Never let your right hand know....

"Never let your right hand know what your left hand is doing", was something my mother always said when she was imparting her wisdom to my tender ears.  She was referring to acts of kindness or charity.  We should never brag of our work.  Or at least that is what I took it to mean.

But it also applies to our world outside of the church and I never really understood what that meant until I started paying attention to our politicians and public leaders.  What brought this to my attention was a headline I just saw over on my news feed.  "Unnamed prominent person fights to keep Epstein records sealed."  Now I know what she meant!

I am pretty sure I can guess who it is, but then again, maybe not.  Oh, wait!  Do I care?  Not really.  Our politicians today are all so screwed up that it is just a matter of whose sins are bigger and how many bodies are hidden.  And all of those things are covered up and if not covered, then buried in public view.  Does anyone remember Chappaquiddick?  Watergate?  Clarence Thomas and the infamous Coke can?  Did any of that change history?  Nope.  Not one iota.  More importantly, do the participants remember what they did?  Hell no!  It is old news.

Our nation is in crisis and we are bombarded with news of pedophiles, sexual assaults, disrespect and anything to keep our minds off of what is really going on in our nation.  Our government is spending money like it was free and the upper echelon does not even pay taxes.  But we do!  We set here like a bunch of ducks in a barrel waiting to be harvested by bigger guns than our military carries, because we have our second amendment rights!  Give me an effen break!

Now I am not here to give you a lesson in morality because most of you should be old enough to know right from wrong, but it seems a lot of our leaders in this tumultuous times are keeping a lot of secrets and on an almost daily basis we read of one of our reputable leaders falling from grace.  Oh, trust me, there are a few things I did back in my wicked past that could come back to haunt me, but this would mean somebody has a way better memory than I do because I have pretty much forgotten my dark days.  That, coupled with the fact that I have out lived most of my cronies, allows me to sleep soundly at night.

Washington is a hot bed of corruption and we turn our backs and walk away.  It used to be we could "vote the rascals out", but with Russia in charge of our ballot box,  we stand little chance on that front.  But you know what I think?  I really feel that some where in this hot bed of filth that is now our government, there are a few decent people who really care.

My mother was a Republican and she was a good person, so I am sure that not all of them are bad.  But we have to research our candidates from the township election clear up to the presidential ballot.  From the city, to the county, to the state, to the federal.  Every damned one of them.  Vote like your life depended on it, because with our environment in the shape it is in, it does!

Another one my daughter pulled out of her hat was  "What doesn't kill you, will make you strong."  That one pretty well puts it all in prospective for me.

Well, let's start up a community garden. Want to?

I have often heard of Community Gardens and when SCAP was located on 4th and Glendale right next door to the Liquor Store and the Porn shop before the police took the building for their substation, we had one.  It was really nice.  Some one tilled the area and one of the places, Lowe's I think, donated a bunch of plants. The clients would come by and water and weed and then later pick the harvest.  We all got a kick out of it and it kept them in touch with nature.  But now we are located in the Corona building and all we have is concrete and asphalt.  Enter a stranger on a Suzuki motorcycle who stands 6'7" and a Community Garden appears on the horizon.
Meet Richard.  We have a mutual friend and I found him one Sunday morning digging around in the dirt.  Well, you know me.  Nobody gets away with anything on my watch and it just looked suspicious to see this big tall guy digging in my friends yard. Nobody ever comes and digs in my yard.  So I asked my friend, "What is going on over there?"  And he told me.  So I got his number and set out on my quest for knowledge.  Soon you will know all that I know.
Richard is new to this business, but he knows what he wants to do.  He has this garden and another at his house.  His vision is to grow organic food and produce enough to feed 400 people.  And here is where it gets a little hairy.  A community garden is a community effort.  We all know that.  This is his first venture into this and this first year will entail putting a lot of ground work into place.  He has made a wish list and it seems fairly simple. So we will lay it out and look at it and see if this is feasible.
1.  He needs manure preferably Rabbit, Poultry, Cow or Horse.  Now he knows that most people raising animals give them antibotics.  These should leech out in a year or so.  He will check to see how that plays out with the people who certify the stuff to be organic.
2.  Compost.  Any chance you have a pile of that laying around that you do not use and do not need?
3.  He is going to need a tiller.  He would prefer to do this with a horse and plow, but he has no harness for the horse.  Got any of that laying around?
4.  Now hauling is going to be a problem unless he has a pick up.  He is willing to trade his bike for a small pickup preferably a Toyota or Nissan.  At least I think that is what he said.  So, if you happen to have one of those setting in the drive, let me know.

I do not know Richard very well, but from the two brief visits I had with him I found him to be very personable and very caring about the environment.  That carries a lot of weight with me.  We discussed politics briefly and I am not sure which of us is the more radical, but I do not know what that has to do with growing a watermelon, which I will depend on him to grow because I done lost my package of seeds!

So if any of you out there have any of the items he needs, suggestions that could possibly help Richard, or an idea on how to proceed with this venture,  please leave a comment or email me and I will see that he gets the information.  He is just kind of between computers at the present time.