RETURN TO POLTAVA

 Day 161, Poltava (2022)

The time had come when she had to report back to her unit. He was staying behind, holding down the fort at home, his right leg still recovering after being shattered in March. He was pretty proud of his hobbling abilities with a cane. They embraced hard at the end of the drive. Mila had run off in tears to the back fields when her mother broke the news. 

Finally, she gently pushed away, head down, and began walking the half mile to the pick-up point near town. He just stood there, watching the back of her head, hair in a bun topped with an olive green beret, rising above the straps of her weapon. He was close to tears when she quickly whirled around, still walking backward, and placed her hand on her heart, looking at him intently, eyes welling up, before turning back. He smiled and waved. 

This was all seen by Mila, who had returned from the fields and come around the side of the house. "For now at least," she thought, "I still have two parents and this is all that matters." Her father's smile broadened as she walked up and gave him a hug. Together, arm in arm, they watched their mother/wife disappearing around the bend by the field of sunflowers.

Day 1658 (August 2026)

Mila hadn't returned to her childhood home in a couple of years. She had joined a local drone battalion when she was 18 after both of her parents were killed in action. She had been wounded and chose to do her final convalescence there. Little had changed with the house as Mila had boarded it up when she was first deployed. Their fields were all overgrown now although when she reached the familiar bend in the road near the house, she saw that sunflowers were still being cultivated. She stopped the car as she was filled with memories. It was a quiet day, a lull in the recent relentless drone attacks by the Russians. She reflected on the cost of this awful war for her people: 125,000-150,000 KIA with triple those numbers in wounded. Yet they have held and inflicted massive casualties on the Russians but Mila wondered for how long? The Americans had deserted them and the rest of the world, with their own internal issues, are now dithering. What a waste, she thought. All because of one man, one terrible man who had no regard for the lives of others. All for his personal, delusional dream of the renewed Soviet empire.

Her ruminations were interrupted by a the sound of birds. A flock of goldfinches has flown into the sunflowers for a snack. She remembered them-beautiful markings and sweet calls. She sat and watched as her mind shifted and began to relax. Happy memories of her folks and home flowed into her for the first time in years. She watched as a mating pair of finches fed each other and she responded with a quiet awwww. After a few moments, feeling better, stronger, she started the car to drive the final yards to her home. There was work to do: get better, get back into the war and help end it. As the car began to move, she glanced out her window and saw a goldfinch flying next parallel. The finch looked back at her for a few beats as if to say best of luck to you before wheeling away to join its friends. 

 

FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood:

9/3-4: Rain days! It has been quite a while since we have had such weather. A cold front is swinging down bringing storms ahead of it. The morning of the 3rd brought dramatic skies as storms arrived. Here is a shot taken in NW Jackson County showing a cloud formation that storm chasers refer to as a Mothership:

It is caused by a powerful, rotating updraft within a severe supercell thunderstorm combining with warm, humid air rushing upward. The photographer estimated that the top of the mothership reached up to 10 miles.

We got a good rain out of this storm. Later in the afternoon, another system arrived with big winds and a lot of thunder. Little rain though, we happened to be in a dry slot between storms. The big blow created this curious sight: our street was filled with leaf litter. But, on MI Ave., a 2 laner with a 3rd turn lane, only the turn lane had debris. Cars driving blew out stuff in their lanes leaving a road with clear blacktop with a "green" lane in the middle.

Overnight, storms arrived around 5 am with a lot of thunder and downpours. These occurred on and off most of the morning. Total rainfall for the two days was little over one inch.

9/5-three doors down across the street, a new roof was being installed with long periods of staccato nailing. From time to time, one could hear some music the crew had on-it was Mexican. Made me smile, considering there's a couple of MAGA households up the street from them. Yeah, we're here. Build a bridge and get over it. 

C got some more lawn signs: El Sayed and Lawrence. Rather than placing them near the roadside, I brought them in the middle of the lawn. You wanna be a prick and go after these expressions of 1A? Well, then you can add trespassing to malicious destruction/petty theft to your crimes.

