I am engaged in building a future for my kids out of this mess of a present, largely created by my parents' generation. One of the most wearing aspects of this project is not giving in to despair. Merely seeing what might be good — or even survivable — is difficult. So from time to… Continue reading Lughnasadh 2041
Category: Parables & Stories
Beyond Summer
This painting is called Elizabeth the Corn Maiden. Of course, I had to buy it. Today is Flitch Day in England. As in “side of bacon”. I had no idea bacon had its own day. Seems appropriate that it should fall in the middle of the Dog Days. (No, I’m not fond of bacon. Nor… Continue reading Beyond Summer
Ozymandias and the Dreamers
(Winifred Mumbles) They say there were one million pates under that sunset once upon a time. I imagine only once. Because I can’t imagine that impossible clot of humans happening twice. They littered the valley with their aspirations. Plastic. Fading. Tired even in youth. I can see the echoes under the rainbow sky. Foundations poured… Continue reading Ozymandias and the Dreamers
The Wednesday Word: 30 June 2021
The worst holiday of the year approaches. This is the dog's assessment. I generally concur, only I'm not too into American Thanksgiving either. For sort of similar reasons. I just don't believe in this country's narratives. No, it's worse than that. I don't approve of this country's narratives. I don't like these foundational stories and… Continue reading The Wednesday Word: 30 June 2021
Wise Choice
I spent a bit of time with Paul Bunyan for yesterday’s post and realized something: there are quite a large number of appallingly stupid heroes and male deities in EuroWestern traditions. This probably reflects our ideals in ways that maybe we need to analyze. But for now I have a story for you. Imagine if… Continue reading Wise Choice
Paul Bunyan Day
Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor, Maine. (Wikipedia) It’s that special day in June again. No, not that solstice thing. No, forget graduation. No, not the wedding thing. It’s Paul Bunyan Day! A day to celebrate an absolute idiot who blundered through the north woods, wearing plaid flannel, leading a cow named Babe, and wielding an… Continue reading Paul Bunyan Day
Nothing But Blue Skies (Winifred Mumbles)
Churros are restive out there in the darkness. Should probably be concerned. Takes a lot to worry an animal with four horns. Shearing makes them irritable, but not sleepless. Something different out there bothering them. New note to the night air. What is it? Got this old saying tumbling around in my old head. Something… Continue reading Nothing But Blue Skies (Winifred Mumbles)
The Wednesday Word
For 23 June 2021 Last week I received a few more responses, all good. But one made me laugh. And it made me realize I'd put sanctify into a somewhat limiting mind-box. I thought I'd share this submission, particularly for anyone else similarly afflicted. Here is Sanctify by Larry Johnson. Sanctify was a good little… Continue reading The Wednesday Word
Beans (Winifred Mumbles)
Well, this is unexpected. Here I thought I’d planted filet beans. Avast, ye mildewed squash! Prepare to be boarded! Been over a century. New round of seeds every year for more the one hundred generations. And these changelings still crop up. They used to say plastic was the most enduring ill from those people. And… Continue reading Beans (Winifred Mumbles)
The Wednesday Word
Silence was met with mostly silence. This is not unexpected. However there was more interest than I would have expected for a new thing, enough of it positive that I shall keep going. Stefanie, author of A Stone in the River, threw this up there: We think of silence as the absence of sound. But… Continue reading The Wednesday Word




