To everything there is a season

A time for every purpose under the sun;
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to weed;
a time to call and a time to poll.

You could feel it in the air last week. The garbage gulls feasted on the curb offerings heated by the happy sun. The potholes breathed a sigh of relief as the last studded snowtire was finally put away for the year. And the dandelion began its annual takeover of lawns. As St. John's witnessed the ritual start of the seasonal struggle between homeowner and dandelion, everyone knew who was going to win. Yet habit and custom pushed voters outside, where they could be seen throughout the East End, on bended knee, fixated on the yellow apparition.

For those of you who missed the news because you were out in the yard, here are the highlights:

1) DW made a heroic phone call.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2009/05/20/williams-nurses-520.html

2) In the midst of a global recession, the capital bubble is unperturbed.
http://www.vocm.com/news-info.asp?id=36293

3) Bob Simmonds is optimistic.
http://www.vocm.com/news-info.asp?id=36262

4) The House of Assembly passed a motion calling for the federal government to do something it is already doing.
http://www.vocm.com/news-info.asp?id=36268

5) The federal and provincial governments have partnered.
http://www.vocm.com/news-info.asp?id=36313

Quite a week. Whether it was the power of polls, or something in the water, the nurses' strike was averted and I, for one, was happy to be proved wrong. Now I'm going outside to pull up some more dandelions. I know that they will return as soon as I pull them up, but I just can't help myself.

Judging from the news, things look good in Sunny Patch: http://orwellianspin.blogspot.com/2009/03/political-biology.html