It may rain, so I just tossed swapped columbine seeds on the garden. Keep on! We really need the rain, wilt in the woods.

There is a nice widescreen television set in the front room of Pueblo West Gardens and it has access to cable channels that most people don't have, so its not unusual for the residents to sit there and watch. We've grown accustomed to the sun blinding us at approximately 6pm every night, because there are no blinds on the entrance whatsoever. The chair is set up so the sunlight hits you from the side, and it can be quite blinding.

Last night, I was relieved to not have that problem, until I saw the reason why. Apparently a wildfire wiped out 13,000 acres of brush just outside Pueblo, and the smoke was enough to completely blot out the sun that night. Nobody knows how it started yet, I think.

There have been a lot of events like this in the area lately. Not long ago, a wildfire burned right up to the edge of the Airforce Academy itself. It also threatened to damage the Royal Gorge Bridge, a suspension bridge in the mountains not far from here. We are no longer in drought conditions, but we were for about 10 years. If you go look at our reservoir, you'll notice that it's nearly empty. If we stopped getting rain for a few months we would probably be right back into drought conditions.

after the convention because I believed what Bernie said.

I'm not interested in "fighting for every scrap possible." I want and deserve more for my family and I would presume everyone wants more than scraps.

At this point, after Bernie's premature endorsement of Hillary until she was voted in as the nominee (which was more than just a "surprise" to me), I see no point in Bernie's delegates wasting all their time and money going to what will actually be a coronation for Hillary.

If I was a delegate, I wouldn't step foot in Wells Fargo. I might go to Philly just to join the protests, but I now see no point in that. My time now is better spent getting Jill Stein on the ballot in my state and educating people about her.

I believe Bernie is a good and caring person. I disagree with him being scared of Trump being president. I'm more sickened by the thought of Hillary being president than Trump.

Bernie plans to work within the democratic party to make things better. I finally realized that it's never going to get any better in the party, after a man like Bernie caved in to blackmail, so I won't be supporting his efforts.

I'm supporting both Bernie and Jill. We'll see how it plays out - I've always been in that camp. Of course I've despaired about Bernie and the possibilities, but stranger things have happened and can happen, so throwing in the towel doesn't sit well with me, either. We must keep moving forward, pushing our progressive platform, toward the America we want to live in.

This is a contemplative read, at least for me.

https://medium.com/@We_Are_The_Left/an-open-letter-on-identity-politics-to-and-from-the-left-b927fe66d3a4#.vup1cbure

I guess this means we ignore the Hillbots.

Yes

And climate crisis is the big enemy.

I see the platform fight as more of an educational tool and a tool to clarify definitions. The DNC in it's pure form doesn't take climate change seriously. It is just a talking point. But I believe that the work Bill McKibbon and others did with their amendments educated individuals. Regardless of how they voted (or were told to vote), now that they know more facts, they will be voting against their consciences. The platform is also a tool by which we can clarify positions. It's didn't go far enough. Lines can be drawn.

I have never thought that the democratic party platform was going to be progressive. I am surprised that many good things were included. But especially on climate and trade, it just didn't go far enough. Now we can make a chart and contrast democrat/republican/green/libertarian positions. And Bernie's team can claim that they tried everything they could to build a progressive platform.