Went to occasional commentor Polymath’s house where we dined on Sweet Seasons Farm pulled pork. Polymath fixed up some delicious honey-based barbeque sauce. Perhaps he’ll share the recipe in the comment section.
Odd thoughts about Memorial Day:
1) I went to Home Depot to buy supplies for my next chicken tractor. When I arrived at the counter, the saleswoman asked “Have you ever served in the military, sir?”
I was a bit taken aback - what anodd question so I answered, “yes, why?”
She brightly answered “You get a 10% discount!” She didn’t even ask for any proof.
This was a nice little perk, but I felt a bit silly since I can’t claim to have faced any danger while in the army.
I was relating this to my father, who had gone to Lowes this weekend. Lowes asked the same question, but then they clarified; only retired or active duty folks get the discount from Lowes.
Only in America. My Dad went to Korea. I played football and proofread colonels’ memorandum. I get the veteran’s discount and my dad doesn’t.
2) In the Valley down here we had “Confederate Memorial Day” on Sunday. My parents went to a ceremony. This is the type of situation where, if you plunked your humble Smallholder smack in the middle, I would get my butt well and truly kicked.
Speaker: “We are here to honor the sacrifices of our fallen grandfathers who fought nobly for the cause…”
Smallholder: “Noble? Noble? Bunch of slavery supporting sons of bitches! Your cause was evil and I’m glad you lost! Reap the whirlwind, you traitorous jackasses!”
Attendees: “A Yankee in our midst! To the lynchin’ tree!”
3) Another odd thing happened. My farmer neighbor came over and was complaining about Bush’s immigration plan, going on and on about how immigrants hurt our economy. I knew better, but the teacher in me, frustrated by his ignorance of economics, explained that immigrants, like Walmart are good for the American economy. And he actually changed his mind! It seems that very few people are willing to shift course when their assumption are shown to be fallacious. Of course, this is the sign of intelligence: Adopting a new hypothesis when the evidence disproves your previous hypothesis. Unfortunately, in a Jacksonian democracy, people being willing to adopt a new position based on new evidence are few and far between. And those of who do are often maligned as being “squishy.”
