Tag: life

Thursday’s Theme Music –

Ashland, Oregon — Thursday, April 2, 2026.

Cold morning with sunshine glinting off a wet ground. Thirty-five F. High will be about 55 F. Most trees remain bare branched. Blued white smoke boils out of planned fires in the mountains.

Friends were telling me last night that NOAA has put out a warning for Oregon rivers. Our extended snow-drought is going to cause water levels to drop on the rivers. That will really slice into the outdoor tourism industry in southern Oregon.

A friend passed away the other day. We just learned of it last night. 88, he’s been ill since I met him in 2007. A Republican and Trump supporter, he and I didn’t socialize much, and his illness kept him at home except for medical treatments for the last six years. Strange that he’s a Trumper, as he’s intelligent and compassionate. I never thought of him as racist, but he hated Affirmative Action. He called reverse discrimination. This was one of the many things we disagreed about. Still, his wife is a very nice person, and his son — a Republican — has worked hard with my friend to help the homeless. RIP, Bill.

Mom is quiet again, but she is applying for a senior living apartment. She’d have her own place and live by herself. I’m not enthralled with the idea, but she and my sisters like it. We’ll see what happens next.

Speaking of what happens, Trump gave a dud of a speech about the war with Iran he started. Meandering, he offered vague assertions about winning without clarification about what was won. He basically claims, ‘we’re safer now’ but doesn’t offer any facts to back that up. He also said that he might bomb Iran more. Why, if we’re safer now?

Today’s song comes from Todd Rundgren. “I Saw the Light” is in the morning mental music stream. I don’t know why. It doesn’t relate to anything from the dream side of things. Released in 1972, it was part of the radio rotation for a few years but never really spoke to me.

Hope your day is going well. May you flourish in the times to come.

Cheers


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Tuesday’s Theme Music – All Mixed Up

Ashland, Oregon — Tuesday, March 31, 2026.

March’s last day finds a dismal spring day in our valley. Rain, 49 F, high of 60 F, cloudy. Papi curls up and broods. I’m with him.

Mom reports blood in her urine and a UTI. She said she’s reported it to the staff, but nobody has seen her about it or given her antibiotics. Sis has volunteered to pick up Mom and take her to Urgent care.

Mom also said she is walking better, using her walker, and says she only fell once, when she was using the bathroom. She only uses her wheelchair when going to the bathroom.

My sisters are suddenly talking about Mom moving to an apartment. I can guess this is being pushed by finances. It’s not sustainable for Mom to stay in assisted living. Just costs too much.

I don’t see how moving her to an apartment is better than being on her own in her house. I’m sure Mom will argue that same point with my sister. My other sister had already said that Mom can’t live alone at home because of the mechanics of living: buying and preparing food, laundry, personal hygiene, cleaning. How will being in an apartment be any different?

I’m staying mute. Let them work it out for the moment. I’m weary of saying, “But, but, but — .” They want to follow this course, let it ride.

My wife addressed politics and world news this morning. “I can understand why people aren’t keeping up with the news. Trump started a war, kidnapped a president, talks about starting other wars, the ballroom. Then there’s all these other things going on. He’s having this named after himself or that. Prices are going through the roof. It’s all crazy and upsetting.”

Florida has chosen to rename an international airport after Trump. Trump showed drawings of a Miami skyscraper that’s said to be his library.

I think Florida should go all in, rename the state after him: Trumpistan. Why will become clear as extreme weather driven by climate change sinks and damages Florida. It’ll be the perfect symbol for misplaced lies, greed, and denial.

My wife laughed when she read the article about Trump’s library, saying, “Oh, honey, we’re gonna burn everything down that you ever touched.”

“Let It Ride” is in my morning mental music stream. The Neurons promoted it after I was thinking about trying — trying to do things, figure things out and understand, try to endure. That translated to try, try, try. Hearing that in my head, The Neurons added, “Would you let it ride.” So here we are.

Sis is giving updates that she has Mom at Urgent care. No drama yet, fingers crossed, knock on wood.

Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music – Dreams

Ashland, Oregon — Monday, March 30, 2026.

