Overnight Rain

LAKE MACBRIDE— The tomato seedlings weathered the afternoon sun and overnight rain, and each cage has at least one survivor from the transplanting. The next threat is bugs that chew on the young stems. I’m ready with extra seedlings should some be stricken.

The plot of spring vegetables looks nice after yesterday’s hoeing. Dark wet soil between bursts of green. The carrots did not germinate. It won’t be long before the radishes are ready to harvest. The ground is too wet to work in the garden this morning.

The local Sierra Club, Iowa City Climate Advocates, 100 Grannies for a Livable Future and my organization, Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility, hosted a county supervisor forum at the Iowa City Public Library last night. Since we were a co-sponsor I felt obligated to attend.

Martha Norbeck moderated, and the way she crammed three or four questions into a single one gave the candidates license to answer how they would around the topics. I would have picked other questions, but was not in charge of that.

The forum went like this.

I’m supporting Carberry and Rettig because I know them best, their strengths and weaknesses, and believe they will work to do well as supervisors. The other two would likely work hard if elected, but I don’t know them at all, and picking a candidate is far from being a logical process on a level playing field.

Only two weeks until the Democratic primary, which in Johnson County has been the election for local races. The lone Republican supervisor, John Etheredge, is expected to be sanded off in the Democratic wood shop that is this county’s general election. For the time being, I’m planning to vote at the polls, but get back to gardening as soon as the ground dries, and there is a break in my outside work schedule.