An evolving future . . .

Saturday, December 27, 2025. It's the Satyr's day . . . Forecasts for TulseyTown indicate near record high temperatures in the low 80's this afternoon

Today in 1831 Charles Darwin set sail on the HMS Beagle, beginning the voyage on which he would formulate his theory of evolution.

Now that Santa has no doubt retreated to wherever it is he goes to rest up from his everywhereallatonceallnightaroundtheworld journey, I thought it might be worth catching up on his history. Heather Cox Richardson posted an excellent account posted on Christmas day in her Letters From An American.

Interview with New York's soon to be (this Thursday) Mayor Zohran Mamdani with Robert Reich, posted yesterday.

We Speak of August

We don’t know what will happen

between one raindrop and the next,

yet we speak of August as if it were a contract

[…]

In the eastern sky the first star is out,

preparing for the long night of wishes.

[…]

— Valentina Gnup, the Rattle Poetry Prize “We Speak of August” in Rattle #34, Winter, 2010.

Holding hands . . .

Friday, December 26, 2025. It's Freya's day . . . light Northerlies, Sunny and near record highs this afternoon. Breezes return to Southerlies tonight.

May you grow still enough to hear the stir of a single snowflake in the air, so that your inner silence may turn into hushed expectation. – Br. David Steindl-Rast

I heard the bells on Christmas day.-- The poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – the story and the song.

Holidays can be tricky. Miribai and Willow offer perspective.

Today, the diarist, humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor David Sedaris is 69. He was born in 1956 near Binghamton, New York and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina

It's also Henry Miller's birthdate. The author of Tropic of Cancer was born in 1891 New York City.

In 1963 Beatlemania took root in the U.S. with the release of their single “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.”

Seasons

For some there are no wrong seasons. – Mary Oliver

In those days when I thought my task

was to save everyone from themselves,

I gave you my best shot.

You batted it away like Wonder Woman

deflecting me into the ashcan of just

another ass-wipe man like him –

another disappointment. Still,

I guess my words were rather like

unwelcome weeds in your Spring garden.

From this distance now across time I trust

there has come a season when you were surprised

as was I to have found our peace.

– jab

Comprehension . . .

Thursday, December 25, 2025 . It's Thor's day . . . Christmas day in TulseyTown. Strong Southerlies continue to bring record near 80º temperatures this afternoon with a mix of sun and clouds.

The light does not erase what is difficult.
It simply keeps us company within it.

Today in 1941, Bing Crosby debuted Irving Berlin's “White Christmas” on The Kraft Music Hall radio program. Crosby later recorded the song for the film Holiday Inn (1942), and it won an Oscar, becoming one of the most popular songs in American history.

The scientist and physicist Sir Isaac Newton was born on this day in 1642 Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. He developed the principles of modern physics, including the laws of motion and gravity among his contributions.

The mystic Pierre Teilhard de Chardin gave us the notion of Christ in all things.

So, when, actually, was Jesus ( Yeshua, Joshua, Yesus) born?

Reclaiming the sacred in our lives naturally brings us close once more to the wellsprings of poetry. – Robert Bly.

Noël

Born is the thought of that night sky.

Born with it: Our freedom,

our freedom to choose

the end of sorrow --

the freedom to choose again,

and again if need be.

All the past, truly past,

all renewing itself

along with You

in each and every this --

this --

very moment.

So, what is this laying

in a straw-and-light-filled barn?

A child we yet cannot see.

Hope we would yet comprehend.

Forgive the world

for all the mistakes

you have made

and be welcome.

Welcome

to your eternal home.

Noël.

Noël.

-- jab 12.24.25