Tag: heat dome

Wednesday’s Theme Music — Shadows

Ashland, southern Oregon. Wednesday — August 5, 2026.

We hit 101.5 at my house yesterday. That was outside. Inside, we stayed below 80. We’ve yet to run the A/C yet this year — knock wood — as the temperatures drop enough at night to cool the house and land down.

We’ll see if that holds today. Right now, it’s 83 F, on its way to 101 again.

The thing about yesterday’s weather is that it climbed slowly. At one mid-afternoon point, I thought, well, this isn’t bad. 91 then, I thought, maybe we won’t hit one hundred. Then I entered a store, came back out said to myself, holy shit, it’s hot as hell. What happened?

Today, though — hot early, hot fast.

Although there are more fires burning across the United States, we’re still fire-free — knock wood. The smoke isn’t bad, either. We’re fortunate in our neck of the woods; Oregon has topped 2,000,000 acres burned this year. Washington has several large fires going. Portland (OR) now has the worst air in the world, due to the wildfires.

Mom and my sister, Gina, continue their quiet war. Mom turned to her granddaughter, Gina’s daughter — Amy — as the go-between. Amy is rejecting the role. Although Mom helped raise Amy, Amy doesn’t deal well with the tension of being the go-between. Plus, Amy is in college, working on a Masters, and she works. So I help fill the gap.

As 2026 wears on, we’re seeing the shadows of Trump’s thinking, lying, fantasizing, playing out in real time now. It’s all catching up.

US has used ‘virtually all’ of its long-range precision missiles during Iran war, sources say

  • Some of these are new weapon systems
  • There’s a bottleneck on refilling them
  • They’re expensive
  • Experts estimate that it will take 1 to 4 years to replenish the supplies
  • While Trump and his staff deny it, this is likely why Trump backed off on the Iran bombing campaigns

And what has the war achieved? Death and high prices. A more unstable Middle-East. And now, a more vulnerable US.

‘Delusional’: Donald Trump flunks reality with his ‘A+’ grade claim

Trump’s golden age reality check

Trump and his administration predicted 6% growth; it’s 1.5%

Trump’s solution to abuse in ICE facilities is pricey—and evil

Jeanine Pirro faces the choice many Trump officials confront at one point or another

Which reality do you choose?

“When Trump hits a brick wall now, as president, he just fashions an alternative reality. He can talk up tough financial data or a foreign policy hiccup as though he’s bigging up a tatty property in a real estate prospectus.“

Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:

This is the same tired claim Trump made in January of this year:

Trump has made this claim dozens of times already. But reality does not back him up. As with many matters, Trump has a basic misunderstanding of how things work. If inflation cools, prices don’t ‘come down’; inflation is a measure of how much they’ll increase.

Trump’s claims about affordability and prices coming down, and being in a ‘golden age’ is just like his Iran War rhetoric. Trump has claimed victory again (April), again (June), and again (July). Yet the war goes on, in August. He keeps trying to distract us from the truth. Not happening, because we’re paying through the nose, and we’re feeling it.

Today’s music is “Shadowplay” by Joy Division. Seems right for today. I didn’t know the song when it came out, and discovered it when The Killers covered it for a movie. I like the original’s sonic approach to the gittar playin’. Good morning mental music stream occupant for these times as Trump’s shadow grows.

Sample Lyrics:

In the shadowplay, acting out your own death
Knowing no more
As the assassins all grouped in four lines
Dancing on the floor
And with cold steel, odour on their bodies
Made a move to connect
But I could only stare in disbelief
As the crowds all left

h/t to Genius.com

2

Never Trump

Hard to stomach reading today’s news. An opinion piece cited Trump’s tariffs as his biggest policy failure.

Opinion: Trump’s tariffs are his biggest policy failure

I disagree; I think the war with Iran is Trump’s biggest policy failure. It also completely undermines Trump’s whole philosophy.

Trump came in. Removed generals and military leadership. Then he hired sycophants such as Hegseth to shape military policy and develop strategy.

Screaming, “WOKE! DEI!, Hegseth bludgeoned the established military establishment. Took people who earned promotion off the list because of the color of their skin or their sex, or their political loyalties.

