APLACECALLEDMERRYMOUNT

DANDELION INSOMNIA The big-ass bees are back, tipsy, sun drunk and heavy with thick knitted leg warmers of pollen. I was up all night again so today’s yellow hours seem strange and hallucinogenic. The neighborhood is lousy with mowers, crazy dogs, and people mending what winter ruined. What I can’t get over is something simple, easy: How could a dandelion seed head seemingly grow overnight? A neighbor mows the lawn and bam, the next morning, there’s a hundred dandelion seed h

Let’s begin with a verse by Robert Frost from his “Two Tramps in Mud Time”. The sun was warm but the wind was chill.  You know how it is with an April day  When the sun is out and the wind is still,  You're one month on in the middle of May.  But if you so much as dare to speak,  A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,  A wind comes off a frozen peak,  And you're two months back in the middle of March. April from Aperire, Latin for “to open”. And yet April... April is the crueles

I offer you a short story for Easter. Enjoy. As I sit in the sunshine with a warm shawl draped over my shoulders on this Easter Sunday, I think back seventy years ago to one of my first memories as a little girl that took place at Eastertide. I remember traveling with my parents on a trip to visit my maternal grandmother, who we called Oma. We lived in the city and Oma lived in the country about 100 miles away from us in rural Pennsylvania. Oma lived on a farm with horses, a

3/28/26 On this designated "NO KINGS DAY", I offer an opinion about Tramp's chosen war. "The first casualty when war comes is truth."-Hiram Johnson [Operation] Epic Fury captures the Trump presidency in its essence. Everything Mr. Trump does, at least as he sees it, is epic — the biggest, the most, the first, “like we’ve never seen before,” as he likes to say. And much of what he does seems to be driven by fury, a deep and abiding enmity toward the forces arrayed against him

The Magic is in part due to Physics 3/22/26 This past week, some of us watched Venezuela win the World Baseball Classic and on Friday, 3/20/26 Spring arrived.  Tomorrow, I will eagerly participate in the Fantasy Baseball Draft with the hopes that the team I manage (the Mad Batters) will be populated with “dream team players”.  Opening Day 2026 is upon us and with it comes the Magic of Baseball . Watch: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wNuLM2BvzI4 The Magic comes from the player

Words of wisdom from this lucky old fellow with his cane and pot of gold: "Death leaves a heartache no one can heal; Love leaves a memory no one can steal."-Irish Proverb Leonard (Robbie) Robinson (March 16, 1917-March 18, 2011) Loretta's Dad Dorsey Lou Woliver (March 11, 1931-March 20,2025) Pat's Mother One must have strong genes and the luck of the Irish to live to be 94! May they Rest in Peace. A Limerick for the Day There once was a pair much adored, Whose lives were lon

II I was of three minds,    Like a tree    In which there are three blackbirds.      The second look from: Copyright Credit: Wallace Stevens, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” from The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens . Copyright 1954 by Wallace Stevens. Reprinted with the permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. Listen to three "Blackbird"s. Which one is your favorite? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Man4Xw8Xypo https://www.youtube.com/wat

*********************************************************************************************************************** The Drum I hate that drum’s discordant sound, Parading round, and round, and round: To thoughtless youth it pleasure yields, And lures from cities and from fields, To sell their liberty for charms Of tawdry lace, and glittering arms; And when Ambition’s voice commands, To march, and fight, and fall, in foreign lands. I hate that drum’s discordant sound, Para

March 1, 2026 A Boundless Moment He halted in the wind, and — what was that Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost? He stood there bringing March against his thought, And yet too ready to believe the most. "Oh, that's the Paradise-in-bloom," I said; And truly it was fair enough for flowers had we but in us to assume in march Such white luxuriance of May for ours. We stood a moment so in a strange world, Myself as one his own pretense deceives; And then I said the truth (and

