Sunda, January 11, 2026, silently settles in around us in Ashland. My wife and I gage the outside weather together.
Alexa told us it’s 36, cloudy, with fog and stagnant air, and a high of 56 F upcoming. My system says it’s 30 F.
“Look at the fog,” my spouse intones.
I nod. “Fortunately, it’s the invisible kind.”
Yes, we can see blue skies, sunshine, and the treed mountains as far as forever and perspective allow us. I suppose other parts of Ashland are soaked in fogs, cloud, and warmer air, and that’s where Alexa gleans her report.
Sis reported that Mom was very loopy this week. Mom again fell out of her wheelchair, again insisting that the chair ‘threw her out’. Sis and I have seen Mom in the chair and warned about leaning too far and not paying enough attention to her posture and balance.
From Mom’s point of view, she was doing everything right. What was going wrong was the chair. But we saw the same thing when she was walking last year but frequently falling. In that case, absently turning and reaching and becoming overextended caused her to fall. She always blamed something else.
Perspectives often matter. Judging from news reports and blogs, politically progressives are as enraged and watchful as me with ICE matters.
It’s dismaying. After an ICE agent killed an unarmed American citizen, Renee Good, in Minneapolis, many called for restraint. Using reports of more ICE confrontations, ICE responded with more aggression.
I watched multiple videos of Good’s encounter and death. They all left me stunned as others. I questioned why ICE agent Ross drew his weapon in the first place. The agent seemed overly aggressive, as if he wanted a chance to shoot.
ICE agents were bellicose, shouting, “Get out of the fucking car.” When Good was shot and the car went off and crashed as she died, someone said, “Bitch.”
I read a report that the killing was the first in Minneapolis in 2026. That doesn’t bode well for a calm and peaceful 2026.
Music helped reclaim some sense of calm this morning. Papi did too, coming by to greet me with chirpy purr-mew. As my oatmeal with cinnamon was made ready, The Neurons put Ray LaMontagne singing “Trouble” in the morning mental music stream.
Trouble
Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble
Trouble been doggin’ my soul since the day I was born
Worry
Worry, worry, worry, worry
Worry just will not seem to leave my mind alone
The song’s lyrics are right. Worry won’t let my mind alone since Trump emerged on the politic scene.
May worry and trouble leave you alone and peace and grace come by and comfort all of us. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 
Hey … doncha’ know? For some people, it’s never their fault! It’s always bad products, inept sales people, crazy drivers …
And in extreme circumstances, a woman in a car.
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Strong post, Michael. Yes, perspective is so important. What I have not heard anyone in the media ask yet, though, is why the ICE officials wanted to get her out of the car. What was the purpose in that? If she was blocking their access, simply telling her to move the car would have sufficed. You don’t try to drag a person from a car that is in your way. Which leaves me in the same place as you and everyone I know: their sole purpose was to intimidate and assert their power over her. We are in a bad place when this is the norm. Tough times. Thanks, as ever, for your clarity.
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Yes, and in longer views, her car is there and she waves a vehicle by and says, “Go around.” She tells ICE to go around but they instead stop, get out, and march up, HTF is that lawful?
Yes, this is a bad place because it seems like a growing norm. Last night, I read another report where an ICE officer — not in uniform — stopped his vehicle, got out and drew a gun on the motorist behind him. A Diluth police officer happened to be going by and intervened on behalf of the civilian.
This is Trump’s way: violent, confrontational, unthinking. It’s a very disturbing pattern.
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Agree completely. Sigh.
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