Munda, October 13, 2025. Rain cascading onto the roof and hammered me awake.40 F outside with a high of 52 on order. I asked Alexa about the weather. She said it was cloudy. I asked her if it was going to rain. “It might rain starting at 9 AM but it should stop by 10 AM.” This was at 7:30 as the rain drove down.
Mom’s boyfriend, Frank, is in the ICU for afib. He’s 95 and suffering from multiple issues stemming from a fall down the stairs last week, but has cancer that predates his fall. Mom told my sister that she wanted to get Frank’s phone to see if he’d been talking with Joan. Joan was Frank’s best friend’s wife. When he saw Joan after his best friend died, Frank kissed Joan. Mom was furious and has claimed ever since that Frank is secretly meeting with Joan. Mom told sis, “If I find out that he’s been talking to her, then I’ll throw him out.” She then kept calling Frank’s daughter to see if she had Frank’s phone. Sis reminded Mom that Frank was in the ICU and may not live. “I know,” Mom answered. We’re not sure that she does.
Sister’s text exchange relating got The Neurons to play the Gin Blossoms with “Follow You Down” in the morning mental music stream. Don’t ask me what they’re thinking.
My wife has no energy today and seems down but it’s our day to do food deliveries, so here we go. May grace and peace find and keep us. Cheers
Sunda, October 12, 2025. Though we’re still weeks away from Halloween, winter feels like it has its claws into us. Trees still adorn trees but the air is 45 F and just feels friggin’ icy, with heavy clouds maliciously clotting the sunshine. 56 is the foreseen high but I’m dubious about clocking in anywhere close to that. Showers are expected.
The Epstein Shutdown of 2025 continues. I was reading about its impact on farmers in Iowa and Wisconsin. They’re preparing for next year’s activities. As a farmer related, one season ends and you immediately begin planning the next. With the shutdown, the agencies which usually assist them in that process are empty or unresponsive. So next year’s crops are being impacted. That’s Trump/Project 2025 foresight for you.
We’re listening and watching videos which protestors are putting together from Chicago and Portland. Videos show people peacefully protesting when ICE fires on them. ICE agents are often laughing. One protestor said that he overheard agents telling each other, “I don’t know why we’re here.” Yep. Another videographer said that ICE seemed disorganized and lacked leadership and guidance. Not a surprise, given the sloppy manner in which the Trump Regime functions.
Despite a bevy of dreams and some conversations with Papi about the weather, today’s song comes from a convo with the wife. Out shopping, light rain spit down on us. I said something about having an umbrella. She sang some of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” back to me. When the car was started, the song began playing on the radio, which had us laughing at the coincidence. The Neurons got hooked. As I checked the weather outside the window, they returned the song to the morning mental music stream.
My wife mentioned Tom Holland’s performance in a lip-sync battle in which he performed “Umbrella”, so I’ll include that for fun.
Coffee is visiting my body again, lifting me to get out and get stuff done. Like yard work. Cold, wet yardwork. Oh boy! Hope peace and grace are unearthed soon and spread into your life and mine. Here we go. Cheers
Today is Satyrda, October 11, 2025. Thin sunshine is cutting through the windows around the blinds but it’s 45 F and wet out there. High is pinned at 52 F, but I’ll note that we didn’t get within three degrees of the projected high for yesterday. It remained brrr-y all day. That was then, and this is now, where clouds mix it up with blue sky. The precipitation and cold air brought early snow to Mt. Ashland, a few miles from here, a few thousand feet higher in elevation. We’re also down to
Absolutely beautiful snow covered image of Mt. Ashland from the lodge webcam. This is stunning to see this early in the season. h/t to Ryanweather.com
You know this made me lose my appetite this morning:
I don’t know what Trump has done for Venezuela to help with their democracy. Up here in the United States, we’re chaffing under his military heel as he tries to make the press and everyone else bend the knee to him as the first Dictator of the United States.
