It’s a liminal time, a time when the veil is thin and as Richard Rohr writes: “we are invited to be aware of deep time – that is, past, present, and future gathering into one especially holy moment.” We honor our ancestors, all of our ancestors, and their presence within us.
Today as I sat with day coming to light I was filled with Rainer Maria Rilke’s words:
Ah, not to be cut off,
not through the slightest partition
shut out from the law of the stars.
The inner – what is it?
if not the intensified sky,
hurled through with birds and deep
with the winds of homecoming.
Wave Bench in Old Mill ParkBridge Mirrored in the ParkEnter a Portal in Trees
Last night I was out admiring the moon when I saw lights across the way on the trail at the top of the ridge.I thought hikers, or perhaps, riders on horses as there was an interesting rhythm to the up and down.Today I read about the Pumpkin Head Ride in Marin. You strap a lit pumpkin to your helmet and ride your bicycle on the trails on the hills of Mt. Tam.
To make your pumpkin,All you need is: One or more zip ties long enough to attach the pumpkin to a helmet. Plastic Pumpkin Pail – 8 inches or greater diameter – Led closet light or similar. And, of course, you need to carve your pumpkin head.
I should have taken pictures, but there was an odd eeriness to it, as though watching horizontal skeletons riding along. After all, the veil between the living and the dead is thin right now.
A spider is lurks at a neighbor’s house.The witches are brewingHalloween is here!
I‘ve been making every effort to post positively on this blog. I know we’re all worn down by the horrors, lies, and deceit of the Trump administration, but tonight as I read Heather Cox RichardsonI must post excerpts from what she says. It’s unfathomable that when they control the Congress, the Supreme Court, the presidency, and much of the media, they continue to try to set the Democrats up to take the blame.
Heather Cox Richardson:
It appears the administration is using those Americans who depend on food assistance as pawns to put more pressure on Democrats to cave to Trump’s will. Today, Annie Karni of the New York Times reported that Trump has joked, “I’m the speaker and the president,” and Trump ally Steven Bannon calls Congress “the state Duma,” a reference to Russia’s rubber-stamp assembly.
With Republicans refusing to negotiate with Democrats in the normal way, with House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) keeping the House out of session, and with Trump leaving for Asia for a week, Republicans are clearly making the calculation that Democrats who refused to give up their demand for the extension of the premium tax credit to stop dramatic hikes in the cost of healthcare premiums will cave when America falls into a hunger crisis.
I drop down to this:While a great deal has changed in nutrition support programs in the past sixty years, what has not changed is the importance of food assistance programs to retailers, and thus to local economies. In 2020, Ed Bolen and Elizabeth Wolkomir of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that about 8% of the food U.S. families buy is funded by SNAP. In fiscal year 2019, that amounted to about $56 billion. Beneficiaries spent SNAP dollars at about 248,000 retailers. While about 80% of that money went to superstores or supermarkets—in 2025, Walmart alone captured about 25% of that money—the rest of it went to small businesses. Bolen and Wolkomir note that about 80% of stores that accept SNAP are small enterprises. SNAP benefits are an important part of revenue for those smaller businesses, especially in poorer areas, where they generate significant additional economic activity.
Not only will the loss of SNAP create more hunger in the richest country on earth, it will also rip a hole in local economies just as people’s health insurance premiums skyrocket.
And yet, at the same time the Department of Agriculture says it cannot spend its $6 billion in reserves to address the $8 billion needed for SNAP in November, the administration easily found $20 billion to prop up right-wing Trump ally Javier Milei in Argentina.
What are we doing here?Yes, what are we doing here, and why?
My friend Karen at one of the many protests holding a sign we made!
I rise at 4 to 4:30 these days, and sit in the dark responding to stars one morning and clouds the next, receiving what comes. Impermanence.
My grandson is six today. He’s entranced with snakes so Jungle James came to his birthday party on Saturday, bringing four amazing snakes, and entertaining children and adults for an hour. The snakes were carefully passed around so we could touch and stroke in alignment with the scales. I’m with the beauty of this earth we share, the love of touch.
