Friday Follies...
Here we are again...end of another week, and although there IS news happening all over the place, I want to practice a bit of that "turning it all off" I mentioned earlier this week, and perhaps delve into more important matters.
So buckle up (it's the dumbass law that we wouldn't need if OTHERS paid attention while driving), and enjoy the trip.
*** We here at the "Fortress of Reason" are preparing for that time of year when we journey out and about, looking for those PLANTS we will place in our garden, and around the property (not that anyone else gives a rat's ass...we LIKE doing it).
To me, this represents that level of CIVILIZED MAN that can appreciate the smaller things in life.
Not everything has to always be the biggest, best, and baddest item in creation to get my attention.
To others however, it's what THEY live for...(sad to say).
Guess that's what happens when you're brought up in some dysfunctional, drug-ridden and taxpayer-sponsored "family" (to which I use that word as loosely as possible in this context) with no hope past the next yelling session, and no future past the next day, and your universe consists of a mere several square city blocks.
I much prefer seeing the flowers bloom and the critters stop on by the patio or yard. To see life in abundance is great.
Just this week, I've seen two VERY small squirrels around the place, and they're so damn cute. You could hold them in the palm of your hand, and are they ever QUICK. Hopefully, they'll find the "buffet" I put out (for the birds...lol) and come by to have a bit of a gnosh.
And our one PURPLE CLEMATIS is blooming already, as are the purple IRIS, with the Asian lilies not too far behind them.
Wifey and I will be making a trip to Broadview Nursery soon enough to decide what to get as far as annuals go (we have our favorites), as well as ornamental grasses and perennials.
I did like having that fountain grass out front last year, but it died over the winter (was an annual variety).
This year, we plan to opt for the GREEN fountain grasses, because (according to the man who runs the nursery) THEY are perennial, as opposed to the purple variety that dies off. (unless you live in a climate that has no REAL winter)
These are the types of things I would have NEVER learned about back in Philly...we had no REAL lawn to speak off, unless you count an 8x8 patch of grass a "lawn". I used to trim it with electric CLIPPERS instead of a lawn mower. Wasn't worth it to run a mower for less than TWO minutes.
Mom later had a older fellow come by and use his electric mower.
Yeah, it's kinda hard to have ANY type of lawn in a row house.
But here is the Heartland...it's foliage all over.
And in some areas of the ghettohood, it's as overgrown as a back woods location.
Now, you have to remember that the city WILL (are supposed to) cite you if YOUR lawn is over 9 inches in height...BUT won't do anything if the place looks like a back set for RAMAR OF THE JUNGLE!
At least I don't see them do anything about it.
What tends to get me miffed (along with the OTHER 7,458 things this part of town is notorious for) is the fact that you take the time to go out, select plants, and then stick them in the ground, tend to them to make them grow, add mulch, fertilizer, and water as required...
And cannot spend any quality time outside to enjoy them, because of all the damn noise from everyone else living around you!
With a row house, you didn't pull ANY of the sh*t these mooks pull, because it wasn't RESPECTFUL.
People USED to know what the hell was meant by acting in a CIVIL manner.
And the police rarely if ever had to show up, other than performing the usual street patrols (yeah, we actually HAD THOSE in Philly...amazing , huh?).
Cripes, now (living down here) if you aren't calling the po-po at LEAST twice a month, every month, on some idiot nearby with a short-term memory problem, you''re either deaf, dumb and blind...or dead...or worse...apathetic as the day is long.
Now, what makes what WE do any "worse" than what these morons do?
Short answer: Not one damn thing.
WE are doing what RESPONSIBLE home OWNERS do...be good citizens, take care of the property, and try to make it look nice.
Is THAT such a crime around here?
Apparently, it must be.
I think back to Grandma's house in the Rhawnhurst section of Philly ( now filled with immigrants that speak everything BUT English, and is starting to look like a 3rd world nation - damn shame, too), and how not only she, but all the other neighbors used to keep THEIR places looking...
That neighborhood looked like a centerfold picture for Better Homes And Gardens...in a word, IMMACULATE.
Always well tended to, no litter strewn anywhere (not even cigarette butts, and that's when everyone smoked), no honking cars or screaming children. Not even any barking dogs to keep one awake (and many did have dogs...they just knew how to raise them properly - the same way they raised their children). Powered lawn mowers could be counted on ONE hand, due to the fact that many people still used the old PUSH-MOWERS (as did the kids that came by to mow lawns for the elderly).
And this was nothing new to ANY neighborhood where people worked together to make it a great place to grow up, grow old, or to begin a new life.
It was just that people gave a lot more DAMN than many do today.
Interesting thing about all this...NONE of it was ever "government-sponsored"...everyone did FOR THEMSELVES, because that's how their parents did it, and it denoted a sense of pride in what you were permitted to own (through YOUR hard work and savings).
People ENJOYED having a nice place to come home to after working all day, and I think many of us still feel that way.
It's when people feel they have all these "rights" to everything for no other reason than that they draw a breath on this planet that bugs the hell outta me. There are never any guarantees in life, save for taxes and death (and the color you were born as dad would always remind me).
You make your OWN way in life, and by doing so, never have to kiss another's ass in gratitude (that was what my Mom said, and she came from upstate around a farm...talk about strong ethical ties).
Nowadays, it's all about WHAT you can get for free (which is never free, because someone else has to pay), how MUCH of that you can get, and HOW SOON you can have it brought to your doorstep.
That is hardly what the American Spirit is about, and certainly such a mindset would have NEVER created this nation to begin with.
I've belabored the real points about POVERTY, RACE, HUMAN NATURE, BEHAVIOR, RESPONSIBILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY, SACRIFICE, along with many other traits of mankind, and I intend to KEEP on doing so, because if we forget these things, we are lost as a people.
When we supplant control by government over self-control, we will stop being individuals.
When we allow aberrant behavior to inculcate the minds of our youth, we give up our future.
When we permit what was once taboo to become standard fare, we denounce our humanity.
When we place self-esteem and ego over the acquisition of knowledge reason, and wisdom, we lose the evolutionary race.
So, as we can plainly see, we, as a race, are barely out of the gate (same can be said for US, as a nation).
We have so very MUCH to lose, if we're not careful, and so very much (more) to gain, if we're paying attention.
And yes, it's amazing the things that can speak to you from simple things like a garden...or a songbird...or just a sense of being.
Do have yourselves a fantastic weekend.
Be well, make a difference to someone today, and as always...
Stay SAFE out there, America.