My decision to decide later crumpled against a more urgent decision to get up and eat, which led me to a pause in front of the bathroom mirror where I decided, not today, and maybe not tomorrow.
Tuesday’s Theme Music – Uncertainty
Ashland, Oregon — Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
Today’s weather vibe echoes with yesterday’s impressions: sunshine in the east, dark, heavy, low clouds everywhere else. A late morning squall passed through Ashland yesterday. I was driving through it; my wife said it never touched our place.
The temperature now is 50 with a high of 55 F forecasted, roughly like yesterday. Except I saw 70 at our house at 3 PM.
News headlines told me yesterday that Jacksonville, Florida had wildfires burning. The headlines were about AMTRAK stopping train service for fires. I had to dig to learn about those fires. They now affected Florida and Georgia. The causes are exceptionally dry and windy conditions, and extreme drought.
According to Drought.gov, 51% of the United States is now in drought conditions. I knew it was bad in the west, especially the Pacific Northwest, but it didn’t register that Florida was also suffering from a drought.
We’re preparing for a hot and dry summer in our area. Further east, I read today that Colorado is draining a reservoir, shifting its water to another location, to reduce loss from evaporation.
In Trump Iran war news, the original ‘cease fire’ agreement is ending on the eight week war. Nobody can say what will happen then. Trump is making threats; the US Navy seized one tanker in the Gulf of Oman and boarded another in the Indian Ocean.
Your Trump quote for today:
Heavy snow and cold is forecast for parts of parts of Alaska, California, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia.
Virginia voters go to the polls for a special election about redistricting.
I won’t go into the various shooting deaths of the last few days.
The song that found its way into my morning mental music stream is from 1993. “Plush” by Stone Temple Pilots is reputed to have a couple ‘meanings’, according to STP. For me, it’s about uncertainty, waiting — and lies.
Opening Lyrics
And I feel that time’s a wasted go
So where ya going ’til tomorrow?
And I see that these are lies to come
So would you even care?
h/t to AZLyrics.com
I’m not surprised that Les Neurons brought “Plush” into my head as my thoughts swirl with the news and speculation about Mom and her future. The song came out a few years before I retired from the military. I was living in the SF – SJ bay area and heard the song frequently on the radio while driving around on errands.
Hope you experience a safe, healthy, satisfying day, and don’t get too taken down by the news.
Cheers
The Short Game
“What do you want for dinner?” I asked.
My wife whipped her head around and glared at me. “I am going to kill you. Every day you come in here and ask that. Did you look to see what we have?”
“How ’bout we order Chinese food?”
Her eyes widened. “What about your sodium?”
I shrugged. “I’m not worried. My wife is going to kill me. I’m playing the short game.”
Monday’s Theme Music – A Sunny Day
Ashland, Oregon, April 13, 2026.
We begin the day with rain, which is expected to continue off and on into the evening. It’s 50 now with a high of 54 F possible. Sunshine does break through, but clouds quickly rush over to block it.
It’s another Trump day. We’re now into week seven of Trump’s Iran War. Trump is blockading the Strait of Hormuz to keep it open and bring Iran to its knees after assuring us, “We won.”
The peace president continues to threaten to bomb Iran if they don’t capitulate. That’s the ‘art of the deal’ for you. It’s worked wonders so far.
The Pope’s comments about peace and the Iran war outraged the peace president. Peace president Trump blasted the Pope on crime and foreign policy, areas which Trump has demonstrated no knowledge in. That means that he assumes he knows more than anyone else, in his mind.
To complete the journey around the bend, Trump shared a social media post likening himself to Jesus. Jesus, who helped the poor and sick and counseled against wealth, greed, and rich men; and Trump, who lies, makes life more miserable for the poor and sick, whose names is almost a synonym for 21st century greed and avarice. Trump certainly remains tone deaf to irony.
Happily, over in Hungary, Viktor Orbán appears out after losing the election and conceding. I hope that’s an omen that more positive change is coming.
Today’s music is brought to me by my dreams. I went through another long one last night. Loaded with family, many of my family members were often on bicycles while I was walking or running. We mostly stayed in contact during this shambolic excursion, which was sometimes alongside a river and was mostly on a dusty road. I was young in the dream, and often sweaty. There were stops for food and eating, and beds where I sometimes stopped and rested. While doing that once, an older copy sat on the bed’s edge to rest. Remembering that I wanted to tell my sister and her husband something, I sprang up from the bed, apologizing to them for startling them. I noticed that the man looked like Alan Rickman.
I was thinking about the dream, revisualizing the part where I began running along the river, when The Neurons introduced music to the morning mental music stream. CCR came out with “Walk on the Water” after John Fogarty’s brother died from a blood transfusion. The song makes sense to me because it’s about being near home.
Late last night, I went for a walk
Down by the river near my home
Couldn’t believe, with my own eyes
And I swear I’ll never leave my home again
Hope peace and grace lift you up and carry you through all your adversity and troubles.