9/6-beautiful day-mostly sunny, 70's after a chilly start in the 50's which brought heavy morning dew. While doing yardwork, I noticed the gold finches had returned for a late summer treat: echinacea seeds still on the stalk, which sounds like a menu item at a fancy-schmancy restaurant. They also enjoyed the feeder:

The tomatoes are pretty much finished being one of the worse growing seasons in recent memory. Saw a huge spider web that was attached to one of my cages with a thin line going up to the eaves:

Meeting up with an old friend? I spotted what I thought was a new squirrely at the Diner so I grabbed some peanuts.His reaction was curious: now, most new squirrels when they even hear the slider open will flee or catching sight of me on the deck. In this case, I went out, said howdy to Buddy who was chilling on a deck chair cushion and flung the peanuts in the direction of the squirrel. Not only did he not budge seeing me, he calmly continued to eat a sunflower seed as peanuts rained down around him. Odd I thought-this one either knows me or is astonishingly fearless. 

Definitely a mature squirrel, a long skinny tail. Doesn't have any stripes on it nor does he holler like Frank. Not part of the BigTail clan. While he is enjoying a peanut, MamaC has caught wind that peanuts are now available, for a limited time only today, while supplies last, no substitutions on the Buffet. I frequently see her in this spot-she keeps an eye on things.

Instead, she opts for grazing on a sunlit spot on the berm imbibing some freshly mowed grass.

Eventually, she changed her mind and waddled over to the Buffet. The new squirrel was still there, quietly munching on a seed. MamaC is shocked to see that the squirrel hasn't fled for its life-not uncommon for them to do so. He's not budging so she pivots to face him. No reaction. With a quick squeal (or whistle) she charged. The squirrel jumped back about 4 feet:

By the time he pivoted to face her, she had already moseyed away in search of peanuts!

Since then, new squirrel has taken on LG who was none too pleased about his presence. LG charged him as well and the two flew into a classic squirrel circle chase with the new guy whipping off towards Johnny's like a comet swinging around the Sun.

9/9-another rainy day. No storms, no drama, just a nice rain on and off most of the day. Nearly another inch of rain!

~

Living with cats

In the afternoon, when I hear Bud come through the portal after hours of being on patrol, he will pass through the library, check out the couch and enter the kitchen looking for me. If not seen, he will mew "Where are you, Dad?" He will expand his search, listening for a reply and mewing. Whether I am in my office or on the can, I'll holler. In the latter case, I have opened the slider a bit and Bud will walk up. I'll say "hi, I'm using the litter box and will be right with you and serve your afternoon tea. He'll come in, tail my leg and adjacent shelving unit, often not stopping-just passing through. He has made known his wishes and is just giving me a feline brotherly greeting. After enjoying his tea, he'll come hang out with me, do his toilette and curl up.

~

Buddy came bounding in through portal with something in his mouth. It was a sparrow. He does this sometimes with his kills rather than eat them outside. There are other times, he is presenting us with a gift: ooohhh, I wuv you and Mom sooo much, I will give you the pleasure of the kill.

And he let the bird loose. 

The poor thing flew around many rooms with me unable to trap it by myself and it whipped in behind a bookcase in my office. I couldn't get to it. When C got home from work, she were able to put a towel trapping it in one end as we ran to take it outside. I am happy to report that it safely flew away. We were not happy with His Lordship for a bit but soon forgave him. The event made me think of this tune from 2006:

~

Seen in the garden: I believe I saw this guy with a blue body:

Meet Mr. Pondhawk Dragonfly

~

Such has been this Summer that I only visited this place in my dreams.

~

In Memoriam: Gloria Steinheim-3/25/34-9/2/26

Gloria Steinheim with Dorothy Pitman Hughes in 1971. Hughes passed in 2022,

 

Amidst a sea of notable men of the modern era, she was one of the women who helped change history. I've been lucky to have been alive during this extraordinary period where women across the country and globe, stood up and changed the world. Part of the mess we're going through today is a backlash against Steinheim and the movement she helped create. 

I am quite proud that my Mom joined the ranks of these women early on.  Despite not being able to drive, armed with a manual typewriter and a telephone, she worked on a number of things.

In the early 60's, while my brother Mike was in high school, she and Dewitt Public Librarian Faye Hansen went on a lengthy campaign with the Dewitt Public School Board asking them finance a library in the Dewitt High School. Mom had some leverage being the mother of one of their students and took lead. Faye was well-respected in the community and provided expertise. Their argument was that books would greatly benefit the kids. The world is changing bringing new and different job opportunities in the coming years. Isn't our job to give them a helping hand? Well, as I was told later, the long- time school Superintendent, C. H. Fuerstenau relented, saying-well, Bette Kristin, you have your library. 

As the 60's progressed, Mom was involved with civil rights-writing and calling her elected employees about a number of policy concerns.

