You can bet on it . . .
Sunday, May 3, 2026. It's Sol's day . . . Strong Southerlies return to Green Country, bringing mid 80's and sunny afternoon skies to TulseyTown.
Public education was not founded to give society what it wants. Quite the opposite....The more articulate one is, the more dangerous words become. – May Sarton.
The King James version of The Bible was published yesterday in 1611.
A new progressivism is being born. – Robert Reich, Sunday Thought, 5.3.26.
Today is the birthdate of poet, novelist, and memoirist May Sarton, born in 1912 Wondelgem, Belgium.
Three entertainers were born on this date: Folk singer/songwriter Pete Seeger was born in 1919, New York City; Singer, songwriter, arranger, and dancer James Brown was born in 1933, Barnwell, South Carolina; and singer, actor, and songwriter Bing Crosby was born in 1903, Tacoma, Washington.
One of the founders of the State of Israel, Golda Meir, was born on this day in 1898, Kiev ,Ukraine. She also served as its fourth prime minister.
Melatonin is a legitimate tool that is routinely used at the wrong dose, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. It's an old molecule. But 10mg in a gummy? The answer isn’t to avoid it. It’s to use it correctly. Small dose. Right time. Specific purpose. And when in doubt, fix the lights first. – Jeff Krasno, “Is Melatonin Right For Me,”
The wildest bet is the winning one. – Maria Popova, The Marginalian, 5.3.26.
Stepping into paradise . . .
Saturday, May 2, 2026. It's the Satyr's day . . . another cool, sunny day for Green Country and TulseyTown. Moderate Northerlies are forecasted to hold temperatures in the low 70's. Southerlies and warming return overnight tonight.
Every step we take is a miracle. – Thich Nhat Hahn
President Eisenhower said, “In a very real sense, the world no longer has a choice between force and law. If civilization is to survive, it must choose the rule of law.” Trump is doing everything he can to ignore and avoid the rule of law. – Heather Cox Richardson, in yesterday's Letters From An American.
Classical music contains many memorable themes. Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake has several. It and Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto come immediately to mind. One of the most memorable themes in musical history is the opening dance in “The Polovtsian Dances” of Borodine's only opera Prince Igor. The “dances” score opens in the opera’s second act with a song, the text of which translates into a poem about longing for a time in the past in a land of true freedom. Here's link to the “Polovtsian Dances” by Alexandre Borodine, performed by the Sorbonne University Chorus and Orchestra. Now a concert staple around the world, that opening theme was was adapted into the score for the broadway musical Kismet and into a motion picture featuring a duet “Stranger in Paradise.” I lost count of the number of times “Stranger in Paradise” is listed on youtube. It's a perfect “duet” … attesting to the fact that Borodine's melody remains forever with us as among history's most beautiful and romantic themes.
Even silence can seem to the world like happiness –
like praise – from the pool of shade you have found
beneath the everlasting.
– Mary Oliver, “Just Lying On The Grass At Blackwater,” from Blue Iris, Beacon Press, 2004.
A peaceful May Day . . .
Friday, May 1, 2026. It's Freya's day . . . and It's May Day. Fittingly, the moon is a Flower Moon. It is the first of two full moons this month. The second, a Blue Moon, shows up at the end of the month on the 31st. A lovely May Day is at hand for Green Country and TulseyTown. Moderate Northerlies, a mix of sun and clouds and upper 60's are in the forecasts for the afternoon.
May Day is one of the most historically significant and culturally diverse observances on the global calendar.
Trump's approval ratings have it a new record low. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.
Joyce Vance posted details of the Supreme Court evisceration of our voting rights, and why it matters, in Civil Discourse.
For May Day, the kind of economic system we need. – Robert Reich, at substack, 5.1.26
Today, film director and screenwriter Wes Anderson is 57. Creator of some of the quirkiest, funniest and moving films, he was born in 1969 Houston, Texas.
Citizen Kane, considered by many critics to be the greatest film ever made, premiered on this day in 1941 New York City. It was written produced and directed by Orson Welles who also played the title role.
Sweet Darkness
When your eyes are tired, / the world is tired also. \ When your vision has gone, / no part of the world can find you.
– David Whyte, “Sweet Darkness,” from The House of Belonging, Many Rivers Press, Revised edition, 2026.
If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work. – Thich Nhat Hanh