2026

After what was an all too brief holiday respite,

with everyone under one roof,

surrounded by family and friends,

it was easy to focus on all that is right in the world.

 Gratitude flowed easily;

and gag gifts reduced an ever present threat 

to a manageable level of anxiety.

 And then the New Year started -

and the fantasy that it would be different vanished.

 

I don't want black Venezuelan oil in cargo ships.

 

I want brown, olive, peach, chocolate and midnight black skin on streets,

in shops, homes and pews around me. 

 

I don't want red blood on the streets.

I want blue, pink, white, yellow, grey, purple and red hair walking by

as I'm stopped at a traffic light.

 

I want ice in my drinks, not in my town.

 

I want to share society with other vulnerable human beings 

willing to reveal who they are beyond the masks we all wear -

not hiding their features and identity

while so clearly revealing their weaknesses and cruelty. 

 

How did we come to this?

What alchemy of malice and ignorance has been let loose amongst us

and by what band of evil trolls?

 

What magic password has been forgotten that once allowed us

to pass across the bridge unharmed? 

 

Where are the heroes on their trusty steeds

to right the wrongs?

 

Is there an ending to this nightmare -

a happy ending doesn't even seem to be anywhere on the horizon -

or are we doomed to live trapped in this hellscape indefinitely? 

 

Sadly, I fear 

 this will be the fight for generations to come:

the quest that will determine who we are as a country and as individual citizens.

 

The sooner we realize that WE are the heroes we've been waiting for to save us,

the sooner we can get started in earnest

to do just that. 

 

So rest up while you can, 

keep surrounding yourself with love and light

 

but get ready.

Dystopian is in the eye of the beholder

 ... I close my eyes and listen to the roar and clatter of the world as it rushes by

We are rushing too. 

The wind is whipping us. 

We are so brief.

A one day dandelion.

A seedpod skittering across the ice.

We are a feather falling from the wing of a bird.

I don't know why it is given to us to be so mortal

and to feel so much.

It is a cruel trick and glorious. 

 

Louise Erdrich

The Future Home of the Living God 

 

 It all feels so fleeting;

so hang on to the joys and the glimmers,

not the anger or fears.

 "We should have done something" said Anne.

"We are doing something".

Anne looked at her mother, confused, but her mother looked sure of herself.

"We're refusing to believe the story they're telling about us".

 

Alice Hoffman

When We Flew Way: A Novel of Anne Frank before the Diary 

 

 

 I'm convinced that 

the crazier our government gets, 

the more important it is to frame a reality for ourselves

 that's different 

than the one they're handing us.  

 

 

I'm still here;

still hanging on

Just trying to practice what I preach.

Christmas decorating is finished.

Gifts are bought and wrapped -

in the basement, hiding from small eyes. 

New furnace and AC system installed.

Old pin oak in front yard coming down, even as I write this.

It's been an expensive few weeks! 

 

Heading to Chicago and WI for the holiday later this week.

Hold those you love close -

and if, for any reason,

you can't be with them,

then hug those around you

and get to know THEM!

 

We're all here at this moment in time for a reason.

Let's find what that reason is!
 

 

 

St Louis Floodwalls

 I'm saturating my life with color, beauty of all sorts 

and seasonal whimsy.

 

Luckily, there is an abundance of all those items locally.

 

The St Louis Floodwalls are decorated annually by urban spray paint artists;

it's colorful,

sometimes political.

sometimes feels geared to teenage boys,

but there are always hints of classical themes

and always a delight -

especially if you get down there before 'taggers' mark the work.

Some of these were among my favorites.
 

    Some truly remarkable talents out there.

 

And, if that doesn't do it for you -

there's always retail therapy -

focusing on thrifting and reuse!

Yes, please.