~

Fun vids:

Interesting vid: why don't we remember our dreams. Weird isn't it that we are built to remember stuff in waking life (a curious attribute to begin with) but not dreams? 

The Elephant Whisperer:

~

We were watching a film where an unusual restaurant in Paris was featured: https://paris.danslenoir.com/en_GB/-where patrons eat in complete darkness and the servers are blind. C knew of it but never visited.

~

Very original and strange film-Lars and the Real Girl from 2007 starring Ryan Gosling as a traumatized young man having a tough time with life in a small MN town. A buddy from work orders him an artificial silicone female doll (not a blow up) who is anatomically correct so he has a companion. Nothing raunchy at all here as he is quite the gentleman. Worth dipping into.

Available on several streaming companies.

~

Clever sign from Oxfordshire, England:

~

“Adopting cheerfulness as a strategy does not mean closing your eyes to evil; it means resisting our drift toward compulsive dread and despond.” -Garrison Keillor 

I ran across this quote while checking up on what he's been up to since his cancellation. We were devoted fans, tuning into A Prairie Home Companion every late Saturday afternoons for years. The quote is from his 2023 book, a reflection upon entering his 80's. 

FUBARland

With all that needs to be addressed in this country and world, what was a major topic amongst our leadership this week:

Does god have a penis? 

~ 

This week Roach, in response to dwindling beef supplies, told the American people that he will allow 300,000 metric tons ground beef and beef trimmings to come in duty free. Already derided as "mystery meat", with the summer's cyclospora outbreak fresh in everyone's mind, we gotta ask:

~

Roach, angry about not being allowed to give a speech at the 25th anniversary of 9/11 event, won't attend. It's all about him. His staff, despite the v bad optics, have got to be relieved. Who knows what irrelevant, crazy shit will come out of his mouth in such a speech. Here's a good prediction market bet: he'll blame Biden.

Update: Roach gives speech at Ground Zero and embellishes his long-standing claim that he was there with a new spin: he was pulled out of the rubble by a couple of beautiful, burly firemen.

Joke: he also claims to have survived the Titanic and Hindenburg disasters.

~ 

The independent Treasury oversight watchdog issued a lengthy report showing that for this year, the IRS revenue is down 35% vs a normal year. You can thank Muskrat and his Doge boys who axed nearly 30% of IRS auditors and staff. Couple this with the ballooning deficit now at 40 trillion, during a REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION. Huh? These fuckers have been whining about it since the Reagan era. 

Well, moving forward, Dems need to verbally bitch-slap any idiot who returns to this tired argument to deny help to the people and tell them to shut the fuck up. Where were you when Roach caused it to balloon? Coward.

THESE TIMES FEATURING MUSIC AND NEW POEMS FROM CHERYL

Percy's Song, written by Bob Dylan in 1963, covered here by Fairport Convention in 1969:

Bad news, bad news,

come to me where I sleep,

Turn, turn, turn again,

Say, one of your friends,

is in trouble deep,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

Tell me the trouble,

tell me once to my ear,

Turn, turn, turn again,

Joliet prison,

and ninety-nine years,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

Oh, what's the charge,

of how this came to be?,

Turn, turn, turn again,

Manslaughter in,

the highest degree,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

I sat down and wrote,

the best words I could write,

Turn, turn, turn again,

Explaining to the judge,

I'd be there on Wednesday night,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

Without a reply, I left by the moon,

Turn, turn, turn again,

And was in his chambers,

by the next afternoon,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

Would you tell me the facts,

I said without fear,

Turn, turn, turn again,

That a friend of mine,

could get ninety-nine years,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

A crash on the highway,

flew the car to a field,

Turn, turn, turn again,

There was four persons killed,

and he was at the wheel,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

But I knew him as good,

as I'm knowing myself,

Turn, turn, turn again,

And he wouldn't harm a life,

that belonged to someone else,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

The judge he spoke out,

of the side of his mouth,

Turn, turn, turn again,

Saying "The witness who saw,

he left without doubt",

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

That may be true,

he's got a sentence to serve,

Turn, turn, turn again,

But ninety-nine years,

he just don't deserve,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

Too late, too late,

for his case it is sealed,

Turn, turn, turn again,

His sentence it is passed,

and cannot be repealed,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

But he ain't no criminal,

and his crime it is none,

Turn, turn, turn again,

What happened to him,

could happen to anyone,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

At that the judge jerked forward,

and his face it did freeze,

Turn, turn, turn again,

Saying, "Could you kindly leave,

my office now please?",

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

His eyes looked funny,

and I stood up so slow,

Turn, turn, turn again,

With no other choice,

except for to go,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

I walked down the hallway,

and I heard his door slam,

Turn, turn, turn again,

I walked down the courthouse stairs,

and did not understand,

Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.