We’re looking at a rainy spring day in our valley. Sunshine is on the low side as clouds gather and darken. It’s 49 F with anticipation that we’ll peak in the low sixties today.

Out early to do our monthly Food & Friends delivery, we’re back now and into our daily grooves. Our F&F route was small again, with several favorite regulars missing. We always what’s happened to them and hope for the best.

I had a rush of micro-dreams last night. All of them felt very uplifting. Seeing and remembering them was like watching a strobe light on a crowd of dancers.

Mom remains quiet today but she’s on our minds as my sisters and I exchanged texts about her, remembering her, wondering what’s next. We spent a bit of time remembering Mom and Frank together. They used to love going dancing and to estate sales, or the grands’ concerts and ball games.

They were a sweet couple, but Mom’s illnesses, accidents, aging, and medications changed her.

Trump has also been on my Monday morning mind. I’ve been wondering, what’s next? Tariffs, ICE, Iran War, ballroom, Epstein files, general BS — what’s next?

Trump wants to start signing the currency. The GOP is proposing to issue a 250th Anniversary coin that will feature Trump’s pudgy scowl. Look others, I plan to Sharpie his signature if that comes to pass. I also agree with the premise that the only currency Trump’s face should grace is a wooden nickel or fake funny money.

Stevie Nicks wrote today’s song, “Dreams”. It was a hit for Fleetwood Mac and a personal favorite. Slow moving like a thunderstorm, it’s reflective words and sound carries me into different moods and thoughts. It’s also a song about loss, too, mourning what was and what is now. That’s no doubt why Les Neurons put it into the morning mental music stream.

I took to a different video for it, finding this lovely acoustic version on “Playing for Change”. I hope you enjoy it.

Let’s hope peace and grace arrive and help us all to improved lives.

Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music –

Ashland, Oregon — Sunday, March 29, 2026.

49 F here this morning, we’ll looking for another day where the high temperature is in the low 70s. Yesterday ended with clouds mixing up with sunshine, and that’s where we’re starting today.

My wife and I were zonked out from attending the No Kings protests. Standing there, holding letters spelling out “No War”, blasted by sunshine, car exhaust, and noise, just undone us. We ate at Ruby’s Grill, a local favorite afterwards, and then did some errands. Back home, I read myself into a thirty-minute nap.

Still, it lifted our spirits to be among so many protesting Trump and his policies. I was pleased by how many young people participated this time. The responses from motorists going by also pleased me, especially when I say cars full of young children go by, the driver honking their horns while the children waved, gave thumbs up, or flashed peace signs.

Seems like ICE isn’t popular. Nor is the Trump Iran War. Nor is Trump’s grifting, tariffs, lies, and pardons, or his connections to Epstein.

My sisters and I received a good Mom report today. Karin — daughter of Mom’s late partner, Frank — visited Mom yesterday. She reported that Mom was happy and healthy. Using her walker, Mom showed Karin around the assisted living facility, pointing out her friends and their names. Mom said she could live alone at home except she struggles to get out of bed.

My sisters and I pointed out to one another that Mom is doing well because she’s more active. Part of that is her vanity: other women are using their walkers there, so Mom will, too. She doesn’t want to be known as the ‘old woman in the wheelchair’.

Mom is also eating better there, and probably sleeping better. Her desire to be home stems from her fixation on finances: she has a home that she owns and doesn’t want to be paying a small fortune for a place to lay her head. Mom also knows her finances will only go so far — and then what?

Yes, it’s an aging riddle wrapped up in a social enigma. We’re happy that Mom is reported to be doing well.

Today’s morning mental music stream inhabitant is “Only A Fool Would Say That”. This is a 1972 Steely Dan tune. It came to mind yesterday during the No Kings protest in Medford. A young white woman stopped at a traffic light rolled her window down and shouted “God bless Trump” five times.

People around me laughed and said, “What a fool.” The Neurons picked it up and rushed to the music memory module to find the Steely Dan song.

I hope your Sunday proceeds with grace and peace.

Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music – No Kings!

Ashland, Oregon – Saturday, March 28, 2026.

Happy No Kings Day!

