Luna Moths . . . No Kings
Thursday, October 16, 2025. It's Thor's day . . . and forecasts for TulseyTown indicate increasing clouds this afternoon, brought by moderate Southerlies and mid 80's. A warm weekend ahead with a brief cooling on Sunday.
With the No Kings protests happening tomorrow at thousands of locations nationwide, this will be the third significant day of protest during the second Trump administration. The first were the Hands Off! protests of April 5 which drew an estimated three to five million attendees, and the second were the June 14 No Kings protests, which drew an estimated four to six million marchers. Both were historic in terms of their size, and both were important as physical manifestations of the continued vibrancy of democratic action in the United States of America. If you are willing, able and available, find a protest near you and attend—behave, keep your eyes open, and be careful. Two locations are scheduled in Tulsa. One at 7st and Memorial I the center of the metro area that began at 8a.m. and should end around Noon. The other is to be at Boulder Park.
An earlier post had a link that didn't work. Here's one that does.
As if Trump's manic antics weren't enough to protest, there's a long list of specifics flowing from his administration. Among them that our voting rights are under an attack that is about to be sustained by the Supreme Court. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.
Same age, years younger. – Robert Reich on his and Trump's aging, online 10.16.25
Injury is the invitation to live from the inside out . . .Until we were injured we were under the delusion that we were secure from humiliation, and that, in the spirit of that word, we didn’t need a well-developed sense of humour; until we were injured we didn’t really accept that we were just as amusingly and not so amusingly vulnerable as everyone else. – David Whyte, Injury, Consolations II, Many Rivers Press, 2025.
The Luna Moth Has No Mouth
…
Maybe we have it all wrong and the moths
are trying to save us susceptible humans from
this prison of codependence: ego enabling ego.
Luna moths, our diminutive heroes on a fool's
errand, without mouths, live only a week or so,
yet spend that precious time
delivering that same unheeded message
dont waste your life on those who
will never love the way you do.
– Rigoberto González , from “The Luna Moth Has No Mouth,” published in Poetry, October, 2025.
The Godfather is dead . . .
Wednesday, October 15, 2025. It's Odin's day . . . and moderate Southeasterlies are forecasted to maintain warm sunny skies for TulseyTown, with upper 80's this afternoon.
Jack Smith is back in the news. And he's not holding back. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse.
Smacking synchronicity – today is the birthdate of novelist Mario_Puzo (The Godfather), born in 1920 New York City.
An update on the government shutdown was posted last night by Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.
Today is the birthdate of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, born in Röcken, a village in 1844 Prussia.
“God is dead...and we have killed Him.” – Nietzsche.
Nietzche is often misquoted as having said only that “God is dead.” By “we have killed him” he meant the strangulation and ritualization of religion by languaged attempts to put God in a box. He may have been reading Virgil.
Speaking of Virgil. Today is also his birthdate. The Roman poet was born Publius Vergilius Maro on this day in 70 B.C.E. near Mantua, Italy.
“ If I cannot move heaven, I will raise hell.” ― Virgil, The Aeneid, line 312
While The Organ Peeled Potatoes — by Anonymous
It was midnight on the ocean;
Not a street car was in sight.
The sun was shining brightly,
And it rained all day that night.
'Twas a summer's night in winter
And the rain was snowing fast.
A barefoot boy with shoes on
Stood sitting on the grass.
The rain was pouring down,
The moon was shining bright,
And everything that you could see
Was hidden out of sight.
It was evening and the rising sun
Was setting in the West.
The little fishes in the trees
Were huddled in their nest.
While the organ peeled potatoes,
Lard was rendered by the choir.
While the sexton rang the dish rag,
Someone set the church on fire.
"Holy Smoke," the preacher shouted,
And in the rush he lost his hair.
Now his head resembles heaven,
For there is no parting there.
I saw a great, big, tiny house
Ten thousand miles away.
And to my view 'twas out of sight
Last night, the other day.
The walls projected inward,
The front door round the back.
Alone it stood between two more.
The walls were whitewashed black.
A great, big, tiny house I saw
Ten thousand miles away.
And to my view 'twas out of sight
The other day, last night. – in the public domain (I think. There are many variations)
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.