Occupation of Independence

You'd think I would have given up on trying to get a lucrative salary as a political consultant, by now.  But my advice to the president is to avoid getting too involved with the violence in the cities. They are "blue counties," after all. What does he have to gain? It is reasonable to say that Democratic mayors know their cities better than somebody in Washington DC, and therefore, know what steps should be taken. If the suppression of the riots is too soft, let the Democratic mayor take the blame. If a cop or national guardsman gets trigger-happy, let the Democratic mayor be blamed. It seems reasonable to me that the president should make extra resources available to the mayors. One way to do that is to begin a withdrawal of US troops from the Mideast and all the other places in the world where they are cruelly meddling in other people's affairs. Let them add to the security of Americans, in America, for a change. Station them around the cities where they m

And no, I am not talking about pretty tourist scenery. The miracles of nature that first come to mind are things like "raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens." That might be a little sappy for my tastes. I prefer rowdy puppies, or young women in the bloom of youth. But there are other miracles that take a moment of thought. What if you lived in this valley a few generations ago. A local farmer told me the water table was 300 feet down. Wikipedia says that the gravel detritus (deposited from the nearby mountains) is a mile deep. Imagine digging a well by hand, three generations ago, and hitting water after a reasonable amount of effort and suffering. What a miracle that would be! Ahh, but the long-suffering reader knows what my favorite miracle is: This cloud is a month early. There should be nothing but blue-white glare until the monsoons start in July. Hot, scalding, monotonous, and enervating.

Normally I chew myself out a little for eating at restaurants. It is expensive, the food isn't that great, and the music is intrusive and ugly. But today it felt great, after two months of Lockdown. Near here, a restaurant/store reopened in a small rural town. I was their first customer, so I left a big tip to get them started right. It seemed like the whole family was working there. Nobody was wearing their fear mask. It just felt so normal. There certainly is something to be said for taking things away from yourself, temporarily, just so you start to appreciate it again. from PRI.org

Blogger sucks. It's time to look for an alternative. Went back to Blogger Classic so I could upload photos. I was overwhelmed with campers this past holiday. Am I already becoming nostalgic for the lockdown? The situation was exacerbated by competing campgrounds being closed: we are the only game in town. Everybody was acting healthy and active. Very few people were wearing the fear mask. What would it take for public spaces in Colorado to become truly uncrowded?: more than a Covid lockdown, I suspect. It would probably take a nuclear war. From dreamstime.com