I planned not to highlight today’s remembrances, but they aren’t yet through with me.
This, too, passed!
06 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
Every morning now, Word Press shows me posts from my (extensive) archives, and although I vow not to do this EVERY day, some are worth a reread. Maybe. Today I need an infusion of happy, and you might too. This one takes us all the way back to the COVID months.
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Oh, those archives…
05 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
*** Uncanny how life from a year ago mirrors today, only different!
Housekeeping…
14 Jul 2026 1 Comment
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I opened my eyes this morning and found myself, in the immortal words of Ulla Inka Hansen Benson Yansen Tallen Hallen Swadon Swanson, in the mood to “tidy-oop” a little. And if you’ve somehow missed The Producers in your lifetime, watch it posthaste, you’ll thank me for the reference.
Speaking of tidying accumulated detritus, what I’ve observed about computer files over time is that they are faithful to their calling which is to fill themselves to capacity with things no one will ever need again. Ever. But MIGHT just… so therein lies the dilemma. I can’t simply let them go, despite an experienced knowledge of how this works, so I’m tossing this batch into your court, do with it as you may. I’ll yield to the inner compunction to share it, then immediately throw it in the bin. Heartlessly, I assure you.
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And a couple from the realists…
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Sadness and anger are cousins and can exist simultaneously with all the other human emotions. There are no Get Out of (Existential) Jail Free cards.
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There’s so much sadness and anger intermingled in this one it’s hard to process. Incredibly, this is what a massive part of The People’s House looks like now, before it gets even worse. And no one bothered to get clearance for ANY of it.
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My heart hurts for everybody younger than 60 (as well as everyone older than 60), because every generation since the Boomers (mine) has believed deep down that there’s no rosy future for anyone of any age anymore. That’s a bleak outlook to base a lifetime on, and not fair… but I’ve never heard anyone say life’s designed to be fair. I do especially feel for the kids coming out of high school this year, the college grads, the people who need to be ready to take over from us, the certified elderly, and steer the country away from the cliffs. Again. Some more. The youthful ones who traditionally lace up their boots and implement plans formulated by old men in windowless rooms who are basically immune to the downsides. And those old men and women have to get a clue and retire because for the most part they’ve lost the plot and aren’t keeping up with what time inevitably delivers. Life is entirely about change. That’s an immutable fact and it’s pointless to laugh in the face of reality.
Meanwhile, those high school and college “kids,” what ABOUT them? Who and what are they supposed to believe and internalize? What kind of society is being built via all these mixed messages? What sort of adults are under construction as we speak? And who shoulders responsibility if it all turns to quicksand under our feet?
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Which brings us full circle to an important truth…
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It’s a beautiful day.
Find someone to be nice to.
Smile a little or a lot.
Keep your powder dry
and work with what ya’ got.
[I may have just written a pome.]
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I MAY have thoughts…
24 May 2026 4 Comments
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Boys and girls, time rushes on and in one more month we’ll be at the midpoint of a year we couldn’t envision starting in the first place. Much against our hopes and dreams it’s been a ride that never stops, so we just keep hanging on, because what else?
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To my great sorrow, the writing has dried up to just a thought or two here and there, without the energy to capture any of it. Either everything that can be said has been said, or there’s no way to say it. Small talk feels phony in light of daily reality, even if I were to think of worthwhile things to share with you.
Oh, but here’s something! Yesterday I got to spend a few minutes with two of the most amazing little girls I’ve ever met. Sisters, very close in age, and full of life in a way I needed to sit with at that moment. The BIG sister, at all of two & a half, quietly recognizes all the letters of the alphabet and can count to ten or twenty (my brain was buzzing so I’m not sure), and I found myself wishing I could ask her for a little advice on living a joy-filled existence!
Other than that…
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A total lifesaver at this juncture is my trainer, Shannon. The more we work on strength, balance, and simply moving, the better life feels. With the weather MAYBE settling in, my future days should feature a whole bunch of walking. Watch this space.
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We could all give it a try and compare notes!
I’m deliberately refraining from bringing up anything TOO controversial, except here’s something that seems applicable on this sunny Sunday morning…
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The day happened around me and I slipped away, but I’m back now with a positive and colorful word for all of us. It’s the little things.
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Spring forward, right?
06 Apr 2026 2 Comments
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And how’s that going for e’erbody? It feels like we might be stuck on April Day One, the Fool’s Day part, but what do I know? We’ll just have to keep pressing every onward, as a guy I know used to say.
Maybe you’re aware from the scarcity of posts showing up here, but it’s a lot more challenging to write for fun these days. There are words and sentences in my head all day long, but most of them, if shared, would take a heavy toll on whatever sort of following still exists for this little blog of mine, and I’d greatly miss the community of it all. Social interaction, with friend or foe, family or not, is an exhausting minefield now more than ever, requiring more energy than most introverts have in the tank. Look around you. If your quiet ones have gone to ground they’re either refueling or digging in, which is harder to do in spring and summer than in the relative unfriendliness of winter. The “digging in” part, I mean.
