Hurdy-gurdy chaos . . .
Tuesday, January 20, 2026. It's Tiw's day . . . Moderate Southerlies return to TulseyTown. . Forecasts indicate a much warmer day that yesterday as the Winter roller-coaster continues. Sunshine and 50's in the afternoons until the freezing returns Friday.
We are watching one of the wildest things a nation-state has ever done. A superpower is [dying by] suicide because the [Republican] Congress is too cowardly to stand up to the Mad King. This is one of the wildest moments in all of geopolitics ever....In just a year since his second inauguration, Trump has torn apart the work that took almost a century of struggle and painstaking negotiations from the world’s best diplomats to build. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American, for 1.20.26.
The Davos conference of the world's richest is devolving into crisis mode over Trump and Greenland. – WAPO, 1.20.26
Monty Python would have a field-day. – Robert Reich, Greenland? 1.19.26
Bull Connor's ghost. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse, 1.20.26
Concertina for Broken Banjo and Hurdy Gurdy
I am not a part of a circle. I have no 'gang' to blame
or hit up for lunch money. But, in the fog-mist-
emotional-fringe of a town that celebrates honky-tonk
while struggling as a wannabe-a-city in the middle of nowhere,
frightened of its possibilities,
I am not alone.
Chaos brings the best out of a few of us
who, nonetheless, have no idea
where any of us live.
And
maybe
don’t care.
– jab
Extraordinary heroes . . .
Monday, January 19, 2026. It's the Moon's day . . . and it is a new moon as the earth is hiding the sun's light. One might think the sun is hiding from TulseyTown today as Winter takes hold. Forecasts indicate a cloudy day with moderate to strong Northerlies holding temperatures to near freezing all the long day, with a slight chance for some snow. Milder conditions return tomorrow. Snow is forecast likely for Friday and Saturday.
People are wrong to say that we have no heroes left. Just as they have always been, they are all around us, choosing to do the right thing, no matter what. As a reminder, today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American, 1.19.26..
This week could become an extraordinary moment in American history....Trump seems to be on course to become the first President to direct the use of U.S. military forces against American citizens during peacetime. – Joyce Vance, The Week Ahead, in Civil Discourse, 1.19.26.
Today is the birthdate of Paul Cézanne. Born in 1839, Aix-en-Provence, France, he challenged all the conventional values of painting in the 19th century
Dolly Parton is 80 today. She was born in 1946, Locust Ridge, Tennessee.
Janis Joplin, another singer/songwriter from outside the box, was born on this day in 1943, Port Arthur, Texas, as well, a home town for me for a few years during my teaching years. In her short time, she was often called the original queen of rock and roll.
And, the poet Edgar Allan Poe was born on this day in 1809, Boston, Massachusetts.
A correct view of human nature must be rooted in a recognition of our ongoing relationship with the anima mundi, of how fully our lives are entangled with one another, with the stand of oaks, the night herons, the marginalized, the brokenhearted. – Francis Weller, Notes On Living Through Uncertainty, in The Marginalian.
All My Heroes
All my heroes slain by a culture
they dared occupy as a truly
free person in love with everyone.
My culture demands everything
and everyone fit into a compartment –
a defined box not to be stepped beyond.
Artists, poets, musicians, painters,
seers, prophets calling for justice
from a platform of love
even when sounding like rage
have never been beyond those
with eyes to see, ears to hear.
We can get beyond where we are now
but we cannot prescribe nor predict
what lies beyond the horizon.
We could act from the Truth of Love
with the awareness of the risk implied
by trusting one another.
That day will come. But the price
will be high and we are still arguing
about who will pay the greater share.
The real heroes live now among us
and will not be recognized
until they've left us.
That's how frightened we are
inside the boxes we continue to build
for everyone, including ourselves.
– jab
That said, there will come a light on a clear blue morning.
A stranger inside us . . .
Sunday, January 18, 2026. It's Sol's day . . . and after a bone-chilling cold start to the day, Southerlies return to TulseyTown. Forecasts indicate a sunny afternoon near 50º.
In the mailbox today . . .
Today is the birthdate of A.A. Milne, born in 1882, London, England. He was the originator of the immensely popular stories of Christopher Robin and his toy bear, Winnie-the-Pooh; It's also the birthday of Cary Grant, born in 1904, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England; Kevin Costner is 71 today. The Academy Award laureate was was born in 1955, Lynwood, California; and Mark Rylance is 66 today. The multiple award laureate actor was born in 1960, Ashford, Kent, England.
A howl of frustration on the part of a mad dictator. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.
Its time, again, for “good trouble.” – Robert Reich, Sunday Thought, 1.18.26
Prayer For An Invitation
I pray for you, world
to come and find me …
I pray to understand
the stranger inside me ...
– David Whyte, “Prayer for an Invitation,” published in The Bell and The Blackbird, Many Rivers Press, 2018.