Out of the Mouths of Babes
Well, seems to some that Katrina was brought on Louisiana, Mississippi and parts of Alabama 'cause of the wicked people in New Orleans. Gosh, do you think Rita was brought on by the wicked people in all those nursing homes? As Alex poured us Chimayo cocktails made with good tequila, the gang paid close attention to these supposedly sage propositions.

After all, Jane said, hadn't Bill O'Reilly posited as much? Not only that, but this oracle of the Immoral Majority blamed the misfortune those people went through on their supposed dependency on drugs, saying that most of those who stayed behind in New Orleans did so because they "weren't going to be turned off from their source." Now, was that petty, trash talk or what? Boy, he and Barbara Bush really make a team, don't they?

Aid From Abroad
France and Germany immediately upon hearing about the disaster caused by Katrina offered invaluable help. Did the Immoral Majority Oracle say anything in appreciation for that offer of help? No, he ridiculed the French, this at a time of such great need, but that's Bubba-think for you. I wonder if O'Reilly, Fallwell and Robertson made a concerted effort to mislead real people of faith.

Whoa There Cowboy
We told you, out of the mouths of babes. Some of our teenagers had just heard a good lecture at their school about the environment. I suppose because we live on and of the land, we treasure it, and kids asked us to think if possibly Katrina and Rita weren't caused instead by Bush's treasured programs "for the protection of the environment" such as these:

• Clear Skies Initiative
• Clean Air Interstate Rule
• Clear Air Mercury Rule
• Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule
• Healthy Forests Initiative (Log Until You Drop)
• President's Wetlands Initiative
• 2002 Farm Bill
• Conservation Title
• Reducing Greenhouse Gas Intensity
• Hydrogen Fuels Initiative
• President's Clean Coal Initiative
• Climate VISION
• U.S. Ocean Action Plan
• Cooperative Conservation
• Brownfields Clean-up and Redevelopment
• Our National Parks
• Our Great Lakes
• Water 2025
• President's Initiative Against Illegal Logging (Quel Joke!)
• FutureGen: Pollution-Greenhouse Gas-free Power
• Expanding Renewable and Alternative Energy Sources
• World Summit on Sustainable Development
• Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)

Gee, we thought, those kids are really smart and paid attention in class. Bet you anything you want they know Cheney wrote up those items on the list with Halliburton's help!

We told you, out of the mouths of babes, who right about now were ringing the dinner gong with the all-familiar litany: 'We're starving."

Dinner Prepared by Some of the Guys
The large grills on the porch had been prepped when we first started to sip our cocktails, so as usual dinner worked like clockwork. They first served us some sourdough buschettas prepared on the grills. These were topped with olives, capers, anchovies (pre-soaked in milk) and extra-virgin olive oil. They poured the adults a Fumé Blanc from Murphy-Goode to go with the Provençal Bruschetta.

Our delicious next course was excellently barbecued spare ribs, which farm and ranch people seem born to make good! Good too was the wine they chose, was 2203 Ridge, Paso Robles California Zinfandel. The last grilled meat they served us were simply grilled beef filets, served with arugula, extra-virgin olive oil, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. They poured a Smoking Loon Merlot from California. A simple dinner, but unbeatable.

Winding Down
We were anxious to join the kids. We were so happy that they took their lessons on the environment seriously. They know more about global warming than Bush ever will. They were born in the country and they know our livelihoods depend on Mother Nature's cooperation, but to ensure that cooperation, we have to do our part, and of course, for all the reasons the kids mentioned, and Bush's refusal to be a part of the Kyoto Treaty, our futures are in peril.

We enjoyed Max's superb espresso, said our goodnights, headed for our farms.

Summary:
If you live on or from the land, you need to open your eyes and smell the coffee. It's getting warmer and it's getting harder to farm and ranch. Who do you think is going to feed us, the Chinese?