And I played my guitar,

through the night to the day,

Turn, turn, turn again,

And the only tune,

my guitar could play,

Was "The Old Cruel Rain And The Wind".

The 2025 poem Cold from Cheryl Caesar's newest collection, Saving Stars:

Wednesday they shot the poet in her car.

The bloody airbag hit me in the face.

I pulled in like a tortoise. I dug far

into the frozen ground, as surface air

was roiling with a noxious orange gas.

I dug so deep I had no voice to hear.

When I emerged, I watched the video:

the neighbors crying Shame! and Murderer!

All human and defenseless in the snow.

Where do we shelter now? How can we hide?

The killing cold is coming from the inside.

The 2026 poem Pearls also in Saving Stars:

In our back yard, the snow is thick and smooth

as icing on an Irish Christmas cake. Sweet

enough to burn your tongue. Safe at the window,

we feel no touch of cold.

The evening has gone grey and mauve

as an old children's book. Deer glide past,

cutouts in a paper theatre. Silently,

without fear; there are no guns here.

Our elderly neighbor Benito turns off his light.

Widowed mending broken bones, he rests.

No bang and clamor of masked, gun-toting men.

We all receive the gift of another planetary turn.

We close like oysters. Over the small grains

of the day's irritations, we let flow

our nacre. soothing our flesh, forming

another pearl on our life string. Look close:

each on reflects a scene of our precious,

our sweet and precarious peace.

Peace Like a River, written and sung by Paul Simon, 1972:

Peace like a river ran through the city

Long past the midnight curfew 

we sat starry-eyed

Oh, we were satisfied

And I remember 

misinformation followed us like a plague

Nobody knew from time to time 

if the plans would changed

Oh, if the plans were changed

You can beat us with wires

You can beat us with chains

You can run out your rules

But you know you can't outrun the history train

I've seen a glorious day

Four in the morning

 I woke up from out of my dreams

Nowhere to go but back to sleep 

but I'm reconciled

Oh, oh, oh, I'm gonna be up for a while

Oh, oh, oh, I'm gonna be up for a while

Oh, oh, oh, I'm gonna be up for a while

GAZA

 From 2009: The Civil Wars cover Leonard Cohen's Dance Me to The End of Love.

FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood: 

8/31-another rainy day. We ended up with 4.5" for the month, one inch above normal average. 

A rainy day playlist-I was in a nostalgic mood:

Before the rain, LG was searching for a place to bury a pear:

Tiger in my backyard: after the rain, Buddy decided to try out his new hunting blind:

He spotted something, went into his stalking crouch and took off until the shrubbery. After a couple of minutes he came trotting out with a kill: it was a chipper and he proceeded to have an early supper. Who knows if it is the one living under the deck who eats our cherry toms. We were grateful that he did not bring his kill in to share and we told him so later.
 

It's always a jolt how cats can quickly whip into predator mode. He had just spend an hour curled up to me, receiving scritches and engaging in his toilette. I guess this worked up an appetite. Gawd. He told me that while he greatly enjoys his chilled scallops with Chef Jeff's special garnish (2-3 seafood flavored Temptations), every so often, he gets a hankerin' for some hot, fresh meat. Not to mention, the thrill of the kill.

Cat Café-C and I were talking about the benefits of PurrTherapy and concluded the best venue for such if you don't own a katter would be a Cat Café:

Chai and Purr

Need a break? Need some PurrTherapy?  Pay us a visit. Hang out with some kitties. Have a warm beverage. Chai is out house specialty.

~ 

9/1: First day of teaching for C. A challenging schedule on her Tuesday and Thursday class days: 8am-4.30pm. She'll be a tuckered Watergirl.  

~ 

FUBARland:

From a series by Rudy Ayoub-Roach meets a genie:

Wow. This brings up an old conspiracy thread about Netanyahu/Israeli intelligence involvement with 9/11.

 

 

 

FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood: On a breezy, Fall-like day in late August MamaC, sitting on her butt on the front porch, nibbling on a zucchini stump I had tossed onto the Buffet.

I spotted on the butterfly bush by the main bathroom, a couple of Monarchs. Good to know the one I've been seeing all summer is not by his lonesome. Hopefully, they can find mates before they head South.

