Sometimes, it feels good to get down and dirty – literally down and dirty, where your body, mind and soul get to meet the elemental earth. That may sound kind of kooky, but it’s something with which farm workers, landscape people, and home gardeners are on intimate terms.
I did a little weeding today, and found myself on my hands and knees, using hand tools to cut and pull out stubborn weeds encroaching on a few shrubs, as well as around the perimeter of the mulching bed. When you’re down on all fours like that, you get dirt black. But, it’s with a satisfaction that comes from the knowledge that it’s from honest work done on honest soil put there by God’s own creation.
Some politicians, through their actions, have given the intrinsically good expression ‘down and dirty’ a bad name by changing its original, derivative meaning to one in which dirt is seen as a negative noun.
We can fix that: Instead of sending convicted politicians to serve time in prison, maybe the judge could dole out sentences in which offenders would be required to spend spring, summer, and fall out in the open working the soil, thereby helping to restore nature’s lost reputation.
Showing posts with label Observations From Bridgewater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Observations From Bridgewater. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Just Hanging Out
Symbols and images can evoke pleasant memories. That’s what happened to me today, when I was in the midst of searching through my photo files, looking for a summer-appropriate shot. The one depicted in this post was snapped in the outdoor area of a little souvenir hut in Cape May, at Sunset Beach, the spot where Cape May Diamonds are found, and where you can view the famous WWII cement ship, aground in the green offshore waters.
Those seven little guys shown above all hanging neatly in a row against a gray, weatherworn fence seem quite content soaking in the summer sun and taking life easy, waiting perhaps, for someone to purchase them for a home decoration. Personally, I think they look perfectly happy just chilling out, enjoying the natural benefits of a Jersey Shore sun-soaked day. I hope they are still there the next time we come for a visit.
They don’t have to worry about taxes, Iraq, frozen government in Washington, tricky goings-on in Trenton, and talking heads on TV who fill in air time with hot air.
Ah! . . . I suggest emulating those little guys in the picture and forget about all your cares for a day or two this weekend – take a break from problems you can do something about and forget the rest.
Those seven little guys shown above all hanging neatly in a row against a gray, weatherworn fence seem quite content soaking in the summer sun and taking life easy, waiting perhaps, for someone to purchase them for a home decoration. Personally, I think they look perfectly happy just chilling out, enjoying the natural benefits of a Jersey Shore sun-soaked day. I hope they are still there the next time we come for a visit.
They don’t have to worry about taxes, Iraq, frozen government in Washington, tricky goings-on in Trenton, and talking heads on TV who fill in air time with hot air.
Ah! . . . I suggest emulating those little guys in the picture and forget about all your cares for a day or two this weekend – take a break from problems you can do something about and forget the rest.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Bush and Obama’s Common Trait
What could George W. Bush and Barack Obama possibly share in common? The first seems to be as conservative as one can be (at least on paper!), while the other seems to be tilting as far to the liberal side as he can be (at least on paper!).
But if you put on your memory thinking cap, you may remember that way back when Bush was running for his first term, he declared that the U.S. should not get involved with nation-building: It would not be his administration’s business to get involved in the internal matters of other countries, he would go on to claim. Years later, the events of 9/11 changed all that, and the U.S. Military is now deeply involved precisely in what Bush once said he wouldn’t do: nation-building.
That brings me to Barack Obama. During his entire presidential run, when he was not yet the presumptive Democratic nominee for President and, at a time when he was heavily engaged in a campaign struggle with Senator Hillary Clinton, he emphatically and proudly underscored his premier campaign clarion call: He did not vote for the Congressional resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq, he emphasized over and over and, should he be elected President, he vowed to bring all the troops home within 16 months.
Now we hear Obama claiming that, after his trip to Iraq where he will meet with General Petraeus and other U.S. Military commanders, he will, if necessary, “refine” his strategy. Well, you should have heard all of the brouhaha generated in the media and political circles about that remark! It caused Senator Obama to quickly re-appear before the mikes and cameras in an apparent effort to recant.
However, should Obama win the general election in November, there will be a transition team put in place to advise the President-elect of all classified information concerning national security. That’s when the President-to-be discovers the dirt about what’s really going on.
This isn’t what surprises me, though. What does is that Obama has declared himself so soon about a potential policy reversal regarding troop withdrawal. The man has a large, well-paid cadre of advisors on his team. Yet, for reasons known only to him, Obama decided to test the acceptance of a potential future change in his troop withdrawal strategy with the use of the word, “refine.” In Washington, in a statement about Iraq, that’s a fighting word!
A long time ago, Bush decided to go into the nation-building business, something he said he would never do. When the dust settles after November, Obama could very well find himself following the same policy of nation-building.
When Bush was first running for President he proudly considered himself a Washington outsider, as Obama now does – a trait which each man shares in common. But, the real question is not whether a presidential candidate is a Washington outsider: It is what that person does once he gets on the inside.
But if you put on your memory thinking cap, you may remember that way back when Bush was running for his first term, he declared that the U.S. should not get involved with nation-building: It would not be his administration’s business to get involved in the internal matters of other countries, he would go on to claim. Years later, the events of 9/11 changed all that, and the U.S. Military is now deeply involved precisely in what Bush once said he wouldn’t do: nation-building.
That brings me to Barack Obama. During his entire presidential run, when he was not yet the presumptive Democratic nominee for President and, at a time when he was heavily engaged in a campaign struggle with Senator Hillary Clinton, he emphatically and proudly underscored his premier campaign clarion call: He did not vote for the Congressional resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq, he emphasized over and over and, should he be elected President, he vowed to bring all the troops home within 16 months.
Now we hear Obama claiming that, after his trip to Iraq where he will meet with General Petraeus and other U.S. Military commanders, he will, if necessary, “refine” his strategy. Well, you should have heard all of the brouhaha generated in the media and political circles about that remark! It caused Senator Obama to quickly re-appear before the mikes and cameras in an apparent effort to recant.
However, should Obama win the general election in November, there will be a transition team put in place to advise the President-elect of all classified information concerning national security. That’s when the President-to-be discovers the dirt about what’s really going on.
This isn’t what surprises me, though. What does is that Obama has declared himself so soon about a potential policy reversal regarding troop withdrawal. The man has a large, well-paid cadre of advisors on his team. Yet, for reasons known only to him, Obama decided to test the acceptance of a potential future change in his troop withdrawal strategy with the use of the word, “refine.” In Washington, in a statement about Iraq, that’s a fighting word!
A long time ago, Bush decided to go into the nation-building business, something he said he would never do. When the dust settles after November, Obama could very well find himself following the same policy of nation-building.
When Bush was first running for President he proudly considered himself a Washington outsider, as Obama now does – a trait which each man shares in common. But, the real question is not whether a presidential candidate is a Washington outsider: It is what that person does once he gets on the inside.
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