A WELCOME FIRE, A BEAUTIFUL FALL ASTER, AND DENNIS RODMAN

BUDDY SAYS "THE FIRE FEELS GOOD"

ASTER UMBELLATUS

Tuesday,  8:00 AM.  58 degrees F, wind NW, light with stronger gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 75%.  The barometer is more or less steady, at 30.03".  It looks like a repeat of yesterday, which was beautiful.  The Farmer's Almanac predicts pleasant weather for the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest sates through the 7th of September.
   Yesterday evening got downright chilly, and I built  a fire in the fireplace.  Even Buddy appreciated it, although he seems more interested in the brass partridge on the coffee table.
   A rather spectacular white aster is springing up in the wet ditches along country roads.  It is Aster umbellatus.  It bears large umbells of creamy white flowers with yellow centers.  It looks like a worthy  addition to the perennial garden, but it is a strong grower and given enough moisture it would probably run rampant.
   I see that goofy basketball star Dennis Rodman, who is a wannabe cross-dresser, is making another visit to creepy North Korea, which has a history of kidnaping foriegn movie stars and other unfortunate persons, sort of like Oriental potentates of old who ran off with candidates for their harems.  Maybe, just maybe they will keep him.