Monday--

Here is a long but very interesting post by Bill Moyers at Tom Englehardt's Tomdispatch site. I remember teaching Western Civ I (to 1500 CE) and inevitably, when we reached the section on Ancient Greece, one of the students would ask how cities like Athens could be described as democracies. I always went to the board and wrote "demo(s)ocracy" explaining that "demos" meant "people." And pointed out that it all depends on how you define "people." Think about that as you read the first part of Moyers' article about the "housewives rebellion." I don't know how many others feel like I do--that I am being read out of the demos by someone somewhere with far more power and influence than I have.

I spent yesterday cleaning out the tomato patch and various other areas. We will get some fall flowers to fill in the open spots. As I clean out the shed and get things rearranged (and some of it thrown in the trash) I consider what will go in next year's garden. I am beginning to come to grips with the fact that I no longer have the energy to do everything I would like, or think I would like, to do. So next year's plan for our garden mainstays: only two varieties of tomato (an oxheart and the Roselle) with two plants each and three (maybe only two) pepper varieties with two plants each. The weird weather this year took a toll both on me and on the tomatoes. I had narrow windows of time when the heat hit to get out and take care of things which didn't give time for everything. Then we had two, almost three, weeks of monsoonal types of rain with sunny sauna days scattered few and far between. Got nearly all of August's quota in less than ten days. I had intended to take out the Moldavian and not plant the fernleaf lavender next year but we caught sight of a large male hummingbird visiting nearly ever blossom on each plant. I think I will keep both.