Panic at the Disco

Not the kind of thing one likes to wake up to with one's morning coffee.  A massacre at a gay club in Orlando.  Another American bloodbath perpetrated by an American with an assault rifle.

Apparently there were approximately 300 people in the club.  One in three were either killed or seriously injured.

The argument will now commence over whether this is primarily a hate crime or an act of terror.  The Republicans will opt for terror - I have yet to hear a Republican officeholder utter the word "gay" in relation to the slaughter.

For my part, I don't much care.  There will be homophobes in this country for the foreseeable future.  Likewise, we will continue to have no shortage of religious extremists of many flavors.  And there are, no doubt, a thousand other reasons why a violent, unstable person might elect to commit mass murder.

Over time I am optimistic we will become a much more tolerant society.  But deranged persons will always walk among us.  We can't pass any law that will alter that basic fact.

But we could pass a law that prohibits private ownership of assault weapons.  And we could (like other countries have done) require citizens to surrender the assault weapons they already own.

Would all such weapons be surrendered?  Of course not.  My hope is that many of them would be buried in back yards.  An excellent place for them.  But over time their numbers would dwindle.

The Second Amendment fetishists would scream to high heaven of course.   So be it. 
  
In other news, a couple of very nice days.  And now a couple not-so-nice.

But the forecast for next week sounds promising.  I am contemplating my next offensive against the rain forest.  One more sector on the western front needs to be cleared...  Am I up for it?  I do not yet know...

In the meantime a couple of pics.

The Candelabra primroses love this very wet bed.  Not many others do however...

Iris season.  These originally came from auntie's garden.

Siberian Iris close-up and personal.

A beautiful evening.

Happy rock garden dwellers.

The Siberian Iris are happy campers.

I love my garden...

Unsettled Weather

Pretty good southeasterly last week with rain - heavy at times.  Beat a bunch of stuff down in the garden.

The last couple of days have been beautiful however.  Although today is a bit of an odd weather day - sunny and warm but with southeast winds at least to 25 at my place.

Day before yesterday I did mom's yard and auntie's yard.  Yesterday I mowed and weed-whacked my own homestead.  Today I was going to stake and tie a bunch of stuff but I had errands to run and then had to go to the dentist for a filling.  Was almost 3:30 pm when I got home so decided to take the rest of the day off.

Tomorrow I will hit it hard!

Here are a few garden pics.

 First rose of the season.  Wonderful scent.  All my roses are in pots on the deck.  I wintered them over under the eaves of the garage.  Might plant one or two in the garden next year.  They're rugosa roses and should be plenty hardy.

 And the first dahlia contestant.  Bought in a bag this year and started indoors in early March.  A mite spindly but will be bushier next season.  Quite lovely.

The Weigela pre-dates my occupancy here but seems to appreciate my care.  Will have to trim her a bit after she's done blooming

Weigela blossoms.

The Viburnum also pre-dates me but looks much happier than when I arrived.  I wish I could claim credit; but it's just got tall enough now to thrive despite the depredations of the deer...

  Snowballs!

 In other news, the elders soldier on...  Auntie will be 91 in a couple of weeks and I will host a dinner for the ol' gal.  Mom is hanging in there...her arthritis slows her down a bit more all the time.  It pisses her off big time.

Politically, I am delighted to see that it appears we will have a graceful exit for my man, Bernie, after the Washington D.C primary next week.  I think he has lingered a bit too long; but I have nothing but admiration for the man.  I personally do not believe Secretary Clinton fully appreciates the angst that has motivated Senator Sanders' supporters; but on the other hand Secretary Clinton is one very talented politician and understands the need to unify the party. 

And the opposition candidate is odious beyond belief.