Random Thoughts - The "Let's Put April Behind Us" Edition

What a month.

Senators cowering in fear, hiding from big gun money and their own political allies, refusing to add a small inconvenience in the hope of keeping me safe. Young men who were allowed to immigrate lawfully repay the favor with pressure cookers filled with nails. Fires lead to explosions in a fertilizer factory set in the middle of a tiny Texas town. My own state outlawed municipal buy-back-and-destroy programs, requiring the weapons to be put back on the streets.

On the other hand, this happened, too.

And the odor is scrumptious!

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My friend is in the midst of firing a popular-with-some but untenable-to-others superintendent of schools. The school board on which he sits represents a small, tight-knit community which is highly invested in the schools.  Some very good things (may) have happened, but the reporting is unclear and the tensions are rising. It's all about character, and the Supe's flaws are egregious.

I offered my help, because I've been there, done that. There are still people who don't talk to me because of my role in removing a serving superintendent from office.  It was a year-long, agonizing, lawyer-filled experience, after which I was too exhausted to care about much of anything else.  I sat back and let the newly hired grown-ups lead the way.

The communities couldn't be more different demographically, but the conversation is the same. There's a lesson about tolerance and remembering that the other is not so different from oneself, but right now, I'm just feeling his angst.

I hope he has something like this to look at.

A yummy home grown tomato - the perfect afternoon snack!
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The daughter of the Sandy Hook Elementary School principal walked out of a public meeting where her Senator, Kelly Ayotte, would not explain why not creating a small inconvenience was worth more than her mother's life.

My Senator, Jeff Flake, is proudly announcing that there's “(n)othing like waking up to a poll saying you’re the nation’s least popular senator...Given the public’s dim view of Congress in general, that probably puts me somewhere just below pond scum."

I remember hearing Senator Frank Church speak out against the war in Viet Nam well before the groundswell of public opinion joined him.  He spoke of the political risks and balanced them against the need to do right.  

Perhaps I'll send his picture to those frightened fools in Washington, D.C.

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The sub-contractor is finally paving the entrance to our neighborhood.  We had to make a u-turn and drive through a very confusing parking lot to get home this afternoon.  It's been almost three years since the project began.  

There are lane markings on parts of the road... unfortunately those parts abut unpaved areas.  This morning I drove on the wrong side of the road, much to the consternation of the oncoming traffic. The traffic cones led me there... I promise... really.

It will be lovely to drive straight out at speed, rather than slowing to a creep as I lower my tires slowly over the 6" cliff between our street and the main road.  It was there throughout April, while we waited patiently for the crews to finish their work.

I comforted myself by looking at these.

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I have a busy, fun weekend coming up, but my heart will be in Illinois with Little Cuter and MOTG as they create her garden.  They have a plan and, while their husbands are in Talladega, they will be up to their elbows in rich soil and peonies and roses and hosta.

She never knew she had a green thumb, but look at what we created when I visited in the Fall.

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There's a theme here, denizens.  As the world goes to hell in a hand basket, I remember to nurture my soul with things that make me smile.  My children are far, so I look to my garden.  Here's wishing you similar settings for peace and contentment.

After all, April is over..... finally.