Obama's Bees

I was surpised to see beehives on the White House lawn last week.  Bees are legal inside the Beltway?  Who woulda thunk it?

Not only that, but there is a new fruit and vegetable garden on the White House grounds as well.  It was created in the spring of 2009, at Michelle Obama's urging.  That was well before the recent freeze of up to sixty percent of Mexico's fruit and vegetable crops.  The paper says the freeze is likely to send produce prices sky-high.  This might be a good summer for a whole lot of us to grow our own.  It's time to plant your indoor seed starts!

Merrill's Best Idea

Merrill's best idea for our visit to Washington, D.C. was to see the city on two wheels.

.

It's a jolly holiday with Merrill.

Happy Birthday, JR!

These are the good old days!

Just Askin'

I saw this car stopped at a security checkpoint outside the U.S. Capitol.  A policeman and his explosive-sniffing dog came up to check things out. 

I snapped this picture.   Another policeman nearby didn't like it. He told me not to take any more, and his telling wasn't in a very friendly voice.

                                           What's up with that?

Is there a federal law or city ordinance against taking photos of policemen doing their jobs on the Capitol grounds? 

I wish I had had the nerve to inquire.

"...if I allow any private deflection from God in my life, everyone about me suffers." 

--Oswald Chambers    

Ouch.                   

The Nebraska Breakfast

I like to visit Washington D.C. because it reminds me over and over that the foundations of this county were an incredible emergence from the status quo.  The concept that all men are created equal wasn't standard fare in the 18th century, even on this side of the Atlantic.  The idea that government should be a servant to the governed was and still is an amazing departure from precedent and from much of the rest of the world.

The whole reason we were in D.C. was so that John and some of his alfalfa buddies could talk to the congressmen, to the EPA, and to other federal agencies, about issues that are relevant to forage producers.

This is the official shot of the Nebraska Alfalfa delegation and Senator Ben Nelson. (Thanks to the HayQueen, pictured on the right, for sharing.)

Nebraksa's congressional servants make themselves available to their constituents every week at a breakfast on Capitol Hill.  Each congressman speaks for a few minutes about what's on his mind or what he's working on that week.  Later there is a chance for Nebraskans to chat with their representatives.

Senator Johanns is very concerned about getting the country's financial house in order.  Here Merrill and John are listening to him, while other Nebraska congressmen maybe don't listen so closely.  They've heard it all before.

Representative Fortenberry homeschooled some of his children.  He didn't mention that to the gathered group, but it came out afterward.  He and Merrill chatted about the reasons a congressman might vote for a bill that contained something his constituents opposed.

Senator Nelson knows a lot about that.  We had a chance to say "how do?" to him at the aiport the day we flew into D.C.  "How do?" is one of the nicer things I think of to say to a senator whom I believe caved in to his party last year instead of representing his electorate on an important and expensive piece of legislation.

Because of the wisdom in the Constitution, Senator Nelson has the right to vote for what he thinks is best, or even what he thinks is best for him politically, whether or not that is best for Nebraskans.

Because of the wisdom in the Constitution, I am not left powerless if I disagree with him.  See you at the polls!

Lost

 

There are a lot of lost soles in Washington, D.C.

Photo Ops

I love to visit Washington, D.C.  The city is full of constant reminders that this republic is built on the best idea for government that man has ever invented.  I like to think about what the founders were thinking when they set this thing up, and how that relates to us today.  D.C. is a great place to do that.

I also love the abundant photo opportunities found in this city.

These arches are in the Library of Congress,

where even the restroom floors hold photographic potential.

But my favorite is this one:

Peaceful Geese.

Nothing Like a Deere

Someone parked a couple of John Deere tractors in front of the U.S. Capitol earlier this week.

Made me feel right at home.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Debate

Dylan and Merrill are in homeschool debate class, pondering and preparing to argue that a government's legitimacy is determined more by its respect for popular sovereignty than individual rights.  Or not -- maybe government legitimacy is based more on individual rights.  They talk about slavery, Stalin, China, the health care bill, consent of the governed, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Jefferson, and much more.  They read and write and speak, read some more, rewrite, say it over.

They practice at  meetings of the local speech and debate club and then, every few weeks, gather with homeschoolers from five states to argue their ideas at tournaments.  Each competitor must first defend one viewpoint, trying to convince a judge that popular sovereignty determines legitimacy. The next round, they face a new opponent and this time must convince the judge that legitimacy is based on individual rights.  Then there's another round, another opponent, and they flip sides again.  Six or eight or nine times, back and forth, back and forth, over three days of speaking and debating.  

I am their coach.  I never took a debate class, and never even thought much about debate until last year when Merrill joined this league.  Last year's coach moved on at the end of the year, and the job fell to me.  This is one of the best things about being a homeschool teacher - you learn so much,  right alongside some of your favorite people.  We're having a lot of fun. 

Turkey In The Snow

One Star Left

Morning comes in all colors.

Polka Dot Feathers!

I laughed when I picked them up in my yard, where they had been left by the cat.  

I liked them so much that I hung them in my house.  Now I smile every time I look at them and think of God's finger dipped in white paint.  His little, teen tiniest finger.

I wonder if the cat was laughing when she saw them up close. I'm pretty sure the bird wasn't.

Tippy's Breakfast

This is our friendly old milk cow, Tippy, captured on film last summer by Erica's creative eye.  It is also the First Place prize-winning photo in the Nebraska Alfalfa Marketing Association's 2011 photo contest.  Way to go, Erica!

Golden Moment