Trump did all of this while scoffing at the military. He declared himself smarter than generals and has repeatedly blasted them.

Trump blasted top military generals as ‘a bunch of dopes and babies’ according to new book

Yet, here we are, mired in a war that Trump started. Trump claimed to have won. Claimed it was already over. Claims it’s not a war.

Yet it’s draining us in multiple ways and exposing Trump and his arrogance. He and his chosen staff thought war was easy. Though it was just a matter of power: who has the biggest military and the most weapons.

And the war continues without a certain end in sight.

As in many other things, Trump was exposed as ignorant and wrong.

Both policies — tariffs and the Iran War — are policy failures, though.

Both are driving increased burdens to the economy and to our citizens. The war, though, also resulted in people being killed, maimed, and injured, and has devastating consequences on the people of another nation.

When I think of things that Trump boasts of as successes and triumphs, I realize that there is nothing that this administration has done that has impressed me. He’s exactly how terrible I thought he’d be, and then some. We as a nation stagger through increasing loops of disasters.

Take our healthcare issues. Rural hospitals are closing. Measles outbreaks are increasing. Healthcare premiums are rising. AI plants are being built, which will increase energy costs and use land, further driving up healthcare costs. Yet Trump pushes to build more AI centers, more data centers. Models say that will worsen the extreme heat problem as well as the water shortage. It’s like WTAF are people thinking?

Instead of real solutions, We the People are offered more political theater as another underqualified Trump nominee moves toward confirmation for a powerful Federal position.

We’re instead subjected to Trump crowing about himself winning a golf tournament. Venting at his staff about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool fiasco.

Distracting us with AI-generated photos of himself as Elvis Presley.

While our nation is at war. While wildfires burn. While extreme heat and drought sweep the nation. While healthcare and affordability problems worsen.

That seems to be okay with MAGAts and the greater GOP, even if the rest of us are angry and disapprove of Trump. As long as Trump and his family keeps getting wealthier and speaking out for them — whatever the fuck that now means to them — they remain happy.

As far as those things falling apart and policy failures, that’s because of other people. It’s not because of Trump.

Never, in their eyes.

Never.

As for me, it will always remain, “Never Trump.”

Never.

2

Monday’s Theme Music – Failure

Ashland, southern Oregon. Monday, August 3, 2026.

It’s cool now but heat and fire weather warnings are up. Our present temp is 68 F but we’re bracing for a 96 F high as the heat dome comes our way. Will the jet stream save us? If it doesn’t they warn us, brace yourself for temperatures over 100 with a heat index that pushes it much higher.

My wife and I had the case of the missing mangos this morning. “Hey, didn’t we buy mangos?” she asked, looking around.

Yes, I agreed, also looked around. We began a search. Not in the frig, on the counter anywhere. Didn’t ‘somehow’ get left in the car. At last: the last place we looked: with the potatoes.

My wife said. “I was tired when we were putting the food away.”

Case solved.

This is unlike the case of the missing senator. “He’s alive,” the GOP proclaims, but Mitch McConnell still hasn’t been seen in public for almost two months. It’s starting to be a lot like Trump’s war.

Trump’s war with Iran is also in a limbo states. Back in March, Trump and Hegseth claimed the war was over, with Trump declaring it was an “unmitigated success”.

That was six months ago.

Then Trump has gone on and off the record about what’s happening, swatting away any attempt to being held accountable to We the People. “I’m gonna bomb them,” he texts, then reverses himself. Oil prices rise and drop. Oil companies are making record profits. The rest of us scramble to deal with rising prices. That’s standard under GOP guidance: the rich get richer, the poor are told to suck rocks.

The Iran war is just one of many incomplete Trump mysteries. Other is, what happened to releasing the Epstein files? Trump promised he would release the files. A law was passed that they must be released. After months of distraction, Trumpnions are still holding them back on behalf of the bossman.

Thanks to Pirro’s terrible legal skills in leading the DoJ, the case about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is much stronger. Let the records show that it’s just as we thought, that Trump’s contractor botched the job and Trump scrambled to save face by screaming, “Vandals! Plots! Democrats!” Just as he does every time he screws up.

