A Song for Nancy Pelosi

By Fred Owens

A Song for Nancy Pelosi

Some little baby girl was born today and they named her Nancy.

I feel like a spell has been broken and the bully is diminished. I'm seeing daylight.
Trump will never shut the government down again. If he even tries to do that every airline in the country will stop flying. It's over.

Nancy Pelosi is not God's gift to humanity. She has made plenty of errors in her long life, but today and all this week she is the heroine who saved her country.
What A Week It Was
While Trump was sewing confusion and chaos, Nancy Pelosi stood firm and steady. She is not known for eloquence or charismatic performance. She just shows up every day and gets the job done. Being a woman gave her a good advantage -- old Donald simply did not know how to handle her. There is no way to handle her. She does not get handled.
I was glued to the Internet and the TV watching this drama unfold. It was a battle for the ages. Trump versus Pelosi, going fifteen rounds, until she decked him clean out and Trump hit the floor with a mighty thud. Old Butter Butt was caught flat-footed as she danced around him in  four-inch heels.
Trump will make noises but he will never shut down the government again. Federal workers are enraged at the experience of going without pay for thirty-five days and will respond instantly to another shut down. When you hire a man to do a job, you have an almost sacred obligation to pay him the money due and on time as promised. Trump will never get away with this stunt again.
Trump's Christian base might look up this verse in the New Testament, the Epistle to Timothy, 5:18, "The worker is worthy of his hire." Is that clear enough?
Pelosi said open the government, pay the workers and then we can talk about your wall. Pelosi is opposed to building a wall, but she is prepared to discuss it once those terms are met. And Trump can give his State of the Union address in the House. She will be sitting right behind him while he talks. That will be interesting.
Pruning Roses
In Santa Barbara we do the rose pruning in late January. You cut out the gnarly old branches and the spindly young shoots. You keep the strong and straight mid-size green branches. You cut out the crowding branches. You strive for good air circulation when spring brings leaves and blossoms. You need to have a sharp pruning tool, and you need to have the nerve. The very best rose pruners are fearless Zen Masters in their approach. First they look at the bush from a distance and walk around it, then they come in closer looking for flaws. Some of the masters will then make a plan, but others will rely on pure instinct. You do this work over decades, pruning hundreds of roses -- and then you can just see it, you can see what this rose will become in a summer breeze.
I am not on the top level for rose pruning. I sometimes lose my nerve, thinking we can save this one gnarly old branch even though it is drawing energy from healthier branches with a future. Sentimental I am.
I pruned six hybrid roses for the Swiss People on Thursday. I have worked for this sweet family for several years. She came out of the house and we had a discussion. I will cut here and here and here, I said, pointing to particular spots. She said you know what to do. It took me one hour to prune six roses. I have to give myself props for this. I did a really good job. And she paid me.
Isn't life good?

Twenty Years. Frog Hospital is celebrating 20 years of publication in 2019. Over 700 issues and some of them were pretty good. Our Credo has always been tell the truth and don't waste people's time -- meaning keep it interesting. We have done that. And we plan to keep going. Our motto is Onward!

Frog Hospital Blog There are more than 900 posts on the Frog Hospital blog going back through the years. Somebody of these old posts are still vital.  Take a look.

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Fred Owens
cell: 360-739-0214

My gardening blog is  Fred Owens

My writing blog is Frog Hospital

What makes me happy

By Fred Owens

What makes me happy? Geraniums and Giraffes, Gardens and Grandchildren, Friends and Family, and this memory from fifty years ago.

I used to visit Mary B in the summer of 1968 when we were home from college. Mary Beata Muehler was a good friend of Toni McNamara. Toni and Mary B  both went to Sacred Heart High School and both lived in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Mary B was about twice as smart as me if I recall. And nicer than me too. She was involved with Peter Ahr at the time and I was just a tag-along summer pal because I lived nearby.

So we're drinking frozen daquiris at Mary B's old-fashioned townhouse in Rogers Park on a Sunday afternoon and I make a common joke about Mayor Daley and how corrupt he was. I thought it was funny, but all of a sudden the room got as frozen as the daquiris. Mary B looked at me with steely eyes and grimly said, "Did you know that we are related to the Daley family? Actually my mother is first cousin to Mayor Daley."

