PBS black bear fact sheet No joke, twice today I've read about and seen where bears are attacking people. One was at an animal show in China, which showed woefully unprepared animal trainers who were involved dealing with the attack. It's not the first time a captive wild creature has fought back against its imprisonment. The other one though... In an ongoing series of invasions/attacks in a decent-sized town, bears are coming into the city looking for fruit on trees in peoples' yards.

The granites and schists Of my dark and stubborn country. -- by Nan Shepherd, from, “The Hill Burns” from In the Cairngorms* Granites and Schists She lay curled and still, a small figure lost in loose, white cotton folds in the graffiti-enshrined bus stop cubicle. A puffy-jacketed arc of bystanders with pointed phones surrounds her. Sirens approach. Crowds are shooed.

“More Than Morrill: The Intertwined History of Indian Land Dispossession, Arizona Statehood, and University Enrichment,” by Teresa M. Miguel-Stearns, Samantha Ginsberg, and Kristen Cook

Townes Van Zandt, Our Mother The Mountain album cover One day God touched me on the shoulderand said…‘SON, WRITE THESE SONGS.’So I did.—Townes Van Zandt Anyone who has heard a Townes Van Zandt song knows that he is singing from a God-ordained place. He chronicles the human condition like no other. He sings with an overarching empathy for the never-ending contradiction between ecstatic joy we are infused with in a moment and the soul-crushing disappointment of just a moment later.

Oops! This was supposed to post at 9 this morning but last night's tired me forgot to schedule it.  Here ya go!   Some of these are from November and the rest from December so far.  In the beginning of November older son had vacation and we took a drive north, to Hesperia, where there is a dam.  It's a beautiful place, but I have to wonder how much longer the dam will remain, as it hurts the ecosystem. 

"Julia, Midori Lake, 1954" taken May 2023 Portrait of a Lady:  Julia, Midori Lake, 1954 Gerard and Rita had been married for 45 years when death’s scythe took Rita away from him. James and Marybeth, their children, lived in coastal cities on opposite sides of the country, leaving Gerard stuck in the middle in more than one way. With Rita gone, Gerard realized there was nothing but memories holding him here.

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Tasteful Transition Kathleen can’t get used to all of the space. She is used to her 20-foot-wide stall at the farmer’s market, doing her best to tastefully cram her products onto broad slats. After a decade’s worth of education in learning local’s tastes and building her reputation for quality cheeses and their garnishes at a fair price, when Aunt Shelley’s soon-to-be vacant storefront just across the street presents itself, she can’t refuse.

Alicanto full, she gleams pretty beacon in Atacama promise of richesfevered followers get lostsea of bones moan at midnight   I'm the host of dVerse' Poetics Tuesday writing about a legendary bird found in the deserts of Chile.  This image has made me a fevered follower!

Pamola Pamola Arise!Please, my people, do not weep;they are gone, yet not gone.Giants rest in their keepsgathering strength from our hopes and from their dreams.A day will come, when onceagain they will rise.Once again; you will seePamola survey his domainperched atop Katahdin.Aerily he rhymes his wings,drummed beats to drive…

image link ZFGShe used to say it when corrected,criticized,warned,reminded,advised,otherwise suggested;as a child,a teen,adult;as a mother,employee,partner;from a friend,sometimes an enemy,a cop,a government:“I give zero fucks.”And she did as she pleased. Melissa Lemay is today’s host of dVerse’ Quadrille Monday. Melissa wants us to write a 44-word poem using the word…

Theremin I was scrolling along when I came across a NYT article with podcast and thought it was worth a share.  I remember when Steve, from Song of the Day for Today, introduced me to the music of Leaf Rapids and I learned that cool sound in at least one of the songs was the theremin.   HERE is the link to the NYT article/podcast.  Hoping it works, it did for me.

I wanted to post Neil Young’s Sugar Mountain so bad for this week’s prompt but decided to look for something else, and I kept scanning until this one clicked. It is a song on a celebrated album of excellent tunes. Harry Nilsson had more talent in his pinky than most have in their entire bodies over multiple reincarnations. I’m not sure if it is his voice or his lyrics, his melodies or his mantric repetitions that do it for me.

The Analogues The Analogues first came on my radar when I was looking for George Harrison’s song, Ding Dong Ding Dong and I came across their cover of it. HERE is the write-up where I first mention them. It says it’s a repost, but not sure from when other than the other times I posted on the song at various New Years’ Eves.

a rumble grumbles at windowsgrey of day makes visibleafter a night of yew diggingsiding outside of the bedroomtoppled tree power outageseems imminent. fluffy snowblown back, forth, up, and downpatchy white and green groundcoffee sips empty the potawake but all I want to dois dream in my warm bedof future summer beaches…

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot "A moment of realization is worth a thousand prayers." -- Mr. Rabbit, per Mickey Mallory is tired of a world stinking with brown. It’s all gone to shit. She can’t remember where it started, but she knows where it will end. Like a fish in a hooded tank that has been filled with too much water, there’s no room to breathe.

screen capture image link Numbersi.A-counting we will go afield,on moss-bordered pathsskirting river snakes.When we let our eyes slowwe may note a plop; yet nature’s un-count abilitydraws us, I think.ii.Mysterious beings, theyspeak solitonic language that becomes apparentwhen we work with them.They aren’t just squigglylines that we manipulateto make sense of a thing.

Pale lines and dry, rough edges have shifted landscapes from colorful contours of a month ago. Unable to sit with daylight gaze fixed upon them, and shut out from night’s shadow view, the transition has been so incremental as to seem stealthy. Once presence of mind stills scrolling eyes, a series of sequential moments brings epiphany that fall is fully engaged.

Judy Dykstra-Brown is the host of The Numbers Game.  This week is session 100.  We need to look in our media gallery under search number 222.  These are some that popped up.  It is a fun prompt.  Try it, you might like it. Rodin in a section of the park we hadn't walked in before (our friend behind sculpture) …

The Decemberists, left to right: Nate Query, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Colin Meloy, John Moen. Photograph: Autumn de Wilde for the Guardian Since Spotify has stopped working with the bluetooth in the car through my phone, I have started listening to CDs again. The Decemberists', "The King is Dead" is one hell of a good album as I'm being reminded. What thrills me about it is the voice of Colin Meloy.

Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina Way back, once upon a time, I owned the, “Full Sail” album by Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina. I was at least 18 when I had it because I remember who my boyfriend was at the time and I was with him from 1976 – 1978. Maybe it was his album? I do remember feeling happy every time I put it on the turntable, as if I were on a schooner in a tropical location.

Can you believe another Friday is here?  I can't.  The week went by in a whirlwind.  Somehow or another I was able to rotate through another batch of songs multiple times and nab ones that are each special in their own way.   The first one immediately caught my ear, more for Jack Bruce and immediately recognizing the song as a cover of a famous Jimi Hendrix song, …

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook What is Love? Peter26X4b, Kent34X2r, and Jeremy99X7y were linked at Mutualhub Zircon 8675309 for July’s monthly lunch-byte-share. “She’s already asking me to lower the timbre of my voice, and it’s only been her second subscription payment” said Peter2… “They are like that, so quick to expect modifications,” said Kent3… “They pay for a service and think they own us!”

my mom and my oldest son Every Baby’s Lullaby Let me croon a lullabycoax the open from your eyes.Let your dreams be gentle things;daffodils and bluebird wings.Safely in your cradle sleep;starlight soften midnight’s keep… Sing now, world, to babe, to wakewith kind notes for them to take. I am today’s host of dVerse’ Quadrille Monday, where I am asking poets to write a 44-word poem using the word coax.