A naked face for the new year . . .
Wednesday, December 31, 2025. It's Odin's day … light, variable Westerlies bring warmer conditions to TulseyTown this afternoon. Sunny skies and mid 60's are indicated in the forecasts. It's New Year's Eve and some people will be wearing another mask for fun tonight.
[T]here is a reason we move through the world masked — there is nothing more vulnerable than the naked face of the soul. Emerson knew this: “There is no terror like that of being known,” he wrote as he was falling in love with his friend Margaret Fuller and resisting it. – – Maria Popova, “When Friends Become Lovers: H.G.Wells,” in The Marginalian, 12.28.25
The first ball was dropped at Times Square in New York City to celebrate New Year's Eve on this day in 1907.
Some significant navigators of The Way were born yesterday.
Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland turned 64. The prolific author who coined the term “Generation X” was born on a military base in 1961 Baden-Solingen, Germany; Patti Smith turned 79 yesterday. The singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, photographer and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was born in 1946, Chicago, Illinois; Tiger Woods is now 50. He was on yesterday's date in 1975, Cypress, California; and LeBron James was born in 1984, Akron, Ohio;
Birthdays today include Henri Matisse, the artist often regarded as the most important French painter of the 20th century, was born in 1869 Le Cateau, Picardy, France; and George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army chief of staff during World War II (1939–45), U.S secretary of state (1947–49) and of defense (1950–51), architect of the Marshall Plan for European recovery, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1953, was born in 1880 Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
Sophie's “Sensorial Portraiture” for her 2025. – Sophie Strand, in Make Me Good Soil, 12.31.25
Patti Smith envisions a peaceable kingdom.
Is money your soft $pot?
Monday, December 29, 2025. It's the Moon's day . . . Strong, cold Northwesterlies are in the forecasts for TulseyTown with upper 30's and sunny skies. The winds are to diminish to easy variables in the evening.
Each of us has this soft spot: a capacity for love and tenderness. But if we don’t encourage it, we can get pretty stubborn about remaining sour. – Pema Chödrön
It is never too late to change the future. What we can learn from today's anniversary of the Massacre at Wounded Knee. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.
The week ahead. – Joyce Vance, in today's Civil Discourse.
Five ways to make a billion dollars. None of it is in the “free market.” – Robert Reich, online, 12.29.25
Dream
In the dream, I am living in some indeterminate
time delineated only by the late atmosphere
of the sky at dusk
[…]
when I look over my shoulder and smile, you are there
[...]
– David Whyte, “Dream,” in The Bell and The Blackbird, Many Rivers Press, 2018.
Constitutional grace . . .
Sunday, December 28, 2025.
It's Sol's day . . . Strong Northerlies bring falling temperatures throughout the day to TulseyTown today. A mix of clouds and sun. Morning high of 68F with temps falling sharply to near 40. Winds NW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
The peculiar grace of a Shaker chair is due to the fact that it was made by someone capable of believing an angel might come and sit on it. —Thomas Merton
He looks like a witness to me. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse.
Over the Christmas holiday, the Trump administration threw its weight against the U.S. Constitution in favor of Christian nationalist authoritarianism. – Heather Cox Richardson, Letters From An American.
Meditating on the life and teachings – of Jesus, Shantideva, Bodhidharma, and Francis of Assisi – are each and all valuable contributors to spiritual insights that bring me peace.