Welcome to July--

Well--half past 2021. So far this year hasn't been as stressful as last but it hasn't been calm by any definition. There are a few positive aspects to this year: the Former Guy is no longer in office (but he is still a pustule on our body politic), the pandemic is winding down here (but not in many other parts of the world and there is the threat of new variants), the economy appears to be coming back (but we are only beginning to deal with the aftermath.)

 Although the fever of our perpetual electioneering has lowered we no longer have lulls between election seasons. What is worse is that the politicians can't see beyond their narrow personal ambitions and the national good. The hypocrisy of so many (especially on the Republican side of the aisle) is stunning and infuriating. Consider how McConnell has suddenly rediscovered his fiscal conservatism now that a Democrat is President--a pattern that was established in the 1990s. But no one has suggested that we should examine our government spending priorities. Do we really need to shovel 3/4 of a trillion dollars to the "Defense" department? I put that in quotes because I have difficulty seeing how many of our military adventures make us safer. Or how some of the very expensive high tech toys our money pays for enhances our security (when they work at all which some of them). 

I noticed a brief article this morning which noted that many of the countries that closed their borders have been slow to open up. Several of countries still have severe restrictions in place and aren't likely to remove them any time soon. Over the last couple of days the first cruise liner set from a Florida port and jubilant passengers said they felt like they had been released from COVID prison.   But the ship sailed with less than 50% capacity. I have seen several ads from states trying to lure tourists back. I wonder how much of the travel industry has come back. I haven't seen any stats about that. We still avoid crowds but we did that before the pandemic.

Even though the temperatures here haven't been anywhere near what the Northwest or Northeast have had. But they have been high enough with the humidity to make being outside uncomfortable. My plants, for the most part, are easy maintenance and I haven't had to water anything. We have had rain, often heavy, almost every day for the last two weeks. So much rain that my tomatoes have split almost as soon as they start turning red.