There’s many places where the sea
tests the shore to see if it will give in
and the land refuses access until the
sea rages and forces itself unto the land
and the land absorbs what it can until
it sends it back from whence it came.

We believe the stormy sea to be
relentless and impossible to stop
and yet it can do only what we let
it, we resist with what barriers
we have and we remain steadfast
against the rage because it is our land.

Through the long arc of history
there has long been this power
this fury, this rage, and yet we
resist, because we know that
the flood of hate washes away
all goodness if we let it win.

The erosion of goodness happens
at the edges which are being tested
and must be held, as we constantly rebuild
using our enormous reservoir of love.
A love that is greater than the
hate of a raging and shallow sea.

The clouds are low
bending light into fractions
washing the colors of everything
in the fog of quiet that overwhelms
all sounds of life, as it absorbs the
heartbeats and breaths of every
creature little and large alike.

Life is there, still beautiful
it is just quiet sometimes,
it is not only in the fiery sunsets
and mountains grand and sea
with waves trying to move the shore,
or parties and celebrations,
it is in the quiet contemplations
of the past, the present, the future
described in the truths, loves, and
memories that are both bigger
and smaller than we can imagine.

The mysteries of life
being held by the fog of
uncertainties, and at the same
time loving arms that are knowing
give us hope, vision and clarity
even when the clouds are low.

I think, in the twists and turns
in the aggression and burns
of a whirlwind year such was that
how could one not lose their hat.

No one asked for that, but it came
and we will never be quite the same,
but we will figure out a suitable fix
in the coming year of 2026

For we are resilient, don’t you know?
we learned to see the lies falling like snow
in the great blizzard that was 2025
which we survived, barely alive.

But we know how to unbury ourselves,
how to pull those words off the shelves
that our forefathers fought for and gave to us
and we know for certain these words we can trust.

We will make this coming year, a year of change
we will not put up with further evil harangue
but we will need to fight for all that’s right,
to ensure we do not go quietly into that darkest night.

We will win because we know we must
because the next generation too must trust
that we did hold these ideals to be pure and true
and freedom is the legacy of the red white and blue!

The bee’s know their role
The frogs know too, as they croak
The birds chirp and know
The insects know
As do the mice and
the snakes which hunt.

The fish know this, or suspect
That the coral is in on the game
The seabirds know,
The turtles, the sharks
the dolphins and whales know

There’s a certain ecology of a meadow
an ecology of a pond or the sea
just as there’s an ecology of a city,
of a nation, of a people who live and work
in the homes, offices, factories or fields.

But what of this ecology when the
Great Undoing comes, what of
the plans of those who think they
are in control of their futures,
and those dependent on others?

In the Great Undoing the pieces fail and fall
shattering.  Because we forgot
we are of one great ecology,
because we forgot we are dependent on
laws, rules and each other?

What happens when we turn from
what works and toward a power
reshaping history, redifining law, economy,
freedom, and reason?  Destroying our
bio-diversity and thought-diversity?

What should we know of the Great Undoing?

That putting it back together will
take several generations, if ever.

And for millions, their will be no recovery at all.

Thank you for family and friends
Thank you for all life energies
Thank you for the health we enjoy
Thank you for the gift of comedy
Thank you for the wonders of the world
Thank you for the diversity of thought
Thank you for the lyric and melody of music
Thank you for letters and language
Thank you for moments and memories
Thank you for the bounty of the table
Thank you for the comfort of the couch
Thank you for all the seasons of sports
Thank you for the sun, the moon and stars
Thank you for the wonder of it all
and mostly for life and each other’s love!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Honor today our Veterans,
those who served
those who made a difference
those who believe in the flag
they wore on their shoulders.

Service is not to be taken
for granted, not to be
viewed as anything other
than devotion to country
devotion to our way of life.

For their path was not easy,
not with the intent of wealth
not with the intent of glories
but with the intent of honoring
our traditions and constitution.

Along the way they discover
that they are part of something
greater than themselves,
something that represents
the strength of our diversity and ideals.

We all who honor them,
have much to learn from their
experience, have much to learn
from their commitment and service,
and it is right we honor them today.

Nary a whisper of a wind
contented clouds calming
with colors deep and many hues

The water still and quiet
is purple tinged, peacefully
mirroring a secret sky

The world sleeps silently
and yet captured here are these
words and image of beauty and peace

Keeping the turbulence of life
below the surface, the troubles
beyond the horizon

For we are fortunate to
know beauty, to know each
other and to know peace.

First Steps (video)

Is it evolutional, or is it learned,
is it about speed or convenience,
is it our urging or natural urgency?

As she takes those first steps
toward a miniature version
of an independent future-self,

we are alive with excitement
for her development, for she
is becoming who she will be.

and someday she may carry us
when we are no longer able,
certainly, she will amaze us

with their words, her deeds,
her mobility and athleticism
and we will have this same joy

as we have today, seeing these
first tentative steps, for soon
she will be everywhere, all at once.

Yes, the world should get
ready, because here she
comes, ready or not!