Leaves are thinking about the ground . . .
Thursday, October 23, 2025. It's Freya's day . . . Rain, rain, and more rain. Up to 5 inches are indicated in the forecasts for TulseyTown. Likely, it'll be on/off/on today, tomorrow and easying to an end Sunday morning. Moderate to strong Southeasterlies maintain low 60's.
The fear of losing what you believe you own can drive an incessant search for the freedom you think is “out there,” wherever it is you are not.
Yesterday, Maria Popova celebrated the 19th anniversary of the first posting of what became her extraordinary online effort, The Marginalian.
It's not his house. It's your house. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.
Reaction to the demolition is negative. The project is unlikely to be finished anytime soon. So who is it for?
Trump's power grab is headed for the Supreme Court. – Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse.
A new direction for the democratic party? – Robert Reich, The Mamdani Moment, online today, 10.24.25
By definition, those who could not make it in a merit-based system and who are dependent on the good will of an authoritarian leader have neither the skill nor the priorities to deliver good government for the country. An update from Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.
Today is United Nations Day, the 80th anniversary of the establishing of the United Nations.
Song For Autumn
In the deep fall don't you imagine
the leaves think how comfortable
it will be to touch the earth …
And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.
– Mary Oliver, “Song For Autumn”, New and Selected Poems, Vol.2, Beacon Press, 2005.
Burning down the house . . .
Thursday, October 23, 2025. It's Thor's day . . . and forecasts for TulseyTown indicate increasing rain chances, slight today and likely overnight and into tomorrow when heavy rains are predicted. It looks to be a wet weekend. Until the clouds move in on moderate Easterlies, sunny skies prevail with near 80º this afternoon.
The easiest way to navigate The Way: recognize our shared humanity. Works best in silence.
Trump is tearing down your house. – Robert Reich, The Billionaire Ballroom, online 10.23.25
Today is the birth date of Johnny Carson. He was born in 1925, Corning, Iowa.
Corning. Iowa. Parlaying that into a silent synchronistic joke may have powered his career.
me: Johnny, where were you born?
Johnny: Corning.
me: You’re kidding.
Johnny: It’s in Iowa.
Maria Should Have Known Better
…
To fall in love is craziness, but to break a heart is cruetly
Carrying on through love's upheavals? That takes a rare warrior.
You are a courtyard that could hold up an elephant;
I'm a crumbline wall of sand.
How can I resurrect it now –
this love I've had in all my past lives?
– Mirabai, “Maria Should Have Known Better,” translated from the Braj Bhasha by Chloe Martinez, in Poetry, November 2025.
“The closer you contemplate beginnings and endings, the more you begin to see that they are impossible.” – Norman Fischer
Freedom dreams . . .
Wednesday, October 22, 2025. It's Odin's day . . . and easy Southwesterlies, sunshine and low 80's are in the forecasts for TulseyTown.
Freedom is desire; but felt in reverse. – David Whyte, Freedom, in Consolations II, Many Rivers Press. 2025
On this day in 1962 President John F. Kennedy alerted Americans to what became known as the Cuban missile crisis.
Settling down a bit from the Saturday protests. What can we do now? – Robert Reich, online, 10.21.25
Speaking of freedom as desire: Today is the birth date of Timothy Leary.
The French actress Catherine Deneuve turns 82 today.She, too, was born on this date in 1943 Paris, France.
And it's Franz Liszt's birthdate. One of the most prolific and influential musicians of the romantic era, he was born in1811, Doborján, kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire [now Raiding, Austria.
Cathedrals
Out of sorrows, sadness and prayers
these ancient alters with water and wind
blown sand were carved by whispers of
peoples whose history and geology
now overlooks the silented stories
that healed the sick and broken,
bonded lovers, birthed children, and
made peace among blood enemies.
Slaves dreamed here of freedom
and within themselves
found the courage
of the wind.
– jab Freedom to love in a dream.