I was thinking some nasty thought about our annual orgy of self-congratulation but I won't write them out. Most of our holidays have become annoyances with what ever meaning they once had erased. Today is just a noisier such day.

Perhaps we should ask for what we should congratulate ourselves. This perhaps. Well, I guess we can console ourselves that we are still, in some German eyes, their "most important partner" instead of their "most important friend" outside Europe. But are we any more reliable as a "partner" than we were as a "friend?"

From Patheos: the counterattack on the "war on Christmas" has begun early. Another holiday I don't really celebrate except for getting together with my brother's family. Otherwise it has been submerged into and recreated as an orgy of consumerism. Since I a) am not affiliated with any Christian group, sect or church and b) have seceded from the  "Consumerist Republic," it means almost zip.

I decided it was time to reorganize my herb shelf. Actually I shouldn't say reorganize since it was never organized in the first place. That took a bit and I will have to move things a bit more when I start harvesting the spicy oregano. I don't have a place for it yet. Otherwise, the gardens are doing well. I found and dispatched four Japanese beetles yesterday in a small jar of soapy water. I will definitely have to water over the next 8 to 10 days as we aren't expecting any rain and temps in the mid to high 80s.