Goodfellows52: A vote to end stupidity and allowing common sense ...

Goodfellows52: A vote to end stupidity and allowing common sense ...: "He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career."                                 ...

A vote to end stupidity and allowing common sense to prevail

"He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career."

                                        George Bernard Shaw 

AUBURN, Maine — Frustrated citizens let us stand and give the United States Congress  a rousing round of applause for cleaning up their self-inflicted mess that made the United States appear like a house of cards and the laughing stock of the world. 

Federal workers are back on the job and national parks and monuments are open for business, but that doesn't mean there are no hard feelings between the public and its leaders.

It took over two weeks for our unreliable leaders to figure out that shutting down a government and dragging their heels on raising the debt ceiling wasn't good politics. This debacle was brought to you by a group of self-righteous fools who ended up drawing the ire of their fed-up constituents.

Let's hope citizens who do vote will channel their resentment and disgust at the polls when they cast their ballots.

Never forget that these class clowns made a mockery of our government and shut down a nation in a fruitless and reckless attempt to defund Obamacare that, by the way, was upheld by the Supreme Court.

Of course, there were a few congressmen with the horse sense to put an end to rampant stupidity that was precipitated by a rogue element from within the Republican Party.  You have to hand it to Tea Party members for bringing down the House and Senate with their warped convictions.

But American citizens weren't the only ones shaking their heads. This fruitless attempt to dump Obamacare and refusing to raise the debt ceiling triggered world-wide condemnations from Germany, China and France.

I was proud to see President Obama wouldn't budge on the issue and I cheered when the Tea Party was slapped back and received its comeuppance. 

Sure, congress and the president kicked our budget dilemma down the road and a sequel is already in production and will hit the big screens in February if our leaders can't find common ground and come to a reasonable decision.

That's where you come in — the American voter.   So please don't forget the "Hole in the Wall" gang at the polls because this rogue element doesn't care about its citizens or the harm these out-of-touch men have done to a great country's reputation, character and determination.

Goodfellows52: Feet of clay on Capitol Hill

Goodfellows52: Feet of clay on Capitol Hill: "He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career."                                ...

Feet of clay on Capitol Hill

"He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career."

                                                                                                                          George Bernard Shaw

AUBURN, Maine — If you couldn't come up with a definitive answer to Congress's buffoonery this past week, request a brain scan from your family physician to explain why you are oblivious to a shutdown that is paralyzing a nation still suffering from a wobbling economy.

For those of you who live under a rock or are inebriates shaking off a yearlong hangover, thousands of federal employees are not getting paid and have swelled the ranks of the unemployed.

According to NBC.com, the feds are losing $12 million an hour. That adds up to $300 million a day or $1.6 billion a week.

A conservative friend of mine just snickers at the entire debacle and believes the shutdown will lower the deficit. It won't take you long to figure which corner he is in when it comes to politics. It was a smart-ass remark — especially when people are unemployed. The deficit will continue to grow because Congress, for some absurd reason, is still collecting a check.

The answer is clear. The 535 guys and gals who work for you on Capitol Hill have taken a long nap as America slides in into a sea of despair and disrepair.

This Congress is like the whining kid who walks off with his football because he is frustrated with the outcome of a game.

The Tea Party has sabotaged its own party and Boehner is left holding the bag as panicking moderates can't get it together to put an end to a stalemate that should have never occurred.

There are numerous issues that need to be addressed in this nation, but throwing a money wrench into the federal budget is not sound decision making.

I also believe the Obama administration has done a poor job explaining the new health care plan, but that doesn't excuse Congress's efforts to undermine it.

I will make it clear again — it is the law. How hard is that for the GOP to figure that out.

The U.S. government should not be used a ransom note because a group of Republicans are simply unhappy. You have to wonder how many lobbyists are lining members of Congress's pockets with silver and gold in effort to shelve the president's policy.

The Tea Party should go back to drinking coffee. These guys are only good for a good laugh.

