Tag: weather

Friday’s Theme Music — Nobody Knows

Ashland, Oregon — Friday, March 20, 2026.

Spring has officially sprung north of the equator. It’s 56 F in Ashland with high, thin white clouds coalescing in our blue sky. 72 will the high.

Just returned from a CT scan with iodine contrast. Had blood and clots in my urine last week. Urinalysis earlier this week showed cloudy urine with high levels of blood, along with particulates associated with kidney stones. Not a surprising. I passed a kidney stone on my left side in 2021. One was found in my right side, but at 15mm, it was too large to pass. That one seems to be getting cranky, agitating the kidney around it.

Texts are arrived talking about Mom moving and contacting an attorney. Details are sketchy. My app seems to have missed several texts. A new phone is being ordered. This one is now almost ten years old.

The Trump partial government continues to cause travel congestion due to long TSA lines.

Gas and oil prices continue to rise due to Trump’s war on Iran as Trump moves more troops into the middle east. Trump’s war is also producing an increase in mortgage rates, which have reached their highest level in 2026. 2025 home sales were already the weakest in three decades.

Trump’s tariffs continue to drive up food and housing prices. Have you seen the recent price of coffee?

The national debt is going up fast, thanks to Trump’s fraud and waste.

And more rural hospitals are closing, especially in Trump strongholds in the Midwest and South, accelerating a rural hospital crisis.

— Just in from Mom’s assisted living place, Mom has put in a notice to vacate by April 17th and contacted a lawyer about elder abuse.

With these topics and uncertainty inhabiting my thinking, The Neurons are assisting by playing “What Happens Now” by Duran Duran.

Hope your change of seasons bring the best to you. Whether you’re going into spring or fall, may peace and grace find you.

Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Ashland, Oregon — Thursday, March 19, 2026.

80 degrees F and sunny, it’s just after 3 PM. We’ve just returned from community theater where we had brunch and watched a play called “Sherwood”.

I’ve not read much news today as my routines became overcome by events, making this a short post.

Basically, my feelings remain that the United States and its situation is worsening. Trump’s situation is also worsening. The Iran War and the middle east are worsening. All are basically going down.

Hearing that thinking, The Neurons fired up Jeff Beck from 1972 in the morning mental music stream. This is “Going Down”.

May your life and times go up to better places and a better future.

Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music — What we don’t know

Ashland, Oregon — Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

It’s 39 F outside. Wisps of white clouds are spread around the blue sky like clumps of pet fur. We’re expecting to visit the upper seventies today, lower by a few degrees which was originally forecast. Still, it’s good weather, more easily endured than the snowstorm striking parts of the U.S.

Snow out here would be welcomed. We’re in a snow drought. We’re below 50% of what’s ‘average’. This unseasonable warm weather will melt the snow faster, causing us even more problems this summer because we depend on snow melting throughout the year to keep our water levels up.

My wife and I were reminded yesterday that we’re not Boomers but Joneses. Generation Jones were born between 1954 and 1965, and that covers us. My wife rejected it before and rejected again, insisting, “We’re not like the Joneses.”

I embrace it, though. I like not being a boomer and being able to tell that to others. Makes me smile and laugh.

Last night, I read Heather Cox Richardson’s March 16, 2026 newsletter. In it, she recounted some of the battles and actions associated with the American Revolutionary War which ended 250 years ago.

I found it a good reminder of the period. I reject many of Trump policies as un-American and think that he’s ignoring the Constitution and multiple laws while breaking political norms.

The colonists of the 1770s were not united, as Ms Richardson points out. But enough were fed up with being ruled by a king that they rebelled.

Trump, aided by the GOP, supported by MAGA, is ruling like he’s a king, ignoring the will of Congress and the needs of the people. Just as it was said 250 years ago, “No kings.” Not then, and not now.