We’re off to do Food & Friends deliveries.
Cheers
Friday’s Theme Music – Tariffs & Travel
Ashland, Oregon — Friday, April 3, 20226.
33 F when I got up but sunshine was clearing the mountains and trees, lighting up cloudless blue sky. Today’s high will be 71.
With no news from home about Mom, I turned to the net for updates on the world. The US economy added 178k jobs in March. It surprised economists, and it surprised me. Economists warned that the war in Iran could cause problems, because it’s driving up costs throughout the supply chain.
Higher gas prices in the US will also mean less discretionary funding, which could be especially troubling as the US heads into May and the first of the big US travel holidays. Air travel could be harder as airlines such as United cut back flights to deal with increased fuel costs.
The economic is taking another hit from a sharp rise in fertilizer prices, affecting farmers which were already struggling with tariffs, broken trade agreements, and weather issues. Those challenges could result in lower yields and higher food prices at the store.
Not satisfied with high gas, diesel, and oil prices, Donald Trump declared tariffs on prescriptions drugs. Not immediately effective, they come with an opportunity for companies to agree to build facilities in the US to avoid the tariffs.
Today’s song comes from Papi and I stepping out onto the back patio. The gingerboy was already out there, grooming and sunning. His satisfied demeanor invited me to join him. I was still thinking about my dreams at that point. As I lifted my face up to the sun, the opening lyrics of “Kashmir” entered the morning mental music stream: “Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face.”
Here’s to you and a hope that peace and grace find and carries you, today and every day.
Cheers
Four Microdreams
I had a series of flash microdreams last night.
In the first, I was editing/revising my manuscript, Unfocused. I awoke confused whether I’d been awake or asleep. Falling back asleep, I experienced the novel as a movie.
Another microdream slipped in. I reached for a green glass tumbler which had water in it. When I tasted it, it was coffee, but it stayed clear.
A man asked me to marry him. Then I thought it was me asking him. Then I thought, I’m both men.
Then I ate a chocolate chip muffin from a tray. Finishing it, I wanted more.
End
A Traveling Dream – with Pie!
I was packing all my personal goods up. Part of that was a lot of money, which I and arranged in boxes, cases, bags, and scheduled it to be picked up and taken east.
That done, I sought transportation for myself. I found a bus and bought tickets. Inside were blue seats. I found an open seat and sat. The bus’s seating reminded me more of a widebody jet, except, I saw, it was arranged in a star pattern. Either way, I thought it unusual for a bus and too big.
A crotchety woman was managing the passengers. She announced our itinerary. We were in Maine, heading for New York!
That was wrong! I was supposed to be on the west coast, going east. That’s where I packed my stuff.
Now I worried about my stuff. Had I sent it in the wrong direction?
Then I worried about all that money I’d packed away, fretting that somebody might steal it. I shouldn’t have left it like that, and I should have brought more with me.
A young dark-haired woman in red clothing was in the seat next to me. I recognized her but she apparently didn’t remember me. I played a sly little game, ‘guessing’ things about her because I knew her. She was amazed by how I correctly guessed.
They announced we were in New York and would have a rest stop. The crotchety woman came around serving us slices of pie. I took two pieces and passed them on to other passengers, then ate the third piece. It seemed like some kind of runny custard pie. I didn’t care much for the filling so I only ate the crust.
We arrived at our destination. I don’t know where it was but began looking for my stuff, anxious about how much of it I’d find there. Several of my bags were discovered. Inside them were bundles of cash. I gave some to another traveler because they needed help.
The dream ended as I was walking toward a building, finding and picking up more of my bags.
Dreaming: Not My Glass
I was at a very crowded camp. We were outside. Lot of activity going on, including food and drink being served, and eating. I was not alone but with a group of friends and casual acquaintances, but it seemed to change throughout the dream.
Two parts retain clarity. One, I was drinking red wine in goblets. Almost everyone was, so it was challenging to track what drink belonged to who. Two, a group of Black friends were talking about movies and books. I’d not heard of either one.
One showed me a book. It was thin children’s book. I think it was called Riverrun City. When he showed me the cover, it showed brown cartoon bears moving across it. I thought I’d heard of the book but admitted I’d not read it. I made promises to try to do so as they encouraged me.
I went back to get my glass of wine but couldn’t find it. I recalled that I’d just filled it and set it aside – out of the way – so nobody else would pick it up by accident. It wasn’t where I remembered I put it and thought, I either mis-remembered, or someone moved it.
I spotted another glass at a different location. It could be mine, but I wasn’t sure. I walked around looking but also understood, how the hell am I supposed to know what glass is ‘mine’? They all looked alike.
I went back to that one which ‘might’ be mine. There seemed to be brown fibers floating in it. I tasted it; it tasted like tobacco juice.
This is not my glass, I decided.
Michael Seidel, writer 