Birdfoot scruitinized the rain . . .

Wednesday, January 28, 2026. It's Odin's day . . . Forecasts for TulseyTown indicate thawing continuing this afternoon with moderate Southerlies and mid 40's. There could be some black ice tomorrow morning until Noon due to the wet conditions from the thaw refreezing overnight. That morning pattern could continue for some time until the snow pack disappears. Jus' sayin' …

Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced. –James Baldwin, “As Much Truth as One Can Bear.” Essay in The New York Times Magazine, 1.14.1962

The murder of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday morning at the hands of federal agents has put wind in the sails of those trying to rein in the Trump administration and has changed the course of national politics. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.

ICE is getting the scrutiny it deserves … but will it last? – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse

The abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock was born today in 1912, Cody, Wyoming.

It’s the birthday of the novelist Colette. The author (Gigi), actress, and journalist was born in 1873 Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye in the Burgundy region of France.

And, Alan Alda is 90 today. The multiple laureate actor, writer, director was born in 1936, New York City.

Birdfoot's Grampa

The old man must have stopped our car

two dozen times to climb out

and gather into his hands

the small toads blinded

by our lights and leaping,

live drops of rain.

The rain was falling,

a mist about his white hair

and I kept saying

you can’t save them all, accept it,

get back in we’ve got places to go.

But, leathery hands

full of wet brown life,

knee deep in the summer

roadside grass,

he just smiled and said

they have places go to

too.

– Joseph Bruchac, “Birdfoot's Grampa,” as Poetry Postcard No. 28, Cold Mountain Press, Austin Texas, 1975.