An abbreviated contemplation this morning, the 20th of February, first Friday in Lent 2026. Looking around me, reading the news, feeling every second of ninety years, but thinking how gratifying it would be to live into a next age when an American electorate would restore my confidence in its wisdom, judgment, and goodness.  Recently I watched online as an elderly German woman reminisced about factions in the Third Reich. She remembered the Wehrmacht as ordinary soldiers, and the Gestapo whose sole purpose was cruelty and fear.  Looking around, as I say, and observing that among humans - - throughout history humans who attain power use it for suppression, cruelty and fear. Power elements of the Third Reich, the Christian church throughout its history as long as the people gave it power over them, a nationalist Christianity in America today, ICE and the level of humanity it attracts, individuals who enjoy hurting people. My hope might be to outlive this era and reemerge ...

  Lent, second day, first Thursday. One way of "giving up for Lent" might be to free some of my wasted daily Time. Not that I always need to be productively engaged, which would be a conscience projection of my workaholic Navy years, but nowadays in total retirement I'm noticing that not all of my Time is fruitfully used. In fact, I waste a lot of Time every day, Time when I could be contemplating as a lenten discipline. It could be about different things, and it doesn't need to be totally serious, it might just be stopping for a moment or a bit to think about something that floats through my mind, eh? Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, last evening we went to church for our Ash Wednesday liturgy that includes not only reading from Matthew's gospel, receiving the imposition of ashes (and keeping the ash cross on our foreheads regardless that Jesus told us "wash your face" instead of going about showing how pious we are); but, perhaps primarily, saying together...

  and to dust you shall return. Wednesday, today is Ash Wednesday, meaning Lent has begun, this is the first day of Lent 2026. Forty years ago, or fifty, who'd've thought I'd still be here, much less thinking I still have sense enough to think. But "I think, therefore I AM," I guess.  The morning hour is just past seven-thirty and we're waiting until eight-twenty to head downstairs to the car and off to Lynn Haven to stop at Adams Pharmacy and then across the street and a couple of blocks north for Linda's dental appointment.  While she's in the dentist chair I'll be in the husband's waiting room, probably finishing this blogpost, assuming my brain doesn't drop off to sleep. I think I have a way to stop the syncope when I sense it coming on, at least it seems to be working for me. Otherwise the nausea then momentary blackout is quite bothersome.  Those who are as fortunate as I am to arrive at this extreme old age, a mover and shaker who is...

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? I will, with God's help. Grievously, America has become a nation that does not care about how people are treated - - fairly, justly, kindly, with dignity; and apparently most Americans approve of that. I hope not. Now and then something that someone writes is a dart, bullet, or arrow hitting the heart of an issue. This essay is exactly that.  T90      IS ANYTHING MORALLY OBVIOUS  ANYMORE? The public reaction to the violence in Minneapolis suggests that we  have held on to our sense of universal truths. By  Gal Beckerman February 16, 2026 The Trump administration has backed down in Minnesota. Last week, Tom Homan, the border czar, announced that the surge of federal agents into the state—3,000 officers—was ending. He framed this mostly as a mission accomplished: They had come to round up illegal immigrants, and the job was done. But even Homan had to g...

Stormy yesterday morning, we stayed in and caught our church service online. Being able to do everything at home online is one of the interesting positive developments of covid.  My experience in it all includes that I never again have to wander, pushing a shopping cart/walker, around a store looking for a widget. I can order it online, including from that same store. Or if for some reason I MUST go to the store, I can go already having searched online to find exactly what aisle and shelf that widget is displayed on in the local store.  ++++ Watched the Bay early this morning as a mix of white wading birds, and a large flock of white ducks of some kind, fished for their breakfast in a small area just below 7H porch. They were in a place that from my porch looked black bottom with sea-grass, instead of a sandy bottom, maybe two or three feet deep there. The water is perfectly clear and I watched ducks underwater, streaking about as they pursued fish, minnows, or maybe tiny mull...

++++++ Chevrolet is one of my all Time favorite car makes and I've owned a passel of 'em. Robert likes the previous iteration (1949 to 1952),  +++ and I do too, but if someone offered me my absolute first pick it would be a Chevy I never owned, a 1953 Chevrolet 210 two door sedan, the one above - - except that any dedicated car person recognizes its major, devaluating flaw, that somewhere along its life someone changed the top choice perfect 1953 taillights  to 1954 Chevy taillights.  But it's nevertheless an ideal car, the two door sedan design for 1953 and 1954 is neat, clean (without the extra gunk on the BelAir model), perfectly balanced, and I'd want mine with power steering and power brakes, but the three-on-the-tree stick shift instead of the two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission that some people liked to deride as Weaklingglide. Parked next to the '53, the other perfect Chevy I'd want in my garage would be a 1955 two door sedan also a clean series ...