The problem is, here we are. Things we were made aware of eleven years ago, and projections put forth at the time, have either happened, are in the process of happening, have been uncovered, discovered, covered up, ignored or postponed… and here we are.
We don’t know what’s next and that’s a fact. We were promised NO NEW WARS, and now the word nuclear is no longer verboten in impolite company, but is instead being bandied about as if it were a viable possibility. We were promised many things, none of which on the positive side have come to fruition. Sometimes it’s a challenge to keep sweet in the eyes of the world.
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When this is over, the world is going to need an influx of everything good and helpful and true. Stay ready to offer whatever you can.
Rain, rain, stay all day…
06 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
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Oh, my! Thunder and lightning, very very frightening! This odd lil’ duck has been sitting here in the dark since she got up, listening to the raindrops on the windows, and it’s life-giving. It’s now pouring down in buckets and can keep this up all day because it’s ideal weather for ducks. It’s the antithesis to these past weeks of grief, outrage, disbelief, and sheer terror at the possibilities, and it couldn’t be more welcome. Feels like sweet balm and I hope your day will hold a big dose of that, in whatever format hits best.
When life piles on and insists on being a whole chaos agent, I go looking for the glow-up, the uplift, the good news that hides ’til it’s safe to come out. Facebook’s plethora of tearjerker stories are aimed right at my heart, and IDNC whether they’re 100% factual or based on composites, they do me good. Because here’s the thing…
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I’ve learned that, contrary to everything taught to me by my mom and grandmas, I can indeed hate. I can do it and fully own it, and it’s a cleansing fire but it’s exhausting. And soul-killing. So we press “every onward,” boys and girls, trying to keep our hearts right, if only in the interest of good health.
The lesson of war and bloody conflict is this, every time, but it’s the very one we can’t absorb and remember…
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Now that I’ve said the word “war,” I might as well let Heather Cox Richardson say the rest…
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This one makes me laugh, so I like it a lot. Alexander Hamilton was 21 years old when he became a founding father, right around the time of this “quote,” which sadly is what’s called in polite circles “fake.” Alas…
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The sun’s been out a couple of times, so maybe the delicious rain is over for a while, but it was a sweet start to the weekend. You all have a peaceful one!
It’s February, bring on the love…
12 Feb 2026 2 Comments
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Everybody who’s still awake and keeping track of such things knows we did finally make it through all 365 days of January, only to find that February had decided to follow that same template. Thus we find ourselves not even halfway through the month when New Year’s Eve was eons ago, how does that work?
Journey will forever exhort us “(To NOT) Stop Believin'” but I confess that my inner Pollyanna finally sat down last week and thought briefly about hanging up the fight, letting it all crumble around me, and quitting all the stupid caring so much. Journey, as they say, would be so disappointed in me.
It’s been a slog any way we want to look at it, while at the same time parts of society are coming unraveled at warp speed. Every day I think about writing something in this space, and every day I wander off again without having typed a single word because where, really, does one even start? Some things are both too ridiculous and too true for words. So just to keep the lines open between you and me, and to preserve a thread of history as it happens, I’m resorting to sign language again to help me say what I can’t say. If our (the country’s) history becomes as disposable and ephemeral as a thread, at least I will have given it a small shot at preservation. And maybe we’ll both feel better for a little while. I know I could use the therapy.
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It was a really good dream.
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Let’s just say it. We’re in a dark place, a place we’ve never been before. Something will eventually happen to set our future course, and at some point one side or the other in the conflict will “win.” It’s yet to be determined just how all of that will happen and what a victory might look like, but somebody always gets declared winner. And so far, through every similar conflict, the planet has survived. Stay tuned, we haven’t seen the hard parts of this one yet.
Just as in the Civil War but without as much firepower so far, we’re brother against brother again, neighbor against neighbor. Uncle Ralph at Christmas dinner against the rest of the clan. E’erbody against e’erbody, just mix it up and get it over with. Sounds like a relief but I do not think it means what we think it means.
Put this in present tense and here we are:
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
A hard thing about life is that we have trouble hearing each other. It’s a universal problem, unique to the human race. The animal kingdom has no such problem, they can hear and locate each other through anything. It’s beyond impressive. I have opinions as to why we can’t manage some of that, but I’ll spare us all for today.
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A thing this era is teaching me is how truly hard genuine communication is, for all the reasons, and that some people honestly can’t hear us… just as we aren’t hearing them. The filters are invisible but industrial-strength and hard to break through. Choices available to us include playing dumb, trying to listen, deciding not to care, growing a hard heart, feeling stupid, feeling like we’ve lost the plot, wondering where it all went south, wondering if relationships and the world in general will ever feel real again. If you have others, share them here in comments! None of it feels GOOD.
In closing, dearly beloved, let me just quote my grandma: “This too shall pass.” Knowing exactly when and how would help immensely, but since we’re not privy to that information we can only do that thing where you hang in and hope for the best. Glad I could be of help, call again any time, I’m in the book.
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I promise you this is true.
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Grateful for you on Valentine’s Day…
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Playing for Time 
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