esrosedotblog

RAIN

We awoke to rain today. This is not a big deal anywhere else, but we live in rain-shadow land. This has been a wetter year; the most since the first year we lived here. This means that, as it was then, we will have spring flowers in the open desert. We live in rain-shadow land. The wet from the coast can't get up the hill to dump on us. What is needed is the right combination of force, lift, and moisture. I guess that is what we had last night.

What this drawing does not show is the SNOW. We have a big white paintbrush wipe across all the mountains this morning--down to about 4000 feet; beautiful to see, and way near enough to enjoy without puttin' on a coat.

POST SPIN

The pundits are all over the Iowa caucus. It is hard to remember that it was not an election but a dynamic standup head count. Dean still gets thumped; maybe rightly so. I like to think that the miracle of Iowa is that we got three live candidates out of it. Even the noted rightie William Safire (NYT-click at right) observes that Kerry has 'forever shucked his Herman Munster image'. Edwards came from behind fresh and pretty.

In TIME magazine, we have Michael Kinsley wringing his hands over Dean's non-wife. The people who do not like a little fire in their politics are still worrying about his 'outburst' the night of the caucus; piling on the leader turned loser--an old American past time. Electability against Bush is a major issue; I gotta admit it and it is being played out to a fare-the-well.

I don't mind in the long run. It is politics. I believe in the process.

I figure that, if nothing else, Howard Dean has really energized that process. As someone said, the Doctor has re-grafted the backbone into his Party and its candidates. I put three spines here; one for Kerry, another for Edwards, and the third is Dean's. It has been there from the beginning.