The Verona Colosseum is no stranger to spectacle which is perhaps why it was chosen for the Closing Ceremonies of the 2026 Olympics. It “embodies Italy’s rich cultural heritage, providing an unparalleled setting to conclude an event of global significance.”  Media reports that the significant upgrades to the stadium, plus production costs, were estimated at approximately $23,000,000. The Arena is home to the Verona Opera Festival. From January to December 2026, the Arena wil

"IN BILLIONAIRES WE TRUST" Really? Yes. Like it, or not! In an oligarchy, the extreme concentration of wealth leads to the extreme concentration of power, allowing an ultra-rich few to tighten their control over governments, economies, and media.  When power belongs to just a few, democracy suffers, as extreme inequality worsens. -Oxfam A Royal Table Ruppert Murdock Apple's Chief Executive, Tim Cook accompanies Tiffiany Trump But wait... Trump's State Dinner for Crown Pri

February 15, 1976-February 15, 2026 Happy Golden Anniversary I Love You! Pat P.S. Continuing the adventure together

"The Kiss"-Gustav Klimt Cupid and Psyche That Special Kiss Let me kiss that special kiss the one that's more than touch That gentle pressing of the lips persuading blood to rush The kiss that makes you tremble and makes your legs go weak a moist embrace of tenderness that takes you to your peak With a heady scent of passion It makes your body sway the kiss that penetrates your soul and takes your breath away It lingers for a lifetime you never will forget the bursting of your

In the early 1940s, in Norway, knitters began to knit red "nisselue" caps as a non-violent symbol of resistance against Nazi occupation. The Norwegian caps were worn to boost morale and represented national identity, unity, and hope. When the Nazis became aware of the protest, they officially banned them on February 26, 1942. Wearing them could result in fines, imprisonment, or being sent to camps. from the NYT: This month, a group of Minnesota hobbyists — upset and agitat

January 2026 “Now is the winter of our discontent”-opening line from Shakespeare’s “Richard III” ICE in the streets of Minneapolis memorial on the site of Alex Pretti's murder During the winter of 1978-79 in the UK, widespread strikes and industrial chaos led to national disruption and public anger that resulted in the downfall of that country’s Labour Party.  That period was labeled, “The Winter of Discontent.” Now the Trump Administration’s actions and narratives have sprea

January 25, 2026 Last month we witnessed another Trump travesty that was a direct hit to my past. A stacked Kennedy Center board, of which Trump is the self-appointed chairman, installed Donald J. Trump’s name on the facade of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  In 1964, the Kennedy Center was officially designated a "living memorial" to President John F. Kennedy by Congress, the year after his assassination, under Public Law 88-260, with President Lyndon B. Johnson

Manifest Destiny was the 19th Century belief that the United States was divinely ordained to expand its territory and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Now the Trump Administration, in an attempt to position itself among the three great superpowers of the globe (Russian and China being the other two) wants to expand its territories across the Western Hemisphere and thus attacks Venezuela and threatens

The Sick Rose O Rose, thou art sick: The invisible worm, That flies in the night In the howling storm, Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy; And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy. -William Blake For Renee Nicole Good Killed by I.C.E. on January 7, 2026 They say she is no more, That there her absence roars, Blood-blown like a rose. Iced wheels flinched & froze. Now, bare riot of candles, Dark fury of flowers, Pure howling of hymns. If for us she arose, Somewhere, in

Make America Great Again It's about Power and Money Many of us had hoped that 2026 would be a better year for us politically than 2025, but NO, within 48 hours of 2026 the Trump Administration attacked a sovereign nation and our Ill-Mannered, Imperialistic, Snollygoster in Chief stated, "We're going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground, and that wealth is going to the people of Venezuela, and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Vene

Happy New Year! Camille Claudel's "The Waltz" Please listen through the entirety of this magnificent piece! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ShxQ5_dY_U&list=RD3ShxQ5_dY_U&start_radio=1 BRAVO TUTTI Happy New Year! CPW