small gardens & small government

So I spent yesterday preparing a whole post on evil bleeping grackles. Not a re-post of my blog from a year ago.  Nope this was an entirely new rant, think Jaws II. This was about how flocks of little birds each taking one peck at your garden can turn you into the crazy old guy in the backyard rocking. muttering and waving his arms. After concluding the piece I had to put it aside because something was just wrong with it. I had wanted to share how grackles were like bindweed. Bindweed had the week before been pecking away at my time as I tried to control 'that' weed. I'd also wanted to drop over to politics and talk about how a small ($12 million) tax increase being proposed for our community when added to the various other State and district tax increases were like a flock of grackles pecking me to death. The metaphor was solid but there was something karmically off. Not just my writing, something else.  God clearly is a comedian. Hand him a set-up about a thousa...

Peas, strawberries and some herbs, not much in common there except that is what the garden is feeding me with these last couple of weeks. The heats been on with temperatures in the 90°s and barely a drop of rain. That should change tonight with some rain coming off of a hurricane down in the Sea of Cortez and a few days of cooler weather.   The music is some classic jazz with a mix of Red Garland, Coleman Hawkins, and The Prestige All Stars. Billie's Bounce starts it.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OUN9bftWbI and when I say classic. I mean if you've ever walked into a jazz club and noticed the whole place has a look of bliss on their face and all the heads are bobbing.   When I first came to Denver I had a hankering for a night out and Westword said El Chapultepec was the place to go for jazz. I didn't know Denver's downtown at all and ended up in a real skid row looking section. Trying to ask directions but not get carjacked I saw what looked like the remnants of ...

We passed 90 yesterday and I think we'll hit it again today. I got up early but other than a brief walk around in the cool of the morning the garden didn't capture my attention. It's Friends of the Library's annual Whale of a book sale this morning. My focus was of course on the CDs. I'm proud to say I kept my obsession below the divorce threshold and still caught a few good finds.   Among the finds is Eric Clapton's - ME and MR JOHNSON https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENbUS87wZys&list=PLVvg4t71YncxcWh5sMpHpBF8OJRMrxVHG which I've stacked up on the stereo with a progression of sorts of Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Blues Brothers, & Blues Traveler.   In June it gets complicated. While walking the dogs this morning I had a bit of a deep gardening discussion with my neighbor Matt. He was watering his raised beds in the front yard and had his young son strapped to his back in a backpack type arrangement. I don't know the term or if one exists so ...