Friday, May 21, 2021

rain, rain, more rain and the continuing attack on our democracy



We had more rain off and on most the day Tuesday and throughout Tuesday night, rain, not too heavy mostly, but constant lightning and thunder, one particular flash very close and very loud. All evening and all night. Not sure what time it moved on. The little dog finally exhausted herself with trembling and panting (with occasional brief respites) from Saturday night to sometime after bed Tuesday night. I noticed at some point that even though it was still lightning and thundering, she was under the covers asleep. Poor thing. And even more to come. So far the amount of rain we've gotten is nothing compared to what some people have already received west and south of here, 17” in Ganado about halfway between here and Victoria. More rain on Wednesday but thankfully the storms predicted for most the day yesterday did not materialize.

Rain just drains me of any ambition to do anything and I managed to put off my grocery store run til yesterday after carefully counting cat food portions and the number of meals ahead.

The county was out on our street yesterday trying to clear culverts in the ditches so the water would flow. It flows fine at my end of the street where it eventually drains into Boughman Slough but too many of the culverts between my end and the other end of the street are filled with dirt and debris which cause it not to flow at all at the other end so it floods those yards and they just have to wait for the water to soak in. It doesn't help that the culverts are, in a lot of cases, higher than the bottom of the ditches. They dug out at the mouths of some culverts and then determined that the ditches needed to be regraded with a backhoe (or whatever the machine with the scoop is called) to take out the high spots. I know this because the county guy pulled into my driveway to let us know they would be working on the ditch in front of our house even though there was only an inch or two of standing water in a few spots and I told him it flowed just fine. They can re-dig those ditches but unless they clear out all the dirt and debris from the middle of those culverts under people's driveways, it won't improve water flow. What they need is an auger of some sort or a high pressure water hose to blast them clear. More rain and thunderstorms are predicted for today to add to the nearly 8” of rain we've already had since last Sunday

And speaking of last Sunday when I was forced to end my work outside, who knew that 5 days of rest and not using my right arm for anything more strenuous than turning a page of the book I'm reading would result in much less pain. OK, the answer to that is...everyone. Anyway, it's much better, not completely healed but have much more pain free movement. And now they are saying the rain will last through next Wednesday so maybe by then it will be healed enough to resume my normal activity.

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And now your occasional reminder of how corrupt the Republican party is. The House voted Wednesday to establish a 9/11 style commission to investigate the insurrection on 1/6 to determine the facts of who did what when with who and with what knowledge achieved how on whose order and benefit. Is that confusing enough? Of course a commission should be established and anyone who would vote against getting to the bottom of the attack on our democracy could rightly be considered complicit because why would any innocent person not want to know who planned it, financed it, enabled it? All but 35 Republicans in the House of Representatives of the United States of America voted against the bill even after their three demands were met by the Democrats, something they did not expect to happen and figured would give them good reason to vote against it. So, 175 of our lawmakers seemingly either participated in the insurrection or supported it. Innocent people do not object to official inquiries. Traitors all or still fear for themselves and their families from Trump's thugs, a fear they need to face and a thug they need to stand up to. And, of course, the day after Trump stated publicly that he wanted the investigation to not happen, McConnell came out publicly against establishing the commission and is now planning to filibuster it in the Senate. Whether enough Republican senators side with Democrats to get it passed remains to be seen. But if McConnell succeeds in blocking it from passing in the Senate it ultimately won't matter as the Democrats can establish special counsels to investigate the insurrection just as the Republicans did with Benghazi, over and over and over again ultimately making HRC testify for 11 hours (can you imagine Trump in that hot seat?). The more the republicans try to obstruct an investigation, the more they try to gaslight it as a peaceful gathering, the more they try to portray it as an average tourist visit, the more guilty they look. We are not to believe our eyes, they say, when we see Capitol police being beaten to death, when we see the looks of fear in the faces of these republican politicians  during the event in the videos and images , we are not to believe  that they were barricading the door to the chamber while the domestic terrorists were roaming the halls looking for them. 

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The open flowers of the elephant garlic, the buds of which occupied this space in my last post.


 

19 comments:

  1. I wish we could divert some of your rain water to the areas of California that are in a drought. I had never heard of an elephant garlic plant. Thanks for identifying it.

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    1. the bulbs are large, it's edible but very mild.