Yet, we’re as much divided now as we were during the War for Independence and the American Civil War. At least some of us are. I read an article in which Kimmel called Trump a bonehead. This comment was left about it:

“Obviously the president is not going to tell a reporter what his plans are just to have them give the enemy (people on the left like Kimmel) the plan. Trump has you liberals so screwed up in the head that you convulse at every word he says. Liberal is now synonymous with weak brained fools.”

From my POV, it is the right wing and conservatives that has Trump so screwed up in the head. They idolize everything he says, including the inane, lies, and bluster.

Trump has those MAGAts so messed up that they can’t understand the need for clearly stated goals and exit strategies. This was the same failing in multiple earlier wars, which using more reductivism, explains to me that Trump has cratered right-wingers’ abilities to learn or remember history.

They forget that Trump promised that Mexico would pay for the wall. Trump said he would release the Epstein files. After he didn’t, he tried to convince them it was a hoax by the Democrats.

Trump has the MAGAs so messed up, they forget that he said he would lower food prices on day one and end the Ukraine war on day one. He’s done neither.

It’s my niece’s birthday, so happy birthday to her! She’s a wonderful adult, with three growing sons, including a teen. Nothing is planned to celebrate her birthday, per her preferences, but I wish her a wonderful life.

Today’s music is “Me and Mrs. Jones”. This is a 1972 hit performed by Billy Paul. It’s been used in movies, recorded by others, and provides a good base for parody. The Neurons raised it in the morning mental music stream because of the whole Generation Jones thing, of course. *smile*

May your day be filled with peace, love, and understanding — cuz, what’s wrong with that?

Cheers

2

Monday’s Theme Music – Simpler Times

Ashland, Oregon — Monday, March 16, 2026.

Hazy but sunny, it was 43 F out when I got up this morning but now it’s 61, with a high in the upper 70s expected. This is part of the California coast heatwave. Being Oregon, we don’t get as much national attention as our southern neighbor, but the conditions striking California are also nailing us. We might set a new record high for the date tomorrow as analysts say that the low 80s are possible.

The news cycle brought more war news along with stories about Academy Awards winners and losers. The Trump Iran War continues. Suggestions swirl that both the United States and Russia will deploy ground troops to Iran. Despite Trump’s claim that Iran’s military was 100% destroyed, Iran hit a UAE oil port and Dubai airport.

Trump doesn’t always understand percentages, though. He promised drug prices would go down by 1500%, which is factually impossible.

Friends yesterday talked about the current political atmosphere. Many were dismayed by how easily Trump launched new military attacks and dragged us into war. While we naturally recognized, this has been an ugly trend by the left and right for decades, it’s really disturbing that a person who often speaks like he’s high is able to launch powerful, deadly weapons almost at will.

Others brought up how Brendan Carr, chairman of the FCC, is threatening the freedom of the press. One friend said when that Democrats return to a position where it can happen, there should be some Nuremburg-style trials. There wasn’t much further discussion of that, but the general consensus is, changes are needed.

I later received an email from another friend, who wasn’t at our little gathering. She wrote,

“We need Nuremburg-style atonement. Without it, we’ll just continue on our late-stage capitalist descent into the ranks of failed experiments with democracy. But hey, at least we have energy sucking, water guzzling generative AI to make silly videos of pets in bathrobes enjoying the spa to distract us from all this while data centers drink our future…”

Today’s song came from a concert by the Rogue Valley Symphonic Band yesterday. I’ve always enjoyed it so it’s no surprise that when The Neurons heard it yesterday, it resurfaced in today’s morning mental music stream.

The concert’s theme was Echoes of Oregon and featured composers who lived in or were educated in Oregon. One of these was Mason Williams, who came out with “Classical Gas” in 1968. The song is an instrumental featuring an acoustic guitar and symphony. I’ve always been drawn to its soft, contemplative beginning and then its urgent, more soaring sound later. A simple melody, the song reached number two behind a song by The Doors. Pretty remarkable.

Someone else who was at the concert and heard “Classical Gas” lamented she wished we were in a simpler era. Several of us scoffed, reminding her of all that was going on in 1968. All of us remembered headlines about the civil rights movements, riots and protests, the Vietnam war, space race, dark, filthy air with rivers on fire, and the cold war and its nuclear threat.