Meanwhile, I guess I have to trust the physician, and not my own lying eyes. From Huffpost:
President Donald Trump is in “exceptional health,” his physician said Friday after he underwent a checkup that included lab tests and preventive health assessments at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Trump spent roughly three hours at the Bethesda, Maryland, hospital earlier Friday for what his doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, called a “scheduled follow-up evaluation” that was a “part of his ongoing health maintenance plan.” While there, Trump also got his yearly flu shot, as well as a COVID-19 booster vaccine.
One, surprised that they mentioned Trump getting a COVID-19 booster vaccine. The Trump Regime regularly rails against it as a Democrat hoax.
Two, Trump doesn’t look healthy. He appears obese, doesn’t move well, and often speaks like he’s half alive. Basically, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it’s an overweight, unhealthy person, and the proclamation that he’s in exceptional health is political theater. Then again, Trump and his minions are caught in lies every day. That is their well-established history. I’m conditioned not to believe a damn word any of them say.
It was an incomplete exam of Trump, though.
Today’s theme music is another dream product. Dream I was with others, worrying about the weather. People began running. I didn’t know why. We were on like a level paved area the size of an airfield, but it was paved in white. Huge mountains surrounded two sides. As I tried figuring out why others were running, an enormous green wave crested the mountains. After a “Holy fuck,” reaction, I scrambled to find somewhere safe. But I didn’t think anywhere would be safe. All that took too long. The wave crashed down. Water engulfed me but it was warm and soothing. I was surprised I was alive, then thought I was holding my breath but then grasped that I was breathing underwater, another WTF moment. Awakening from the dream and thinking about it, the “Iris” line, “You breathe just to know you’re alive,” came to me. The Neurons took note and flooded the morning mental music stream with the Goo Goo Dolls song.
Coffee is rocking the body so I guess it’s time to rock on. Hope peace and grace finds and embraces us, if not this year, than the next. Till then, keep calm and protest on. Cheers
Rain just kicked in here. Dark and gloomy. Feels lifted from a gothic novel. All the blinds are up but sunshine has vacated its post. The rain though, is a comforting background song. Fall is here, the scene outside proclaims. Get used to it.
We will. Then we’ll tire of it, and the great conveyor belt will carry winter to us. We’ll get used to that and tired of that and hit the holidays and a new year and then start looking for spring. It’s almost a tradition.
Papi is tres upset by this weather change. His downcast expression has WTF written large. I tell him, “Stay in, you’ll be happy.” After desultory outdoor expeditions, he agrees and find a space to sleep.
48 F now, we won’t see 60 today. This is Frida, October 20, 2025, in Ashland, Oregon. Ashlandia.
Trump didn’t win the Noble Peace Prize. I am so happy that the deranged bully didn’t win that honor. The prize went to María Corina Machado, from Venezuela, who worked to restore democracy to that nation. Can we get her up here? Trump’s head would explode. And congratulations to María Corina Machado for a well-deserved honor.
Back in ‘Murica, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Hell) spoke, refreshing the impression that he’s an idiot.
“We’re so angry about it,” he told Fox News. “I mean, I’m a very patient guy, but I have had it with these people,” the Speaker said, emphatically, of Democrats. “They’re playing games with real people’s lives.”
Yeah, that jackass is angry that the Democrats are not caving and that more voters are realizing that the Epstein Shutdown of 2025 is a Trump GOP gift, a product of the Regime’s Misery Machine. Trump and the GOP control Congress and the Oval Office. The self-proclaimed ‘great negotiator’ can’t make a deal. As Donald J. loudly claimed back before he shut the government down three times, a government shutdown shows a weak president. He’s sitting on three. How weak does that prove him to be?