New butterfly variety! This is a Painted Lady:

MamaC has put on some LBs getting ready for the big sleep:

Mr. Purple Finch on the feeder, Mrs. Redbird awaiting her turn in the honeysuckle and our rosy hydrangea:

I was cleaning the pool and I saw this guy and thought he was a grasshoppa. Close. Meet Mr. Katydid:

Katydid is a North American name-they are also known as bush crickets and long-horned grasshoppers. The family contains over 8000 species. Katydid refers to their 3 note call although they have several calls:

8/27-28-near total lunar eclipse. I was unable to stay up but caught the moon as it began around 10 pm.  Full moon this month is the Sturgeon Moon.

Team Effort! After being stung several times by yellow jacket wasps while mowing, I called a local company to come and bomb their nests. As we toured the yard, we made a discovery: our neighborhood Stampies had taken out 2 out of 3 nests!

This one above still had some residents so that was the only one the Wasp Killers treated. They laughed-it looks like the skunks did our work for us. 

The Stampies saved us $60! Well done you! We haven't seen them around (although we have smelled them) since May.

8/30: rain overnight and this morning has brought us nearly an inch and it's still coming down. Mellow morning.

C is at her office getting ready for classes which begin for her on 9/1, her 17th year at MSU I believe.  

Fun Fact: 

Blue jays mimic hawk calls to deceive other animals, clear out backyard bird feeders and warn their flock about real predators.

Why Blue Jays Mimic Hawks

Deceiving Competitors: Blue jays use realistic hawk sounds—especially the screaming call of the Red-shouldered Hawk or Red-tailed Hawk—to scare other birds and squirrels away from food sources so they can eat in peace. 
Flock Warnings: Opinions are mixed on all the exact triggers, but experts agree that making a hawk sound can act as a local alert to signal danger to other blue jays when a real raptor is passing overhead. 
Stealing Food: By startling smaller birds or causing them to flee in panic, a blue jay can swoop in to steal dropped seeds or treats.

 #cutebuddypix: a chill Buddy-roo next to me on the couch:

Looking up from the couch:

AI Feline-centered music vids with lyrics:

ZZ Cat: Gimme All Your Kibble-RIP Frank Beard who passed on 8/17.

 

Fleetwood Meow: My Gifts to You-featuring Mewie Nicks singing a plaintive Landslidesque lament:

~ 

Fun vids: Ameila Earhart mystery close to being solved:

~

When Muskrat's GROK was asked to depict an image of Jesus, not based on centuries of paintings, but on historical and anthropological evidence of life in those days. What GROK came up with as a result is nothing like the usual image of some light-skinned, light eyed (in some cases), rather tall, with long-flowing hair and a decent beard that we have been fed for years. And it raised quite a stir. The host also brings up questions about the growing impact of AI on our lives and is it a good thing?

~

Heavy science about climate change-notable statements: 

We've reached the point where some events are impossible to happen without climate change.

We cannot return to the good old days of the climate of our memory. Over the next 5 years, each year will be progressively worse overall in the climate. We cannot adapt to this future. We have to make changes NOW and what this means is reducing carbon emissions and greenhouse gases. It means moving away from oil to renewables. We know how to fix the problem but a tiny group of men and their greed is condemning us all.

You have to wonder about these elites: are they delusional? Or do some feel that they can hide in their bunkers until everyone topside has perished, with these survivors creating a new world order? Yep, that oldie but goodie and yep, they are delusional. No one will survive the over-heated Earth. 

~

Rodney Dangerfield on the Johnny Carson Show:

RD: I've had a terrible day, just terrible.

JC: Oh?

RD: I got up this morning and did my push-ups in the nude. I didn't see the mouse trap!

~ 

Funny memes

You can't unsee this title featuring some heavy astronomy: 

Uranus retrograding. 

You don't wanna know.  

 

MADads: Valentino Beauty's promotional campaign for Born in Roma Purple Melancholia features brand ambassador Adut Akech and Anwar Hadid in a cinematic exploration of memory, intimacy, and modern identity. There are scents for both genders. For me, this has a strong whiff of the vampire Lestat:

 

As if we haven't seen enough on YT and Lansing CATA buses featuring the Bernstein family, here is one from "America's Largest Injury Law Firm"-Merman on duty!

  

FUBARland: Created by Lebanese musician comedian Rudy Ayoub:

Trump goes to Heaven:

 And he goes to Hell:

No one wants him.