July 1, 2020
Liz Writes Life
Celebrate
I love my country. I genuinely
appreciate the freedoms and liberties I enjoy under the U.S. Constitution. I am
grateful for the Bill of Rights and admit that I have questioned some recent
government demands on what are considered “rights” during this pandemic; and
now the terrifying violence from riotous anti-government and cancel-culture
protests. Yes, it is a conundrum of thoughts I am feeling.
So, I was very grateful when a
federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in favor of religion, last week.
It is sort of complicated, but two Catholic priests and three Orthodox Jewish
congregants filed a suit in Northern Dist. Court of New York after mass
protests and looting occurred in New York. You see, the New York Governor and
NYC Mayor allowed the rioting that included encroaching on social distancing,
while still in covid-19 virus pandemic lockdown. This was after lawful
religious services and government-implemented Phase 2 (reduced size) worship
gatherings were halted by those same elected officials.
The hypocrisy was evident and
flagrant. This was a good decision to protect our religious and individual
rights. These men were brave and religiously dedicated to file the lawsuit and
I thank them. Yes, I appreciate being able to worship God. I also believe that
the same rules are meant for everyone, whether in protest mode or worship mode.
And, if for no other reason, the
violence, riots and destruction should be stopped, because of the social
distancing lawlessness regarding rules of this pandemic. (Let alone, the
devastation to the innocent business store owners and employees, car and home
owners, government offices and monuments – is not right. Destruction of
property is criminal!)
Even with all this heightened and
anti-establishment organized unrest, I still believe in the United States of
America. The vast majority of us believe we are all created equal and
appreciate our ethnicity, colors, cultures and diversities. America is, after
all, a melting pot from the entire world.
I pray to God for our deliverance
from the evils that would destroy the liberties and freedoms of our nation.
Please join me this Saturday, to
celebrate our original independence from oppression on July 4th. Let
us proudly fly the United States flag, reaffirm our belief in our National Anthem
and recite the Pledge of Allegiance – earnestly praying and hoping and working
towards “justice for all.”
Garden
Monday morning saw temperatures 15
degrees cooler, dipping to 45 degrees by 6 a.m., compared to just a few days
ago. Had to put on a jacket! It was a great relief from the heat wave and warm
nights. Whew! But, the plants liked the heat and have grown by leaps and
bounds.
Early summer flowers are starting to
bloom like the volunteer feverfews’ small daisy-like flowers – the ones I
didn’t get pulled-out. What I call wild daisy is also blooming and I weeded a
lot of them out, too. The tall lambs’ ears are sporting their inch-wide magenta
flowers mixed-in with the orange California poppies that are struggling to
continue blooming in front of the fence and a flowerbed.
The ever-dependable old-fashioned
orange day lilies are in full-swing and the sweet William and snapdragons are
still showy in a variety of colors. The larger Shasta daisies just started
opening-up and the six portulaca that I planted around the bee balm really
liked last week’s heat and are blooming. They don’t need a lot of water, so I
just squirt them a bit each morning.
In the garden, the four-foot-tall bee
balm is boasting its red-fluted crowns and smells wonderful. I have also let
hollyhocks grow in the garden and pink flowers are starting at the bottom of
the stalks. The blooms move up the stalk during July and August. There is also
a red hollyhock that opened a few big bells.
A friend emailed me about possible
problems with using lawn clippings for mulch – after she mentioned it does
deteriorate into great soil. I appreciated the info. She said that too much
irrigation or rain can make the bottom side of the clippings go slimy. Good to
know. Luckily, I don’t overhead irrigate. Also, the clippings from last year
had reduced down to barely an inch thick and Callahan didn’t get enough snow or
rain to make them slimy. But, I can sure see how it could be a problem if I
left the clippings four or five inches thick in the fall and we had a wet
winter.
She also said that earwigs will
sometimes get in the lawn clippings.
Because it is so dry and full-on
sunshine here, I haven’t had problems with them. Sure did in other places that
we lived. A trick for getting rid of the earwigs is to use a low-rimmed bowl
and drill 3/8 inch holes on the upper sides and pour some vegetable oil and soy
sauce in the bottom. The mixture and the holes for them to have to crawl back
through make a great trap for these pesky plant eaters, she said.
This friend also mentioned that her
corn is already knee-high and it isn’t even the 4th of July,
yet, which is the old saying that our corn needs to be knee-high by the 4th of
July – in case we have an early September freeze. I have experienced an Aug. 25th and
26th freeze back in the early 1990s, but I grew 65-day corn and
we had already eaten it!
My friend also said she is eating
ground cherries. I had to look ‘em up on the web and found they are like a
tomatillo, but smaller, on shorter plants and sweeter. I had never heard of
them. Guess they make a great salsa.
Enjoy your week and Happy Birthday to
the USA!
Liz Bowen began writing ranch and
farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County
and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at:
lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.
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