In Mexico currently, and was chatting with fellow American tourists the other day about dental care. One reported a friend traveling from the U.S. to Mexico for dental work this month.

And just delivered to my inbox is the decision to retire from
my physician in pulmonology & sleep medicine. Expecting to receive more of the same soon. Another physician told me Dr. Oz is taking back money already paid on approved Medicare claims. The worst.

Great community with a feel of “I’ve found my people,” at the monthly community breakfast. Food was great, too. The Copper Mountain Mesa Community Association in Joshua Tree, California, features an awesome community breakfast on the first Saturday of every month — and last week, we were there!

Thank you!

The worst. Have only flown once since December 2019, and my next flight is out of Dulles.

And our lunch or dinner plan!

They are lovely to gaze upon, and sadly I am flying next week to visit my new husband. Am beyond anxious — about ICE in airports, not about my sweet husband.

Table top with flowers, little oil lamp, glasses of wine and water.

Waiting for a take-away order at Le Petit Triangle Cafe in Cleveland, Ohio’s neighborhood of Ohio City, and while the little table lamp is not currently lit, I will be shortly.

John Hammond Blues Guitar Pioneer Dies Aged 83 Legendary blues singer and guitarist John Hammond has died aged 83, ending a six-decade career dedicated to preserving and performing traditional blues music.

Fellow Antioch College alum, John Hammond, has left us, after keeping the blues alive for decades.

www.noise11.com/news/john-ha...

Empathy!

Perhaps they were magic pretzels!

This was an area covered in the media training we offered to federal employees, about 20 years ago. The main point then was to demonstrate how attire could detract from important messages to the public. Though perhaps these three have nothing important to say.

What we know about the massive sewage leak in the Potomac River A collapsed sewer line, about 8 miles from the White House, pumped 368 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of wastewater into the Potomac. Repairs could take longer than previously expected.

And all that sewage pouring in every day now! Heartbreaking.

Potomac pipe collapse: What we know

www.npr.org/2026/02/07/n...

Solidarity makes us strong!

Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks End of Protection for Haitians in U.S.

News of some relief from my old Ohio home.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

Ohio Church Swells With Support for Haitians as Deportation Threat Looms

Sometimes there’s good news from my old Ohio home.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

Same here; used to actually look forward to most weather events, though now that I’ll carry my passport to just shovel my front step — the thrill is gone.

Still pining for Plato’s! They were open late into the night, a welcoming beacon on my way home from evening music and theatre in DC and Virginia.

So true! For years, I attended the Prairie Home Companion live broadcasts from Wolf Trap in Virginia where an air of Minnesotan spirit reached the audience. Even traffic getting out of the crowded Wolf Trap parking lots was kind and resilient. It was contagious!

Looks as though they are in South Carolina currently. Maybe.

His work is always so powerful, and sadly lately, disturbingly accurate.

Powerful.

I parked my car here!

A solar sparkler in front of a home in California’s high desert town of Yucca Valley.

Sun in the sky over Joshua Tree National Park, California, promises brighter days with the winter solstice.

Lovely winter bouquet delivery from true love, during dark times, offering the promise of brighter days with the winter solstice.

Happy winter solstice! The light returns — so very much needed in these times.

Nearly full moon in the sky behind an eerie looking tree in an eerie part of the planet, Washington DC Land.

The nearly full moon with its radiance and reflection in the sky tonight over Washington DC-land suburbs, is powerful. Dubbed the Cold Moon, Supermoon, or the Cold Supermoon, it is an intense presence by any name.

Young collie dog on steps of Chicago house with young woman and mixed breed beagle-ish dog.

‘Midst all of this, an #AntiochCollege friend sent me this 1980-or-so photo of her beloved dog Orkney, along with me and my beloved dog Pocas. Liz worked at the Chicago paper, In These Times; me, at the Brookfield Zoo; Orkney and Pocas worked keeping our hearts happy.

Mike Lukovich is an outstanding illustrator, whose work reflects our sad and sorry state.

Andy Borowitz!

Zohran Mamdani drags the Democratic Party into the future This was a local race with national implications, whether the party's leaders liked it or not.

Mother Jones for the win.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Democrat Abigail Spanberger elected governor of Virginia Former congresswoman beats Republican Winsome Earle-Sears to become Virginia’s first female governor

Thrilled for my next-door neighbor, Virginia, and for the country!
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...