No, I did not know that Mary B was related to Mayor Daley. Duh, I wouldn't have told the joke if I had known. So I did a really quick political retreat and embraced the Mayor as a fine fellow and we drank to his health.

Later that summer Mary B married Peter Ahr and became Mary B Ahr. I was invited to the wedding. And sure enough Mayor Daley showed up in his big black limousine. He shook hands all around and kissed the bride, but he didn't stay too long, not wanting to upstage the bridal couple and having so many important things to do, being the Mayor of Chicago.

That was in August of 1968, just a couple of weeks before the Democratic Convention, when the kids and the cops had their riot in front of the Conrad Hilton Hotel. I wanted to join the demonstration and shake my fist at the powers that be, but I had no issue with the Mayor, so I stayed home.

That was fifty years ago, in 1968. This memory makes me happy.

January in Santa Barbara is not too tough. It's kind of hard to complain about the weather around here. I was pruning grapes at the community garden on Saturday. And most people are doing the winter pruning of the roses in late January. I do garden work for four customers in our neighborhood. On Monday I will transplant the fig tree for Carol. It's a small tree, so this should be easy. But you have to watch out for fig trees. They start out little but they keep growing, and keep growing, and they send roots into your basement and your septic tank  -- best to keep them pruned and keep them small. On Tuesday I work for Keith. I might not do much at all but sweep the sidewalk. I'm watching the small palm trees in his front yard -- their leaves are getting kind of yellow. On Thursday I work for the Swiss people -- they're from Switzerland. I will prune their roses. The really good rose pruners have nerves of steel and make big cuts, lopping off gnarly old branches, and thinning crowded places. But I am not in that top category and I only make modest corrections. On Friday I work for Anita and prune her grape vines. It's good work and I need the money.

Marching. I did not go on the Women's March on Saturday. I was pruning grapes at the community garden. But I decided to review my lifetime March and Demonstration history. It's a long list going back to 1964. I marched from Boston to Seattle and back again. I marched through most of Texas . I demonstrated in Ohio and Florida. These days I spend time on the beach in California. I sleep well at night knowing that Nancy Pelosi is leading the charge against Trump. She's the boss.
The Shutdown. Pelosi rejects Trump's compromise proposal. There will be no deal until the government is back open. She says open the government and then we can talk about the border......... And I'm with Nancy on this.

 Twenty Years. Frog Hospital is celebrating 20 years of publication in 2019. Over 700 issues and some of them were pretty good. Our Credo has always been tell the truth and don't waste people's time -- meaning keep it interesting. We have done that. And we plan to keep going. Our motto is Onward!

Frog Hospital Blog There are more than 900 posts on the Frog Hospital blog going back through the years. Somebody of these old posts are still vital.  Take a look.

Happy spring,

Fred

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Fred Owens
cell: 360-739-0214

My gardening blog is  Fred Owens

My writing blog is Frog Hospital

Shutdown

By Fred Owens

At first it was fun being sick. I got to stay home in my pajamas and read books and not do nothing. Just some coughing and sore throat and sniffling...... Pause ..... Are people actually interested in my minor ailments? ..... No, but I get love and sympathy here on the home front. I'm really okay.

Back to the national disgrace. Trump shutdown the government. This was the wrong thing to do. I work on a simple model now. If there is a problem, any problem, and Trump gets involved, he will make it worse. He creates chaos wherever he goes. Border security -- Trump turned that into a crisis and for some reason we need to close the national parks unless he gets his way.

What about the Passport Office at the Dept of State? I'm trying to find out if it is open for business these days. I need to get my passport renewed. That seems to be an essential function of government. Is that asking too much?

I hope Nancy Pelosi keeps a firm grip on things. She is the right woman in the right place. We don't need a wall across Texas. The Rio Grande River forms a natural boundary between our two countries. A wall would have to be set back from the actual border on the river. The Rio Grande Valley from Roma to Brownsville is an irrigated agricultural paradise, and a heavenly place for birdwatchers who come down from the cold country in winter time to camp in their RVs up and down the river bank. The wall would need to be built set back from the river and create a Demilitarized Zone and be a major disruption in the lives of the people who live there. No, a wall is a bad idea. On a practical basis it won't work. On a symbolic level it is a disaster.

The shutdown is a form of blackmail. Fund my wall or I will shoot this dog, Trump says. We cannot give into that. But let's say you think a wall is a good idea -- well, that's simple. you vote for representatives in Congress who will fund it. Then it gets built. But we don't do it by presidential fiat, unless there is a national emergency, and there is no such emergency.

