bumper sticker politics

Like many Americans, and at long last, I woke up this morning feeling proud of our country. But even before the acceptance speech of last night, I was already feeling hopeful, and not just because of the polls.

The other day, I spotted a car with a "Choose life" license plate. I happen to be in favor of a woman's right to choose what happens to her body, but the thing that struck me about this car with this license plate is that it also had a blue dot sticker and an Obama sticker on the bumper. In all my travels along the interstates and highways of this state, I have never until that moment seen someone express any level of complexity on his or her bumper. It's usually either "You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands" or "F the president." What we would normally think of as a mixed sociopolitical message struck me as diversity of thought and a refreshing expression of opinion without any accompanying obnoxiousness.

A few days later, I was recycling at the Conservancy downtown when a car pulled up with a McCain/Palin bumper sticker that said something about pitbulls and had a lipstick smooch on it. I stopped myself from mentally rolling my eyes, because damned if they weren't recycling. Back in the day, the only people stopping off at the Conservancy were hippies and upper middle class Volvo drivers. This car with this sticker at this place in this time. I think we are starting to come together.

hanging out to dry

Last year, we pulled a clothes line between two big trees from which to hang our clothes, but we grew tired of the way the long line obstructed the view of the yard, so this year we installed an umbrella hanger instead. It holds about three or four loads, drying remarkably fast in the hot summer sun. We still have our dryer, which we reserve for rainy and/or wicked cold days, but we haven't had to use it much.

I find it's most convenient to clip the pins to myself in between loads, hayseed flapper style.

Recycling is not as easy here as it was in the city. Birmingham residents may leave non-glass recyclables at the curb and drop off glass at the Conservancy downtown. We must stow all recyclables in boxes that we haul to the Conservancy every month or so, when we're in town for some other reason. Between recycling, throwing things into the compost heap, and feeding the chickens, we produce a lot less trash than we used to.

Speaking of compost, our marigolds finally bloomed! They grew crazy high and green for the longest time -- I was afraid the soil (which consisted primarily of compost) was too rich for them. Then one afternoon I gazed out into the field and saw yellow and orange blossoms standing taller than any marigolds you will ever see in flats at the garden shop. I cut most of them on Sunday and combined them with some pink crape myrtle, geranium leaves, and lemon balm in a glass jar for Samantha's wedding party. My hands smelled good for a really long time after that.