Likewise, the Freedom250 celebration isn’t as profitable and successful as Trump crowed it was, which required that We the People made up the shortfall. We all kind of saw that coming: Trump announced the performers and almost all immediately said, “No, no, we’re not part of this.”

Yes, it’s been the summer of Trump failures. Building toward a year.

Except for grifting; as always, he’s taking care of himself, making a ton of money by making the Oval Office into a crime boss’s golden lair. Between his ruthless need to be honored and his insane hunger to appear rich and powerful, he’s become a Bond villain caricature, which is something, since they’re often caricatures to begin.

Except, also, for the tournament he won at one of his golf courses. He won that. Everyone outside of his grift circle immediately questioned whether he cheated. This is because he’s Donald Trump, a known liar, adulterer, and cheater. Just pick a topic. Look what he promised and claimed. If you’re a MAGAt or Republican, you’re fine because the ends justify the means for you. So, Trump Double Standards are employed.

But they’ll reach that final FAFO moment when they’ve burned it all down. Given their recent history, they’ll pivot: create conspiracies. Blame others about what went wrong.

Just like their leader, Donald J. Trump.

Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:

Trump on Jeffrey Epstein:

Trump on Affordability:

And the only truth Trump has ever uttered:

Today’s occupant in the morning mental music stream is “Power Failure” by Procol Harum. Released in 1971, it’s an old favorite of mine from a distant era. The song is about bands and the struggles they face. But I think it translates well to politics.

Lyrics (h/t to AZLyrics.com)

Climbing out of open windows
Crashing down from broken stairs
Keeping watch on smoking cinders
Falling over burning chairs
Tossed and crossed and screwed in transit
Broken , splintered, bruised and thrown
Badly shattered, gale force frighty
Rrushed across and shown alone
Speech reduced by poor relations
Strung from weeks of self abuse
Chopped up, churned out weeks of greazy
Spark plugs burned up, power’s fused

That imagery spells Trump failure and GOP collapse.

Hope your Monday — or whatever day — sparkles with magic that invigorates and moves you on to new heights and familiar joys.

Cheers

2

Sunday’s Theme Music — Get You

Ashland, southern Oregon. Sunday, August 2, 2026.

Our weather is cool, 62 F right now. It’ll rise to the mid 80s, basically as it did yesterday. The air is clear with an AQI that says ‘it’s good’. Clouds muddle around the sky as if they’re waiting for a door to open somewhere.

I’m suspicious of it all.

Things are going well — here. Relatively. Everything is relative. We live on spectrums of changing needs, abilities, awareness, knowledge. It all seems more acute for me as I grow older.

I don’t feel particularly old now but then I look in the mirror. Like, who stole my hair? Will they be returning it?

My face just looks different. Not like my parents or grandparents. Now I’m wondering if someone stole into the house and replaced my face.

Then, why would they have taken my average white, upper middle age (ahem) face?

Answer is, of course: they’re going to use my face to commit a crime somewhere.

So now I wait to see what crime my face shows up as part of.

Watching Mom, friends, and Trump, I don’t look forward to getting much older. Mom, 91, is cranky on most days. Filled with pain, she tells me. I see a video of her in a chair, trying to exercise. She’s listing to her right as she jerks her right arm up. She doesn’t look happy or healthy, but she’s trying.

Trump worries me even more. His language, never a strong suit, has become much worse. There are reports of him crapping his pants or delivering some nasty farts. Where there’s this much smoke, I got to wonder about the truth behind it. If he’s crapping himself or emitting enough noxious foulness that others are gagging and turning away, those aren’t signs of good heatlh.

In photos, Trump’s face has that old person, mean, angry look going. He’s glaring at the world like he’s trying to hear what they’re saying and can’t.

Worse, though, are those late night texts — from Mom and Trump.

Mom reached out at 2 AM to ask me if we’re safe from the fires. She pinged me again a few minutes later to ask, “Why don’t you answer?”

I don’t see these texts until I get up a few hours later. Then reply, sorry, missed your texts, was asleep, we’re fine. And I thank her for her concerns.

My sister later reports that Mom texted her in the middle of the night, asking what did Gina do with all the clothes Mom left behind in her house.

