The crooked Way . . .

In Thor's day's mailbox:

Today is the 260th anniversary of the birth of Kobayashi Issa. The Japanese poet was born in 1763 Kashiwabara, Japan. He remains among the recognized masters of the Haiku form. He wrote more than 20,000 of them in his lifetime

DJ Trump has been formally called to account.

The willingness of government officials to ignore the rule of law in order to buy peace gave us enduring reverence for the principles of the Confederacy, along with countless dead Unionists, mostly Black people, killed as former Confederates reclaimed supremacy in the South. It also gave us the idea that presidents cannot be held accountable for crimes, a belief that likely made some of the presidents who followed Nixon less careful about following the law than they might have been if they had seen Nixon indicted.

Holding a former president accountable for an alleged profound attack on the United States is indeed unprecedented, as his supporters insist. But far from being a bad thing to stand firm on the rule of law at the upper levels of government, it seems to fall into the category of “high time.” – Heather Cox Richardson

The inconceivable wish to help all sentient beings always begins with oneself. Our own experience is the only thing we have to share. Other than that, we can’t pretend to be more awake or more compassionate than we actually are. Much of our realization comes from the honest recognition of our foibles. The inability to measure up to our own standards is decidedly humbling. It allows us to empathize with other people’s difficulties and mistakes. – Pema Chödrön

approaching my village

I don't know about the people
but all the scarecrows
are crooked – Issa

Translated by Robert Hass

We cannot avoid the Watercourse Way. It is us, we are It, and it is FAR better to ride the waves than it is to tempt drowning.