Dirt and taxes

Ben said it so well:

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

I was uncertain if I could find my crumbling 1966 copy of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations when my internet connection was balking, but there it was on the shelf chuckling about technology and dust into dust.

My worms would gladly consume my Bartlett's, but they are just one arm of my research this evening.  The other is Dad's taxes.  The left worm doesn't know what the right worm is doing.  Nobody seems to remember that there was no exit plan for Iraq and Afghanistan in the Bushy years, just as there's no exit plan for Libya.  But that is a "whole 'nother" puddle of mud.
 

Mr. Franklin was writing a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy  on November 13, 1789.  However wacky our government and judicial system seem on any given day, the Constitution is an amazing gift from some clear-thinking folks.  I'm adding Andrea Wulf's Founding Gardeners:  The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation to my Hopefully Someday Reading List.

I'm still working out the overall points for the summer reading club worm presentation.  I'll need to address the concept of dirt vs. dirty for the 6-12 year olds, so I was interested to read about a filthy museum exhibit in London.

We can't live with it, and we can't live without it.  Dirt is essential.  We can improve dirt with worm composting.  We might need dirt to get through childhood strong and healthy.  We definitely need dirt to grow vegetables.  Without veggies we wouldn't have the strength to deal with Dad's income taxes.

And so the circle of life continues.

© 2011 Nancy L. Ruder