The ordinarily rare . . .
Wednesday, January 14, 2026. It's Odin's day . . . Strong, gusty Northerlies are in the forecasts for TulseyTown today, bringing clouds, sunshine, and low 50's. Wind chill in the 40's is indicated until late afternoon. A hard freeze in the low 20's tonight. My besties in Panama are anticipating thunderstorms today.
May you embrace this day, not just as any old day, but as this day. Your day. Held in trust by you, in a singular place, this place called now. – Carrie Newcomer
What we call “meditation” was natural to us during our evolution, as we sat around a fire in the quiet darkness, or lay on the ground looking up into the stars, or tried to make ourselves disappear so an animal would come near. Notice that everything you usually take yourself to be is an object that can be observed. You can describe your body, your feelings, your thoughts, and your memories. If they can be known, they cannot be your true self, because their very existence implies a subject that knows them.
What is it that knows? What is doing this watching of the self?
Yesterday, the Clintons refused to testify in the House’s Epstein investigation, escalating a monthslong battle and effectively daring Kentucky Republican James Comer to follow through on his threats to hold them in contempt of Congress.
Today is the birthdate of Albert Schweitzer. The Nobel Prize laureate was born in 1875, Kaysersberg, Upper Alsace, Ger. (now in France).
Today is also the birthday of Osip Emilievich Mandelstam. The Russian poet was born in 1891 Warsaw and raised in the imperial capital of St. Petersburg.
Just For Joy
In the dense forest of life fear cannot be overcome.
Only kisses are left for us.
– Mandelstam, “Just For Joy.” composed in 1913 in a collection “Trista” and included in The Complete Poems (translated), University of New York Press, 1973
What we think is rare is not really so; what’s rare is our being open to it, right in the midst of the ordinary.
Are you next?
Tuesday, January 13, 2026. It's Tiw's day . . . Moderate Southerlies and low 70's are in the forecasts for TulseyTown. Westerlies late this evening are to become Northerly overnight bringing slight rain chances and cooler conditions.
The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. – Carl Rogers
Today in 2021, Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to be impeached twice.
Democratic senator Mark Kelly of Arizona has sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, among others in the military for violating several of his civil rights under the Constitution and law of the United States. Details in Letters From An American from Heather Cox Richardson. Posted late yesterday for today.
You could be next. – Robert Reich, “This is personal,” online, 1.13.26
The world’s about to shift from Ai that talks to Ai that does, changing everything in 2026.
One of the best-selling writers of all time, Horatio Alger, was born today in 1832 Chelsea, Massachusetts.
Big Thing
Did you hear about Gary?
His new book is supposed to be big.
Which is fine. I’m happy for him.
…
It’s just that I’m feeling a little blindsided here.
…
there is this feeling of betrayal,
like the rest of us let our guard down
while he was doing his Big Thing,
…
This Is So Not Why I Got My MFA.
– George Bilgere, “Big Thing” complete poem in Rattle #59, Spring, 2018.
Forward, into the past . . .
Monday, January 12, 2026. It's the Moon's day . . . Today and tomorrow, TulseyTown's weather will be flirting with 70º afternoons before the cold returns Wednesday. Roller-coaster Northerlies and Southerlies are to mix clouds and sun.
We never experience the past or future directly. If all we ever experience is the present, then time has never existed as a line from past to future. What we call a “moment” is not a slice of time but an open, timeless presence.
Building the back story. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American
The author of Call of the Wild, Jack London, was born on this day in 1876 San Francisco.
It's John Hancock's birthday. The first to sign the Declaration of Independence was born in 1737,Braintree, now in Quincy, Massachusetts.
If an earthquake struck and the walls rattled and windows broke, you wouldn’t go on grilling hamburgers, you’d want to see what a cataclysm looks like. Turn on your TV, or, if you dare: open your door. – Garrison Keillor, “Watching the World Fall Apart,” The Column, 1.9.26
Post hoc, ergo, propter hoc
Nobody knows what's going on anymore
Because
Nobody knows what's going on anymore.
– jab (probably in Dubuque)