions for spare change and have a garage sale. Has the government checked under the couch cushions lately or checked the garage for exercise equipment still in the boxes?
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