Rain?

The rain may be in Spain and could be mostly on the plain, but it's not here in Arnold. This has been one weird summer. Hot! and Dry! Spring was good, but lately rain has been spotty, with most going north of St. Louis. I've watered the garden and flower beds, but done little with the lawn. Now the dry lawn leeches water from the garden requiring me to apply more than I normally would. Does that make sense? I'm just glad I don't have to worry about starving this coming winter due to a poor crop this summer. Maybe I could drain my bathtub to the yard?

July 4th on 5th

On this holiday every year I ponder the peculiar foresight of our ancestors. They should be thanked for generally refering to Independence Day as The 4th of July. Since most of our Holidays are "official" on Mondays and Fridays, I've wondered how we would deal with a Monday/Friday Independence Day. How about the 4th/5th of July, or the 4th/2nd of July. Sounds weird. Someday someone will come up with a solution, and I can wait. Happy 4th; whatever.

It's puzzling!

For someone raised on the notion that facts and truth and message are corrolaries, I am dishearteded by the constant flow of rhetoric from both ends of the political spectrum. Though the addage "Don't let the facts get in the way of the truth!" is not new, it's abuse through the internet and our short attention spans is abominable. My favorite commentator was William F. Buckley. He was a master of reasoned discourse over demagoguery. I learned much about communication with both written and oral lanuage through listening to him. A prime example of the lack of factual communication today is the "news" panel discussions. I can seldom listen to one, even when the topic is intriguing, because the speakers talk over each other. It appears anathema today for one person to respond rationally to the other. I guess it's not good "entertainment". Interestingly, I still find the print media to be the best source. At least one can consider the source at leisure. I cannot imagine the average electronic media allowing enough time to even read the average print article. And, the internet is mostly opinion which is little help, since it usually masquerades as fact. It takes a pretty cynical person to really separate the wheat from the chaff. Keep Smiling!