small gardens & small government

  Some years back my brother Glen and our families owned some apartments in Houston. Perhaps to get me out of his hair Glen sent me off looking for some now forgotten something on the other side of Houston. People for some reason don't think of Houston as the 4th largest City in the US. That's by population drive around it and it's bigger. Like all things in Texas their traffic jams are bigger. So I'm sweating my brains out (In Houston you begin sweating when you step out of the shower in the morning -Just saying!) in a truck with no A/C, in a construction zone with the street going from 3 lanes to one and people fighting for the next inch like it's the last food on earth. The street is completely gone, just orange cones and caliche potholes filled with water. Needless to say I'm cursing my brother, God, and the guy in front of me. I mean I'm a good person why oh why God must I suffer so... 'course just then I see a guy in a wheelchair stumps for legs tr...

 Apologies for not posting a blog last weekend. I actually wrote a draft but it was coming out in scattered chunks and more confused than usual.  Could have been the equally scattered choice in music I pulled from the bottom of the 'Friends of the Library' sale bag. I have learned that music not only helps me write but does effect what I write, weird. Kindly, the Google blog site (perhaps with my Luddite help!) managed to not save those ramblings. Thus these are fresh from the garden ramblings not re-worked composted malarke!   I just came in from spreading some mulch in the garden and thus my mind was on heat when selecting the music. Nuyorican Soul https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yaGFMG6rMY is a mixed bag of artist but includes some Tito Puente and seems to have a good Latin jazz rythmn. I'm following it with straight Tito Puente and his Latin All Stars. With a big glass of iced (eclipse sun;~) tea that should cool me down and get me ready to go back to the garden. ...

No music today. OK I'm listening to Dwight Yoakum but no music for you. I'm not trying to be the music Nazi just running out the door to the cabin this morning. Before leaving I wanted to tap out a little something in case I get back too late in the weekend to put things together. Or perhaps this is a little need to wrap things up should the US and No.Korea start lobbing things at each other. I remain hopeful that won't be the case but we live a half block from what I think is the largest federal facility in the Western US. Thus I've always assumed that our neighborhood is on at least a couple of target lists. My neighbor has wisely commented that we are lucky in that we won't survive two seconds after a nuclear attack.  So let's go with hope.   For those of you who considered the sunflower buds I mentioned as edible in the last blog I apologize the cooking instructions were off. The correct instructions should be; Take young flower buds blanch for 3 minutes. P...

  I started the morning about 4:00 am - couldn't get back to sleep. After a variety of attempts I gave up and got up. That is a sure recipe for grumpy old Doug. The mania might have started from last night's Kung Pao shrimp with Deb and the neighbors . I like spicy and hot. These peppers might as well have been red cardboard. In an attempt to get some sensation I ground the peppers in my teeth and choked their tasteless selves down.  Nothing!  The conversation was equally frustrating as it turned to health insurance.  I learned beyond a shadow of a doubt I better die before Deb because I am clueless.  I took Cooper to the vet the other day and was able to handle that just fine.  Call set an appointment, arrive doc does his thing, walk to front pay with a credit card, go home.  My health care, I know I pay some insurance company that I've never heard of $12,000/yr to cover us, major medical only. (Back 20 years ago I paid about $400/yr for the same thi...