Right now at 6:25am it's 72F with 62% humidity yet no rain is in sight until Sunday, when the elusive monsoon will return for another week. Meanwhile I'm watering parts of the vegetable garden every day. Even the Bermuda grass and weeds are dying in this oppressive heat.
Even I don't like this hot-dry weather, not in July when we should be dancing in the rain and cool monsoonal breeze. Tomatoes and green peppers thrive in warm humidity, not in hot aridity.
I had thought about taking the dogs up Sage peak today, a two-hour drive into the Chiricahuas, but opted not to when Kevin suggested going out tonight in town. Instead, I will do more gardening in the morning before it gets too hot.
Yesterday I did the same thing, except I stopped gardening by noon and then got Reina ready for her vet visit in Bisbee. That took two hours as she panted in stress over her blood tests. The medication to control her thyroid is working, but her blood count is still high. She will be on thyroid medication for the rest of her life, at $1 a day. She's worth it.
"That girl has spunk!" said the vet when she took Reina's blood. I could hear Reina scream in pain in the labratory behind the curtain. As small as she is she takes on the 75-pound dogs with a vengeance; the dogs respectfully give her a wide berth. Ah yes, the power of claws and wet hisses!
I will always enjoy the drive into Bisbee, skirting the international border and wondering "what's on the other side" but it was a hot drive across parched desert landscape. The Sonoran mountains lingered in a sandy haze this time.
The USBP has been active in this area, and I am getting used to the increased surveillance here. I no longer squirm at the sight of a convoy of USBP vans and trucks racing past me, or hidden USBP SUVs in the mesquite trees tracking human movement travel from the border north.
This heat, though has killed a few illegals in the week I have been home. It's sad to see the end of life end so traumatically for many of these people, dumped along the side of little-used roads for the USBP to pick them up. A refrigerated truck filled with 97 illegals from Guatemala and Mexico was picked up yesterday outside of Nogales. Those people, albeit freezing in 34F, were lucky they were found alive. The few times I've driven into town I've come across USBP vans in the middle of apprehending groups of illegals in dark clothing, huddling at the side of the road and obediently asking questions of the agents.
Yesteday, though, Kevin and I did not talk about the illegals coming in increased droves through our region. Yesterday, over beer and appetizers in town, we chatted over trivial stuff, like the over-hyped "beer summit" Obama had yesterday with a black Harvard professor and the white Cambridge cop who falsely arrested him for breaking into his own front door after returning from a trip to China and finding his door jammed.
A neighbor who was walking by at the moment called in a suspect burglar, not knowing what was going on. (Better safe than sorry!). What ensued between the prof and the cop appears to be a cop who followed district procedure and a resident who lost his cool when he was arrested for trying to enter his own home. I can't blame the prof for losing his cool; who would want to be arrested for trying to get into their own home?! The cop should have apologized to the prof, ignored the "disorderly conduct" of the prof as he was placed into hand cuffs. (Don't cops get sensitivity training these days?) The media grabbed this story ad nauseum to the point of Obama refering to the Cambridge police department as "Acting stupidly" which of course then was broadcasted 24/7. And naturally the right-wing media is making this headlines news. According to the alcoholic-ranting political pundit Glenn Beck, Obama is now a racist.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32197648/ns/politics-more_politics/
Both the professor and the Cambridge cop are decent people who were thrusted into this media limelight. Both men had reasons for their actions, actions that should have ended in an apology from both men at the time of the incident. The cop should have apologized for arresting the prof, the prof should have apologized for losing his cool. End of discussion. Instead, this has turned into a racially-charged Ueberincident.
Having had enough media attention on all three over an issue that really should not have been an issue, the president invited both prof and cop to the White House to discuss this topic over beer: Sam Adams Light for the prof, Blue Moon for the cop (good choice!) and Bud Light for Obama.
Bud Light for Obama?! I would have expected the President of the United States to have better taste than that, like perhaps Chicago's own Goose Island Ale.
"Guess what kind of beer Obama drinks?" I asked Kevin as I took a sip of my Blue Moon Belgian White.
"Bud Light!" How did Kevin know this? Had he spent time at work reading this news on-line? "Good choice!" he added.
"Obama lost points from me when I learned he drinks Bud Light." But seriously, a cop who drinks Blue Moon can't be a racist, as some rednecks want to blame him for being.
I held Kevin's pint glass againt the light. "Do you know what this looks like? Diluted urine!"
"And you know what your beer looks like?" Kevin retorted. "Your beer looks like urine that has been sitting in the toilet for a few days." OK, granted, it does, but damn, does it taste good!
Whatever. I really wish the White House and the beer-swiveling right wing commentators would focus more on the increased violence in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. The situations there can only get worse before this year is over. Or, better yet, come up with a workable solution for these illegal immigrants and the immigration policy that does not include amnesty.
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http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/31/news/doc4a72951dcff1e337960863.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/31/news/doc4a728f5ebcb9b888368347.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/30/news/doc4a6ff98355ebc970267361.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/29/news/doc4a6fe6c0a60d1587330050.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/25/news/doc4a6ab0bfaab56691216954.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/24/news/doc4a69610965046035442791.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/26/news/state/doc4a6c0ca0e5b75841598073.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/22/news/doc4a66aec47c5d1991812808.txt
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