Soak

There is nothing like a drought to really test a gardener's green thumb.For instance, my garden would have fried recently during a horrid dry spell, were it not for the thumb I kept pressed to the garden hose.Every day of the drought, I spent an hour watering thirsty plants -- 30 minutes each morning and 30 more at night. The personal sacrifices were enormous. I didn't watch "Jeopardy!" for a month.During a drought, mornings become monotonous: I stagger outside at dawn and haul the hose to another part of the garden, 100 feet from the house.

THE Clinton administration has hit the ground with a couple of pardonable stumbles, but in considering a freeze on cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security recipients it appears headed for a serious fall.Yes, the deficit must be addressed and, yes, it will require sacrifice.But no logic of equity or history dictates that sacrifice fall equally on the rich and poor alike.Equity, in fact, says the reverse. And so does the sorry fiscal history that got us into the mess we're in.The 1981 Reagan tax cut not only cost the federal Treasury $2 trillion to date, it also distributed its benefits disproportionately among the rich and the very rich.

Your editorial lauding President Obama's call for a balanced approach to spending and taxes rings hollow indeed ("Shared sacrifice," Sept. 20). The president's supporters and apologists have little left to cling to other than abstract phrases and themes from his speeches. We all know that's exactly what his jobs plan and his deficit reduction plans are: Just speeches. The jobs plan he outlined to Congress weeks ago hasn't yet made its way to a vote. Meanwhile he travels the country accusing the Republicans of obstructing a plan that can't be voted on. His deficit reduction plan is the same thing: A campaign speech.

Laurel Race Course returned to near-normal operations yesterday, running a nine-race live card despite a track soaked by melted ice.It was the first live program conducted by the track since Jan. 14, a period embracing eight consecutive cancellations because of weather conditions.But while the show went on without any significant incidents on the track, management was hoping that the latest forecast -- for more moisture of some description in the next two days -- would not result in a repeat of last week's shutdown.

THE SPEECHES went on too long. The rain came and went, and the temperature dropped, and then the rain came back harder. Nobody left. They stood there and they got wet, hundreds of them at Oriole Park gathered near the Babe Ruth statue, holding up their signs: Iron Workers Local No. 16, and Operating Engineers Local 37. They were asbestos workers and bricklayers and plumbers. They were carpenters and roofers and sheet metal workers. The speeches went on, and so did the damned rain. And nobody moved.

PRESIDENT BUSH is being unfairly rapped for his refusal to go along with congressmen who want to raise the taxes of the wealthy.But by backing away from the proposed tax hike, he has shown himself to be both compassionate and politically astute.Unlike Congress, Bush senses that soaking the rich would unleash a furious political backlash.We would turn on our TV sets and see hordes of angry ladies in mink coats leaping from their Lincolns and Cadillacs to picket the White House.The letters pages of newspapers would be filled with outbursts from readers saying things like:"President Bush has betrayed every wealthy family in America.

THE DEFINITION of a "wetland" might seem like an obscure and unimportant detail buried harmlessly in mountains of government regulations. In reality, the federal government's current definition affects most landowners in the country, depriving them of the use of their property without compensation.Under federal regulations, for example, a Colorado farmer was indicted for redirecting a river, which had been diverted onto his land, back into its original bed. A Pennsylvania man was jailed for cleaning up tires in his backyard and using fill dirt as the base for a garage.

Son, why don't you get your glove and let's play some catch. Whaddya say? Horses - -! Whoa. We don't talk like that in this house. Where'd you hear that? That's what Aubrey says, Dad. Aubrey Huff? No, Dad, Aubrey Hepburn. Duh. It's all over the Internet. Well, I don't care what the Internet says. Get your glove before it gets dark. Practice makes perfect. Dad, you're so old. Aubrey says you see the ball, you hit the ball. It's not that hard. Also, can you tell Mom that for Saturday's game, she needs to let me sleep past noon.

SEATTLE -- Different city, same inning, same hitter, same result, same question put to Orioles manager Johnny Oates.Why didn't you bring in left-handed reliever Jim Poole to face Ken Griffey?Oates had left-handed reliever Brad Pennington pitch to Griffey the first time, lefty starter Jamie Moyer the second time, Poole neither time.Griffey and Jay Buhner hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning Friday night at the Kingdome, leading the Seattle Mariners past the Orioles, 5-4. Griffey's home run, off Moyer, traveled 442 feet and landed in the seats beyond the center field fence.

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Raul Alcala of Mexico, a two-time Tour Du Pont champion, is back in the coveted yellow leader's jersey.Alcala won yesterday's 2.98-mile prologue on the rain-soaked streets of Wilmington in 6 minutes, 25.7 seconds."