Personal news from home isn’t good. Mom’s BF, Frank, is in pretty bad shape. Hard to get details through the grapevine. Broken ribs, the hip that was replaced, heart issues, and dementia. What he’s enduring has him acting contrary to who he usually is, and he’s being violent, mean, loud, and angry. They have him restrained to a bed, someone watching him 24/7, and mitts on his hands so he can’t pull out tubes and try to escape. Little sister is pulling duty helping Mom. This is a sister who has two children. One of them lives with her. Her daughter’s BF also resides with them. She’s a grandmother who takes those duties seriously and spends time and money on her grands. She works, exercises, cooks for her family and Mom, and also keeps the books for her husband’s plumbing biz. She’s a dynamo and I’m pleased she’s there to help Mom. Other two sisters apparently have some medical problems of their own. They’re not discussing their issues but they’re not visiting Mom much.
Today’s music arises from a conversation with my orange floof, Papi. The weather has him restless. So I sang, “Lay down Papi,” to him to the tune of “Lay Down Sally” by Eric Clapton. “Lay down Papi. You don’t need go outside. I’m been trying all morning long just to pet you,” is what I sang to the boy. Natch, The Neurons were all over that, pumping “Lay Down Sally” into the morning mental music stream. And yep, that’s “Duck” Dunn on bass in this video.
Coffee is cruising through the alimentary system, delivering its needed cargo. Hope peace and grace pops out soon and visits for a prolonged period. Meanwhile, stay strong. I’ll try doing the same. And away we go. Cheers
It’s fallish out there in the autumn style. Clouds hug the sky for miles and miles. Bringing darkness and an offer of rain. There’s a chance tomorrow we might do it again.
52 F now, 62 F is the suggested high at almost every oracle. 80% chance of rain. Doesn’t stop Papi from going in and out and out and in. He’s looking for that sunshine’s warm embrace and refuses to believe it’s not there. Now he’s curled up in a chair.
This is Thirstda, October 9, 2025. Winter is coming. So are the holidays.
Read that Trump is to undergo a medical exam. This CBS headline tells it all.
Wouldn’t surprise me to read after the exam, “Why he’s the healthy person the world has ever seen. Such muscles! He’s so lean and fit and active and athletic, he could run a marathon, not just run it, but win.” Such is the Trump Regime that lies and bullshit are their expected output.
My wife and I were in conversation this morning. I finished my end by proclaiming with a laugh, “That’s just my style.”
The Neurons pounced like a kitten on a leaf. “She’s Just My Style” began filling the morning mental music stream. Familiar with it? It’s a 1965 hit in the U.S. by Gary Lewis & the Playboys. I would’ve been nine at its release. But AM radio was in its heyday and so was pop. I won’t hazard a guess how many times I heard that song back in the day. Haven’t heard it in yonks since.
Coffee has made its way through my mouth and esophagus and is engaging with Les Neurons. Hope peace and grace make its way to you and the rest of the world today. Now, hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to write I go. Cheers
It’s a rockandroll Wenzda in October. October 8, 2025. Another exemplary weather day for fall to show off its colors in Ashlandia. Will be about 80 F again today, though it’s 57 now, with a puppy’s nip to the air. Papi goes out and finds sunshine for his post-breakfast grooming. His orange glows in the sunshine.
The Epstein Shutdown of 2025 continues. Many also call it the Smirkers Shutdown, because Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump were often smirking when they were together, as in the photo below. Reminder, it’s a weak president that lets the government shut down. So said the current POTUS in past years. This is Trump’s third shutdown, revealing him as the weakest of the weakest. Also the most cowardly. Worst negotiator in history, too. Only thing that works for him is bullying and lying. But being so weak and cowardly, he’d rather have the government shut down rather than having it revealed what’s in the Epstein Files.
Donald Trump, first on the left, and Jeffrey Epstein, second from the right, the smirkers behind the shutdown.
I’ve been re-watching an old favorite television show called Foyle’s War. The series stars Michael Kitchen as Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle. A widower with a son who joins the RAF, DCS Foyle lives and works in Hastings, investigating crimes.
Last night’s episode was about a murder in 1941 that comes after German aircraft bomb England. One bomber is shot down. Several crew members parachute to safety. We’re introduced to women working in the land army for an older farmer who is mean and spiteful. He’s killed. Foyle investigates. The Germans are captured. Foyle has a run-in with the major who collects the Germans for interrogation, etc.