We were left wondering, when were simpler times?

Hope your day is simple, carefree, and satisfying to you in important ways. Off we go, one more time.

Cheers

2

Saturday’s Theme Music – The Words

Ashland, Oregon – Saturday, March 14, 2026. It’s a rainy almost spring day in Ashland as clouds reduce the sunlight and precipitation intermittently falls. Our temperature is 48 F and the temperature will skip up to 52. Maybe.

I don’t have much to say today. I’m still mostly in a wait and see attitude about what’s next, mostly with pent breath. What will crack first? How long will the attacks on Iran last and will it turn to a ground invasion?

Or will Trump attack another country in the interim?

Meanwhile, we’re still waiting to see what the Epstein files really say about Trump and we’re still waiting for justice for the victims.

It might be a long wait. Trump himself is amazingly indifferent to facts, ignorant to history, and delusional about his abilities. I can pull up examples but really, if you doubt that now, you’re probably a Trump thinker.

Trump thinkers are not deep. Although dated from October of 2016, this post encapsulates it.

In point of this, Trump campaigned on no new wars but here he is at the start of his second year of his second term, bombing Iran. And guess what? Trump voters are mostly still with him, according to polls.

Mexico didn’t pay for the wall. Trump never introduced a replacement for ACA. He’s always golfing and now he’s making lots of money for himself as leader of the free world. He’s spending money on war, putting his name on places, and adorning the White House with gold while shredding education, research, and the social safety net.

Prices are rising for food and gas. Trump cut taxes for the wealthiest of the wealthy and makes life harder to in rural areas of the United States. But that’s his base.

And they still haven’t learned who he is.

For music, I’m hearing “Baby Can I Hold You” in the morning mental music stream. This is a 1992 Tracy Chapman song that’s all about how difficult people find it to say, “I’m sorry” or “I love you”. But The Neurons put the song into my morning mental music stream because of the line, “Years gone by and still words don’t come easily.”

That’s how it sometimes is for me. I awaken from dreams and writing efforts and circle around my moods, thoughts, and emotions, unsure of my balance and direction.

But basically, I’m thinking, sorry but I still don’t understand you, Trump voters. Yes, I know it was about feeling overlooked and neglected by the ‘elites’. But how does this repeated pattern of being lied to and broken promises play into your thinking? How does this war play into your thinking and acceptance of him?

The jaded among us reply, no, it wasn’t about war and prices. It was about bigotry, sexism, and hate. It’s all about being male and white and Christian posturing.

As Trump once ‘joked’, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s, like, incredible.”

He knows his base way better than I do.

Hope you find peace and grace on this day, and it carries you forward into a better future.

Cheers

1

Thursday’s Theme Music – Waiting

Ashland, Oregon — Thursday, March 12, 2026.

Spring is on the way in the U.S.

It shows here. We started at 34 when I rolled out of bed but with blue skies and sunshine, we’ve jumped fast to 50 F, hurtling toward the mid 60s. Best way to put it, with the daffs and tulips blooming and plum tree blossoms enriching the landscape, it’s a beautiful springish day.

Mom and my sisters are quiet, as is my house. In fact, while many things are going on in politics and world news, I feel like I’m waiting for the multiple systems to react — and maybe crash.

So I feed the cat, read the news. My wife and I think and talk as I sip coffee. All the while, I keep an eye on the headlines and digital stream and check my text and messaging systems.

Time was also spent looking at what the state has been up to. The Oregon legislative session ended. Our rep, Pam Marsh, put out a summary of the work done, a welcome reassurance that some government remains grounded, pragmatic, and functional.

