Go Ahead, Aster Anything

This year we received an Aster (Aster novae-angliae) from our neighbor, Penny.

It's finally blooming, and will continue to flower through October.

Asters come in white, purple, lavender, pink or red. Mr. Bee seems fond of purple.

Here's a real group of blooming er, something or others.

We've had to wait all summer for the Aster to bloom. Now I can hardly wait for the vice presidential nominee debate on October 2 at Washington University to burst forth in florets of that confused "What the heck is the Bush Doctrine" look. Should be a real "twist in the wind" event.

Even those on the conservative side of the aisle are starting to wince around Sarah Palin.

Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska became the nation's most prominent Republican officeholder to publicly question whether Palin has the experience to serve as president.

"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."...

"I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."