We’ve got ice!
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Okay, it’s not very thick, but still, ice on the lake in mid-afternoon on a sunny day in Atlanta—brrrr!
Musings
Contradictor
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Over-the-shoulder smirk from 43 as he exits the inauguration ceremony yesterday…. By the way, that photographer with the white hair on the left spoiled quite a few shots.
George F. Will, who writes a column called “The Last Word” for Newsweek, is not one of my favorite pundits. However, in his column for this week’s issue, titled “43, For a Final Time,” he says about our latest former President:
Consider:
By grafting a prescription-drug entitlement on to Medicare, just as the demographic deluge of the baby boomers’ retirements was beginning, the president expanded the welfare state more than any president since Lyndon Johnson created Medicare in 1965. By signing every grotesque spending measure that arrived on his desk with the support of a majority of congressional Republicans…the president committed his party to a situational ethic of governance that amounts to no ethic at all. By signing the McCain-Feingold speech-rationing (aka “campaign reform”) legislation, the president violated his oath to defend the Constitution. …
And Will goes on. I would have added several things to this list, but this is a fine place to start if an honest assessment is your goal.
This is so far from being The Uniter, an advocate of the opposite of Big Government, and the law-abiding “good person” 43 is certain he is….
He wore a flag pin.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Today we saw the transfer of leadership power, with all the pomp required to publically demonstrate conferred legitimacy.
Here’re some photos direct from our TV screen, that start after the swearing-in, during our new President’s first speech….
What is “historic”?
Monday, 19 January 2009
Nandina in winter mode (berries are poisonous), glowing even on an overcast day….
I keep hearing that this inauguration will be historic….
However. I can’t imagine that the inauguration of any President of the USA, or even of Bolivia or Botswana, is not historic.
Weather update
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Cypress knees are odd plant forms—function not quite nailed down….
This afternoon: sunny, pleasant.
This morning: rainy, overcast, grey.
Yesterday afternoon included fifteen minutes of snow flurries. No lie!
Freeze warning
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Here’s my hypothesis: when indoor plumbing came to the Sunny South, it was such an add-on, and most houses were built on pilings to frustrate termites, that many people just opted to endure freezing weather by the plumbing version of brute force—keep the pipes open by keeping the water flowing….
As a result, even at nice apartment complexes, this is the sign that greets you at the gate when the temps drop. The swimming pool is still full at this place, too….
Bury beak in feathers
Friday, 16 January 2009
The waterfowl at the park are such beggars, at least this time of the year. Yet, in today’s cold, we tiptoed by and they just watched us. Upon reflection, I guess they were actually inspecting our pockets for bags of bread.
Clear, breezy, and 39°
Thursday, 15 January 2009
The sky really was this blue….
Yes, 39°F in the heat of the day. Sure glad it was sunny!
Still, I had a nice walk through the park. Didn’t see Ole GBH,* although we did yesterday….
* Great Blue Heron
Readme
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
From “stela” honoring Georgia poet Sidney Lanier. I’m sure he didn’t write the line below….
Hike naked: it adds color to your cheeks!
I spotted that on someone’s T-shirt yesterday….
Hello, Apex Predator!
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Yes, I mean you. Even if you’re a vegetarian!
How did I forget this phrase? Must be all the worthless information and trivia stuffed in my brain—e.g., don’t forget to buy butter, various driving routes to downtown, theories of sociopolitical evolution, and whether to spring for Chuck Todd’s new book….
Anyway, enjoy your status as an apex predator*….
* For the purposes of this entry, think of this guy as Alan Shore, not James Spader, and remember that the word predator is from the Latin for plunderer….