December 2

December already. Another year almost gone. We have a sheen of snow on roofs and grass but the pavement seems to be too warm for any to stick. At least, for now anyway, we missed the heavy snows other areas have been getting. The very high winds of a week ago hardly even inconvenienced us. We could, and did, choose not go out and decided not to put out trash tote for pick up. Only one small bag in it and I didn't want to risk having to chase it down as the wind rolled it down the street. Last year we caught the amusing, for us, sight of three or four in a line wheeling down the street propelled by the wind. We didn't put ours out that day either.

In the blogs this morning--David Kaiser had this very cogent and accurate assessment of the comparisons of #45 and Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson. The current occupant of the White House doesn't compare very well in either case. Unfortunately, #45's election also doesn't say much good about where our country is today. A worse indicator, however, was a poll I saw today which indicates that Republicans rated #45 above Lincoln. The only saving grace was that among Americans generally Lincoln is still favored.

William Astore also has a good blog at TomDispatch on our endless wars. Another dismal reflection on where we are today.

Ronni Bennett's post today conjures up some unpleasant memories. A couple of years ago CVS took over Aetna (my mother's insurance company) and the price of her medication more than tripled soon after open enrollment ended. She tried to cancel that insurance which came because of her deceased husband's job but the company insisted that she stay with them until the next enrollment period until she noticed that they could drop her if she didn't pay the premium. Note the company got paid by Medicare to provide the insurance and collected a premium from her as well. She refused to pay and after stringing the matter out for about three months (to continue collecting from Medicare I guess) they finally cancelled the insurance. Her doctor helped her find a low cost provider for that medication. Mom keeps a tab of the insurance premiums she isn't paying, and the co-pay (which she also doesn't have to pay) and has found that those savings more than pays for the doctors' visits (both her medical and her eye doctor) and her lower drug costs. Both her doctors were very happy to accept cash. The biggest criticism of the "Medicare for all" plans has been what would happen to those who are happy with their insurance and want to keep it. The critics pit that group against those who can't get insurance at all. But few are talking about those who pay through the nose for inferior service and have a hard time getting out of it.

Friday, November 29

Well, here it is--Black Friday and no, we have not been and are not going shopping. We haven't indulged in that madness for some years except for once when we ran out of something and forgot what day it was. I saw more post with the caption "Black Friday--Save 100%. Stay home." But, given the stories on the news, ours is a minority opinion.

The weather is now and has been, with brief exceptions, gloomy. It feels colder than the thermometer says it is thanks to the moisture. We have had plenty of rain and a couple of days of high winds. The weather people have pushed back the end of this bleak weather to Tuesday.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with my brother and his family. We managed to not overeat though we had to refuse the pie. As I told one of the guests I was comfortably full but the pie would have left me uncomfortably (and painfully) overfull.

My first seed catalog arrived last week--Totally Tomatoes. Since I have sworn off tomatoes and peppers, which haven't yielded well for the last few years, I doubt I will be buying any of those seeds. I am still of the mind to concentrate on herbs and flowers but am still deciding which ones.

The stevia, lemon grass, and rosemary I brought inside for the winter are doing well so far. The miniature rose has had a hard time, though. When I had it outside the Japanese beetles went for it like it was bug candy. I cleared them all off and brought it inside where it began to come back, until I overwatered it. I think I managed to save it because it is now putting out new leaves. At least until the next crisis. I might add another next year. I can't keep on display in the big window downstairs because the cats also think it tastes good.

I am still ignoring the political news. It is toxic as hell and I am tired of being poisoned by it.

November 11

Happy Veterans' Day

We have snow today. It started about 5am for us and is supposed to continue through out the day. Tomorrow they say will be the coldest day in the season thus far. We, however, are snug and warm with nowhere to go or anything to do--so we won't go anywhere.

Instead it is a day to read and do needlework. Oh, and do several loads of dark clothes.

First up for reading was this piece by Ronni Bennett. I have curtailed my "news" watching because I can't stand more ad nauseam coverage of yet another outrageous action, tweet, or verbal flatulence.

November 8

Quite cold this morning--in the teens. The weather reporter on the morning news said the temps were quite normal----for January. The plants that survived the last cold snap are pretty much gone now. Time to start planning for next season. I just ordered the new Baker Creek catalog. Should be getting several more soon. 'Tis the season.

Speaking of seasons is anyone else bummed out with the Christmas themed commercials that have sprouted like mushrooms? We hadn't even said goodbye to Halloween and the "Black Friday" ads popped up. Are we even having Thanksgiving this year? Can't tell by the ads.

I have become increasingly curmudgeonly (Scrooge like?) about our so-called holidays which our commercialized society has turned into buying orgies. I think Tom Lehrer said it well in this parody of Christmas carol.

Christmas time is here, by golly,

Disapproval would be folly,

Deck the halls with hunks of holly,

Fill the cup and don't say "when."

Kill the turkeys, ducks and chickens,

Mix the punch, drag out the dickens,

Even though the prospect sickens,

Brother, here we go again.

On christmas day you can't get sore,

Your fellow man you must adore,

There's time to rob him all the more

The other three hundred and sixty-four.

Relations, sparing no expense'll

Send some useless old utensil,

Or a matching pen and pencil.

"just the thing I need! how nice!"

It doesn't matter how sincere it

Is, nor how heartfelt the spirit,

Sentiment will not endear it,

What's important is the price.

Hark the herald tribune sings,

Advertising wondrous things.

God rest ye merry, merchants,

May you make the yuletide pay.