After Foyle reveals all going on at the show’s end, the major apologizes to Foyle. Going on, the major explained that he lived in Heidelberg for a year. Knew many Germans. Found them gracious, civilized, etc. Foyle responds with an anecdote. A British police football team went to Germany in 1936 to play a German team. The Germans met the British, took them out for a good meal, dancing, celebrating, drinking. The next day, the British team, hungover, on little sleep, met a German team that they’d never seen before. The German team had not gone out drinking but had been in bed by ten PM. Foyle concluded, “The Germans are playing a different game, and it’s not cricket.”
As I think about a lot of things happening in the United States, that’s come to mind many times. The Republicans are playing a different game. Their goals and rules have changed. People like me are stilling playing the same game as before. That’s why the GOP keep piling up wins. Part of their changes include ignoring the will of We the People, and ignore laws, norms, history, and precedence. Those changes are anti-American to me. Yet, this is the GOP game under Trump, a culmination of a process begun decades ago, when Fox began actively functioning as a political news outlet.
Today’s song is “Boys Don’t Cry” by The Cure. It’s a dream’s outgrowth. I don’t see its connection with the dream’s contents. Seeing it differently, I guess, The Neurons plugged it into the morning mental music stream.
Coffee is being served to The Neurons. Hope peace and grace awaken and rise like a phoenix. Fingers crossed, right? Meanwhile, let’s all do the best we go. Here I go. Cheers
Summer sensations still regale Ashlandia. 65 F when my eyes met the day, sunshine and blue skies were saying hello. Wind is thrashing like a disjointed washing machine but the temperature is credited with a chance to hit 80 F today. 82 F was seen at my place yesterday, and Papi took full advantage of it to soak in warm sun. For the tape, this is Munda, October 6, 2025.
Went this morning to have blood drawn after overnight fasting. Routine check, ordered months ago. Long line for people at the lab but they were quick, efficient, and friendly. I was soon seen but the tech couldn’t get out of blood of me! She called for backup, as she put it, and blood was found.
News from my POV seems oddly slow and stilted for a Munda. I think it’s because Trump is pulling another TACO act and hiding out from criticism and rulings against him. Part of this might also be because he’s physically and mentally failing in multiple ways, and it’s becoming more greatly exposed each time a camera or microphone finds him. Amazing how the military isn’t being paid; he reassures them, don’t worry about it. Great empathy, once again! I hear he did have another meltdown about being unappreciated and misunderstood, going on a poor little rich TACO once again. Poor little man baby.
The Epstein Shutdown continues without change. GOP left D.C. with a shrug and refuse to negotiate with the Democrats. The GOP sputtering, mewing blame game is weakening. The majority of voters polled said, “This is on Trump and the GOP.” Firm Trumpheads still insist it’s on the Democrats but they’re stay as fact resistant as Trump and speak from an alternate reality that echos with NAZI and imperial white supremacy tones.
Cowardly Trump and the spineless GOP really don’t want to the Epstein files released. They’d rather break the nation and destroy the economy before they let us see what those files have on Donald J. Trump.
Today’s song was put into the morning mental stream out of reflections about plans to visit Mom and family. As part of that, I thought, see some family, good for the soul. Resonating with Der Neurons, they dialed up Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. Into the MMMS flowed “Hollywood Nights”. Remember, Bob sings, “See some old friends, good for the soul.” And there’s Les Neurons’ connection.
Then, new from Mom’s was texted in. Mom reported hearing a loud crash and several thumps. She knew her BF, Frank, had gone upstairs and concluded that he’d fallen. Mom called for an ambulance and texted my sister. Sis arrived in time to see the ambulance taking Frank away. We’re guessing from evidence that Frank had used the toilet and was undressing from his pajamas when he lost balance and fell down the stairs. Mom has a gallery of family photos along the lower part of the wall. Half were knocked off. Newest text report just arrived from sis.