I worry, why is Mom up in the middle of the night texting?

Trump worries me in the same way. He spends a lot of nocturnal hours texting. Then he’s shown ready to fall asleep in his chair at meetings during the day.

Trump’s texts are worse than Mom’s texts. Mom shows a belated handle on what’s going on and often shows concern for others.

Trump texted an AI generated vision of himself as Elvis Presley. What an absolutely strange thing to do, I think as I see this. Who in their right mind pretends to be someone else like that?

Let’s pause to think about it: Trump is posting an image of himself as a popular pop culture star. One who died in 1977, almost fifty years ago. What is going on in that troubled head that he entertains these thoughts?

I then think of Trump’s MAGAts. They say that he speaks for them.

Are they out there generating AI images of themselves as others? Are some of them projecting themselves as young Johnny Cash or dead young athletes and actors?

As an aside to that, I admit that I admire the new Iran War Participation Award someone created for Trump. It has the right mix of bitter humor and deadly insights.

I received other texts and messages from people worrying about us and the fires. As the fires grow in the Pacific Northwest and more are evacuated, the news shifts toward the top of the news cycles.

We’re fine, I reply to all, knock on wood. No, it’s been a remarkably ‘cooler’ summer, with us rarely challenging 100 F. Wildfire threats have been far away. The smoke has only been mild and hasn’t lasted too long — knock on wood. Hope to hell I’m not jinxing us by mentioning it.

No, our thing remains the drought. Winter supplies are down to the low 40s. We’re conserving. Vegetation is browning, which would be nice if these were pie crusts baking in the oven instead of grassy fields and mountain meadows.

Between nature’s growing extreme trends and aging, there’s a sense that something is going to get you. Trump, acting crazy, arming ICE and mobilizing them in cities, fostering more war, using violence as a mallet to try to fix things, only makes that feel worse. Especially as his main concerns are promoting himself as a young Elvis Presley, affixing his name to buildings, and destroying our heritage and cultural norms.

No surprise then, with The Neurons’ music choice for the morning mental music stream. “One Way or Another” is a 1979 Blondie song. Deborah Harry was being stalked but wrote the song with some humor injected into it.

Sample Lyrics:

One way or another, I’m gonna find ya
I’m gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya
One way or another, I’m gonna win ya
I’m gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya

One way or another, I’m gonna see ya
I’m gonna meet ya, meet ya, meet ya, meet ya
One day, maybe next week, I’m gonna meet ya
I’m gonna meet ya, I’ll meet ya

Catchy. Easy to sing along with, good hard beat with a fast tempo made it a popular and memorable song. Makes perfect sense for today, with the threats being raised by nature and Trump.

Hope your day is threatfree, and that you enjoy carefree moments of pleasure and happiness with people you’re fond of, in places which you enjoy.

Cheers

3

Saturday’s Theme Music — The End

Ashland, southern Oregon.

Saturday, August 1, 2026. Happy Lammas Day!

It’s 71 F in our valley at the moment. Light, high white clouds. We expect a high in the upper 80s.

A new heat dome is moving into the region. But the jet stream shifted a few years ago. Now we’re often protected from those heat domes. It can change again at any moment, so I’ll take it for now and celebrate the small win.

It’s a new month but much hasn’t changed.

Eight-five fires are burning in Oregon.

They still haven’t closed on Mom’s house. She is aware that it’s being sold, though, asking me for updates every day.

Trump is still lying. Still squirming, trying to distract us from his failures.

The Epstein files haven’t been released. Trump’s war with Iran is still going on. Affordability remains a crisis. Healthcare costs are going up.

Like many people, I’m waiting for other things. Like the old story: waiting for the other shoe to drop.

So, it’s a new month, but the same mode of waiting.

Without much surprise, The Neurons caught onto my thinking. My Neurons can be slow and flaky, easily distracted by games and cats, but like a car, they can get fired up and pointed in the right direction once in a while.

Today’s song in the morning mental music stream is “Waiting for the End”. This is a Linkin Park song. Came out in 2010. I caught it on SNL and went looking for it to hear it again.

