This and that Tuesday

 

Today's art:

"My intuitive brodery"

Slow Stitching embroidery by Catherine Herremans

Robert Hubble asks us to remember that:

Our job is to remain on task, ensuring that the midterms are a wave election for Democrats.

The Republican Party will hold a “mid-term convention” in Texas that will feature keynote speeches by JD Vance and Trump. The speeches will be filled with lies that will attempt to pit Americans against each other and conceal Trump’s failing agenda. They will seek to generate Democratic infighting over the fact that a handful of Democratic nominees are members of the Democratic Socialists of America who want to provide healthcare for all Americans by taxing the billionaires. The press will dutifully repeat Trump’s accusations without bothering to note that the man claiming that DSA members are a threat to democracy is the only president in American history who sought to stage a coup.

and:

Memorials marking the terrorist attack on September 11 will take place on Friday, which will give right-wing agitators an opportunity to spread Islamophobic lies by attacking Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed. 

 ...Rather than wince and cringe as Trump and Vance spew their lies, we should trust that most voters can see through the lies, and many voters will be offended and disgusted. We don’t need every MAGA voter to win; only enough of them to help flip a handful of “stretch” races for Democrats that will ensure the blue wave reaches historic proportions. 

Please search for Robert Hubble's newsletter.

We are the Lady Liberties in Saranac Lake, New York. We are a pop-up art happening that take to the streets in our homemade outfits when the spirit moves us

Robert posted lots of other's photos of the various demonstrators all over the country, which have been submitted to him.

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There is a difference

between happiness and wisdom:

one who thinks himself the happiest

is really so; but he that thinks

himself the wisest is

generally the greatest fool.

Sir Francis Bacon

Cortez has great murals

 

The far right of this mural, through the open car window

The middle and far left of the mural through the windshield...sorry.

Sorry, glare from the windshield kept the last one from being clear. I bet AC could figure out how to save it.

Thinking of AC, here's one with some scary folks in it...but not a coffee shop!

The next one is from FaceBook...not in Cortez!

Either staged or AI...but still funny!

Yes, the wealth of the Southwest has been in its minerals!

Sharing with Monday Murals!

Pueblo Seed and Feed

 

Visiting my son and his wife in Cortez CO, I was interested in finding a bakery. I'd seen some nice looking clips on FB about the Pueblo Seed and Feed...family owned, etc. And Kendra (daughter-in-law) also said it was a great place.

The messy job was roasting chili peppers out front. (That's my trusty 2008 Toyota across the street!)

No pastries, by the fluffy French persuasion! I would have loved the cuts of cinnamon bread...but there were 5 people in front of me in line, and a very slow clerk. So I just went on my way. The coffee was just in carafes on the far wall.

The displays were excellent. And there were a lot of seeds also on one whole aisle to grow your own grains.

But I'm stuck on love of butter, croissants, chocolate and almonds. Nope. Not there. If they'd had a loaf of sourdough I might have purchased it, but all that was available were specialty rye or other rough grain types. Not what my mornings want. When I go home I'll have to make something simple for myself!

Still looking for a coffee shop to replace the ones I love in North Carolina! That may not happen.

But oh the beauty of the scenery! It's hard to concentrate on writing a blog...I look up and just am enthralled!

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On a more personal note: my son and wife went camping...taking everything but the kitchen sink! 

I'm glad they weren't feeling like hiking in to do back country camping. They'll be back this evening. I'm headed for Durango before it gets dark, so may not see them. I've had a delightful time staying with their cat (who didn't really need care).

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But I came for the birthday dinner Friday, then the art opening.

I meant to go back Saturday and purchase some cards, all hand made by artists. But I got distracted by the murals all over town in Cortez.

Tai talking to one of the artists.

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This is my cart, which carries everything I need when moving around. It has 2 wheels, and you tilt it and it's like a suitcase...and of course the handle retracts so it fits in the back seat of the car.

Rituals

Update to the blogger note which I wrote last night...fortunately it has been fixed!

"Dear blogger...it's really sad to have a whole program that lets us down, nobody is able to post comments anywhere suddenly on Friday morning, Sept. 4, 2026. I wonder how long before that will be fixed...or will it? Please, blog people, if there are any people still running any of it. Please make this work again!"

I'm sharing all of the following newsletter because I woke up this morning thinking of time as a spiral. And so was this author. There's really nothing new under the sun.

by Alan Ostmann

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From the Earthaven Ecovillage newsletter published Sept. 1, 2026

Their beautiful photos didn't download as they were PNG files. 

Juncture: A Fall Equinox Ritual

The essence of autumn’s approach lives in the arch of elderberry branches as they hang heavy with fruits. We can feel it coming as the quality of early-morning light becomes richer and deeper. The lushness here shifts to a dankness, and the momentary mission of the plant world begins to move from growth toward decay.

 Sometimes the seasonal cycles are presented as a wheel that turns. It's a beautiful image, but without including the path upon which that wheel travels, or the space through which it spins, the metaphor is incomplete.

Natural cycles include an exquisite synergy of returning and revival, repetition and novelty.

The wheel turns: summer follows spring, autumn after that. And at the same time, each moment is new territory, a returning to something familiar but with new eyes and more mature comprehension.

 [The author likes] to think of time not as a bullet-train speeding ever forward (as modern life might suggest), or a perpetually spinning circle, but rather as a spiral. Each revolution brings us back to touchpoints that are familiar, giving us a chance to notice what about us and the world around us has changed and grown.  

The solstices and equinoxes are moments in time that align with the repeating rhythm of relationship between Earth and Sun.

These ecological points of contact have been honored and celebrated by nearly every human culture from every corner of the earth, for thousands of years. Some say, and I agree, that they reflect key moments in the cycles of each breath, each day, and our whole lives.

We can all honor these touchpoints in the spiral of time with rituals, even if we didn’t grow up doing that, or don’t think we know how.

In the words of beloved Earthaven ancestor, Kaitlin, Priestess of Cycles, “Ritual is a human need. The more conscious we are with ritual and ceremony in our lives, the more grounded our lives become. Ritual is part of everyday life. Consciously ritualizing transitions and cycles can support us to be fully present and embodied in this world.”

How do you feel moved to ritualize the upcoming equinox and the changing of the season? Maybe something as simple as lighting a candle when the sun sets and greeting the coming darkness. Perhaps something more collective, like gathering friends around a fire to sing and share words of gratitude for what has grown and come to fruition in these past few months.

As the fruits ripen, the creatures build warm nests, and the fertile dreaming night grows to envelope more of our days, may you know peace and wellbeing.

of summer,

Rachel Fee, Member of Earthaven Ecovillage & Marketing Manager for SOIL

Chloe Leiberman, Co-facilitator of The Re-membering Retreat

Re-membering Retreat co-facilitator Chloe Lieberman will be leading an online ritual to mark the coming autumn on September 17 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. 

If you feel called, join us for Juncture: A Fall Equinox Ritual. She will guide a simple process of grounding and reflection, and invite your heart and voice into the circle to honor where you’re at on the spiraling path.

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Earthaven Ecovillage is located near Black Mountain NC. I have visited several times, and some good friends live in this intentional community in their Earth Ship style home.