Running with rabbits . . .

Tuesday, March 18, 2025. It's Tiw's day … Forecasts for TulseyTown indicate today to be the last of the really windy days for a while. Strong Southerlies in the 20+ mph range with 40 mpg gusts likely, along with mostly clear skies and mid 80's.

I think of the difference between science and civilization: Science knows it is unfinished, a perennial process, whereas every civilization mistakes itself for the end point of progress. – Maria Popova, “Obsidian and the Birds: An Odyssey of Wonder from the Aztecs to the Quantum World,” one of her best essays yet from The Marginalian, posted 3.16.25.

Creatives’ birthdays

Queen Latifah turns 55 today. The Grammy Award and Academy Award nominee was born in 1970,Newark, New Jersey.

The founder of The Paris Review, George Plimpton was born today in 1927 New York City.

And, novelist John Updike was born on this day in 1932 Shillington, Pennsylvania.

Not Cancelled Yet

Some honorary day,

if I play my remaining cards right

I might be a postage stamp ...

But I won't be there to lick me

and licking was what I liked...

– John Updike, Not Cancelled Yet, Limberlost Press. 2003

Waiting to be born again . . .

Monday, March 17, 2025. It's the Moon's day . . . Forecasts indicate a week of wind for TulseyTown along with rising and falling temperatures warm to cool to mild. Today: Plentiful sunshine. High low 80's. Strong Southerlies with occasional gusts over 40 mph.

It's St. Patrick's Day. Originally a religious observation in Ireland and all the pubs were closed. Today estimates are that some 13 million pints of Guiness will be consumed around the world. And the pubs are open in Éire .

Today in 1941 the National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C.

[N]othing gets better just because you look the other way. The Week Ahead from Joyce Vance in Civil Discourse.

Many agree that this is the most unpredictable and dangerous time we’ve ever lived through. How do we hold what is unfolding, and respond with courage and clarity? Tara Brach recently posted her latest video talk recorded on March 12th with the title “Freedom from inner and outer tyranny.” In it she addresses directly our current socio/political/psychological condition. If you are feeling even a tiny bit of powerlessness and if it or anger is getting in the way of your peace, do take the time for her presentation on the three parts you can cultivate toward becoming a “spiritual warrior” for these times.

Bad Back

I’m going to rub my sleepy

eyes and pray and wait

for everybody’s rebirth.

— Sherman Alexie, Bad Back, Rattle 3.16.25

One would think . . .

Sunday, March 16, 2025. It's Sol's day . . . Skies continue to clear over TulseyTown. Moderate Westerlies are slowly reducing the smokiness from the breathable air bringing a sun-filled day in the mid 60's.

The mailbox this morning held reflections from The Way . .

One of the greatest film directors yet, Bernardo Bertolucci, was born on this day in 1941, Parma, Italy.

No doubt you regular readers have noticed that the blog emphasizes taking time to be “present.” So what's the big deal with “being present?”

At best, living too much outside of the present makes us distracted, unaware, and unable to access the full awakening potential of the reality unfolding before us. At worst, it can bring us unlimited amounts of unnecessary suffering. Healing, change, enlightenment, suffering, and indeed the choice to end suffering all only happen in the present. Despite that powerful truth, meditation inevitably wakes us up to the sobering realization that we are actually living outside of the present most of the time. – Jen Liu at dharma moon.

One would think that people who insist they believe in one God would understand that everyone on Earth is equally a child of that one God. Christians ought to be first in line to cross artificial boundaries created by nation states, class systems, cultures, and even religions. Often, we’re the last! It makes one wonder if we believe what we say we believe. – Fr. Richard Rohr, Meditations, The Center for Action and Contemplation.

Do we go outside and say to the clearcut forests, the poisoned ecosystems, the microplastic-threaded oceans, and say, “Hope you are feeling better!” - Sophie Strand

All Beings Born

All beings are borne with gills

and wings meant to soar and swim

with the songs of the earth's breath

outward returning with her inbreath

to the canyons, the forests' floor

again to receive the mushroom spore

– to fly and float with them

through their rain-generated storms

feeding the streams, sea, sky, Way.

Intend to listen. Any agenda

gets in the way of The Way.

Because we care

we can still show up as we are.

There is no “them.”

There is only “us” and The Way.

– jab