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  2. It's either feast or famine for rain isn't it, my sis in San Antonio was lamenting not having a cistern. I'm with you 100% on the Republican party and their overlord Trump. I am hoping that special councils will be the way forward.

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    1. flood or drought. it hasn't always been this way. I imagine cisterns will come back into usefulness if this keeps up. I'm hoping NY indicts the bastard before the 2022 elections and puts his ass in jail.

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  3. We could use some of that rain here in California, but it ain't gonna happen. My brother needs it in Virginia as well. Not gonna happen there either. Crazy weather patterns. I'm glad your shoulder and arm started to feel better. The upside of having crazy rain.
    Thank you for writing down exactly what I've been thinking about the Congressional Republicans lately, and most especially thank you for reminding me about Benghazi. Oh yes. I love the thought of Trump having to testify. It will never happen but the thought of it makes me happy.

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    1. it could happen. but he'll lie like he always does. personally I'm more interested in McCarthy and Boebert and Greene and the other congresspeople that helped plan and execute it or knew about it and kept silent having to testify.

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  4. Trump could live well into senility. Heaven help us when his faithful follow, if they still hold influence in congress.
    We are forecast an entire week of rain commencing Sunday. A fickle spring.
    Around here the property owner is responsible for the culvert under the drive and the county for the ditches. If the property owner does not maintain his culvert the county can take action, including replacing the culvert and charging the property owner. If the property owner does not pay, the culvert maintenance bill goes onto the tax return for collection. Speaking as a former township official, taxes are as certain as death. Title does not transfer until paid.

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    1. he could but hopefully it will be in prison after NY indicts him and puts him on trial.

      hmmm. I wonder how that works here, responsibility for keeping the culverts clear, as if homeowners have the wherewithal to clean them out under the middle of the driveway.

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  5. I am so glad that your arm is better! At least you can thank the rain for that.
    Levon would know what sort of heavy machinery they used to clean out those ditches.
    The most bizarre thing about the whole forming of a commission to investigate the insurgency at the Capitol was the guy trying to convince everyone that it was just like a normal day of tourists in the Capitol. Really? How did he even think that anyone would buy that? Andrew Clyde. Does he generally try to barricade doorways?
    Well, anyway once again we must ask- why are these people so blindly bound to Donald Trump?
    When you can go back outside and resume your normal activities- please take it easy.

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    1. it is better but it still speaks to me when I raise my arm all the way up or try to reach straight armed across the front of my body. I'm just ready to start my yoga practice up again.

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    2. and yeah, the disconnect is so glaring. the video and images are out there. 400 +/- arrests and they go on these TV shows and and say that shit. Mcconnell probably has a tighter hand on the senators than McCarthy did on the representatives so I don't expect it to pass especially with Manchin so fucking blind about the republicans. holding out for bipartisanship when the republicans have said in no uncertain terms that they will not engage in that.

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  6. I'm very glad that the enforced rest has amazingly (!) helped your pain issues. Once it's well, please refrain from going all out to catch up, and reinjuring it.

    We have no rain. I'm carrying water to my plants. We could use just a nice steady rain, please.

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    1. after this spate of rain finally ends summer will be upon us and that alone limits my activity outside. mostly right now I just want to start my yoga practice back up.

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  7. The mind boggles at the bald-faced lying being done these days, and these people are being paid by you and me while doing it! When will people wake up and smell the coffee? It's done!! I'm seeing Trump 2024 flags now; such a waste of energy. I feel like we're stuck in a bog of political crud.

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    1. I can't believe that the republicans are still kowtowing to Trump. all in a bid to keep his base voting for them. how anyone with any integrity can go along with it all just shows there isn't a shred of integrity among them. except maybe Liz Cheney even if she is a die hard republican. not even Romney has spoken up. hopefully NY will indict him soon.

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  8. I'm so glad your arm has improved. Who knew rain-enforced rest would be so beneficial?! I literally can't stand to read about the Republicans. Appalling, as usual.

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  9. Oh, so sorry about all that rain.
    Republicans. My thoughts are very unprintable.

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  10. The Republican situation is just ridiculous. I can only hope that they implode and that somehow democracy survives. Sigh.

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  11. You elephant garlic is our Chinese garlic.
    Good news about the arm!

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.