Angels we have heard on high

Tell us to go out and buy!

So let the raucous sleigh bells jingle,

Hail our dear old friend kris kringle,

Driving his reindeer across the sky.

Don't stand underneath when they fly by.

Source: LyricFind

We aren't exactly non-participants but we don't use it as an excuse for a buying binge. Especially not for stuff we don't need and (usually) don't want. For Mother's Day and Mom's birthday I usually treat her to a dinner at one of her favorite restaurants. When it comes to other family we opt for modest amounts of cash so they can get what they really want or use it in whatever way they see fit. 

On to other things. This year is the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. David Kaiser has a good take on the event and its aftermath. Morning Joe had Tom Brokaw on for his reminiscences as the only reporter for a major news outlet on the scene. It was a interesting discussion.

November 4

Goodness!! It has been a while since I posted anything. Here it is--day before Election Day. The campaigning has been heavier than usual here. Our mayor of 16 years has opted to not run again though I could bet he would have been re-elected if he had decided otherwise. He has done a good job. The man from his party (Republicans) who is running to succeed him touts his close association with the soon to be former mayor but I am not convinced that is enough reason to vote for him. And I don't see much difference between his platform and the Democrat. However, the challenger is basically running on a "time for change" platform which given the last sentence means not much change. Also he doesn't specify what needs to change (besides the party in office) and what he means by a city government that works for all. Again--not much inducement to vote Democrat. They only strong feeling I have on the matter is that alternating parties is--generally--a good thing. I guess I will wait til I have the ballot in front of me to see how what ever spirit moves me. Given what I have seen of the campaign signs in yards I would place a small bet on the Republican.

The weather has turned decidedly colder of late. It feels like someone (or Someone) flipped a switch taking us from 70s and 80s to 30s and 40s. We had snow on Halloween. Along with hard rain and heavy winds. I think the snow and low high temp on Halloween threatened a record that had been set in the 1880s. The garden is pretty much gone now even though the chives, spearmint, peppermint, dianthus are still hanging on. I have done as much clean up as I intend to do and what plants are left will remain as a protective cover on the soil. The hard rains we have had over the last few years tends to splatter mud all over.

I haven't planned much on the gardens for next year. All I know for sure is that I am striving for one that provides max enjoyment and least work. And which can withstand what has become a brutal summer, partly because we are having more 85+ days and partly because heat tends to concentrate and magnify on the patio where the temperatures can be as much as 20 degrees higher than our official temperatures.

I don't write about politics much and I try to limit my exposure to a lot of what passes for political news nowadays. Some amusing thoughts have passed through my not-quite-fried brain. So many of the talking heads talk about Biden as the candidate votes think will reset our society and politics to something they consider "normal." I think they are living an illusion. Too much has been broken over the last 50 years and the last 3 under #45 are just the tip of the iceberg. Ain't no way we are going back to anything like what we once considered "normal." Finally, this morning on Morning Joe Pete Budiguige (a.k.a., Mayor Pete) said that though in a softer, kinder way. Evidently, according to the pundits, Wall Street is really scared of the prospect of a President Elizabeth Warren. Why escapes me.  After all being elected is no guarantee that she will get her various "plans" enacted. I am glad she is running and that her various criticisms of our current bastardized "capitalist" system are getting more discussion than normal. I still wish Bernie and Joe had decided to sit this one out. Several of the lower tier candidates deserve more than a chance to issue a sound bite. Elizabeth and Pete are the only ones who have been able to get any attention from those two.

I will let this end for now. Just thought I would let the world know I am still here.

September 21

OMG!! It has been a long time since I posted. The days pass so quickly and then meld into each other. Before you realize it a week has passed and then a month. Or more.

It seems that I was just  putting in the gardens (a bit late because of the Spring that might as well not have been) and here I am putting it to bed for the year. As usual the gardens I imagined in the spring are not the ones I ended up with.

Ronni Bennett has an interesting post on time management as you get older.

September 25

Another post that hits home. I have pretty much given up on vegetable gardening also.

October 4

Another OMG moment. I had intended to come back and finish the two previous posts but we got busy with other things. We have had errands and appointments for almost every day since.

The temperatures have turned definitely towards fall. However, I did get out and pulled some weeds in the containers. We had some heavy rains over the last couple of weeks so those weeds have flourished. A couple of the flowers have also done nicely so far. I brought the lemon grass, stevia and all my rosemary pots in for the season. My dehydrator is full of cuttings from those. When I get the dried herbs out and into jars I will take the trays out and scrub them down. The next time I trim the stevia I will try to root them.

Garden clean up is going slowly because the weather has either been high summer hot or monsoonal rainy. One of the gardeners whose blog I read often said some time ago that as she gets older (she is a bit older than I am) gardening in rain and cold is definitely not enjoyable. I concur totally. The link I had on the 25th describes another change in my habits. That writer described his decision to give up on veggies as a "heresy." Five years ago I might have agreed with that description. What has changed is I am five years older with less energy and the temperatures on our patio are not good for veggies. The early season greens bolt and the tomatoes and peppers don't set fruit. I will put in flowers and herbs.

The Ronni Bennett piece ties into this. Though a number of bloggers have noticed that as they have gotten older they have to manage their time more carefully. Ronni simply puts it very clearly and concisely. We, at MaryContrary's house, try to get all our errands and appointments done early in the day when we are most alert and energetic. The same goes for gardening. What I don't get done by 10am probably isn't going to get done until another day (or ever depending on how urgent the task is.

Happy 4th Of July

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.