Archive for September, 2008

September 2, 2008 – Please Flush

I found this sign above a urinal in the Masonic Lodge in Des Moines and couldn’t resist snapping a photo. I must admit, it was creepy taking a picture in a public restroom, even if I was alone.

In some ways it is easy to apply this photo to the current political process. To my way of thinking, campaigns spend too much time playing “gotcha,” misrepresenting and degrading their opponents, and way too little time talking about things that are really important to our country like offering solutions to fix the economy, the war, immigration, energy policy, and social security. We need a reasoned debate on these important issues.

One of my favorite politicians was a true maverick, Henry A. Wallace, who was Secretary of Agriculture and Vice President under Roosevelt. Before he was VP, he founded Pioneer Seed Corn company (now owned by DuPont). When he was first trying to get farmers to adopt his new hybrid corn that yielded high, but lacked the good looks so important in the popular corn rating contests, he said in one of his most famous quotes “What’s looks to a pig?”

one year ago…”Another Big Canning Day”xxx.

September 1, 2008 – Blackberries!

This year’s crop of blackberries has been phenomenal!

The berries this year are large and plentiful – we’ve made jam (my favorite), frozen some, sold many fresh, started soaking some in spirits (brandy, rum, and vodka).  We found out last year that whole canned blackberries aren’t worth doing, so we have to find other uses – nothing like homemade blackberry brandy to put you asleep on a cold winter night as an antidote against a sore throat.

one year ago…”Honey Extraction”