This & That

Well, like many of you I watched the stock market gyrations yesterday with more than passing interest. I feel kind of like the old cattleman who said, " I left the gate open, and all of my stock got out". I got up early this morning to watch all of the expert predictions as to what was going to happen today with the markets. Those predictions range from a minor correction to a Dow of 6000. They know about as much as I do, which is zilch.

What I do know is a feeling expressed by an old timer down here who once said, " Lord, please don't give it to me if you are going to take it away". If I never had it, I would not miss it. I can think of a lot of things that I was perfectly content to live without until they became a necessity in my life once they were invented. The cell phone is a prime example. However, I have always been kind of partial to eating well, and paying my bills.

This market correction, if that is indeed what id going on, is something that I predicted and anticipated. My only problem is that I was a good 18 months premature on my prediction as I went mostly to cash that long ago. I watched the market continue to soar while I have earned a magnificent one-tenth of one percent return on cash. Oh well, the sun doesn't shine up the same dog's fanny all of the time.

I'm still not ready to jump back into this market as I have always believed that pigs get fed while hogs get slaughtered. I've been patient this long; so I am comfortable to stay on the sidelines a while longer while the elephants trample one another. I wish that I had some confidence in the Fed or our elected officials, but I have absolutely no faith in them.

I have reached the sad stage in my life where I fear my own government more than I do ISIS. It seems that every day, they are eroding or taking another basic right of our democracy away. I feel a bit like a sheep, and I don't like feeling like a sheep. I firmly believe that it is time for us to fight for the future of our children and grandchildren. I have no idea as to who the best candidate for president of the US would be at the moment, but I have some strong feelings as to who would not be good candidates.

In the meantime, our garden is still feeding us, the pine trees are growing, and the quail are multiplying like crazy in the woods. Fall is just around the corner, and our weatherman is predicting that we will get a taste of fall tomorrow. Let's hope that he predicts the weather better than I do the stock market !