What I find outrageous, and I am surprised a majority of our citizens haven't felt the same, is these inept leaders are members of of this government, and they have no problem condemning it as evil and immoral. These so-called leaders have made a career out of finger-pointing and creating fear and animosity, which I think has weakened our nation and has become fodder for late-night comedians who are delivering punch lines at the expense of this nation's leaders.

I know there is a painful price to pay in politics when any leader takes a stand. But if a politician doesn't take stand at some point, then he is just another leader who just goes with the flow, and we seem to be electing a lot this sort lately. 

Americans continue to scrape the bottom of the barrow when they vote, and this is what you get on the floor of Congress.

We should all be appalled and ashamed our leaders. I know I am. Remember this pathetic episode in American politics when you vote!

Goodfellows52: Shut it down, Mr. President

Goodfellows52: Shut it down, Mr. President: "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself."                               ...

Shut it down, Mr. President

"Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself."

                                                                                                                                 Mark Twain

AUBURN, Maine — For those of you who are laughing or sobbing uncontrollably at a Congress that doesn't work and play well with others, enjoy the show that never ends in American politics.

This cinematic production has all the melodrama of a film noir movie that has been playing at theaters ever since President Obama was elected. Congress has put on a quite spectacle that is probably equally amusing to the rest of the world, too. 

Sure, Congress's stupidity is certainly entertaining, but their inability to do something, anything, constructive has left us all out in the cold and wondering why this governing body is still collecting a check.

How can America can be taken seriously when our nation's leaders act like a bunch of toddlers in a sandbox?

I campaigned for the president and I am probably the GOP's worst nightmare — a displaced Massachusetts Democrat who lives in the Pine Tree State.

Believe it or not, I still believe in the value of political parties with different ideologies. Whether you are a Republican, Democrat or an independent, your voice is heard at polls. But when our leaders can't find common ground, compromise, and make appropriate decisions for the greater good, you have to ask yourself what the hell are they doing there on Hill.

Right now, the Republicans appear delusional. They are now holding our government hostage because they don't like Obamacare or the president. And the GOP is allowing the Tea Party (but what is really in the tea) to incite such insanity.

Fine! There is no love lost between the president or the GOP, but that doesn't mean unhappy Republicans are entitled to use the U.S. government as ransom to achieve their political agenda.

Mr. President, shut it down now! 

If the Republicans can't understand that their foolishness will trigger a serious round of unemployment and possibly a worldwide economic meltdown, then let the GOP live with their blunders.

It will cost them at the polls.

Sir, these guys  don't realize Obamacare is the law and was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

If Republicans are frightened by the president's healthcare plan, then run for office and try to repeal the law.

Good luck, though!

If the government does indeed close its doors thanks to John Boehner and his group of misguided chowder heads, Obamacare will begin on Oct. 1 anyway — because it is the law.

How can these guys call themselves lawmakers when they don't understand the law?

I think our national leaders have become great entertainers, but when the U.S. government closes up shop and Social Security checks aren't mailed, constituents won't find this sideshow amusing anymore.

Enough with this nonsense from political leaders who lack the common sense to know what it right!

Mr. President, just close it down!

Goodfellows52: Funeral for a friend

Goodfellows52: Funeral for a friend: Affirmation To grow old is to lose everything. Aging, everybody knows it. Even when we are young, we glimpse it sometimes, and nod o...

Funeral for a friend

Affirmation

To grow old is to lose everything.
Aging, everybody knows it.
Even when we are young,
we glimpse it sometimes, and nod our heads
when a grandfather dies.
Then we row for years on the midsummer
pond, ignorant and content. But a marriage,
that began without harm, scatters
into debris on the shore,
and a friend from school drops
cold on a rocky strand.
If a new love carries us
past middle age, our wife will die
at her strongest and most beautiful.
New women come and go. All go.
The pretty lover who announces
that she is temporary
is temporary. The bold woman,
middle-aged against our old age,
sinks under an anxiety she cannot withstand.
Another friend of decades estranges himself
in words that pollute thirty years.
Let us stifle under mud at the pond's edge
and affirm that it is fitting
and delicious to lose everything. 

