Ashland, Oregon — Wednesday, April 8, 2026.
54 F, clouds are parading across our valley’s blue sky. Forecasters tell us we have a high of 75 F and thunderstorms expected this afternoon.
Relief and tension feed my morning. Mom went to her PCP yesterday for blood in her urine. “What transpired of that?” I asked.
“Nothing,” is the answer.
I don’t know what nothing means in this context because it can mean so much.
Mom’s outing yesterday was a bit chaotic. They arrived at the doctor’s office only to be told that Mom had cancelled the appointment. Mom replied, “I thought it was a video appointment.”
That triggers an abundance of questions, like, hey Mom, where do you think sis was taking you? Why did you ask for a specific outfit to wear to the doctor?
Sis managed to talk the office into seeing Mom anyway. The doctor talked to Mom at length about living in the assisted living center vs living at home with the physician telling Mom, “You need 24 hours asistsance.” Mom was adamant; don’t want to live there. Can’t afford it. “Sell your house.” No!
Around and around and around it goes.
Likewise, there’s relief that a cease-fire was called in Iran. Just two weeks, leaving open the questions, will it be honored and what happens after that?
Not a surprise at all but both Iran and the United States claimed victory.
Oil prices plunged. Markets surged. Neither of those are a surprise, either. Reminders proliferate among economists and pundits, the price of gas won’t drop quickly because it’ll take time to restore the supply chain and start facilities that were sidelined.
We filled our gas tank yesterday. What amazed us was the vehicle ahead. He took eight minutes to fill his truck. What is going on, we wondered. And how much is his gas? Turned out, he filled a 31-gallon tank, which is over twice our tank’s size: $192. This was at Costco, which offers the lowest gas price locally.
I joked, it probably took so long to fill because he had to call for a loan.
Back to Trump, I wondered what he learned from this episode. He had been talking about using the military in other places. Hope that he pulls back from that.
Then I check the news: Iran is stopping traffic from going through the Strait of Hormuz because Israel attacked Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Not surprising but I ended up thinking about storms and shelter. The Neurons fed “Gimme Shelter” into the morning mental music stream. The song features some relevant lyrics.
Ooh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
Ooh yeah I’m gonna fade away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
The Rolling Stones came out with this rock classic way back in 1969. I enjoyed this version with Lady Gaga visiting to add vocals. She delivers. Her shoes, though…amazing how she moves on them. Wow.
Hope peace and grace shelter you from the storms.
Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 
Back to Trump, I wondered what he learned from this episode. Do you HONESTLY believe that Trump learned anything from this? The only thing that motivates him is M.O.N.E.Y. and you can be sure that any and all decisions he makes or actions he takes revolve around how it will affect his (and his rich buddies) many and varied accounts.
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