Goose poop

Across the road from my place of employment is a field with a small pond. About four weeks ago, I noticed a small gaggle of geese--six adults and four extremly cute little goslings. This has morphed into a flock of 50 adults. The babies have either grown up or gone to greener pastures or larger bodies of water. The geese strut in the road, cruise the parking lot, and leave goose manure everywhere. They were cute; now they're a nuisance, although watching 20 or so honking avians coming in for a landing in the tiny pond is amazing. They circle lower and lower, finally gliding in at water level.

Watch where you step.

Open Windows in the Twin Cities

Empire Builder at rest at the St. Paul Amtrak Station

I live in a urban pocket, where you can smell the paper mill, Summit Brewery and the french fry factory when the wind is right. This is a reminder of the reality of modern living: food, drink and toilet paper do not just magically appear on your grocer's shelves. They are manufactured somewhere, and for some of these commodities, that somewhere is St. Paul, MN. It's a smelly reminder of the great 19th century city we once were.

I technically live in Minneapolis, but on the far eastern edge. This morning, in the sticky cool of summer, in addition to smelling the odors of commerce, I heard the Empire Builder pull in, on time for once, bearing its cargo of passengers and mail from Seattle. It's a long train, and it honks and rings and toots as it pulls in, seemingly for about two miles. It gives those of us who live within hearing distance another opportunity for nostalgia.

Why can't I believe?

The price of high test gas to fill up our fancy German car has declined to 3.89 a gallon. I should be thrilled, and grateful to George and Co. for his tenacity in driving down oil prices. I'm being silly, but don't you think that come October, the party of God will be taking credit for this, should it last?

And, to be even more cynical, don't you think it's possible that this whole thing has been manipulated and that in October gas prices will be even lower so that we will have exactly the response I just described? Because we have such a short collective memory, we won't remember why they were so high in the first place and will make poor ol' John McCain a winner on the strength of it.

Nah, you think. That couldn't happen. But wait, cast your mind back eight years to get a whiff of the amazing ability of the Bushies and their kind to manipulate not just an election, but the zeitgeist.