I hope you have your protesting clothes on and are ready to step out to join the millions telling Trump and the world what we think of Trump.

It’s beautiful protesting weather here today, 46 F but expected to climb into the low to mid-seventies with sunshine and blue skies.

I read about the TACO Index today. It’s a beautiful attempt to understand and track what Trump is doing to the financial markets. Here’s an explanation from the France 24 article to explain it:

‘The “TACO” index uses four factors to measure negative impacts and evaluate the probability that Trump will change his opinion.

‘These are: one-year inflation expectations, changes in Trump’s approval ratings in the month prior, the performance of the S&P 500 stock market index (which tracks stocks from the 500 leading Wall Street companies) and the evolution of US Treasury yields (interest rates that the government pays to borrow money).

‘“These are factors that stock market analysts were already examining separately, so it makes sense to combine them into a single index to assess the level of political and economic pain that Donald Trump is likely to be able to withstand,” says Alexandre Baradez, an analyst for the broker IG France.’

It’s funny but sad. Funny, because it acknowledges Trump’s wrecking ball impact on the world. Sad that we’ve reached a stage after 250 years in existence that the United States has put such a disastrous human in charge.

It is especially sad that voters chose to do this because Trump a much more intelligent, organized, and capable person, Kamala Harris. Voters didn’t vote for her because she’s a woman, a person of color, or from California. They didn’t vote for her because they wanted ‘change’. They didn’t vote for her because IMMIGRANTS! They didn’t vote for her because they didn’t think her well-documented plans and policies were better than Trump’s promises and mocking.

Now we are at war in Iran, our allies are distancing themselves from us, and prices are on the rise. Good thinking, Trump voters.

Early figures estimated Trump’s Iran War is costing one to two billion dollars a day. It has no end in sight and our national debt is ballooning.

The Roberts Court partially rejected Trump’s tariffs. His administration has been ordered to pay refunds. That in itself is a monumental task, costing us yet more millions.

Just to ice the cake on the waste and recklessness of Trump, the United States will pay two billion dollars to stop sustainable energy projects.

Mom is pretty quiet this morning, as our my sisters. She told one sister last week that she is mean and Mom was through with her; today, Mom told that sister to have her husband pick Mom up at the assisted living facility to take her home.

Had some terrific, humorous dreams last night. Yet, I ended up with Golden Earring playing “Twilight Zone” in my morning mental music stream. The song is about consequences and results. I can only guess that The Neurons are playing this song in my head today because of the joint streams of Mom and Trump.

Here we go. Have a pleasant Saturday of peace, grace, and political engagement.

Cheers

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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.

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Friday’s Theme Music – Domination

Ashland, Oregon — Friday, March 27, 2026.

39 F and the heater is on. Blue skies and sunshine dominate, and we’re expected to reach the mid to upper 70s today.

Mom dominated thoughts and energy yesterday, and this morning, so far. My sisters began texting about three hours ago and are still going at it. There’s a lot of dark humor in today’s text, though. Mom once told one of her husbands that if they made a television show of our family, it would be “Combat!” A sister replied, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. Yes, I answered, and there’s our issue: Mom sees one thing and we see another.

Gina took supplies to Mom this morning but didn’t talk with her. Gina reports that she thought she saw a staff member spotted her entering the building and hurried away.

I’m fuming over Trump news. First, he voted by mail in Florida’s elections, which is something he’s trying to do away with. It just leaves me incredulous. But when asked about it, he said, “I’m president.”

Bingo. That is his response to everything. He sees a different standard for himself, and by extension, his people. Voting by mail, okay for him — bad for everyone else.

He exercises an infuriating double standard. With the GOP’s help, and SCOTUS, he’s made a mockery of the office and what it’s supposed to be, a servant of the people. He clearly sees it the other way, as is evident by his behavior and policies.

Now he’s putting his signature on the money, adding to where his name shows up in the nation. It’s all about him.

We see it, too, in the war with Iran. “They gave me a very nice gift”. The gift was letting supposedly Iran letting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

Not a gift to him, except in his ego-crazed mind.

And he’ll end the war “when he feels it in his bones”. Not about the war and its objectives, the nation, or even Iran; it’s about him.

