Gobsmacked by a Frost

It's Sol's day . . . patiently waiting for the heat season to wind down . . .

Four be the things I'd been better without:

Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt. – Dorothy Parker.

Today in 1944, Paris was liberated from four years of Nazi occupation.

Garrison recalls Robert Frost and the Democratic National Convention just ended. As a newly mented highschool senior (Will Rogers High School, Tulsa, class of 1960), I met Frost at an academic summer camp, just about this time of year, at Northwestern University in 1959 . . . equally gobsmacking.

Are there unbridgeable gulfs in thinking and perception between groups of people speaking different languages? – James McElvenny, in Aeon, “Our Language, Our World,” 8.23.24.

How Would You Live Then?

What if a mockingbird

came into the house with you

and became your advisor?

What if you finally saw

that sunflowers were

more precious, more meaningful

than gold?

– Mary Oliver, “How Would You Live Then?” in Blue Iris, Beacon Press, 2006.

For some unbelievable reason, contrary to logic and common sense, everything belongs. --Richard Rohr

Hope's wings . . .

It's the Satyr's day . . . the beginning of the last hot stretch of Summer with Fall right on time starting one week away.

Heather Cox Richardson posted a great summary response to the Democratic National Convention.

Yesterday, in 1305 the Scottish national hero William Wallace was executed for treason in London.

Today is Dame A.S. Byatt's birthday. The English critic, novelist, poet and short-story writer was born on this date in 1936 Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Dame Byatt authored the novel Possession which was named as the Booker Prize laureate in 1990, among many such awards in her lifetime. The novel – a romantic mystery – was a best-seller in both the U.K. and the U.S. It was adapted as a feature film in 2002, directed by Neil LaBute and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart. Both are worth your time (and energy to locate).

It's also the birth date of Jorge Luis Borges. The short-story writer, poet and founder (as well as principal practitioner) of postmodernist literature was born in1899 Buenos Aires, Argentina. About Borges it has been said that reading his work for the first time is like discovering a new letter in the alphabet, or a new note in the musical scale.

I felt that Horus had come to me personally. I took to waving and saying, “Hello, Horus!” I was surprised the symbolically burdened bird didn’t fall out of the sky. – Sophie Strand

A perfect world . . .

It's Freya's day . . . and the heat-hammer is targeting Okieland before backing off in anticipation of Fall around the corner.

Harris. Obviously. – Joyce Vance

I feel like I have seen the political future and its name is the Democratic Party. — Heather Cox Richardson

No plan survives first contact with the enemy. This is especially true if one ends up fighting an enemy they did not prepare for...Kamala Harris has become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. Donald Trump and his campaign’s strategy – designed to go up against Biden – is now falling apart, nullified and frustrated by an enemy they did not plan for. Trump’s leadership is also being tested. At this point, he is failing the test. – Chauncey DeVega

Mark Hyman, M.D. gave a keynote at The Aspen Institute this month on the state of the art of functional medicine. He was interviewed by Soledad Hurst, philanthropist and former on-air reporter/anchor for Bloomberg TV. They focused on his latest book “ Young Forever” which provides an accessible pathway to live into our 100's or more. It’s a great introduction to Dr. Hyman if you don't or barely know of him. If you're already a fan [as is yers trooley], its a great update.

Once the World Was Perfect
Once the world was perfect, and we were happy in that world.
Then we took it for granted.
Discontent began a small rumble in the earthly mind.
Then Doubt pushed through with its spiked head.

A spark of kindness made a light.
The light made an opening in the darkness.
Everyone worked together to make a ladder.
A Wind Clan person climbed out first into the next world,

And then the other clans, the children of those clans, their children,
And their children, all the way through time—
To now, into this morning light to you.

-- Joy Harjo, “Once the World Was Perfect,” Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings. Norton, 2015.