Today’s music reflects that sense of waiting. The Neurons are playing “The Promised Land” by Bruce Springsteen in my morning mental music stream. I hum along with the thought of what was promised and what’s been delivered. This is not just in my life as an adult, but what was held out to us as children. Growing up in the television age, we were often sold impressions about stable, white families with Dad going to work and the children going to school and getting into minor mischief. Mom stayed home and cooked in her skirt or dress, wearing high heels as she vacuumed, did the laundry, cooked. Some shows — like “Hazel” — featured more prosperity, and a maid.

More realistic shows came along, such as “The Jeffersons” and “All in the Family”, but our beliefs were hardened by then. Yet, it didn’t often work out as television claimed it would.

Anyway, here I am, waiting.

Hope you have a great day and all that means to you. Peace and grace on you.

Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Ashland, Oregon — Wednesday, March 11, 2026. 34 degrees F under blue skies latticed with thin, white clouds. Today’s high will climb into the fifties.

As part of a messy life stream, things continue on the Mom and news fronts.

The first new oil refinery in Texas in fifty years was announced. Trump is all over the money aspect, citing $300 billion dollars, which makes it really impressive in his mind. Two things struck me about the announcement.

Trump announced it as a “America First” thing but it’s funded by an Indian oil billionaire. Pretty good marketing hype.

Secondly, many headlines said that Trump announced the opening of a new oil refinery. Was it being opened or built? As I researched it, I couldn’t find basic answers to how long construction will take and when it will open.

I finally learned that it’s going to be built, with construction beginning later in 2026, and it’ll cost $4 billion to build. At this point, it’s a proposal. It won’t start operating until 2-3 years later. “America First” is the name of the company developing the refinery, a partnership with the Indian company, “Reliant Industries Limited”.

The hype around it reminds me of Cadillac’s Formula 1 effort. They put out a huge Super Bowl ad which including some of JFK’s speech about putting a man on the moon. They said, “The Mission Begins!” “We have liftoff!”

It annoyed me because I was struck that they acted like they on the cutting edge of something new and amazing, and not another new racing team in a series that’s been around for decades. What was more stunning was I later realized that Cadillac was using Ferrari engines for the first two years.

My sisters reminded me about a Mom fact which I never thought about. Mom always dressed nice. My older sister claims Mom had thirty pairs of high heels. But Mom often claimed poverty for us. We couldn’t afford to do things and often had to skimp. We did always have shelter and food, and Christmas presents were usually lavish. But my sisters all remember struggling to have clothes themselves.

Anyway, I responded to Mom last night as she reached out to me again. She was referencing texts which I didn’t have. I don’t know where the disconnect is. Her texts were about payments to the assisted living facility. I texted back, “What is your situation and what is your plan?”

She responded, “You finally answered. The situation is I’m in assisted living and I have a roommate so I think the pay is 4500 a month. I asked Lori yesterday what happens when I ran out of money and she said you have a house don’t you and yes but they’re not going to sell it until the spring and then I realize what she meant by they will put a lien against the house and when I die, the house is theirs if I would be here a long time which I don’t plan on being here a long time. So glad you answered me, Michael because just. because Sharon is through with me, Gina has been through with me for a long time. She had also told me that Lisa has always hated me so there’s nobody left Michael very upsetting to me that all my children hate me. But thank you for answering me tonight. See you later alligator.”

I sent that information on to my sisters so they’re aware of it.

I haven’t heard from Mom since, which isn’t surprising. In the last six months, she has a cycle of staying up late, texting into the night, and then sleeping through the day. She becomes angrier and meaner during those periods, more frantic. Then she grows lucid and nice, normal for a few days.

On to my normal day. The Neurons have placed “Schizophrenia” by Sonic Youth in the morning mental music stream. It’s an interesting song.

Sipping on some coffee, looking at the pale sky. I hope your day lives up to your best dreams for yourself.

Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music: Disruptions

Ashland, Oregon — Tuesday, March 10, 2026.

Cloudy and 39F outside, dry with a high of 52 F projected.

This post is mostly about me and Mom. Pings erupted in the middle of the night. Mom had launched a text blitz, and the sisters were sharing and discussing them. I read many and saw it basically as the same old, same old on every front. One sister had helped Mom by picking things up at her house; another had responded, telling Mom that she’d created this living situation mess.

