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Monday, October 30, 2017

Urban slang

         
The news is almost worth keeping up with, again. I’ve acquired new urban slang since Robert Mueller stepped up his investigation. “Mueller flipped a Trump campaign advisor.” My instinct was along the lines of ‘ratted him out’ to Trump’s camp. That’s how long I’ve known slang. Now that we’re all talking at cross purposes, no! Muller recruited George Papadopoulos! Not straight from National Security meetings, but just a few months out.

Clinton ties to the Committee on Foreign Investment approval of the Canadian/Russian uranium sale are debunked. No member owned stock in the company; the member who did own stock sold it years before the sale was proposed; Hillary Clinton did not sit on the committee and the committee approved the deal. Slate Magazine concludes its reporting with a mic drop.

Closer to home, Jen Hoffman, who gave us a good path to follow after the Women’s March, with her weekly list of hot spots, who to target with phone calls, and why, says in the current Americans of Conscience, we must take stock of what we’ve learned this year and assess for changes, adapt new strategies or ramp up old strategies. In Ohio, it’s imperative to return Sherrod Brown. Portman’s real challenger is still not known. It will be interesting, next year.

Back at my own kitchen table, I told Laura we needed some serious list revision. She and Kay devoted two entire days last weekend to hiking four of the eight MetroPark trails needed to earn a staff and a shield. The eight trails the trailblazers intended to knock off in two days have realistically become four days of stiff marching. According to Laura, it’s not the hike, it’s the hour’s travel to and from. She’s right about that, but it doesn’t empty the rain barrel.

So, we have scheduled draining the rain barrel for Thursday in sixty degrees in the rain. I have the last few weeds on the schedule, too. We have raincoats.


Red roof, red pear tree leaves, red mandevillas. Green shutters on yellow siding. Wet, wet rain.


23 comments:

  1. The scene looks beautiful, Joanne.

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  2. Emptying the rain barrel in the rain. There's a poem in there somewhere.

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  3. Hey, we just got rid of our "rain barrels" this past weekend, too. Well, ours are more like very big buckets, but they are now dry and stored away. It's only a matter of time until it all freezes up. We had hail today!! -Jenn

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  4. "draining the rain barrel" sounds like political slang

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    1. I thought it was a good metaphor to think about, in closing. If we take the lid off the empty rain barrel, there is a lot of muck and goo in the bottom. Just from all that good, clear rain. Snort, snort.

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  5. Oh, I forgot about the rain barrels. Another task to add to my list.

    I had a few feelings today as I heard the news. Yes, I see hope that we may have a change of government in the executive branch, I fear the replacement if there is one, and how sad and frightening that all this has happened in our country. Most of all, I wonder what will become of us. These are not good days.

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  6. Love your final image.
    Watching the news in hope. And in despair.

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  7. Maybe it won't rain? I'm not familiar enough with rain barrels though realize one must be emptied before the cold weather and ice and frost and snow descend on your area?

    betty

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  8. Hari OM
    I'm going to shut down on the politics today and simply concentrate on that lovely image of things looking lush from the wetness... YAM xx

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  9. I don't understand the political bits, but your garden is nice. How do you empty the rain barrel? Do you just tip it over sot he water runs out on to the garden?

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    1. To empty, just open the valve handle and let it drain. But, we don't want fifty gallons of water emptying in one place, so we have a host that will go to the street and run the water down to the sewer. Then we leave the valve handle open all winter, and any water that does get in goes back out. Easy peasy.

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  10. I googled "rain barrel" because we don't have them here,and a new world opened to me:).

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    1. Free water, Yael. Doesn't run through a meter and come on a bill to pay.

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  11. I was so happy to hear about something happening with the Mueller investigation. I need to read the Clinton article, though. I read another article (Fox news) that basically said the exact opposite of everything you just said and I can understand why there's so much strife. If you stay on one side of the fence it all seems so obvious you can't understand why the other side doesn't get it. But you know, at the end of the day, I feel like where there's smoke there's fire and there is a lot of smoke surrounding Trump.

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    1. An article in Slate of the PBS (?) interview with the Fox reporter, debunking her interview by showing Hillary Clinton was not on the committee, could not vote and had no need to influence anyone because no member of the committee owned stock. Mic drop.

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  12. The rain sure extended a long way from the coast. We got a drenching too.

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  13. It has been an interesting few days for news. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

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  14. A wide-ranging post if ever there was one! And all of interesting things. I was wondering how you empty the rain barrels, too, but I see River asked first and I read your answer, so now I know.

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  15. I've heard "flipped" before--as in getting someone to switch sides and therefore turn against the previous cohorts.

    Love,
    Janie

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  16. my list is constantly revised these days. fall chores are near the bottom. mueller creeps closer and the republican congress conspire to give millionaires and billionaires millions in tax reform while the middle classers get $36.

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  17. The mic drop reference made me smile.

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  18. I need to get outside and do some things before it is too cold!!

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