It’s not good news about Frank. He broke several ribs on both sides. He fractured his hip. The one that was replaced. They’re going to call his operative doctor to ask him what he wants to do about that. I can’t think of his name. they aren’t gonna do anything about the ribs, cause there is nothing to do but let them heal. Also, his heart was out of rhythm when he got there and told him he had chest pains last night and took some nitroglycerin, but never told mom.
Frank is 95.
He’s in my thoughts and worries now, along with Mom. Peace and grace to all of us. Now, off for coffee. Have a dental appointment in three hours. Hope you have a great day. Cheers
Dreary sunshine and bleached skies say hello when Papi and I step out to inspect the morning. It’s 49 F in Ashlandia today, Satyrda, October 4, 2025. A high of 60 is anticipated. The furnace was turned on to dispel some of the morning chill, as it was just 67 F in the house. Despite these clouds, rain is not a worry for us. Personal note, today is the 51st anniversary of when I swore my oath to defend the Constitution in the U.S. military.
All my appointments went very well Thursday. Texted Mom to tell her we’re coming to Pittsburgh for her 90th birthday. She says she’s looking forward to seeing us but is busy painting the kitchen cupboards right now. Dad remains in rehab in Texas. Spoke to him, and he was in terrific spirits and sounded strong, healthy, and alert.
Trump’s Venezuelan body count is 21 after U.S. missiles destroyed another boat. That’s number four. What’s the body count over/under for a Nobel Peace Prize?
The Weariness Meter is in the upper ranges today. I feel I’m flagging over the news. Think I’ll take a time out from keeping up to date. That general malaise striking me had me thinking about past and present. 1974, when I graduated from high school and joined the military, still appears as a decent year when I look back through time’s long lens. This year, 2025, feels like a terrible year on multiple levels. Reflections have me treading on a path of thought about how much we’ve regressed in my lifetime. Most of that came in the last 20 years. Hell, most of it came with Trump’s takeover of the White House in 2025. Much of it is due to Russ Vought and Project 2025 and their effective use of Trump as a dupe.
The Neurons decide to cheer me up with “Here’s Where the Story Ends” by Sundays in my morning mental music stream. Sample lyrics for you from Songfacts.com.
Crazy I know, places I go Make me feel so tired I can see how people look down I’m on the outside
Oh, Here’s where the story ends Ooh, Here’s where the story ends
It’s that little souvenir of a terrible year Which makes my eyes feel sore And who ever would’ve thought the books that you brought Were all I loved you for Oh the devil in me said go down to the shed I know where I belong But the only thing I ever really wanted to say Was wrong, was wrong, was wrong
It’s that little souvenir of a colorful year Which makes me smile inside So I cynically, cynically say the world is that way Surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise
Here’s where the post ends. Hope grace and peace pop up for us someday soon. Got my coffee. Time to motor. Cheers
Rain, clouds, cool temperatures, and colorful leaves. It is indeed autumn in Ashlandia. 51 F now, 62 F on the way. This is Thirstda, October 2, 2025.
Gonna be a busy day for me. Slew of health and dental appointments scheduled. All were scheduled through different agencies back in June and July.
Remember when Donald J. Trump lied to everyone about Project 2025 while running for POTUS in 2024?
“I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it,” he wrote, describing attempts to tie him to the proposal as “pure disinformation.”
He wrote in another post, “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.”
Now he’s loving and embracing that ‘absolutely ridiculous and abysmal’ things. That’s Trump, con man and liar to the core, as many of us knew. That’s one of three areas where he keeps exceeding expectations during his term: lying. The second area would be making up things, and the third is bragging about himself. In all other areas, he’s an absolute failure and disaster.
But of course Trump lied about his relationship with Project 2025 during the 2024 elections. Its flat-out regressive plans were massively unpopular with voters in polls. Trump couldn’t stand that. He knew that without lying, such as his lies about immigrants eating pets, he would never be elected.
Speaking of Trump’s lies, Daily Beast has an update.
