Winning the blues lottery . . .
Friday, June 26, 2026. It's Frigg's day . . . and there is no rain in the forecasts for Green Country for the next ten days. TulseyTown is to begin drying out with moderate Southerlies, sun, clouds and near 90º mid afternoon.
If you took a very long ruler that stretched from here to the planet Pluto, one inch of that distance would be you. The rest of the distance would be other possible human beings that could have been, but never were. Each of us has won a lottery with a hundred thousand billion different players. – Alan Lightman, “The Figment of You,” in Maria Popova's Sunday Edition of The Marginalian, 6.21.26
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published today in 1997. It was the first in a series by J.K. Rowling that set records and introduced reading to a whole new generation.
Today is the birthdate of novelist Pearl Buck (The Good Earth). The Nobel laureate was born in 1892 Hillsboro, West Virginia.
Jane Austen, despite all. – David Whyte
Finally, the courts have ordered the release of the complete Epstein files. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse.
Older generations often complain that they don't make songs like they used to. Now, a study confirms that this really is the case, as song lyrics have shifted from moral virtues to vices over the past 60 years. – U.S. edition of The Daily Mail.6.24.26.
And, blues musician Big Bill Broonzy was born on this day in 1898 or 1893 in Scott, Mississippi or in Lake Dick, Arkansas.
War: What's it good for?
Thursday, June 25, 2026. It's Thor's day . . . Morning thunderstorms are in the forecasts for Green Country, ending into the Summertime 15% chance range with partly cloudy skies by late afternoon. Moderate Southerlies and mid 80's.
When we stand at the crossroads not knowing which way to go, we abide in an important place in the training of a warrior. It’s where our solid views begin to dissolve. – Pema Chödrön, A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times, Shambhala, 2018.
Four years ago, the Supreme Court set women's health, not just abortion rights, back decades. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse and The Contrarian.
English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell was born on this day in 1903 in Motihari, British India.
. . . the U.S. has no significant leverage over Iran … Trump has been lying for months now, but as the magnitude of the loss becomes clearer, the lies will likely grow larger. – Phillips P. O’Brien, cited by Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.
The Korean War began on this day in 1950.
Today in 1876 Custer took his last stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory.
The devil you say . . .
Wednesday, June 24, 2026. It's Odin's day . . . Rain and more rain remains in the forecasts for Green Country and TulseyTown until Friday.
Today in 1947, American businessman Kenneth Arnold saw a number of objects “flying like saucers” while piloting a small plane over Mount Rainier in Washington. It is considered the first modern sighting of UFOs and gave rise to the term flying saucer.
The novelist Anita Desai is 89 today. The MIT Professor of Humanities was born in 1937 Mussoorie, India.
Stephen Dunn was born today. The multi-laureate poet was born in 1939 Forest Hills, New York.
Poet John Ciardi was born in 1916 Little Italy in Boston’s North End.
It’s Ambrose Bierce’s birthdate. The author of The Devil’s Dictionary, he was born in 1842 Horse Cave Creek, Meigs County, Ohio.
The First Amendment is under a very real and sustained assault. – Miles Taylor, Defiance, 6.23.26
This morning, 101 former judges filed a complaint, asking the New York State Bar Attorney Grievance Commission to “initiate an investigation into Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse.
“...a sense of impending mortality seems to be making our president even more unhinged than ever.” – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American,
Wave ashore: the birth of Ondine. – Jeff Krasno, Dairies of a Dance Dad.