Spring Break! Time To Do Some Gardening

Barack and Gramps go organic

To Be Categorized As; LAME ATTEMPT AT HUMOR

If it seems that I've been a bit preoccupied and have been "phoning it in" as far as blog entries for the past week....well, you're absolutely right. Guilty as charged.

I fell way behind as far as getting the house landscaped and taking care of the gardening. And I'm finally starting to catch up. I've spent most of Saturday planting day lillies, cone flowers, cosmos, snapdragons, marigolds, impatiens, saliva, and those little white guys who's name I can't remember. And there's the usual tomato plants awaiting my attention, plus the bonus of having an oregano plant survive the harsh winter....no wonder Italians live so long.

So I raked, weeded, hoed, dug holes, planted, repeated....and felt really good about myself, finally knocking off at about 7 PM after starting work this morning. I owed myself a couple of beers, which I downed in record time, and put a smile on my face and served as a little anesthetic for my aching back.

So after listening to the first inning of the Mets-Marlins game, I went to pick up my trusty 1990 vintage boom box to move inside when I had a tragic encounter with nature. I felt something lumpy under my left sneaker....I picked my foot up...and there was a little squished toad laying there, with something that appeared to be his innards coming out of his mouth....and the little bugger was still alive! But just barely.

I mean, I'm a large guy, about 6 feet and 220 pounds.... Mr. Toad should have been deader than a doornail, but he wasn't quite ready for the Big Reptile and Amphibian Ranch in the Sky. What was I supposed to do? Take him to a vet? What to do? I needed a frame of reference....What would a Jersey Guy Do?


And then that Small Still Voice From Within told me what to do.

It asked me....

...."What would Joe Pesci do?"

Ya know....he is a Jersey Guy.....so I did what Nicky Santoro would have done in Casino. I dug a hole and planted Mr. Toad, even though he wasn't quite dead yet. No, not in the desert....next to the dead squirrel I found in the pool. Its a long story.

Poor little Mr. Toad....he had bulging eyes, a large mouth, and fat cheeks. He kind of reminded me of Rush Limbaugh. Maybe this was some kind of Freudian transference action....who the hell knows?

And now...its this Catholic thing, I feel so guilty....they have confessions before the 7:00am Mass tomorrow. Or.....

I have a better idea. I'll have another beer or two in honor of the late Mr. Toad....and maybe I'd better sleep in tomorrow.

I'm sure Mr. Toad would have wanted it that way.

First Full Day of Spring and Maybe A New Day For America

Time to wish all a happy first FULL day of spring, and hope that all can enjoy some of the wonderful weather today. Its quite a contrast from the damaging nor'easter of a week ago in this neck of the woods.

But of even more significance is today's long awaited vote on healthcare reform in America. Today CBS Sunday Morning did the best job I have seen yet in presenting what's at stake....and I'd think the Democratic leadership could have used its media connections to produce something of similar quality to use to explain reform to the American people.

The bottomline is this- if the vote wins, it may be a new day for healthcare in America, and a boost to the economy, and a monumental achievement for the Obama presidency....he will have accomplished something tried or floated by former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton.

But if it fails....this beautiful spring day may be remembered in the same ignominy as the day of the Dred Scott decision- and the Obama presidency will be crippled, if not marginalized altogether.

This is not a perfect bill by any stretch....but it is a start. And it is something America needs for its future as well as its present.

And as I type this...I'm too nervous to even watch the vote.

To all members of the House; do the right thing.