I am a day or so late in getting this out, but know my wishes are genuine and loving.
I sincerely hope you had a Joyous Easter, a Happy Passover and a Blessed Ramadan.
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Our thanks go out to the doctors and nurses who are working long hours and days to help people who have contracted this disease. They are to be thanked and honored for their efforts. It is good to be home in Golden Valley, Minnesota. We sincerely hope this finds you free of the COVID-19 virus. Phil and I are safe in our home. Lots of controversial information abounds about the virus. Will we ever know the truth?
Nature in not impacted by the virus. The trees here in Minnesota will soon have new green leaves, the robins are searching for worms and will soon be building their nests, the tulips are 6 inches high in my flower bed and in a few weeks, the lilacs will fill the air with their fragrance. Maybe the virus is nature’s way of saying we should slow down and listen to the heartbeat of the earth. That we should drive less, move slower, plant more gardens, and be kinder to one another. I think that is a very good plan. What do you think?
Saying Goodbye to Florida
We left Florida about 6 weeks early to be sure we could get home not knowing what the trip would bring. We loaded the Suburban one day and the next morning, when we added the last minute items, the lift-gate would not stay open. That thing is heavy!! And then the truck would not start….had to be jumped. We worried that it would not start each time we needed to shut it off while on the road home, but it did not fail us. It started every time.
Weather coming home was good until we hit the southern Illinois border. There we were met with fog and rain so heavy one could hardly see the highway. A couple of semis were overturned in the median and a car or two upside down off the road. The road spray from the semis made driving difficult. It rained like this all the way through Illinois and into Wisconsin. That was more than 400 miles of driving rain. After crossing into Wisconsin, there was a 2-car accident so we decided it was time to get off the road. We found a motel close by. In the morning we stopped for groceries in Eau Claire and then easily made the last stretch to home.
Government Spending
Something to really think about as it pertains to Government Spending in our current economy. The 2.2 Trillion Dollar Stimulus package equals over $7,000.00, per person for every Man, Woman, & Child in the United States., which means every American is taking on $7,000.00 of debt. For a short period of time in our current situation, something needs to be done. The problem is that the Government does not have this money. They are spending money we do not have, so they need to print more. Printing large amounts of money will cause the dollar to loose value This will cause runaway inflation. It will hurt everyone but will be particularly devastating for people on a fixed income like seniors and those getting a pension or social security. How would you feel about spending $20.00, for a loaf of bread? If printing large amounts of money worked, it would have made Germany after WW-1, under The Weimar Republic, a wealthy country. Instead it created poverty. The currency could buy nothing. and people were actually using the currency as Wall Paper. The poor economic situation helped put the Nazi Party in power and led to WW-2. Venezuela, which at one time was one of the wealthiest countries per ca-pita in the world, destroyed their economy by printing too much money. Continuing to print large sums of money will cause people to loose their jobs. The jobs will just go away. Some people who are now unemployed and getting State Unemployment Insurance are additionally getting a Federal Subsidy. They are making more money under these programs than they would if they were working. Why would they want to go back to work? I do not know the answer to this problem, but businesses need to re open, and people need to go back to work. OUR GOVERNMENT CANNOT SPEND THEIR WAY TO PROSPERITY BY SPENDING MONEY THEY DO NOT HAVE.
A challenge for you…..Listen to Mark Levin on Sunday nights 7:00 PM CST on Fox News. The program is called Life, Liberty and Levin. Listen and then make up your mind about conditions here in the U.S. Levin has very interesting guests and interesting subjects. I challenge you to watch this program and then let me know what you think. Read what Milton Friedman (one of the worlds foremost economist) has said about inflation. I love his quote about inflation….”If you put the Government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there will be a shortage of sand.”
I am not a Democrat or a Republican. I am a Registered Independent. I have voted both Democratic and Republican over my voting years. I am concerned about our political environment and the absence of common sense in the thinking of many of our citizens.
WHAT IS LOVE
The action and words of this young 8-year old boy touched me.
