Beautiful mysteries . . .
Sunday, June 14, 2026’ It's Sol's day . . . an otherwise cloudy, cool day is in the forecast for Green Country. Moderate Northerlies bring upper 70's to TulseyTown during the afternoon. Sunshine returns tomorrow through Wednesday. Rain chances return Thursday. Tonight, the moon is new.
Blessed is the one who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving in words evidence of the fact. – George Eliot
Chinese piano vituoso Lang Lang is 44 today. He started lessons at age three, won first place at the Shenyang Piano Competition and performed his first public recital when he was five. Now an international soloist in demand from the world's foremost orchestras and concert halls.
It’s the birthdate of Che Guevara, born in 1928, Rosario, Argentina. A theoretician and tactician of guerrilla warfare, he was a prominent communist figure in the Cuban Revolution.
Harriet Beecher Stowe—whose novel Uncle Tom's Cabin fueled antislavery sentiment and was cited among the causes of the Civil War—was born on this day in 1811 Litchfield, Connecticut.
Does Nature have a “drive?” – Sophie Strand, “Lichenized Lovers,” in Make Me Good Soil. 6.13.26
Bioacoustics is the scientific study of sound produced by or affecting living organisms. The Elephant Listening Project is one of the most ambitious wildlife sound archives on the planet, facilitating forest elephant communication research, directly saving lives, both animal and human. Why whales matter.
You only have what you give. Why is that not obvious?
You get rich by giving yourself away – Isabel Allende
Whoever “Elise” was – still a mystery after 200+ years – she had three who clearly loved her: Beethoven, Steinway, and Lang, Lang.
Stand Up or Stare at the Table?
Saturday, June 13, 2026. It's the Satyr's day . . . Thunderstorms are in the forecasts for Green Country. Morning rains are to give way to some sun for most of the day with the storms returning overnight and into tomorrow morning. Strong Southerlies and a high in the low 90's are anticipated for TulseyTown.
. . . how surreal it is that we live in a time in which this is so routine — that the leader of the country uses the powers of his office to ensure his opponents are charged with crimes as punishment for having exercised their First Amendment rights — that such updates arrive almost casually. Like sports scores. – Miles Taylor, Stand Up or Stare at the Table? Defiance, 6.12.26
Standing up:
The Washington National Opera is suing for its endowment.
The artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were both born on this day in 1935, in Bulgaria and Morocco, respectively.
Irish poet William Butler Yeats was born today in 1865, Sandymount, Dublin, Ireland. One of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century as well as dramatist, and prose writer, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
One of the most influential British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, David Hockney died Thursday, at the age of eighty-eight, after a seven-decade career that included painting, digital drawings, photography, theatre-staging, etchings, collage.
There’s no reason even to consider reducing Social Security benefits or raising the age of eligibility. The logical and necessary response is simply to raise the cap, Mike Johnson and other Republican shills for the oligarchs to the contrary notwithstanding. – Robert Reich, the REAL reason Social Security is in trouble, substack 6.12.26
Following up. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse
Down By The Salley Gardens
Down by the salley gardens
my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens
with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy,
as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish,
with her would not agree.
In a field by the river
my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder
she laid her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy,
as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish,
and now am full of tears.
– William Butler Yeats.
Ahead of time . . .
Friday, June 12, 2026. It's Freya's day . . . Moderate Easterlies with mid 80's and a mix of sun and clouds are in the forecasts for the day in Green Country and TulseyTown.
The Truth About Time That Most of Us Avoid Facing. Excellent advice from Tiny Buddha.
On my 40th birthday – egad, 44 years ago this past March – living romantically on Peaks Island, Maine, I ventured to the island Landing bar to toast myself. It was mid afternoon. Larry Lushbaugh (no kidding) greeted me from behind the bar and then excused himself to go do or get what ever. Contemplating my Warsteiner pilsner draft, I felt a strong tap on the back of my right shoulder. It was not gentle, but a clearly purposeful, attention assertion. In the mood for any someone with whom to share my moment, I turned. There was no one there.
True eternity lies not behind either/or but ahead of it. – Søren Kierkegaard, “Beyond Either/Or,” in The Marginalian, 6.120.26 (reposted from the archive).
Today is the birthdate of Chick Corea. The classically trained jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader was born in 1941 Chelsea, Massachusetts.
Today is also the birthdate of Anne Frank, born in 1929 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
“. . .in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart . . . I can feel the sufferings of millions, and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.” Anne Frank, from her Diary.
To live with a courageous heart is to be a steward of the evolution of consciousness.