Meanwhile, searching for info and thinking late last night, I hunted for more about Heritage Grove, the assisted living facility where Mom now lives. I found this photo on their Facebook page. That’s Mom, the 90 year-old in the front left in pink in the ‘drive’ wheelchair. She’d won a Snickers bar at bingo.

Returning to sleep after the text barrage was a challenge. I finally slept but awoke when I thought I heard a man saying, “There’s a fire.” There was no man there and the house was silent. I rose, though, and walked through the house, trying to see if I smelled smoke or saw sparks or flames. Then back to bed, back to sleep, but ended up getting up late. Just eating breakfast now, 10:30, two hours late. Bah, humbug.

While I was awake in the night, I thought about yesterday’s news.

Trump urges Australia to give Iran’s Asian Cup players asylum

The story quoted Trump saying on Truth social, “Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman’s Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed.”

Damn it, the only people he’s fooling are his unthinking supporters and the uninformed. This is the same person who has Homeland Security and ICE rounding people up and sending them anywhere he could get away with sending them, without one damn thought about whether they’d be killed. In the process of rounding up people and shipping them out, people were actually and being killed. And Trump always, always blamed the victims, labeling them as domestic terrorists, criminals, or thugs.

U.S. Deports Planeload of Iranians After Deal With Tehran, Officials Say

The NYTimes headline was from last October. Since then, the Iranian government killed thousands of people. And, were any of those people Trump flew back to Iran in 2025 killed when Trump bombed them in 2026?

It all has me shaking my head.

Which carries me into theme song territory. The Neurons came up with “Helen Wheels.” To which I responded, what?

The Paul McCartney & Wings song is about Paul’s Land Rover and driving around. How did it fit into my mind?

Well, it hinged on two salient aspects: “Ain’t nobody else gonna know the way she feels.” And yep, that’s Mom and life with Mom at this point. It’s a mystery. And the other part is the long-sigh “bye buh” I feel toward what’s happening with Mom, especially with my sisters.

The upbeat song feels like it’s driving me forward, pulling me off the night’s inertia.

I hope your day is going well, wherever you are, whatever you doing. May peace and grace nestle up against your efforts and help you move forward.

Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music –

Ashland, Oregon — Monday, March 9, 2026.

Cold and gloomy this morning. 44 F underneath clouds and tepid light. Showers are possible, along with a high in the fifties. Not bad as weather goes; just uninspiring.

Many things rocking the mind in this early Monday hours. A new week is underway and we don’t know what will happen next. We can guess but the overall trajectories are pointing toward bleak.

The partial government shutdown is creating travel problems as unpaid TSA agents fail to show up for work, resulting in long security lines in the United States. More importantly, a stressed and diminished security force can be a huge liability as Trump increases attacks on Iran.

A Federal court ruled that Kari Lake lacks the authority to make changes to the Voice of America and ordered people released to be returned.

Besides a rising death toll and greater regional destruction, the Trump Iran War is causing international shipping and travel chaos.

With Iran’s previous leader killed in the initial bombings, a new leader has been established: his son, a hardliner, much like his father.

Measles outbreaks continue growing in the United States, with sharp inclines in North Dakota, Utah, South Carolina, Colorado, and Ohio reported, along with a Texas Homeland Detention Center. Over 1100 cases are reported so far in 2026.

Although the weather here isn’t stormy, the mood around the world seems stormy and moving toward greater destabilization, and we must ride it out. Thinking of that inspired The Neurons to deliver “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors to the morning mental music stream.

This atmospheric song from my youth is always thought provoking but, on my way to find a video to share, I came across Playing for Change’s version, which includes Robby Krieger and John Densmore of The Doors. I enjoyed the new musical inflections added by different singers and instruments from around the world. I hope you enjoy this as much as me.

And off we go. I hope for the best for you and us, this day and every day.

Cheers

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