“An elderly neighborhood man had just lost his wife of many years. As he sat on a chair in his yard looking at the flowers she so loved, he cried. The little boy next door walked over and climbed up on his lap. He just sat there for a long time. When he came back home, his mother asked him what he had said to the man and the little boy replied, “Nothing, I just cried with him.” (Kleenex time)
Garden Started
I planted 2 rows of radishes and 2 rows of peas (with a trellis to climb on) a couple of days ago. If may seem early to you, but they are tough and can easily stand a bit of frost. The seeds will stay in the ground until the soil warms a bit more, then they will peek out dressed in spring green. After the weather here in Minnesota warms up more, I will plant green and yellow string beans, beets, dwarf kale and carrots. Then the red potatoes will go in my flower bed by the deck steps.
If you have a yard, turn up a circle of sod and plant a pepper plant. Or put it in with your flowers. They make good neighbors.
Note about Kale. My experience in buying kale in the grocery store is that it is bitter and tough. The kale I have received from my brother-in-law, grown on his farm near Montgomery, MN, is wonderful – sweet and tender. I eat is “by the leaf.” It is that good. So I have now planted the same seeds from Ferry-Morse Gardening.
Would you like to come for dinner?
Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Tho’ an old man, I be but a young gardener.”
Have you ever seen a horse like this? They exist. This beautiful horse was originally bred as a sturdy caravan-pulling horse by the Gypsy (“Traveler”) people of Great Britain/Ireland. It remained obscure and undocumented until 1995 when Dennis and Cindy Thompson caught sight of one on a trip to England. Fascinated they stopped to ask the farmer about the horse. He said a Traveler owned the horse and that he had a hidden band of mares that looked just like this horse. After going to the Traveler’s camp, they found that he was willing to sell the stallion (above), but he was in a breeding plan so they could not have the horse for a year. The Thompson’s eventually bought 16 Gypsy Vanner Horses and established the world’s first registry for the breed. Today there are recognized chapters in New Zealand, Argentina, Columbia and Canada….over 7000 registered around the world. There is a farm in Florida on which these horses are stabled so if Phil and I go to Florida next winter, it would be a nice road trip to go see these gorgeous animals. Check out the history of the horses and the Travelers. You will learn more about these Gypsy people.
SOME OF MY BLOG READERS HAVE ASKED ABOUT MY ARTWORK DONE IN FLORIDA. HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS I HAVE DONE.
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.”
Meg Cabot, American Author
SPRING
I keep a collection of things I like – pictures, poems, writings, etc. – and I like this one about spring. It did not have an author, but was titled Spring in Martinsville, New Jersey. Maybe some of you know that town. Here it is:
“When I was a girl, spring never came until the Van Middlesworth brothers rumbled their team and wagon up Chimney Rock Road. King and Barney kept their pace. I’d wait to hear them wagoning up our lane familiar over dirt and stone. They knew the place – the vegetable garden and between the Concord grapes. Evenly they plowed through morning – carved up the heavy rug of grass and curled it over in diagonals and straights. Like toothpaste squeezed to chocolate. I saw red wing blackbirds flash their folded signals. Lilacs came unsheathed and shed their rain.”
“Two old horses and two old men had dug up spring again.”
(Digging up spring………I love that.)
Fiction Story: The Plum Tree. The Plum Tree follows a young German woman through the chaos of World War II and its aftermath. “Bloom where you’re planted,” is the advice Christine receives from her beloved Oma. But 17-year-old Christine knows there is a whole world waiting beyond her small German village. It’s a world she’s begun to glimpse through music and books. Ellen Marie Wiseman (the author) boldly explores the complexities of the Holocaust. It is at times painful, but it is also a satisfying love story set against the backdrop of one of the most difficult times in human history. (It is on my list to read.)
Non-Fiction Book: Gabby. I have not yet read this book, but it is a true story of a woman, Barby, who gives animals a second chance. Gabby came to her frightened, afraid of barking, playing or going outside. Barby slowly begins to teach Gabby how to be a dog and unlocks the happy spirit locked inside her. Barby faces her own battle with cancer and it is the story of how the two of them help each other survive.
Phil and I wish you a happy, warm Spring filled with joyous family time, good friends, beautiful flowers, sweet fragrances, soft rain, the music of birds, warm winds and an abundance of sunshine. Hopefully, we will be virus-free soon and can enjoy America in peace and love.
Plant a garden no matter how small.
God bless America and all who live in our world.
Anne & Phil in Minnesota