"All boys that age do it at one time or another."

So says a group of middle aged republican women being interviewed somewhere in Florida.  They were talking about how awful it is that supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is being put in the hot seat for such a little, meaningless thing.  Except for the woman (or women) he molested or exposed himself to it is not so meaningless.

And let's set the record straight: Not all boys that age are going to do things like that.  I sure didn't. Neither did my friends nor did my son nor did his friends nor did my son-in-law nor did his friends and it is absolutely NOT expected that our sons will do such things. 

This attitude among so many women of all people is appalling. Look at the message it sends. Boys will be boys.  Girls?? C'mon, ladies. Suck it up. Deal with it.  That's life. 

Yet more evidence of Trump's culture of bigotry and misogyny.  "Make America Hate Again" 

Midterms are coming folks.  Get these guys out of there!

Welcome Autumn

Welcome autumn...and a whole new round of yard chores. After a long and very hot summer the weather has finally moderated to the point where yard work is possible. 

Mowing continues, pruning will begin soon and I still have a ton of wood to cut up from the May storm.  The snow blower goes in Oct. 15 to be serviced with the promise of getting it back soon thereafter.  Not that I'm expecting plowable snow by then but who knows?

Acorns have already begun to fill up the driveway from the many oak trees over and around it.  And then who can forget leaves.  Not the pretty colors we all look forward to but after that when the leaves dry up, fall from the trees and cover everything. 

I'm not as fussy about the leaves as I used to be.  I hire someone to get rid of them in the spring but I do have to blow them out of the gutter as well as keep them off the driveway. 

Well, that's the drill.  Beautiful colors, mild days, cool nights making fall a very nice season.  Then, after that, well, you know. 

Betsy vs Hope

Do you know Hope Brown?  How about Betsy Devos?  One is a public high school teacher from Kentucky.  The other-Ms Devos-is the secretary of education.

Hope Brown appears on the front of TIME magazine this week.  Under her picture it says "I have a master's degree, 16 years of experience, work two extra jobs and donate blood plasma to pay my bills."  Betsy Devos is a billionaire who has barely two years on the job.

And here we have a very clear picture of the state of culture in the United States today.  It is obvious what the Trump administration's priorities are.  Unfortunately many fine professional educators and their students are suffering for his arrogance and ignorance.

Let's change things in November.

A Word About Hurricane Florence & Individual Responsibility

Hurricane's are dangerous.  The wind of course is damaging but most of the damage and danger is from massive amounts of water.  So when the governors of coastal states warn residents to leave, why don't they?  There's always a certain percentage (up to 25%) who elect to stay. 

What's wrong with that?  Well, first they put themselves at great risk.  But in addition to that they put the first responders who are expected to rescue their sorry butts at risk as well. 

If I were the governor I'd tell those people if they elect to ignore advice and stay, fine.  But don't expect anyone to risk their necks helping them when it hits. They're on their own.

It's time we made irresponsible people step up and be accountable.  We do that raising children, right?  (Well, most people do anyway). 

Off to Florida

It's off to our condo in Naples, FL tomorrow.  One hurricane just past over the area and headed out to the gulf while others are looming in the Atlantic.  They could interfere with our return next week. 

This has been a difficult summer.  Hot, humid and stormy.  I haven't been able to get much accomplished outside.  I will have numerous chores awaiting me when it cools off: finishing cleaning up the mess from May's storm, tons of wood to split, routine pruning, back porch repair work, etc.  On and on the list goes. 

Soon the chimney will be cleaned and I still have a little work to do on the snow blower before declaring that ready for what lies ahead.  Speaking of which.  There are two almanacs out there: Old Farmer's Almanac and Farmer's Almanac.  The first calls for a relatively mild, dry winter while the second predicts the complete opposite-very cold and snowy.  Guess one I'll be rooting for!

Next up: a report on how work turned out in our condo.