Tiptoeing through the showers

As usual, it seems like I was able to accomplish quite a bit yesterday, but not enough.  The potatoes and most of the tomatoes are in and I was able to plant some basil (in cold frames), carrots and spinach.  The showers re-appeared by 4:30, so that was the end of gardening for the day.  The forecast is for more of the same today.  I need to resist the temptation to transplant the summer squash until Monday, since temps here on the NCR are going to range from low 40s to low 50s for highs over the next few days.  The Memorial Day festivities in the North Country will be conducted in jackets and sweatshirts.  I promise to remember the brave men and women who have given their service and in many cases their lives for America.  I will also contemplate the economic and physical empire which has necessitated the sacrifices asked of a credulous population which has in many cases internalized the propaganda put out by the state.   Too often we allow the waving of the flag and cries of "American exceptionalism" to blind us to the naked aggression our country's policymakers and their corporate sponsors use to bully the rest of the world.  I would hope an increasingly educated population sees the bloated defense budget for what it really is, the means to intimidate and control our global neighbors.  To conflate our servicepeoples' sacrifices with the foreign policy which causes that loss of life and limb is a shameful example of what empires throughout history have done to their citizens.  I will remember the nobility of the former and I will not forget the perfidy of the latter.