THE TREE & THE FACTS

    Our good neighbor Karen asked what is that fluffy white snowball like tree blooming near our deck.

    I said it was a bit of a mystery, even to the expert arborist who keeps it healthy and trimmed. He thought it was a kind of Bottle Brush tree. Others told us it was called Paper Bark or that it was a kind of pepper.

   Our almost 19 inches of rain this year-the most in 5 years-agreed with it and it's been a magnificent bloom.

   Karen, who sees this exposure researched and learned it is a Melaleuca Linarifolia, also called Paper Bark and Bottle Brush.

   Full from the road, it is a center piece in a meditation spot Lana created just off our front deck.

   A closer look shows you why it's called Paper Bark.

    And the soft blooms look a bit like a bottle brush.

  Not sure how good it is for allergy sufferers, but it is beautiful.

GETTING AN ANSWER

    Hillary Clinton wasted no time in assembling the words of Jeb, Ted, Lindsey, Carly, John and others as they spoke of the Donald. It makes an effective commercial. We'll see a lot of that kind of thing.

     Perhaps I'm hoping for too much, but I'd like to see the 2016 political media begin to act like adults. They could begin by emulating the pros of yesteryear who asked questions  until they got an answer-to the question they posed. They did not accept a rehearsed and canned political spiel. Refusing to answer directly and prevaricating has become business as normal. Getting a straight answer is especially necessary in the case of Trump. That is not to say they should not also press Clinton, but she has a record, defined positions, actions and a voting record. Trump is only pie in the sky promises, double talk (he repeats himself endlessly) and braggadocio. 

      Americans will vote for whomever they choose, but when it is the Presidency at issue it is wise to extract as full a measure of the candidate's thoughts, mental facility and understanding of issues as can be extracted. Trump has been given a pass, thus far. He's also a skilled deflector. It's time for the high priced media talent to begin showing the mettle to demand substantive answers from Drumpf.

     Unseemly as it is more than a few Republicans will begin to close ranks around their nominee. They did it with Barry Goldwater last century. There will be even reluctant endorsers, that is what political parties do. Though none will provide the humor of Governor Christie. He's come to resemble a neglected orphan in a  Charles Dicken's setting, transformed into a kind of adoring lap puppy licking up whatever it is his master spews his way. And Donald spews.

      He'll get new staff, position analysts and policy guides and he will suddenly have people feeding his brain. But we all know it is just a cram. Until Hillary stands on stage with him at a debate, and don't you imagine she can be tough, we can hope the media will begin to see what's beneath that orange top. 

      See you down the trail