Long Hot Summer Days

Are so much better in Albuquerque than they were when I lived in Baltimore!

Been flying around these days, registering voters still and seeing docs now that at long last I have Medicare in place.

Registering voters is tough, besides being hot work and logistically challenging. The toughest part for me is encountering people who have lived here for years and still aren't citizens. My most frequently used Spanish words are "lo siento"! (I am sorry.) I'm also sorry when I find people who stubbornly refuse to vote even when they could. I tell all mothers with babies in their arms or bellies that it's even more important that they vote because they are voting for their kids too! And then there are the folks who choose to live in denial of global warming. When I run into a streak of stubborn ignorance, I have moments of despair. I also shared many laughs with my fellow citizens over a cartoon I was sent showing a map of Florida and calling it Electile Disfunction. If anyone knows who produced this cartoon, I'd love to credit it. Oh and yes, I am aware that some folks have associated this cartoon with reasons to not vote. I am not buying them.



There are high points also, thank the Goddess! Last Friday I attended an event being held in Albuquerque hosted by the NM State Committee on the Platform. I was buoyed by the attitude of the 40 some people who attended and met for 5 hours to hammer out their recommendations to Barack Obama and the DNC. If the folks who met that evening had their way, we would turn the country on it's ear pronto! They adopted many resolutions including one in favor of repealing the Patriot Acts, for forbidding military recruitment in High Schools, and the one I authored.

"Energy conversion is essential to economic recovery. Developing renewable energy would create jobs, reduce military spending for unnecessary wars, and lessen our dependence on petroleum. By renewable energy we mean using safe non edible energy sources and minimizing our impact on our water supply."

We also moved for the end to the Iraqi war and support universal single payer
health care. And much more!

It's important to get large new numbers out to vote this year and to keep grassroots pressure on the Democratic party.

My garden is having it's difficulties. I told you all about growing corn. Now I wonder how the pueblo peoples survived? My corn seeded and grew nicely and then, just as it started producing pollen, the monsoon season (yes, in this desert land we have a summer monsoon) hit. Twice I found all my nice stalks bent and tangled. I propped 'em up again with sticks, but they were not happy. Seems like the Navajo dug holes to plant the seeds so that the earth would support the stalks. Live and learn!

The rain, however forceful, is welcome. The desert blooms with wild sunflowers and lavender desert nightshade. Lucky us! We also have great local fruit stands. I am forever going into chain stores, cruising the produce aisles to tell people shopping there the prices (lower by half) for the produce at the farmers market I patronize. Many people don't even know it's there!

Let's hear it for insidious eccentric old ladies! What have you done for local produce this week????