Poet Donald Hall

Debra Ann Johnson's last visit to our home in June

PORTLAND, Maine — We buried a good friend and sister-in-law at Forrest City Cemetery on a Monday afternoon.

The clouds gave way to bright sunshine as a few mourners said kind words about Debra Ann Johnson. Dark skies returned as teary-eyed friends and family reluctantly left the cemetery to go on living without her. 

When somebody like Debra Ann Johnson passes, I feel shortchanged, even cheated. And please don't bother explaining the process of death, grief and the most overused and pathetic word when it comes to accepting death — closure. I will look the other way and ignore you. Closure doesn't exist. You just live with the pain that comes from loss. 

Being the last man standing in this fickle life really means experiencing the anguish of watching wonderful souls march into eternity, leaving you behind with memories and sadness. It can suddenly become an empty world when loved ones vanish over time.

Debra Ann stood up for me when I needed emotional support. And here I was standing beside her graveside to honor a mother who raised three fine sons and still found compassion and kindness to reach out to her sister, Terri.

I have only known Debra Ann for five years. It was a short friendship, but I know the bond will last a lifemine.

Debra Ann had a positive influence on our lives. She was a remarkable piece of nature's work because she found a way to move on despite her ups and downs. But Debra Ann was a woman of conviction and persevered no matter what life threw at her.

Her first priority was her family, and that is why I love and respect her. She kept it together for her family, and that says something about this woman who had the capacity to make her world a better place for her offspring.

Talk about courage.

My courage was waning as I waited for Terri to emerge in one piece from life-saving back surgery. Debbie and her family came to my rescue after making the long trip from Lincoln. They sat with me for hours in a waiting room to help me hold it together. Debra Ann had her own numerous responsibilities, but she put her life on hold for an entire day. She wanted to be at Terri's beside when she awoke. 

Sometimes, families drift away as the years roll along. Debbie Johnson brought us together, and our reunion continues to this day as I to meet the rest of Debra Ann's family.

Debra Ann Johnson, who was born Oct. 15, 1965 and died on Sept. 10, 2013, didn't receive medals or become a celebrity for making family her first priority in life. But she did have the love of a grateful family.

I won't say so long, Debra Ann. As far as we are concerned, you are alive and well in our hearts.

Goodfellows52: Autumn closes in on my garden

Goodfellows52: Autumn closes in on my garden: " A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches ent...

Autumn closes in on my garden

"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust."
Gertrude Jekyll 

AUBURN — You can't eat flowers, and that explains why I don't focus on planting roses or tulips.

But I went ahead and planted sun flowers, anyway.

This season, which got off to a rough start with 20 days of rain in June,  I tried growing sun flowers by seed. Two poked through the soil and survived to grow 10 feet.

The twin Russian giants tower over my garden as cars slow down and their occupants give me a thumbs up when they see sun flowers, putting smile on this proud Green Thumb's face.

Still, I concentrate on vegetable gardening simply because I enjoy consuming organic rabbit food, which is not tainted by deadly pesticides and fertilizers. I must confess that I use one pesticide, Garden 8, sparingly to ward off aphids and cucumber beetles. 

I enjoy toiling in the soil and watching thing grow.

I have rigged myself for silent running — just like a submarine does when it goes deep or is creeping up on an enemy. I shut off the damn TV, dream of taking a hammer to my annoying phone and pull the plug on your computer for 48 hours. I have discovered that there are plenty of hours in the day to get my hands dirty.

I save money, lose weight, and enjoy the fruits of my labor. I have built my own Shangri-la and enjoy getting down and dirty with nature and all its mystery.

Trust me on this.

Sure, I have been frustrated by the weather, bugs and other varmints that treat my garden like a buffet. But I am always surprised at the taste of my home-grown tomatoes and remain the envy of my good neighbors who are often on the receiving end of a bag of vegetables.