But you have heard this all before in other news outlets of a liberal inclination.  The thing about Frog Hospital is I try to tell you something you don't already know and that can lead me into quirky corners. Well, I don't feel like being the oddball today, I yearn to speak for the common man. The shutdown is bad for business, business in the broadest sense. We are engaged in a titanic stubborn contest between Trump and Pelosi. They are nose to nose.  I believe, I hope, she can outlast him on that level. But it's the people who suffer in the shutdown that will decide the outcome. And it will likely come to a head at the airports as the TSA staff calls in sick and the lines get longer and longer. And then people will start to get mad. People like me aren't mad now, not yet, but we're going to get mad, and that anger will build to a crescendo and then slowly a tiny crack will grow in the glacier of Trump's monumental mask. Slowly, then quicker, then racing and broader as the nose falls off into the sea like a mighty ancient obelisk tumbling into a thousand broken pieces. People will blame Trump and call Pelosi a hero! I swear it will happen this way.

Back at the Ranch. As I mentioned at the start of today's story, I have been down with five days of a winter cold. I have been resting on the couch for most of this time. I would like to write more often about health care, common maladies and life-threatening illnesses. But I don't know if the Frog Hospital readership wants me to do that. I found that people readily appreciate the attention if I make inquiries about their health. They are willing to share the details of their struggle to regain health. Do you want to hear those stories? Maybe not from me.

 

Twenty Years. Frog Hospital is celebrating 20 years of publication in 2019. Over 700 issues and some of them were pretty good. Our Credo has always been tell the truth and don't waste people's time -- meaning keep it interesting. We have done that. And we plan to keep going. Our motto is Onward!

Fred

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Fred Owens
cell: 360-739-0214

My gardening blog is  Fred Owens

My writing blog is Frog Hospital

Gardens and Grandchildren

By Fred Owens

Starting out the New Year with things that make us happy -- Gardens and Grandchildren

Al fell and broke his hip right before Christmas. I knew something was up because his wife Elaine had not returned my emails. I left several messages for her at the office, but there was no response. So I emailed Nanette who works with her and Nanette told me that Al broke his hip and

Elaine was tending to him at the hospital. So that explained it. Then I asked Nanette for Elaine's cell phone so I could call her at home.

That was Christmas Eve. I called Elaine and left a message. She called back almost right away and we had a chat. Al was coming home on Christmas Day but only for a few hours and then he would go back to the Rehabilitation Center for further treatment.

It was a hard way to pass the holidays but the photos I saw of them on Facebook, of Al and Elaine and their kids and grand kids, showed a joyful family spirit. That's what I mean by Gardens and Grandchildren.  Of course we all  have problems, but we can still enjoy the day and enjoy the company of the people we love.

This story about Al and Elaine is pretty short, but you can see it, can't you? You can imagine the details -- the ladder in the back yard, left leaning on the apple tree, where Al fell, and the cry he gave out when he fell. Elaine was on her laptop in the dining room when she heard him. He cried out, it was a muffled sound she heard, but she knew the man and knew his courage. Al was hurt and she knew it in the instance.

In the house where Elaine sat at the large dining table amid newspapers and a cup of coffee, the chandelier was sparkling above in the late afternoon growing dark. Can you see it? The trip to the hospital. The talk with the doctor. Christmas was planned, but plans were flying out the window. Kind of a raw, rough, exciting feeling, not knowing how this would all work. Time was passing. Christmas was coming no matter what and we'll just do whatever we can to have a good Christmas..... Did Al say that to Elaine?

Al and Elaine are real people. I know their last name and where they live. I've been to their house and played the piano. I can tell you all about the town they live in, the landscape and the weather. I can tell you stories about their lives together and the people they live and work with -- it could fill a good book. But this is just a short story and we will call it Gardens and Grandchildren, for these are the things that make us happy.

Note for Jim Langley. It's not prostrate and it's not terminal.

Twenty Years. Frog Hospital is celebrating 20 years of publication in 2019. Over 700 issues and some of them were pretty good. Our Credo has always been tell the truth and don't waste people's time -- meaning keep it interesting. We have done that. And we plan to keep going. Our motto is Onward!

Happy New Year,

It's not terminal and it's not prostrate