Oddly, The Neurons provided me with a song that goes in a different direction in the morning mental music stream. Although I recall several dreams — one involving collecting diamonds and another about traveling and eating pie — I have George Harrison singing “What Is Life”. My subconscious might be feeding off those opening lines, “What I feel, I can’t say.”

I can’t say. *smile*

May your day progress with peace, grace, and happiness. See you at the protests tomorrow, Saturday, March 28, 2026.

Cheers

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The Mom Exchanges

Mom, 90, suffering from several medical conditions, in on many medications. My sisters, Gina, Lisa, and Sharon, live not far away from Mom. An intelligent person and retired nurse, Mom moved into assisted living this year after a suicide threat which she denies.

Before that, she lived with her partner, Frank, in her own home. That changed when Frank died last October.

Gina took Mom in and gave Mom a room with a bathroom. Mom was initially happy but slowly professed that she hated it and wanted to leave and go back to her house. She then began accusing her son-in-law, Pat, of ‘using a device on her head to hurt her’, spying on her, and hiding her TV control.

Pat denies it all. Pat and Mom had a great relationship until five months ago, when Mom’s accusations began. Last September, he converted her back porch into a room so she could live in her house on one level. After Frank died, Pat set up the room for Mom in his house.

Mom has a consistent pattern of accusing others of being mean and hateful to her. She did that with Frank. I never witnessed Frank being like that.

When Mom moved in with Gina, Mom began accusing her of being mean and hateful. I visited for a while and never witnessed Gina being mean and hateful. Those traits are completely contrary to Gina’s personality.

I called to chat with Mom last September. She launched into a diatribe about Frank being mean to her. I said, “Mom, I’m not listening to this. We’ll talk later.” I waited for her to respond. She said, “Okay.” We said good-bye.

Mom reported to Gina that that I’d been mean and hateful and had hung up on her.

Mom told us that Lori is being mean and hateful to her.

Lori at the assisted living facility told us that Mom has given a notice to vacate. Mom told them she plans to return to her home.

Mom’s physical therapist, Jennifer, visited Mom this week. Mom claims that Jennifer witnessed Lori being mean and hateful.

Gina called Jennifer. Jennifer said she witnessed a heated exchange between Mom and Lori. She also reported that Mom is thriving there. She’s using a walker instead of a wheelchair, socializing, and eating well.

Mom told Jennifer that the conversation she was having with Lori was about moving out. Mom insists she’s moving back to her house. Jennifer related to Gina that she told Mom, “I don’t recommend that you leave here or go back home. You’re doing well here but you’re not capable of living on your own.”

I texted Mom today:

“Hey Mom, heard your plans to leave the facility in April. I want to understand your plan so I can stay in the loop. Where are you planning to go and have you talked to anyone about helping you move?”

Mom responded:

“I’m going to my house where I don’t have to pay 5500 a month and be screamed at by this boss. I’m having diarrhea today and last night. I finally got two Imodium‘s but I only have one big pad left many small ones Jennifer, my physical therapist stopped to see me on Tuesday and heard LORI screaming at me about medicine from Sam’s. She said oh, Dee this is too stressful for you. I said I know I’m paying her a fortune to be screamed at. I have asked Lisa when she brings me pads if she ever does to take me home no answer. I’ll probably have to pay Uber. I have to be out by April 18. I’m very surprised to hear from you.”

I replied:

“Thanks for explaining, Mom. I understand you want to go back home. Who is confirmed to help you get there with your things, and what day are you planning to leave?”

She answered:

“No one is confirmed to help me get there with my things. Gina and Sharon don’t speak to me and Lisa doesn’t answer me. All my friends are dead. Ever since Frank died how my children have turned against me, even though I went to the hospital in Gina was proving wrong. The night. I went to the hospital Pat said to me I need to talk to you. I was crying so hard. I said Pat all you have to do is say three words it’s all true and he did not do it so I lost my whole family.”

My sisters, Gina and Lisa, were with Mom when she went to the hospital. Pat was not. Gina and Lisa deny that Mom’s conversation and crying took place.

And that’s where we now stand.

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