“Well, there could be firings, and that’s their fault, and it also could be other things,” Trump told OANN’s Daniel Baldwin. “We could cut projects that they wanted, favorite projects, and they’d be permanently cut.”
So Trumpian! So TACO! MAGA will swallow it whole, because that’s what they do. Low and under-informed voters will dully go along with that thinking because they don’t pay much attention and still don’t get what a greedy and selfish con man and liar Trump is. But the world knows. You know, and I know. Just as we know that the Epstein file is wealthy with the many terrible things Trump did as Epstein’s BFF, which is why Trump fights the release of the files and the truth that’s on display in them.
Today’s theme music comes straight out of thinking and reading about news, coupled with my busy day. As all the plans and appointments were regurgitated through my thoughts, The Neurons bounced up with a Grateful Dead song. Here’s “Touch of Grey”, with its chorus, “I will get by. I will survive.” Perfect song for the growing Trumpswamp.
Well, still waiting for peace and grace to pop back into our lives. Till then, I’ll coffee up and work on getting by. Hope you get by and survive, too. Cheers
Cool air and rainy vistas wraps Ashlandia’s autumn persona. 68 F is our expected high, 12 above our current setting.
Wenzda. October 1, 2025. September is gone, finishing off nine months of 2025. The final three months promise quite a ride.
Trump is trying to move the needle to full dictatorship. With the GOP mostly going along with him, the Roberts Court dished him one small setback in its Lisa Cook Fed board ruling. I think his military show threw him a deeper setback. Trump’s chosen Foxer to rule the nation’s military arm, Hedwig the angry inch, had summoned the U.S. military’s top leadership to D.C. Trump, apparently hearing about it, decided to insert himself into it. Between those two, the stoic military seemed less than impressed with the clown show encountered. This Fox broadcaster and a desperately vain, overweight billionaire were going to show them, professionals of twenty+ years, how to be strong and how to military. I’m sure a strong vein of who do they think they are went through gathered military. Nothing else, military leaders tend to be proud, intelligent, and lean toward arrogance. They’ve worked hard. Sacrificed. Committed to principles. They taught and practiced loyalty, and they’re versed in history. They are not fools nor easily cowed. And Trump and Hegseth treated them like fools, trying to cow them, dismissing all that they are. I think Trump’s Regime made a huge mistake staging this situation. The military knew what it looked like and what Trump was trying to do. And they probably did not like it. No, they will not speak out. But they were in front row seats for the unfiltered TACO show. They probably walked away thinking, he’s our commander-in-chief but our duties lie with the Constitution.
Unfortunately, Trump can fire a lot of them. Just decide, be gone. Might not be legal but that’s the Trump nation. Legality’s hold is weak and diminishing. So Trump fires them. Puts in replacements. I don’t know how that would all sit with troops. We saw with Germany, Vietnam, and other conflicts that the military often falls back on, “I’m just following orders.” So, we need to hope that they’re strong enough, intelligent enough, to resist those orders when they’re unlawful, and do the right thing.
Wow, what a place for our nation to reach.
They might also remember, hey, Trump’s best friend, Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted of some pretty unsavory crimes. They might wonder, what exactly is in that Epstein file? They may recall photos like this:
And they might think, POTUS or not, I really don’t like this guy.
Today’s song came from looking for Papi, my orange boi. I was like, “Where is that cat?” Then kind of thought, I wonder if he’s out front. And just like that, The Neurons had me singing “I wonder, wah wah wonder,” from “Runaway”. Then Bonnie Raitt’s cover took over the morning mental music stream and here we are.
Meanwhile, Papi wandered in from another room, yawning and stretching, back arched, stretching his front legs, then dragging his back legs in another stretch. After a few tottering steps, he sat and furiously washed several areas, then looked up at me in mid-wash. “Hungry yet?” I asked. He trotted forward.
Looking for peace and grace to find you? Me, too. I made some coffee, trying to lure them in. Fingers crossed that it works. Here we go, one more time into the breach. I mean, day. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 