Saying “yes” to the mystery. . .

Sunday, March 1, 2026. It's Sol's day . . . cooling after record Spring warmth. TulseyTown forecasts indicate a cloudy day for TulseyTown with a 50/50 chance for rain this afternoon as moderate Northerlies bring temperatures down to 70º. 60% rain chance this evening.

It is not good to feel that one’s own religion alone is true and all others are false. God is one only, and not two. Different people call on Him by different names: some as Allah, some as God, and others as Krishna, Śiva, and Brahman. It is like the water in a lake. Some drink it at one place and call it jal [Hindi], others at another place and call it pani [Urdu], and still others at a third place and call it water. The Hindus call it jal, the Christians water, and the Mussalmans pani. But it is one and the same thing. – Sri Ramakrishna.

Growing pains – AnaLouise Keating, Wildnerness Times, in Meditations, from The Center for Action and Contemplation.

Yellowstone was named a national park on this date in 1872.

Novelist and essayist Ralph Ellison was born on this day in 1914 Oklahoma City,.

One of the most awarded poets of the 20th Century, Richard Wilbur, was born in 1921 New York City.

The poet Robert Lowell was born today in 1917 Boston, Massachusetts. Critics consider Lowell the “father of confessional poetry.”

For you:

Rita Dove & Billy Collins conduct a brief introduction to poetry workshop. It's about 10 minutes with two of the very best of our living poets.

Mysteries, Yes

… we live with mysteries

too marvelous to be understood.

…

How people come, from delight

or the scars of damage

to the comfort of a poem.

… Keep company always

with those who say “Look!”

and laugh in astonishment

and bow their heads.

– Mary Oliver, “Mysteries, Yes,” in Evidence, Beacon Press. 2009.

A bright idea . . .

Saturday, February 28, 2026. It's the Satyr's day . . . Forecasts for TulseyTown indicate slight rain chances for rain the next several days. Likely mid week. Increasing clouds late today after another possible record high in the low 80's with moderate to strong Southerlies.

Today's Mailbox was jammed to the seams with politics and this reminder:

Gratefulness is possible with the awareness of the fragility of what we have.

That said . . .

Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu launched co-ordinated strikes across Iran this morning. Iran is retaliating with missle attacks in Israel and on U.S. bases in the region.

Trump is about to turn CNN into his own private FOX. – Miles Taylor, Defiance. 2.27.26.

DIRECTV is warning of the danger of mega ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC mergers impacting local news coverage.

(… Whew … )

Today is the birthday of Paul Krugman. The Nobel Prize laureate economist and journalist was born in 1953, Albany, New York.

The internationally acclaimed architect and designer Frank Gehry was born today in 1929, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

And, Linus Pauling was born on this day in 1901, Portland, Oregon. The theoretical physical chemist became the only person to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes.

My uncle, Eugene Wilson Young, survived WWII as a B24 gunner. He became a geologist after the war. It was a fine day, so he told me, when he came up with a bright idea.

My Uncle's Bright Idea

Eugene Wilson we called him, had an idea:

Take home as many oil well core samples

as would fit into his new Volkswagen Golf –

a German made auto he swore

he'd never drive

much less purchase –

put them on a lathe at his workshop

and using carbon fiber sandpaper

polish them into lamp bases,

some of which now adorn my abode's rooms

bringing the light he searched for years

to share.

– jab

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. – Thomas Merton

The magic of loneliness . . .

Friday, February 27, 2026. It's Freya's day . . . a near Summer afternoon is in the forecasts for TulseyTown. Moderate Southerlies are to bring low 80's and bright sunny skies.

The world makes its own magic; but we can enchant ourselves by paying deep attention. – Diane Ackerman

The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on this day in 1807 Portland, Maine. My old poetic stomping grounds.

Today is also the birthdate of John Steinbeck He was born in 1902 Salinas, California.

And, the Academy Award Laureate actor Elizabeth Taylor was born today in 1932, London, England.

Things aren't going Trump's way, so of course he wants to seize the election. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse.

It’s reasonable to assume the next several months are going to be a morass of lies and disinformation. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.

Stress, Survival & the Sex Drive, posted by Commune for women (and men maintaining their savvy).

We are lonesome animals. We spend all life trying to be less lonesome. A writer out of loneliness is trying to communicate like a distant star sending signals. He isn’t telling or teaching or ordering. Rather he seeks to establish a relationship of meaning, of feeling, of observing. It’s why we tell stories hoping there is a listener. – John Steinbeck, Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, Viking. 1975.