Morning Thoughts

“It Can Happen Here” by Joe Conason

The most salient dissent to be heard in recent years, and especially since Bush's reelection in 2004, has been voiced not by the liberals and moderates who never trusted the Republican leadership, but by conservatives who once did.

Former Republican congressman Bob Barr of Georgia, who served as one of the managers of the impeachment of Bill Clinton in the House of Representatives, has joined the American Civil Liberties Union he once detested. In the measures taken by the Bush administration and approved by his former colleagues, Barr sees the potential for "a totalitarian type regime."

Raining in the Mother Lode

So it's raining in Jamestown, has been for a few days now. That's a good thing. When I moved here I didn't know that the little creek that passed my park would be perennial. It ran all summer and through the dry fall and winter, even without any rain for months. Woods Creek. It was not far from here that someone found a 10 pound gold nugget back in the early 90's.

Quiet Sunday evening. Moana has returned to Oregon, and we are back to talking on the phone, laughing about our days, sharing stuff long distance. I am walking again, in between rain storms. It rained so hard last night that the water came in backwards through the roof between the car port and the house. It rained so hard that the water puddled up 4 inches deep along my walkways and pounded the pavement and bounced 6 inches high. Rain. A good thing. Not sure how long it will rain this year, but if its anything like last year, it will rain for a couple of months now.

The air smelled really fresh when I went for my walk and there were flowers blooming here and there, especially the manzanita in full bloom. Lots of frogs and lots of birds as well. Great smells and sounds. Life is good.

I spent the day, two days actually, working on family photos, trying to sort and organize and scan, getting a photo book put together for Deborah. It's amazing just how much has transpired over the years. Funny to see year that have hundreds of phots, in the mid 80's when the boys were coming in, when we had a good camera. Then back to 1967 when my only photos are a very few tiny little torn strips from the old black and white photo machines.

The Grammy's are in the background. The Dixie Chicks, not ready to make nice. I love their new album. Yes! Guess I'll go watch them.