The generosity of a lily . . .

Wednesday, June 11, 2025. It's Odin's day . . . The sunny start to the day here in TulseyTown turns cloudy during the afternoon. So says the weatherfeather. Moderate Southerlies may make for a mid 80's day.

Generosity is an activity that loosens us up. By offering whatever we can—a dollar, a flower, a word of encouragement—we are training in letting go. – Pema Chödrön, in Comfortable With Uncertainty, Shambhala, 2018.

Today is the birth date of Jacques Cousteau. The ocean and underwater explorer was born in 1910, Saint-André-de-Cubzac, France .

It's the birthday of William Styron. The multiple laureate novelist was born in 1925 Newport News, Virginia.

And, playwright Ben Jonson was born on this date in 1572 London.

Under the Constitution, police powers are reserved to the states. Trump is clearly trying to assert himself as dictator. – Joyce Vance explains in Civil Discourse.

“This isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles. When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation. This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next.” – Gov. Gavin Newsom, cited by Heather Cox Richardson, posted yesterday in Letters From An American.

The Noble Nature

It is not growing like a tree

In bulk, doth make man better be;

Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,

To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:

A lily of a day

Is fairer far in May,

Although it fall and die that night—

It was the plant and flower of Light.

In small proportions we just beauties see;

And in short measures life may perfect be.

– Ben Jonson. This poem is in the public domain.