Welcome to Spring!

time to brush out the den

The dark of the year is half over. The time for new growth and new beginnings is coming over the horizon. Spring is here.

Pagans call it Ostara. The time for getting the flocks out to the green fields, of turning out the bedding and the stables from the winter doldrums. It is the time when the lamb and the calf show their scrunchy noses to the world.

For us, the coming of Spring heralds in a great new chance to bring a welcome change to, not only the country, but our own lives. Each of us should be looking at ways to slough off the crap that's grown over our lives through the winter.

Clean your place. Open the windows, let Mom Nature do a bit of freshening to your personal atmosphere. If you live in the city and the air is gritty, go out to the woods a few more times to clear out the lungs.

Clean your bod. Stop eating all that crap. Stay AWAY from fucking McDonald's! That shit's like crack! Make your own food. Eat fresh! Hate vegetables? Learn to love them 'cause they'll keep you from becoming bug food before your time. Walk your fat ass around the block. Get the blood moving through those hardened arteries Ronald McDonald gave you. Play a pickup game of ball with kids younger than you (and hope like hell they know CPR!) You have many more muscles than the one you plop on the dinner table each night. Use 'em or lose 'em!

Clean your head. Stop watching TV! Really, stop the blank stare into the Oblivion that's network entertainment. That shit's as bad for you as a basket of Big Macs washed down with a dozen triple thick chocolate shakes. Give yourself 3 shows a week, or less. TIVO them if you can so you can watch them during slow times or just before bedtime. Use the time you used spend in front of the Idiot Box doing something that adds to your life, not sucking it dry. Try an online course. I recommend the Teaching Company. They have some classes (on sale, otherwise the price is too high) that are teh cool! Enrich your life by volunteering or mentoring. Walk the talk, get out of the fucking house and be the cool liberal we all think you are.

Clean your 'hood. Goes along with the last one. Get involved in your neighborhood. Get to know your neighbors for crying out loud! I lived next door to a couple for three years before I said a single word to them. When I lost my dog, I went over to give them a flyer and started talking. Next thing you know, I have a couple of great friends who are just as liberal as I am! They thought I was a drug dealer (the house I lived in had that reputation before I moved in) Imagine their surprize when they finally met me! I moved out of that house years ago but last month I got a birthday card. Let your neighbors know that you have their back when the shit starts to tumble. During a big storm, my roomie and I got the old chain saw out and cut up some trees up that had fallen across the road. Soon, we had the whole neighborhood out hauling pieces of tree trunk off the road. In no time the road was clear. The county road crew didn't show up for three days. Not everybody will be your bestest buddy but at least you'll know where they all come from; who's got your back and who's a dickhead.

Grow your own! Monkeyfister has the goods on this but I'm still going to put it out one more time. Everyone can grow something, even legally. I live in a small apartment now, with a deck that gets about three to four hours of filtered sunlight from the east. I have three boxes, about 8 square feet of space, to grow my veggies. I'm doing a couple of tomatoes, some herbs and a couple of other veggies that don't need direct sun. I don't think I can get any peppers to grow - damn! I love to grow hot peppers! Regardless, I'm going to get something to grow. If you haven't got the room, find a p-patch that nearby. Got a friend that has space but not the will to do a garden? Strike a deal with them. You help with the funds and the care, they give up a portion of the yard. You split the crop when harvest time comes.

There's a lot of shit going down in the world today. As responsible citizens, it's our duty to do whatever we can to shore up the crumbling foundation of America. Over two decades of Republican bullshit has trashed this nation like a hurricane. Those bastards had a twenty year corporate orgy in our house and left it fucked up and falling apart. Now they're complaining that the roof leaks. Fuck them!

This shit is ours to fix. It needs to be done and done right. No fucking Republican will be around for the recovery but mark my words, they'll be around to take credit for it. That won't happen if we do our part and take stock in it. By being part of the 'boots on the ground' gives you a front row seat to who cares about America and who could give a shit.

So Mote It Be,
David A.