Wednesday’s Wandering Thought
A Tiger Swallowtail butterfly landed on a butterfly bush’s long purplish panicle as he approached the plant on his walk. Such a Zen moment, he felt forced to pause for consideration of the scene. Then the butterfly and he moved on, as though neither were ever there, leaving the bush standing alone and patient once again.
Wednesday’s Theme Music
Hello. It’s Wednesday, 7/12/2023. Mood: energetic
Gonna be 90 F here in Ashlandia, where the produce is fresh and the cheese is locally made organic. 66 F now — about 19 C — and you know I’m enjoying that. Trending warmer, but we are the fortunate. Looking south and east, a heat dome has settled over the land. In Arizona, wildfires rage. Their daily high temperatures have been over 110 F every day in July so far and isn’t showing signs of abating. That’s hot, friends. It’s even staying in the low 90s at night, so there is no relief. Feel for the land, people, animals.
Meanwhile, New England suffered heavy rains. Vermont experienced serious flooding. A warm, dry day is expected for them today, but more heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow.
Not feeling it? You might, if you’re in the US. That heat dome is expanding to the south and east. From Accuweather:
Temperatures to climb to extreme levels even for hottest part of US
More than 50 million Americans in the southwestern U.S. are under heat advisories or warnings as temperatures will take a run at records that have stood for nearly 50 years in some locations.
More than 50 million Americans in the southwestern United States are under heat advisories or excessive heat warnings as a blistering heat dome maintains its grip on the region. The heat will place additional stress on the energy grid, elevate the threat of wildfires and increase the risk of heat-related illnesses.
Temperatures will climb to levels unusual even for the notoriously hot region of the U.S., putting long-standing records in jeopardy. A sprawling area of high pressure that is positioned over the Southwest, known as a heat dome to meteorologists, is the culprit behind the extreme temperatures.
“This [pattern] will help to minimize the number of showers or storms and allow for intense sunshine that will help boost temperatures,” explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Andrew Johnson-Levine.
AccuWeather meteorologists say that the scorching conditions will increase heading into the weekend and even expand into parts of the Central states and Southeast by next week.
Here’s a link for your further reading.
Meanwhile, the 1966 cover of the folk song “Sloop John B” by the Beach Boys is playing in the morning mental music stream (trademark pending). I have a sense that the song was/is related to my dreams, but I can’t get through the maze to find the connections. Nevertheless, dream and sing have lifted my spirits, so I’m going with the flow.
Stay pos, and be strong. I’m going to have some coffee now. The day is on. Let us begin.
Here’s the tune. Cheers
The Two-Body Dream
A woman I didn’t know was outside, speaking about our bodies. White but tanned, middle-aged and slender, I slowed, then stopped, listening to her. She said that we all have body and blah, blah, blah.
I interrupted. “No, I have two bodies.”
“Well,” she began, defensiveness edging into her voice, “yes, we do but, blah, blah, blah.”
At that point, I brought up my second body. It was a little grayed out, with some fuzziness, and the color danced like a drunk guy trying dance moves, but it was there. In most appearances, it was like me but about an inch taller and a teaspoon thicker in the shoulders. We were wearing the same clothes, a yellow buttoned shirt, short-sleeved, not tucked in, with khaki shorts, and we were barefoot.
The woman stammered about how that was impossible. I said, “Yet, here it is.” She went on with a drying, confused voice that two bodies cannot exist in the same plane. I answered, “No, he’s in the other world. That’s where he exists and why he looks a little uneven. But the thing is, the other world is here. So he’s in the other world, but the other world is here. Meanwhile, I’m in the this world, which is the other world to him, and he’s explaining this to you as I’m doing here. Clear?”
Then I laughed because her confused look explained it wasn’t clear, and woke up.
Tuesday’s Wandering Thoughts
I don’t care what others claim, if you’re eating raw crunchy veggies, the volume on the televisions MUST be turned up. And it’s not because ‘I’m getting old,’ damn it.
Signed, cranky middle-aged person.
Kinefloofics
Kinefloofics (floofinitions) – The branch of floofatics concerned with floof activity and motion without reference to the causal forces.
In use: “When a new floof comes around — either as a casual visitor to the property or introduced as a new floofhold member — it’s natural for the other floofs as well as the humans to apply kinefloofics to understand what the new booger is like.” – Excerpt from “Once Upon A Floof; The Relationships Between Humans and Animals”
The Day
It shapes me,
I shape it.
Before sunrise,
After sunset.
Most times, it slips through my fingers without notice.
But sometimes, a piece becomes special as a rare jewel,
And finds home in my mind and heart.
Tuesday’s Theme Music
It’s another sunny day in Ashlandia, where the tourists are everywhere and the air is ripe with the smell of cooking food.
Hi. It’s Tuesday, 11 Jul 23. Sunshine is our watchword. The other watchwords are heat, smoke, and fires. We’re heading back up to 90 F today. 69 F now, hazy. What’s causing that haze? Some report it as wildfire smoke from Canada. We hit the fire watch pages. NorCal and Oregon both have multiple fires burning. How close becomes the question? How big, how contained? And we worry about the people and animals there… 100 F is being projected for Saturday’s high.
I’ve been seeing the news about the Amish riding electric bikes to get around. Will they come up with an electric carriage? Each local community can make its decision about it whether ebikes are acceptable, based on their perceptions of the technology and the application of the Amish philosophy. I guess an ebuggy might be around the corner. Look out.
The Neurons plugged “Stormy” by Classics IV (1968), an AM radio regular during that era. Perversely, Les Neurons stuck the song into my morning mental music stream when I stepped out onto the back patio this morning. After greeting the cats, who’d gone out earlier, I considered the weather and said, “Looks like another sunny day, boys.” The Neurons remembered the line from “Stormy” that goes, “Bring back that sunny day.” That crept into my head and then splashed into the morning mental music stream (trademark pending).
Stay pos and work it out. There will probably be down days, but hopefully, up days will follow. I’m having coffee now; join me? Here’s the music. Cheers