Sample Lyrics:

Waiting for the end to come
Wishing I had strength to stand
This is not what I had planned
It’s out of my control

Yeah, yeah
What was left when that fire was gone?
I thought it felt right, but that right was wrong
All caught up in the eye of the storm
And trying to figure out what it’s like moving on
And I don’t even know what kind of things I’ve said
My mouth kept moving, and my mind went dead
So, I’m picking up the pieces now, where to begin?
The hardest part of ending is starting again

The song is about hope, paralysis, and frustration, IMO. Feels right for today. Here we are, waiting for the end, trying to figure out how we define the end.

I hope you have a strong day, whatever one it is, whatever your season, a day that comes with lasting peace and grace.

Cheers

0

Monday’s Theme Music — Stuck in the middle

Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, July 27, 2026.

Another day of sunshine, blue skies and 90 F. Free again of fire and smoke. Kind of holding my breath on that. Been a relatively good year for us in terms of smoke and heat. We’re doing much better than previous years.

Can’t say the same for the rest of the world and the US. Once Democrats can take over Congress, I hope they turn their attention back to addressing climate change.

“The New Republic” offered a perspective on Trump’s second term. I’d noticed the same but they do a better job of categorizing it for us.

The Seven Trump News Cycles We’re All Stuck In

  • Tariffs
  • Iran War
  • ICE violence
  • Self enrichment
  • Voter suppression
  • Bad renovations
  • Everyone’s getting sicker

I would add Distractions, aka “Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!”. Trump keeps circling to insulting people, claiming the US should own Greenland, he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, “The commies are coming!”, and multiple other irritatingly inane, pathetic proclamations.

Perhaps Affordability should be one, too.

Speaking of which, I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s an interesting idea:

MAGA voters will soon ‘quit watching Fox’ as gas soars and GOP excuses Trump: Republican

From what I’ve read, MAGA voters squirm and dismiss gas prices and the other things that irritate us, claiming that those things are happening because of the Deep State or other bizarre logic.

Grifter Rick Scott (Trump – Floridastan) still has his head firmly up Trump’s rear:

“We’ve got to explain to people that, you know, unfortunately until we get some new leadership in Iran, we’re going to continue to see conflict, which is going to see higher gas prices.”

As the rest of us know, higher gas prices also pad prices and costs on everything else. Also, Scott is flat out saying that Trump is working on regime change in Iran — again, since he already changed Iran’s regime once. As history shows, regime change as a policy is highly ineffective.

Since Republicans still think they’re in the 1800s, it’s not surprising that they haven’t picked up on that truth.

Given that we’re stuck in these horrid loops, My Neurons naturally turned to a Stealers Wheel classic. “Stuck in the Middle with You” was released in 1973 but it’s stuck in my morning mental music stream today.

I’ve always enjoyed the song. It’s one that Mom used to enjoy singing to us, a surprising change from her usual offerings. She especially liked the part that goes:

And your friends, they all come crawling
Slap you on the back and say
“Please, please”

Hope your day is loop free and takes you to refreshing new times and places.

If not, hang in there. I find that coffee, wine, beer, reading, and napping with fur friend helps.

Cheers

2

Missing Connections

Facts and reality continue their freefall in Trumpland.

Much of the US is caught in extreme heat as a heat dome covers the nation.

Air quality sucks in many states due to wildfires smoke.

Measles outbreaks continue to rise in the US. South Carolina, Texas, and Utah have the most outbreaks and the highest caseloads.

The rural hospital crises roars along, with more hospitals slated to close in rural areas.

Energy prices are increasing, along with food prices. Affordability is cratering. Grocery prices are 33% higher than in 2019.

Water shortages are rising because of widespread drought in the continental US, with 48% of the lower 48 states enduring some levels of drought. Besides affecting people’s abilities to hydrate, reduced water levels threaten livestock, agriculture, and hydroelectric power. As those areas are affected, expect food and grocery prices to increase more.

Personal bankruptcies are still increasing, continuing a trend which started several years ago.

The US debt is at a record high.

It’s flooding in Texas. Bridges have collapsed. Roads are impassible.

A cyclospora outbreak has hit 34 states.

ICE violence continues.

Over in the Department of Defense, another endless war is going on, this time with Iran. The Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, worries about testosterone levels in the military members. Denies promotions to women and people of color.

