A boat with no rudder . . .
Friday, August 8, 2025. It's Frigg's (Freya's) day . . .and forecasts for TulseyTown call for yet another 100º day, with moderate to strong Southerlies.
It's not a race to the bottom. It’s the opposite. It’s a means of avoiding the bottom. – Robert Reich, online, 8.8.25
Taking a break is not the same thing as quitting. In our “all or nothing” world, the combination of the two, means, simply, we don't have to be pushing all the time. – Victoria Balme, Risk Forward, Hay House. 2021
No chickens. – Joyce Vance, Civil Discouse, yesterday.
Dustin Hoffman is 88 today. The multi-laureate award actor was born in 1937, Los Angeles, California.
Nixon resigned the presidency, 51 years ago today (1974).
Resentment, bitterness, and holding a grudge prevent us from seeing and hearing and tasting and delighting. – Pema Chödrön
Meditation Mine-Field
“The mob within the heart” – Emily Dickenson
love, care, anxiety, resentment, tenderness, attachment,
hurt, upset, frustration, bored, restless, lonely,
apprehensive, belligerent, revengent,
potshots at our own feet the ego takes
in singularly advantageous moments
all the way to all at the same time:
leaving us with no toes
trying to navigate a boat with no rudder
with our feet.
Hands-like-clouds, feet like clouds,
thoughts like clouds.
calm, peaceful, joyous, compassionate.
Who knew?
Good to know.
– jab
Thunder in the night moves poets . . .
Wednesday, August 6, 2025. It's Odin's day . . . and the warming continues for TulseyTown with moderate Southerlies, mid 90's.
Pay attention to what you pay attention to. Think about what you think about. Evaluate what you value.
Eighty years ago today the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.
Poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born on this day in 1809 Lincolnshire, England. At the height of his career, he was one of the most famous men in England.
Today is also the birthdate of Andy Warhol. The multi-disciplinary artist was born in 1928 Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His experimental work generated a lot of noise.
The thunder of bison has returned to the Osage prairie.
Ain't it funny how the night moves with the thunder...
Boom and echo . . .
Tuesday, August 5, 2025. It's Tiw's day . . . and a warming trend settles into TulseyTown beginning today. Easy Southerlies, bright sun with only a few clouds. 90's. In other familiar words, August in Okieland.
Creativity is not an act of knowing. It's an act of discovery. That's why 2nd drafts (and more) are part of the process. So, too, editing.
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” – Einstein, from anecdotal accounts, most notably a recollection by Dr. János Plesch, a physician and friend of Einstein’s. (from ChatGTP).
Fairy tales are above all in service of life’s most difficult, most unfinishable task — knowing who we are and what we want. – Maria Popova, The Marginalian.
“Particulars” seem to most open us up to universals, which is what poets have always understood. – Fr. Richard Rohr, Meditations, The Center for Action and Contemplation, 8.5.25
Birthdays
Wendell Berry turns 91 today. The novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer was born in 1934 Port Royal, Kentucky.
The great French short-story writer, Guy de Maupassant, was born on this day in 1850 Normandy, France.
It’s the birthdate of John Huston. The prolfic motion-picture director, writer, and actor was born in 1906, Nevada, Missouri.
The first man to set foot on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, was born today in 1930 Wapakoneta, Ohio.
“No man chooses evil because it is evil; he mistakes it for happiness.” – Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Men
The first of several Nuclear Test-Ban Treaties, was signed on this day in 1963 Moscow
The word “Echo” tells us that whatever we give to the world, will be returned to us. – David Whyte
Upon Receiving the Gift of a Handmade Box
[…]
My friend worked for days on the box,
measuring and cutting.
[…]
A whipporwill paused mid-call.
[…]
Who has heard the songs and not held out hope.
Who has wanted something only for
another – only that a burden be lifted,
that a stranger, or creature survive?
– Joanna Klink, “Upon Receiving the Gift of a Handmade Box” in Poetry, July/August 2026.