But the cool winds of September remind me that another garden is on its last leg and another summer is fading away.

Last year, an Auburn police cruiser was riding by the yard. He stopped and complimented me on my garden.

"Officer, you know your need is two fresh, prize-winning summer squash," I said.

"Are you kidding," the officer said.

I walked over and handed him the squash. I told him to dice them up, add olive oil, butter, bread crumbs and bundle the squash up in aluminum foil and throw the vegetables on the grill.

"No kidding," the officer said. "Thanks."

"Hey, it is always good to grease the police," I said.

We both laughed. I discovered that gardening is also a great way to build community relations with local law enforcement, too.

Goodfellows52: Never speak ill of the dead, and a stroll through ...

Goodfellows52: Never speak ill of the dead, and a stroll through ...: “Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”  ―  Franklin D....

Never speak ill of the dead, and a stroll through the Western Promenade

“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.” 

― Franklin D. Roosevelt

A view from above of Hadlock Field and the city of Portland. 

A tour of majestic homes that surround the Western Prom. 

 

Above-ground crypts and tombstones of American veterans.

This where it all started for my son — Maine Medical Center. 

PORTLAND — Anyone with a fat wallet can travel around the globe to visit historic landmarks that fill the pages of history books, but if you look hard enough, there are hidden relics that determined the fate of a young nation right in your own backyard. 

When you talk about recorded history, spend an hour or two at a cemetery in your neighborhood — or seek out unkept graveyards sitting off dirt roads in the middle of nowhere. We don't find cemeteries creepy, and we don't' wander rows of 100-year-old tombstones seeking out lost souls who might haunt these final stops of the dead. I have no interest in the macabre, but all those old headstones reveal tiny pieces of history about people who helped shape this nation. I remain a firm skeptic of the paranormal.

If we come upon a cemetery and have the time, we get out our camera and visit those who have gone before us. We make it a point to visit Old Burying Point Cemetery in Salem, Mass., on Halloween, and reading the headstones never gets old for this family. We have visited Anderson Cemetery in Windham, Maine, my wife's hometown. There is a long gravel road that runs for about a quarter of mile before you find it. An unmarked Indian burial ground is nearby. Anderson features veterans from the American Revolution and an above-ground crypt built into the side of mound that might give you a chill up your spine.

After visiting a classmate of Anthony's at Maine Medical Center, we decided to walk the Western Promenade. Anthony entered this life 17 years ago at Maine Med., and here we were again. I look at the hospital and can't believe it has been 17 years since my precious son dropped in on us. We are pretty lucky, and Anthony reminds his mom and dad of our good fortune every day.

It was about a three-mile walk around promenade, and it was there we stumbled upon Western Cemetery. My wife and son thought it was creepy. I found it restful, serene and beautiful. It's in the heart of Portland and the perfect place to rest for all eternity.

This nearly 200-year-old graveyard is surrounded by grand houses that cost a fortune. You would have to own your own bank to build these stately homes and  maintain their well-kept gardens in today's market. The brick inlays, massive porches, and cupolas always makes me wonder who lives in such luxury.

Before we walked through those quiet, affluent neighborhoods, we strolled along the promenade's long paths and enjoyed wide-open views of Portland and Hadlock Field — home to the Portland Sea Dogs. We gazed up at a statue of Thomas Brackett Reed — statesman, Civil War veteran and a former Maine Attorney General.

Down the road was Western Cemetery, which is surrounded by rod-iron gates. There was nobody there as we walked among the dead against a threatening, gray sky. There are worn-out headstones and above-ground crypts that are slowly being reclaimed by the ravenous earth. Some of the tombstones marked the graves of War of 1812 veterans like William Pollies Jr., an ensign, Richard Hunnewell, Joseph Glazier, and Charles Taylor, who was a member of the Fifth Maine, which saw action in the Civil War.

