Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, November 9, 2026.
Autumn is clicking in the valley. Changing leaves and falling leaves: we have both! Rain and sunshine, chilly nights and sluggishly warm days? Yes!
It rained this morning. 53 F now, sunshine and dark clouds fence. Rain skirts in and drifts out.
We did our Food & Friends deliveries today, so I’m late posting things. Adding to my tardiness was breakfast out at a local favorite, Brothers.
We’re moving toward winter solstice, the longest night of the year. Came to me this morning as I crossed rooms and noticed how dark everything seemed because clouds were blocking whatever sun managed to clear the mountains.
Thoughts about being in the dark multiplied. As it happens with life, we’re often in the dark, waiting for decisions or see how someone else acts or responds, to health issues to…well, it’s a big list, isn’t it?
We know the Dems are taking over in January. But who will be leading the Dems? We’re in the dark at the moment.
What will happen with the Iran war? In the dark, aren’t we?
And what will Trump do between now and the end of his term? Lot of expectations and predictions based on his past but we’re in the dark. We wait in the dark to see what Trump’s next distraction.
Will prices go down? Will AI take over and build giant robots which become our overlords? In the dark.
And, thanks to Trump and his DOJ, we remain in the dark about exactly what the Epstein files hold.
The Neurons ran with being in the dark, producing “In the Dark” in the morning mental music stream. Billy Squier wrote and performed the song, releasing it in 1981. The lyrics are all about how you might feel in the dark.
The other part of this how woefully Trump is in the dark, deliberately so, about how unpopular he is. His policies are failures for We the People unless you’re among the wealthiest of the people. Then Trump’s policies are just peachy. If you’re wealthy enough that you live off the profits of your stock investments and don’t worry about the costs of things like food, housing, gas, energy, and healthcare, then Trump’s world fully fits your needs.
I hope you find comfort, love, and peace whether you’re in the dark or in the light.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Saturday, November 7, 2026.
Wow, it was a bright and sunny morning this, um, morning. Sunshine blazed across the surviving leaves, giving a gift of beautiful colors. Temperature was in the high 30s but has already jumped to 63 F.
Since those early hours, clouds have hazed the sky’s clarity. Rain might come after sunset.
My sister, Gina, provided an interesting Mom report yesterday. Gina took Mom to another doctor appointment. Hearing of Mom’s constant UTI issues, he asked, “Why do they keep giving her antibiotics that don’t work?” Good question, doc. Put it to your colleagues.
Gina took Mom to McDonald’s afterward for a Big Mac. Mom loves McDonald’s and KFC. Always startled me when she’d inform me, eyes glowing with delight, that we were having KFC for dinner. Regardless of my opinion of it, Gina knew Mom loves it and treated her, which made Mom happy, which is a win.
Thinking about McDonald’s does trigger memories of our first McDonald’s visit. Sometime in the 1960s, Mom took my sisters and I to McDonald’s. We were all a little mystified and skeptical about this new, unusual eatery. But we enjoyed ourselves and the food seemed tasty.
Later, though, returning to the US from some overseas location in the 1980s, I ate at McDonald’s and disliked it. I tried again but either it had changed or my taste buds were changed. I only ate at McDonald’s two more times since then that I remember. Each time, I grimaced and swore never again.
Mom is also finally getting the private room she’s been after since moving into Heritage Grove earlier this year. The price is higher than she was quoted back then. My sisters all weighed in about the costs and the pros and cons of being in a private room, such as socializing. Gina’s contention, and I agree with it, is that we think Mom wants it so Mom will be happier in it. Fingers crossed.
Two songs competed for attention in my morning mental music stream today. One came about after the blue wave emerging from the midterm elections told Trump exactly what We the People think of him and his agenda. The second song came from a news article I read the other day.
The first song is “I’d Love to Change the World” by Ten Years After. Yes, Republicans lost on Tuesday in the US in a large way, but on reflection, we need to consider the rest of the world. Right-wing hate and agendas have emerged in multiple nations. It’s not surprising that in this turbulent period, a song about changing the world would pull The Neuron’s focus. Alvin Lee and Ten Years After came out with the bluesy rock song back in 1971. I was fifteen at the time and invested in social change and hope for a peaceful future, which is probably a weird thing for someone who joined the US Air Force to claim.
“Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” is the other song, two really, a medley released by The Fifth Dimension in 1969. The songs emerged from the musical, “Hair”. Their entry into the morning mental music stream was triggered first by that amazing early morning sunshine but its foothold was cemented by an article about “The Age of Aquarius”. From what I read, “The Age of Aquarius” is an astrological concept referring to a cosmic era defined by a shift in global consciousness, technological advancement, and humanitarian focus. It began in 2022 and has to do with where Pluto is and the alignment of planets. It happens about every 250 years and when it last happened, we saw the American and French revolutions.
We’ll see what happens, of course. May you enjoy felicitous weather for whatever you’re trying to accomplish today, along with a little harmony and understanding.
Trump has become a bad television show or movie, one you stay with because it becomes so bad, it’s funny.
Unlike those television shows and movies, Trump is a real-life challenge to our norms and acceptable behavior, with far-ranging repercussions emerging from his action.
We rolled into Tuesday, November 3, 2026 — Election Day in the US — with Trump and his policies and administration growing less popular. Donald Trump has fired effort after effort to enhance his standing. He’s offered payments, subsidies, and benefits to offset the impact of starting a war in Iran, driving up prices, and causing death and chaos. He’s even portrayed himself as various respected people like superheroes and saints. Nothing is swaying the voters because the pain from Trump’s failures is cutting too deeply.
As part of Trump’s flailing desperation, he turned again to Iran. New attacks were launched, resulting in greater confusion and tension about what was going on with the war. Donald Trump previously said no attacks on Iran were planned and also mentioned that the war was over or won, that the war wasn’t a war, and that gas prices would quickly come down, soon.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Trump was trying to say that the US isn’t at war because there was no shooting going on — never mind the death and destruction already caused by the seven months of war already endured.
Unfortunately for Donald Trump, commander-in-chief, the US announced new military strikes on Iran shortly after Trump’s convoluted weave about what constitutes war. The timing between Trump’s defensive explanation and the new attacks left Trump looking like an a) an idiot, b) a liar, c) out of touch, d) not in charge, or e) all of these things.
Trump already attempted to reduce the impact of voting by mail. Recent elections showed more Democrats than Republicans voting by mail so Trump tried an end run, attempting to slow down the mail. This slowdown affected rural areas more sharply. Rural areas in the US tend to lean heavily Republican, so these postal measures have paradoxically created the highest risk of ballot rejection for the very demographic that Trump historically needs, rural voters.
Trump also attacked voter registration in California and other states, and tried intimidating state voting officials. In parallel, red states attempted to reduce voter participation by onerous voter registration and ID laws, closing voting locations, and prohibiting water in line.
With none of that working, Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! went into action.
Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is Donald Trump’s recurring project to keep people distracted from what’s going on — especially bad things like a war not going as planned, prices rising across the board, and a rising national debt and a growing deficit. Worse than all of those things for Donald Trump is the specter of the Epstein files and what they tell about Donald Trump, and Trump’s declining popularity.
Under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, Donald Trump has launched a succession of distractions. These include trying to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, demolishing part of the White House, starting construction of a new, gigantic White House ballroom, festooning the Oval Office with tacky gold decor, paving over the historic Rose Garden, tearing up a golf course, cutting down trees, arbitrarily declaring new names for places, sending ICE into US cities, abducting the sitting president of Venezuela, and of course, attacking boats at sea, killing people, and starting the war with Iran.
Whew! That’s not even a complete list!
The distractions aren’t working. In fact, many of them blew up in Trump’s face, acting as a catalyst to decrease his popularity and approval ratings.
I yawned when I read Trump’s latest desperate distraction.
There are a number of legal, political, and logistical impediments to Trump’s grand declaration. Besides those aspects, I’m dubious of Trump maintaining the focus and political will to do this. I put this alongside of many other Trump announcements, like eliminating the national debt, prices coming down on day one, no new wars, prescription drug prices being cut by hundreds or thousands percent, and stopping the Ukraine War before he even began his second term.
Donald Trump makes many promises. Few promises result in anything close to what he claims. Instead, he’s enriched himself, increased division in the nation, and is inflaming the affordability crisis.
A change is needed. I hope enough people realized this.
Science fiction and fantasy writer John Scalzi weighed in on the 2026 midterm elections and who you should vote for in Ohio, where he resides. I think much of his advice applies to other states in 2026. Really, his final paragraph summarizes it all very well.
“And don’t vote for any Republicans. Let their manifest exile begin this year. Let it be compounded in 2028. Let them wander in the wilderness for a very long time. They deserve it.“
I urge you to read the rest of his post. It might make you smile.
