Well #45 has his ego masturbatory celebration of himself under the masquerade of a salute to the nation. Anyone who has read any of my holiday posts of the past 16 years know that I don't much like any holidays. Most have been co-opted by our commercial overlords to encourage us to blindly consume anything they are selling. And the "holidays" seem to go on forever. Christmas extends from Labor Day to January 31 (including the "return" extravaganzas). Somehow Thanksgiving simply shrank to a mere footnote to Christmas centered on gluttony rather than gratitude. I could go on but I will let you fill in the rest of the list. Once upon a time a holiday was a time for workers to relax with family and friends but now many (most?) have to work. The last 20 years have pretty much nullified any patriotic feelings I had--a process that began with my slow reassessment of our country's actions across the globe which have cause more damage than benefit while showing clearly our collective abandonment of what ever principles (beyond greed and self-aggrandizement) we every claimed.
We did watch half the Democratic debates--the first hour each day. They reinforce my notion that the process is much too drawn out. I would love some way to shrink it to a much more reasonable time frame--perhaps 6 months before Election Day. We had hoped the lesser known candidates would get more time to make their case but that didn't happen. They remain almost as much of a mystery as before. The pundits were amazed that the first night the candidates made few overt references to #45 but each candidate criticized the policies of his administration. The second night was totally different and I have to wonder if those candidates read the commentary of the night before. The moderators were effective in keeping the candidates on time--the second night they totally lost control. Before the debates I firmly believed that we need new ideas and new people--afterwards I believe that more firmly. I wish Sanders and Biden would simply step aside. However, I don't think they are simply "too old." It isn't a "generational" thing--a passing of the torch as Swalwell put quoted. We need ideas that go beyond the push-button words ("capitalism," "socialism," "free market", etc.). We might watch part of the next debate but I don't expect much.
On a much more pleasant topic: the gardens are finally filling out but we seem to have moved from March to September in terms of weather. I have already harvested lavender twice, lemon balm, spearmint twice, and peppermint. The tomato has finally bloomed but I hope they didn't get too hot to set the fruit. The snake beans have also finally taken off so I hope they will bloom soon. If they match the pictures I saw they will be spectacular. This year has been brutal and it shows in sometimes surprising ways. We have two churches within several blocks that have community garden patches--or perhaps I should say "had." One hasn't any plots planted and the other has only about four out of about 16 planted. About five years ago I looked seriously at renting one of the plots in the nearest garden but decided not to go that route. The temperatures climbed early and high--much too high for me to engage in gardening in a space which had no water supply other than what one could transport.
