Pretty bubbles in the air . . .

Tuesday, October 14, 2025. It's Tiw's day . . . and easy Southerlies are forecasted to bring a cloud mix to the skies over TulseyTown with upper 80's.

If it’s true we are alone, we are alone together, the way blades of grass are alone, but exist as a field. – Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Live in a way that the Earth will be grateful for us.

There are moments when the world feels increasingly troubled, when change comes quickly, and when the ground feels less certain. In these times, it helps to remember that we can still choose to be a steady light. It radiates when you show up—for the possibility of a wiser, world. We see it in the quiet strength that ripples outward when people come together in kindness, and courage.

Rather than it being a “hate-America” rally – that's the label Trump et al have attempted to label it – Saturday’s rally is an opportunity for all of us who love America to express our determination that our nation’s ideals not be crushed by the Trump regime.

The week ahead. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse.

Trump’s office issued an official proclamation declaring yesterday, October 13, “Columbus Day.” The proclamation completely misunderstands the fifteenth-century world of expanding European maritime routes that entirely reworked world trade—including trade in human beings—and the role of Italian mariner Christopher Columbus, who worked for Spain’s monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, in that expansion...There is a difference between history and commemoration. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.

Forever bursting bubbles. – Robert Reich, Beware the Oligarch's Two Bubbles, online today 10.04.25

The Orchard

I have dreamed of accomplishment

I have fed ambition.

I have traded nights of sleep

for a length of work.

…

all winds blow cold at last

and the leaves vanish

in the great, black

packet of time,

in the great, black

packet of ambition,

and the ripeness of the apple

is its downfall.

– Mary Oliver, from “The Orchard,” in Red Bird, Beacon Press, 2008.

It's an American tune, so it's all right . . .

Monday, October 13, 2025, It's the Moon's day . . . A rainy day is in the forecasts for TulseyTown today. Moderate Easterlies bring much cooler temperatures to the afternoon in the mid 70's. Rain on/off/on into the early evening.

Today is Columbus Day. A federal holiday celebrating a tyrant. In some quarters the name is dropped and replaced as being Indigenous People's Day. There is a movement afoot to make it a permanent replacement for Columbus, relegating him to a footnote.

Paul Simon turns 84 today. The multi-awarded-laureate, singer-songwriter brought a sensibility to rock an' roll was born in 1941, Newark, New Jersey.

Something dramatic has happened over the last two weeks — as America sees more vividly than ever who Trump is, where he and his trio of lapdogs (Miller, Vought, and Vance) want to take the country, and how we’re all potential targets. – Robert Reich, The Big Reveal, online 10.12.25

No Kings Day is this coming Saturday on October 18. It is likely to be one of the biggest days of protest in American history—and, in that world of shoulds aughts, we should be a part of it. There are two locations of such events scheduled for TulseyTown. More in Bartlesville and Muskogee. Check out the map.

Fascism always runs out of “others” eventually—and when it does, it comes for its own believers, too. A MAGA superfan found out about Trump's fascism the hard way.

Trump has opened the door to a possible pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell.

An Enlightened Society – one that is truly awake, grounded in love, compassion and acceptance – is the community you’re in, right here, right now. You and your family. You and your roommate. You and your coworker. It begins with how you work with your own mind, and it starts right where you are. – Pema Chödrön

It's all right 'cause it's an American tune.

Thoughts like weather, change.

Sunday, October 12, 2025. It's Sol's day . . . Summer continues its re-run in TulseyTown. Forecasts indicate low 90's on moderate to strong Southerlies and mixed clouds.

The thought is the thinker. There is no one behind it. The thought is thinking itself. It comes uninvited. You will see that when there is a strong detachment from the thought process, thoughts don’t last long. – Joseph Goldstein, “These Are Not Your Thoughts,” Tricycle, January 2025, reposted 10.11.25.

Jane Goodall gave an interview purposefully to be released after her death twelve days ago. There are a number of short clips on the internet, but the complete version is on Netflix. You'll have to access it there.

… only in the 20th century [have we begun] to teach about corporate sin, institutionalized evil, systemic violence, and structural racism. These very words are new to most people, especially ones who benefit from such illusions. – Fr. Richard Rohr, Systems of Wealth, in Meditation, The Center for Action and Contemplation

If Whatsisface got nailed for lying, he wouldn’t even change his tie. He has turned it into an art form. Every morning we read the Times and ask ourselves, “How can the man not be amazed at his own naked bravado? Does the man not have a pair of pants?” – Garrison Keillor, Your Civics Teacher Would Speak Now, The Column, 10.10.25.