A State Visitor Today!

That was some doozy of a weekend we just had. The storms which periodically roared through were really something. Wife Gator and I were lucky in our little plot of land. We only saw a deluge of rain here, but thunder and lightning passed not too far away on some occasions. We did get some wind. Our daughter didn’t visit. She felt the humidity was too high much of the time for our dogs to do their usual yard romping. The weather forecast for today, and in fact for the rest of the week, isn’t too much better.

WG did get into the vegetable garden for some food gathering. The products of her efforts are really beginning to pay off. There’s nothing better than veggies so fresh they’re eaten within an hour of picking. She says, though, there’s a possibility of one of two outcomes resulting from our storms. She’s concerned there’ll end up being too much water and we lose some crops due to ‘drowning.’ Or, she says, if the sun should come out for any length of time, the vegetables will race to complete fruition and we’ll end up with too many all at once.

The price of gas remained relatively the same last week, although some pumps saw a drop of a penny or two. It seems when the oil producers announce a price increase at, say, noon, by two o’clock the pump prices have already climbed three or four cents or more; and within a day or two those prices have set new records. Yet when the oil producers announce a lowering of prices, it takes three or four days for just a penny to come off the price, several days for more than that unless the producer’s prices rise; then the pump price heads back up.

Of course we all understand there’s no collusion or gouging, don’t we?

We have a visitor in Maine today. Republican presidential nominee-to-be John McCain is in the state on a fund raising trip. He’ll spend some time at the Bush Compound in Kennebunkport today and meet with special visitors (big donors), others who want to be attend another reception (little donors), and then he’ll travel to South Portland to visit the Maine War Mmuseum. I hope Mainers take advantage of this visit if only to see a presidential –nominee. We don’t get this chance very often. By the way, I’ll feel the same way if, when, Barack Obama, the Democrat nominee-to-be comes to Maine.

I’ve seen many candidates and even Presidents over my years, and I’ve been proud to be an American every time. These people include both Republicans and Democrats. I still remember the first Presidential candidate I saw way back when I was a student at the University of Florida early in 1960. Richard Nixon didn’t succeed; in fact, and my memory is a little hazy here, he may have withdrawn from the race shortly after his visit.

That, of course, was in a time when schools and universities fostered a pride in being an American and pride in the process of selecting leaders. Ironically, it may also have been the time when Richard Nixon may have been a part in the turn to the non-education we have today.

Today’s weather doesn’t promote too much activity. I hate thinking what my lawn is going to look like when I can get back to mowing it. Today WG is working so Dog Gator and I will spend much of the day keeping dry. I hope you enjoy your day.

GiM