9/14/11 A HEAVY KNOCK ON THE DOOR AT 4:00 AM

LEMON TREE, VERY PRETTY

AND, THE LEMON FLOWER IS SWEET

BUT THE FRUIT IS...IMPOSSIBLE TO EAT

Wednesday, 8;00 AM.  46 degrees, wind WSW, light to moderate.  The sky is blue with a few fluffy white clouds scooting along.  The barometer is high and the humidity low.  We had a few drops of rain from a threatening sky yesterday evening, but nothing more.  They are battling some fires in the northern Minnesota forests now, and I smelled a faint odor of wood smoke when I stepped out on the porch for a bit last night, but perhaps in the chill a neighbor had started up a wood stove.
    Have you heard the one about the lemon tree and the Gibson guitar?  I am sorry to say it is not really a joke.  The Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel relates the story of a Waukesha, WI, woman who bought a mail order lemon tree three years ago.  Recently she began receiving inquiries from the Dept. of Agriculture as to its disposition, as the mail order nursery had failed to inspect it for diseases.  She thought it rather silly since it is an indoor plant in Wisconsin and there is no citrus industry here.  The feds were relentless, threatening fines and worse if she didn’t bring it to an agency office.  The end game is that a federal agent drove all the way up from Illinois to confiscate the plant, leaving with it in a hazardous waste container bag.  Overkill, perhaps?
    The Gibson Guitar story you have probably heard by now, as it involved heavily armed federal agents descending upon the staid old company and confiscating guitars because they had fret boards made of an Indian wood (not an endangered species) that is supposed to be exported from India only in finished form, according to Indian law.  This action threatens to put forty guitar workers who make the frets out of work.  Worse, if I were the Gibson owner, I would be looking into making my guitars in India, and moving another old American firm off shore because of our obstreperous government. Why was Gibson targeted?  Perhaps because the owner is a Republican contributor? This is not overkill or silliness.  This action by  the government borders on insanity.  Heads must roll on this one.
    Now I have a question: if I were to sing “Lemon tree, very pretty,” on my Gibson guitar to my potted Meyer lemon, would I soon hear a heavy knock on the door at 4:00 AM?