Trump uses a Disney cartoon character to text about how good he’s doing. Goes on television to promote hysteria about election fraud and election interference, offering no evidence for his claims, and ignoring the mountains of proof about how safe US elections are.

After paving over the historic Rose Garden, Trump is paving more of the White House grounds, ignoring again that it’s not his place, but belongs to We the People.

Treasury announced a gold coin with Trump on it will be coming out.

Good. We need a gold commemorative reminder of how horrible life is becoming under Trump.

Trump and his administration do little to address the real problems facing real people. All he does is go on about how wonderful he is, whining how people cheat and persecute him.

They’re still trying to fix the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and still building the Epstein ballroom.

On to the next distraction.

4

Thursday’s Theme Music – Working

Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, July 2, 2026.

It’s blue-sky Thursday. Admittedly, that’s the July norm for our parts. 61 F now, our high is jumping into the mid eighties today. There’s a good feel to the air. Papi and I sat back and sucked it up for a while. I went back in, and he commenced a vigorous pre-nap cleaning.

No smoke, either. I feel for places enduring wildfire and its smoke and its impact, such as Utah. I understand from my sisters that their area is insufferable due to high humidity and high heat. They’re trapped under that dome of dangerous heat affecting 160 million Americans.

I’m feeling so good today, it’s almost criminal. Had amazing dreams and a solid night of fantastic sleep.

Mom has been quiet. As has two of my sisters, on vacation. Hope it’s because all is well with all of them. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc.

What can we say about Trump and the news at this point that hasn’t been said? Empty promises, lying to promote himself, extending the Trump touch to everything, he gets wealthier while whatever he touches withers and collapses, decaying and fading.

Trump, though, feeds off others’ energy. He’s a strange, unusual creature. That’s why he likes to do rallies, have them all smiling hopefully up at him, agreeing with all he says as he spins stories about his greatness, ‘telling it like it is’.

Job numbers were down. Analysts expected 100K and only 57K were reported. Unemployment also ticked down but that’s because less people are participating in the work force. It’s at its lowest level since 2021. We won’t know what it all means for months but the people embroiled in it probably will tell you, “I know exactly what it means: the economy sucks.” The questions about why it sucks will rage on.

My wife told me of an interview with people in Florida that she watched. Asked about the economy and Trump’s increasing wealth, one said, “He’s not doing anything for the middle class but he’s certainly enriching himself.”

While I like hearing that from others, hoping it’s a sign that people are shifting from Trump, I read — but couldn’t vet — remarks from the MAGAsphere that Trump is so smart, and that’s why he’s making money. *gag*

More news came out about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pond and Trump’s ‘renovations’, aka Algaegate. Now they’re saying toxic materials were used. Bad for the environment, but that’s never been a Trump worry, long as he has a golf course.

The Epstein files still haven’t been fully released. Although not fully financed, the Epstein ballroom construction rolls on. With Trump’s manhandling of it, the nation continues to stumble through the celebration of 250 years.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Trump made that statement in January of 2026 when he was asked about conflicts of interest.

He is wrong, of course, but it’s not surprising that he believes it. Being told by staff, friends, and family would let him shrug it off, as they knew he wanted to do. As he’s not a student of law or history, neither of those aspects would affect him, either. Since his bottom line has and is always how can he make things better for himself, how he can make himself look better, and how he can make himself richer, he was happy to run with what he was being told.

As usual, Trump heard what he wanted to hear, so he could think what he wanted to think, and do what he wanted to do.

That is exactly why his approval ratings keep declining and why more and more people seem to actively hate and resent him.

My thoughts this morning were a stew. Jobs reports, working people, the upcoming holiday, and the struggles with affordability. Tasting it as I stirred, The Neurons emerged with “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)” by Styx. The 1978 song is all about working and making a living, and the determination to get ahead.

I’m off to other matters. Stay comfortable and safe, whatever conditions come at you, and go with grace and peace.

Cheers

0

Monday’s Theme Music

Mood: summerpositive

The cats and I agree, it’s a strong sun today, biting my skin with its heat, blinding my eyes (yes, what else would it be blinding — my ears?) with its light. Not supposed to be hot today, just 87 F, and it’s just 67 F now. This is Monday, Jun 24, 2024.

