Wilma's Anniversary

Well....... another year and alot of changes. What a perfect summer with no storms, gorgous weather, plant growth and eased tensons. Everyone is thankful for it!
We all gathered and had a party on my bday anniversary which last year was insane.
I'm older and wiser... well, may be.,
I will be sure to take a before, after to add to this post showing what a difference a year makes. I wish that as I grow older that I would get better looking... funny thing about nature,,, but it's all good with me. My eyes are still working fine and if I never had a mirror again my views would be wonderul. This year was a rebirth for our islands, and my moisturizer may be making new rings around me! HA
Been busy keeping up with Fantasy Fest FunSeekers. More tomorrow...

Evolution

And we wonder why girls have a distorted view of themselves. Brava Dove.

Uhhh ...

Want the crap kicked out of your kid every day for the rest of the school year? Send him out dressed up as a toilet for Halloween.

This is for sale on a lot of websites - $34.95 for the child size and $59.95 for the adult size. I saw one site where the adult size was sold out for this year.

I really don't have anything more to say about this, except without looking very hard, you can find much worse costumes.

Harvest Moon over Penobscot Bay

Why do I insist on going up to Maine year after year....this pic describes that reasoning better than I could ever say. Not a bad view from your front porch, huh?

Thumbelina

Is this the cutest horse on the planet or what?

Standing just 17 inches tall, she is never going to be a champion show-jumper.

In fact, the tiny mare is so small she would struggle to leap over a bucket.

But such things are of little concern for feisty Thumbelina who has just been officially recognised as the world's smallest horse.

The five-year-old received the title from the Guinness Book of Records after her astonished owners realised she was never going to grow any bigger.

She was born on a farm in America to a couple who specialise in breeding miniature horses.

These popular show horses usually weigh about 250lb and reach a height of 34 inches when they are fully grown.

But when Thumbelina was born, it was immediately clear she would never grow to this size.

At birth she weighed 8lb - the weight of many new-born babies - and eventually she grew to a mere 60lb.

Thumbelina's extraordinary size has been put down to dwarfism, which makes her a miniature of a miniature...

What a precious! She lives at Goose Creek Farm in St. Louis, MO. I imagine she is quite an attraction.

Political ads

I've been watching the various political ads with some interest, and at this point, I think whoever is managing Kerry Healey's campaign should be fired. Healey is the Republican candidate for Governor in Massachusetts this November. She has two really poor ads running right now. Let's take a look at them, shall we?

The first is a typical Republican scare tactic - you don't want a Democratic Governor *and* a Democratic Legislature, because that would amount to one party rule. D'oh. I guess it's ok on the federal level, but not good on the state level. Stupid. So stupid it isn't available on her website.

But the second one is, and it's even worse. Some jackass escaped convict kills a young cop who was on his way home (presumably to his 'young' family - I wonder how they would have worded this ad had the officer been 55 years old and divorced). The killer is convicted and a "liberal" Governor signs off on the death penalty. Deval Patrick is hired to mount an appeal and does so somewhat successfully, getting the death penalty overturned and the sentence reduced. The point of this ad is that lawyers have the right to defend criminals, but do you want one as your Governor? Are they serious? So, obviously, Patrick is:

1. WAAAAY too liberal, since he was appealing a case that a "liberal" Governor had already agreed was worthy of the death penalty
2. a lawyer who chooses to defend scumbags
3. obviously not someone anyone with a heart would want as their Governor

The real problem with this particular ad is that it shows absolutely no grasp of the founding principles on which this country was based. Right to a fair trial anyone? If the Healey camp has a problem with allowing appeals in death penalty cases, they need to work to change the law. The ad iterates that a lawyer "has the right to choose to defend" someone. Wrong. Lawyers have a legal obligation to defend the accused. I guess nobody in Healey's office knows or cares about that little technicality.

And let's not forget that *her* public education through high school counts for more than anyone else's. Oh, and with Sean Healey's enormous wealth ready to help the candidacy of his wife, Kerry, he is the Republican campaign's secret weapon. That would be a negative if she were a Democrat, but a wealthy spouse is fine in her case. Oooh, and there's this: By all accounts highly intelligent, 45-year-old Kerry Healey is academic and wonkish by both training and inclination.. But isn't the current crop of conservatives highly distrustful of intelligence, preferring a swaggering wanna-be cowboy to be in charge? What are these people thinking? I haven't seen one ad that makes any mention of what her plans are if she wins the election. I wouldn't vote for her on a bet.

Patrick is taking the high road so far. His ads speak to what he hopes to do (not how, mind you, but no politician ever goes there in ads), rather than what a screw-up the campaign of his primary opposition is. Healey is mentioned obliquely, if at all.

Christy Mihos has the best ad by far. Why is the Big Dig $12 Billion over budget? Watch and learn.

One more thing. Mihos has a Canine Coordinator, his Yorkshire Terrier named "Reagan". I'm really liking this guy.

Just to cover the fourth candidate running for MA Governor, Grace Ross is the Green/Rainbow Party candidate. Green/Rainbow, isn't that something of an oxymoron? I don't think I've seen a single tv commercial for her yet. Maybe I just don't watch enough television.

Blue heron

PopPop was going down the deck stairs this morning and this enormous blue heron flew up into the trees. What he was doing in the backyard is anyone's guess. After a bit he flew off, probably closer to the pond.

We're having Indian summer this week. The temperature has been in the 60's and 70's and should stay there until Saturday, when we may get our first real frost. I love autumn, it's my favorite season by far. It doesn't look like we'll get good color in the trees this year, but we can hope.