To be a branch for a snake to climbLong, longer, longestSnowy Egret at the BayLiving Everywhere – Receive!
I was speaking with my son who is dealing with some challenging health issues. How do we meet what comes? How do we see this world that Trump and cronies are turning upside down? Life is a series of tests, and we test our response.
And now the days are shorter. This morning, I see stars shining in the sky, beacons prompting us to look within, and bring forth our own light in the dark.
Tomorrow is a huge day, No King’s Day. Today, a friend and I are making signs for the protest though I’ll be at my grandson’s birthday party, where snakes are coming to be viewed and held. Snakes aren’t slimy; they are our friends.
I’m with the Oscar Wilde quote: I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.
Let’s prove Oscar Wilde wrong as the country unites in connecting us all as constellations in the sky.
The beauty and intricacy of a feather Solids, hard and soft, share a niche!ReflectingStretching
Yesterday, with a sold-out crowd, we attended a documentary on Amy Goodman at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. It was inspiring and told with the blazing torch of truth. While the credits rolled, Patty Smith’s powerful song People Have the Power rang out. Tears come even now as I reflect on Amy’s life and the battles she’s fought to defend our democracy. The film isn’t yet out in full release. This was the third showing and it will show tonight at 5:30 at the San Rafael theatre for the MV Film Festival.
Keep your eye out for “Steal This Story, Please.” It’s a non-biased account of what’s gone on in the last 30 years in our country, in our name.
On one hand we have Trump and his cronies carrying out the destructive policies of Project 2025 and on the other we have the role model of Dr. Jane Goodall, who passed at 91 years old while on a speaking tour promoting and demonstrating curiosity, generosity, compassion, and courage.
In Marshall, we stayed in a home where a dock partially destroyed in a storm was repaired with new wood. The two woods, old and new, were combined just as our constitution is meant to withstand storms and adapt. Jane Goodall is the example we’re meant to follow, an honoring and recognition of all the creatures and the environment we share.
Repair combines the old and the newIntricacy in BracingHandrails in Support Looking down into the water – Art!
We’re in West Marin, in Marshall, on a house literally on Tomales Bay. I am bathed in the sound of lapping and waved in beautyas I sit on one continental plate and view another across the water.
What a contrast to reading Robert Hubbell today. Here’s an excerpt:
It is about whether Congress will retain its authority under Article I of the Constitution to lay taxes and appropriate funds through legislation. As of October 1, 2025, that remains an open question.
On Wednesday, Trump and his sidekicks announced billions of dollars in “cancellations” of funds lawfully appropriated by Congress. Trump has no authority to cancel those appropriations, but the GOP-controlled Congress is apparently willing to cede its control over the power of the purse—one of its chief constitutional duties.
But it gets worse. Not only does Trump claim the authority to cancel congressional appropriations, he also claims the authority to raise revenue through illegal tariffs.
He goes on and comes to this: If Democrats needed any further evidence that compromise with Trump is foolish, the president began canceling grants and projects in states that did not vote for him in 2024.
Withholding funds appropriated by Congress is unlawful in the first instance. But doing so to exact political revenge is among the most corrupt presidential actions in the history of our republic. The withheld funds do not belong to Donald Trump and should not be used for political purposes. Those funds belong to the United States of America, to be spent as directed by Congress.
Pelicans on ApproachBeauty soars and liftsRestingA seal swims by and we share a “Hi!”Gull on Patrol
This morning I couldn’t face the news so I went down by the bay for the sunrise.
I returned home to a poem by Catherine Pierce, “Earth, Sometimes I Try to Play It Casual”, which was perfect for how I felt. Why play it cool or casual when the nature we are surrounds, supports, invites, challenges, and abounds?
Mirrors along the pathMorning sky along the bayEgrets PlayAnd there is one!Here comes the Sun!Begin the day in Gold!
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