The cats are pratically living in the backyard, slumbering beneath bushes or stretched out, floof-napping in green patches of lawn. They come in to visit me, get fed, and use the litter box, and then dash back out. Reminds me of being a young child in the summers, doing the same with Mom. Except I didn’t use a litter box. Not in those days.

I jest, of course! Spoke with Dad yesterday. He’s down. They — the omniscient they here is the medical staff — are pushing for the dialysis port, and he doesn’t want to go through with that. He seems fazed by the surgery and claims he doesn’t want to be a burden on people, as others would need to drive him to his appointments several times a week. I’m sure he will go through with the procedure but he needs to work himself up to it. I called him this morning to chat with him but reached his voice mail. I need to call Mom to catch her up on that news. Never did call her yesterday.

Terrible flooding in the midwest. Iowa was severely hit. Evacuations were ordered and bridges collapsed. I remember flying over the plains states decades ago. The floating and the heat dome are connected events. Hope the climate doesn’t get any worse or the nation and its citizens might start getting worried. Yeah, that’s snark, baby.

My spouse picked up a nice Charles Wysocki jigsaw puzzle at Ashlandia’s library of things yesterday. I thought we should have some on hand for more Internet outages. We began the puzzle last night, even though the net didn’t go out. Lovely little beach scene featuring an old house where a high school kite flying club meets. Kites lean against an old fence in the sand and a heart shaped balloon, tethered to the gate, floats above the scene, red against a cloudy blue and white backdrop. A few sailboats skim choppy waters in the background. I can almost smell that ocean.

Other than these matters and the standard form of our days of eating, cleaning, writing, reading, it’s quiet. I accept quiet. Still recuperating with my ankle issue.

Today’s music comes by way of Willy Nelson. I was reading about his show cancellations and the article reminded me of a gay cowboy song Willy sings. The Neurons immediately began a little rendition of the song, “Cowboys Are Frequently Fond of Each Other”, in the morning mental music stream (Trademark grazing). Although Willy’s version came out back when Brokeback Mountain was gaining Oscar attention, I picked up a later version done by Willy and Orville Peck. Hope you enjoy it.

Stay positive, be strong, lean forward, and Vote Blue in 2024. Also brace yourself for a busy news week. With more SCOTUS news forthcoming, the end of June sending up a cloud of dust as it sprints at us, and the debates and the weather, I’m sure there will be a lot to talk about, read about, and GRRRRR about.

Coffee has been sucked down. Here we. Cheers

0

Sat-earth-day’s Theme Music

Mood: thoughtful

Hello, world. Saturday, July 15, 2023. It’s my little sister’s birthday. She was my only little sister for several years before the other two came along. Two years younger than me, we frequently played softball together in pickup games on the street. Whole neighborhood was invited, and we had fun. Now sis is a grandmother and executive VP for a bank. Guess she’s grown up. Happy birthday, little sister.

74 F now in Ashlandia, where burritos are tasty and fishsticks are frozen, without much breeze. The heat dome has brought us into its embrace. 103 F today, probably 100 plus tomorrow but then we get a reprieve and the highs drop into the nineties next week. Fingers crossed that they’ve called that right. Not nearly as bad as west Texas, Arizona, many parts of California, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Only dropped down to the lower sixties last night. That’s always a problem because it’s harder to cool the house if the air doesn’t cool. Stayed into the eighties until after 11 PM before the heat was finally cranked back. But then it rose fast. That’s how it is in a heat dome.

Thinking about weather took me around to thinking about Earth. Unintentional consequences of that was The Neurons put a song about Earth in my morning mental music stream. Yes, “I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King (1971) is playing in the morning mental music stream (trademark confused). Odd choice for The Neurons, since the thoughts swirling around were all about the misery today’s headlines encapsulated. Everything from disastrous weather around the world to murders and killings. Death dominated. I suppose The Neurons elected to counteract all that chaos and mayhem with a simple song about being in love.

Stay pos, be cool, be safe, be strong. The coffee is kicking in. Let’s do this. Here’s the music. Cheers

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