Obama is punching back

Americana, Politics

When the world needs to do really big stuff, we need an American, Mitt Romney in his acceptance speech. What a snide comment! A passive- aggressive line said in a way that tries to leave no fingerprints. The kind of comment that Michael Dukakis, or Al Gore, or John Kerry, would have ignored  and then been punished for ignoring.

About six months ago, a conservative acquaintance said that this was going to be a dirty election. I don’t remember the details, but he said it in a way that clearly was saying that Obama is a dirty campaigner and would not wage a fair campaign. I agreed (in a way that tried to make it sound like he was talking about the Republican). And I do agree and I am happy about it. I am not particularly happy about the campaign turning negative, but I am very happy that Obama is willing to punch back. It is one of the things that I most like about Obama.

For all his cerebral detachment, his calmness, his – at times – distressing passivity, Obama is a fighter and he is willing to take Romney on.

Uncarina decaryi

Politics, Psychological Musings

We have had a Uncarina decaryi – I have no idea what it’s common name is or if it has one, but it is in the sesame family – growing next to a window, in a light corner of the house. We have had it for, about, ten years, keeping it warm, feeding it, and it has done nothing to earn its keep. This summer, we cut it back – it had become too fleshy and etiolated , and put it outside to fend on it’s own for a while. A couple of days ago, it bloomed in the strangest way. Now it has big yellow flowers peaking out from under the leaves. If that doesn’t make you want to be a Republican, nothing will.

 

Pedaliaceae or sesame family

Precious Mae and the Rabbit

Around home

The mythology at our home is that – because  of Precious Mae – we no longer have a rabbit problem. Precious Mae spends hours hunkered down on the bridge over our creek – really a sort of drainage ditch to cut-off water coming down the hill – guarding our home from rabbits and other varmints. This afternoon, when -without my glasses – I saw a rabbit in the garden ( I knew I was right because of the backlight coming through his, her’s, or its ears, but I wasn’t positive).

After a very short search, I found my glasses and then the camera – Shoot! no compact flash memory card in the camera – then a memory card, and then went out to take a shot. As soon as I walked out on the deck, Precious Mae, who had sort of been lounging around in the house, made a a beeline to the bridge. With my glasses, all I saw were quail for about three or four minutes, then I caught the rabbit hopping towards the path. Precious Mae was off. A killing machine at full efficiency.

There is going after the rabbit – any prey for that matter – and getting the rabbit. They are very different things. Once Precious Mae confronted the rabbit, everything sort of  fell apart. The rabbit may have only been one third of her size, but there was no question the rabbit had been trained in anti-cat tactics and locked Precious Mae in a Death-stare that she just managed to escape, leaving the rabbit – for the time being, only – in charge of the path.