All this history and greenery was right in the heart of Portland, and all we did was take a long winding path through a park to discover it all.

Goodfellows52: Late bloomer

Goodfellows52: Late bloomer: “The green thumb is equable in the face of nature's uncertainties; he moves among her mysteries without feeling the need for control o...

Late bloomer

“The green thumb is equable in the face of nature's uncertainties; he moves among her mysteries without feeling the need for control or explanations or once-and-for-all solutions. To garden well is to be happy amid the babble of the objective world, untroubled by its refusal to be reduced by our ideas of it, its indomitable rankness.” 
― Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education

AUBURN — A month-long deluge, which produced enough rain to nudge the ill-fated Titanic free from a sandbar, put a huge strain on gardens across central Maine.

According to a story in the newspaper I work for, the Sun Journal reported there was 20 days of precipitation in June, which means my garden and pallid Mainers only saw 10 days of sun. The Pine Tree State was on the receiving end of 7.32 inches of rain in June. The norm is 3.57 inches.

All this London-like weather and soupy mess meant all gardens were either washed away or struggled to grow against the gray sky.

But what a difference a month makes despite this summer's pathetic start.

Just when I thought I my garden would become as worthless as bunch of weeds, July heated up in the nick of time and broiled the Northeast in a week-long heat wave that made us all long for some cool, Canadian air. Everything will be late this season, but better late than never.

The sun was like the cavalry in those old western movies. The bright-burning star rescued my damp garden from oblivion.

And then it happened. My garden began to grow and came to fruition in the sweltering July heat. This season's harvest won't rival last year's bounty, but at least I am seeing results despite June's monsoons and a groundhog assault that sent me looking for Army-surplus artillery. These bastards gnawed on my broccoli and chewed up nearly all of my lettuce. My neighbor and I captured a total of five of these destructive creatures and banished them to a nearby lake where they are sunning themselves on the shoreline. If they come back, I will take these bastards out for a walk, but they know better not to make an appearance.

The cucumbers survived and I have picked about a dozen of them. The hardy broccoli flourished after the groundhogs conveniently went missing (I did not report their disappearance to the proper authorities). I am growing big-boy tomatoes, and they are pretty damn big and there are plenty of them. Colleagues who have sampled these prize tomatoes say they are so sweet and delicious. 

Their accolades make me blush with pride. But I am a master gardener, and I am that good.

Right now, I am preparing at least 10 bags of frozen spaghetti sauce and using the rest of the tomatoes for grilled-cheese sandwiches. 

My carrots took a hit, and I will only get a few of those. After most of my lettuce was ravaged by these fur bags, I planted Swiss chard and spinach, and I recently picked nearly a shopping bag full of the green stuff, and it really is good stuff.

My biggest surprise is the way my summer squash came to life after I planted it by seed. I had never planted squash from seed before. I usually purchase seedlings from a local farmer and take my chances with Mother Nature. My green peppers also surprised me.

I did manage to grow two huge sun flower plants by seed. I lost several of them to the jaws of my nemesis — the groundhog. They now stand seven-feet tall, and could give any NBA player a hard time underneath the net.

I think there are two reasons why my garden endured a wet beginning to summer. It is slanted and the water drains to one corner, and I use grass clippings to smother weeds. The rain also has a hard time penetrating the clippings, which also add nitrogen to the plants.

But I will take anything the garden yields because store-bought produce will never, ever stand up to my healthy vegetables.

Star Wars

Besides my passion for gardening, I also enjoy cooking in the kitchen and on my deck. I recently received a Brinkman smoker grill. It looks like R2-D2, but the diminutive robot can't cook meat and vegetables like the Brinkman.

I know Obi-won Kenobi and Luke Skywalker wouldn't mind sampling one of my culinary delights prepared on this R2-D2 wannabe.

Goodfellows52: Philadelphia Freedom, final insallment

Goodfellows52: Philadelphia Freedom, final insallment: "Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”   –  Ralph Waldo Emerson ...