Monday Musings...

Well, it's the beginning of the week, AND the end of the month...pretty decent way to get things started, hmm?

Had some rain today, and we can use some, so no complaints there...

The garden is slowly coming alive again, and we get to see what survived the winter and what "new" items are going to grace us.

The columbines are interesting, because their seeds are smaller than poppy seeds, and tend to spread about nicely and reseed next year.

And we've already seen some of those small white cabbage butterflies around.
What amazes me, is that with little and sometimes NO help, garden plants will take care of themselves.
It's not that such plants RELY on Wifey and I to assist them through their lives, and yet we do intervene from time to time, weeding the areas, providing water in dry spells, and adding fertilizer when required...but other than that, we're not "taking them by the leaf" through life.
I think you're following this analogy I'm talking about.
*** We (mankind) are so much more "evolved" than the plant species (I'm not including some locals for various reasons here...lol), and yet we will go to great lengths to choose to be "taken care of" in life, and our government is only TOO helpful in that regard...but everything in life DOES have it's price.
Now back in the garden, the price WE outlay for items that keep the garden looking nice are very small in comparison to the "rewards" we receive.
The PAYBACK is worth it.

With people, we don't see that much payback for ALL the money that's been tossed at all the various programs which were initially designed to help, but winds up hindering in other ways and costing more than intended.
Funny thing, when a lot more of us were a lot more self-reliant, we managed to do okay.
Whenever we depended upon our OWN selves, we got whatever job done that needed it.
American history is filled with such accounts of people great and small that have followed such principles.
And, there is also a nice "side-effect" to being self-reliant...it places us in a much better position to help ONE ANOTHER.
Again, history is replete with those examples as well.
But those were days when government knew it's place, which was not in the individual lives of it's citizens.
Our government (then) was concerned more with such things as THESE:

-- Forming a more perfect UNION.

-- Establishing JUSTICE (for all, BTW).
-- Insuring DOMESTIC tranquility.
-- Providing for the common DEFENSE.
-- Promoting the GENERAL welfare (and not a welfare-state)
-- Securing the BLESSINGS of LIBERTY to OURSELVES and our POSTERITY.
Now, if all this sounds just a wee bit familiar...it SHOULD.
It's most of the PREAMBLE to our very own CONSTITUTION.
You can plainly see WHERE the governmental intentions USED to be, and you can also note that much of this can be said to religious undertones (specially the "blessings" part).
This fledgling nation has been evolving since those words were put to parchment, but has it been following the tenets of those words, and if so, to what degree or end?
Like a small child in an unfamiliar area, we've seemed to have lost our way.

We've lost that "self-reliance" I mentioned earlier, and supplanted it with (obscenely expensive) governmental intrusion through over-regulations, insipid laws, morbidly-outlandish proposals, and insanely out-of-control spending.

I'm sorry, but if a person (or persons) were to manage a business or a family in such a manner...neither would exist, and in a very short time.
It's often been said that you can certainly spend your way INTO debt, but you can never spend your way OUT of debt.
Careful management of funds, resources, and savings is what makes a successful business, household, garden...or government.
And these days, we're just not seeing too much of that...are we?
Now, in our garden, I consider every plant we've put in the ground an ASSET...it's in the "plus column". (remember THAT from last week?)
Weeds and other invasive plants (along with some bugs) are a LIABILITY...follow me so far?
Debt is also a liability when held for a long-term basis (with no way of reasonably being able to pay it off), but can be an asset in the short-term (when paid off timely it can actually help with credit ratings).

People have allowed THIS nation to become a debtor nation, and with no foreseeable way of paying it down to the extent where it's able to eventually be PAID OFF... that's not a really good thing.
It's like the weeds have taken over the garden, and have grown 10 feet tall...( talk about a "Little Shop Of Horrors"...)LOL.
Ain't gonna be able to take THOSE buggers down with that electric string-trimmer...are you?
Gonna need to do some SERIOUS defoliating...
Same needs to be said with today's economy, and basically our overall outlook.
We need for the government to get back to governing...the COUNTRY, and not our lives.

And WE need to get back a lot of that good old self-reliance we USED to have...what our parents and grandparents had.
That managed to see them through some VERY rough times, otherwise none of us would even BE here, right?
Like so many things in life, it does boil down to the BASICS.
You build upon THOSE things, and the rest will come together.
But, if you forego such things, and decide otherwise, you are just ASKING for disaster.
And none of us likes to have that happen...
Life is not meant to be easy, but WE can iron out a lot of the rough spots, if we so choose.
We can lessen the bumps we'll encounter, and still come out the other side only wiser for it.
We CAN develop, nurture and encourage the American Spirit...the way we used to do.

Yeah, it's amazing how life can teach you things...when you're up your elbows in dirt, manure and seedlings.

And the best part, is that the "instruction" only costs you the time to think on it...

Have a fantastic week.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...

Stay SAFE out there, America.