Jimmy's business has fallen on hard times.

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There was another public protest of this country's war in the middle East and the U.S.' plans, as formulated by the Executive branch, to "surge" more troops into Iraq. The general agreement among those who came here to engage the Congress on this topic, was that this was an unwise plan to continue an unwise war that was largely based on lies and that this Nation and this Government can be so much more than it currently is and our soldiers and our young deserve more and that if they were to "surged" anywhere, they should be "surged" home. It was with sadness that our family and some of our friends had to once more make this pilgrimage to petition the US government to wage a Peace based on justice and on truth and on sober leadership and strength.

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For part of the short march around the Capitol, we passed the Supreme Court, a majestic building. There continues to be public commentary relating to the Court's responsibility in "selecting" our current President.

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It was a lovely, warm day and a lot of folks came in from other states/cities to participate. It was good to see a, by my estimation, a growing number of young people.

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He said: "After you've been everywhere and done everything, experienced all that you can stand of this world, what is left? Maybe it's the realization that you can't meet spiritual needs with material means. Maybe what's left is the knowledge that the race can't be won by anyone. And maybe that's why I'm so tired."

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My brother lives in a blue yurt in the part of Virginia that's surrounded by N. Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee. One of the reasons folks think this is odd is because his "house" is round. I don't know why a house can't be round. This one is and it seems just fine. Of course, a round house makes it hard to put square furniture up against the walls, but that is a minor inconvenience. One plus is 360 degrees of view.

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She said: "I had this dream where I was free, truly free, uncaged at last. It was a wonderful feeling to be free of worry, free of fear, free of the lies, free of the dread that I've felt since he was sent off to fight. It was like, I guess, being released from a prison or something; to see the sky as it is and not through bars of steel. My heart was uncaged, free to fly anywhere I wanted to go. Oh, it was wonderful. After I awoke, I just laid there, enjoying the feelings I had just experienced, knowing that they wouldn't last the day; wouldn't even last the morning; wouldn't last until the alarm went off. I feel like this was a message sent to me that said he wouldn't die there alone, that he'd be coming home in one piece."

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There is everyday wisdom all around us. You don't even need to look very hard for it, because it's just right there in front of you. It's "received" wisdom. It's the little reminder in case you've forgotten what "good sense" is made up of. It's the angel that leads you through the forest, and the helping hand that gets you across the street. It the little help that makes the difference.

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It was a long time ago. It's hard to believe that anyone actually looked like these folk look, but the 1970s made many things possible that no one could have anticipated. She is thin and he is not. That combination is still somewhat popular. He has a "high forhead", she does not. This is also a combo that is not uncommon. The basket is a little hard to explain. It would be too late, from the look of the trees in the background, for Easter. I don't think they're out berry pickin' either. Maybe it was something they found on their walk and liked enough to take home. That, I suppose, is as good an any other guess.

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And then there was the bear, or was it just a very obese dog?

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The acres weren't all that hidden. Maybe if there wasn't an 8 foot pink horse sculpture out front it might have been a tad more hidden than it was, but the truth is that that pink horse acted like a magnet for my eyeballs and even at 60 miles per hour, I could plainly see the hidden acres at Hidden Acres. Having seen them, I had to stop and take this snapshot so that you could see it too, cause that horsey could very well could be climbing Jacob's Ladder by next week.

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It's funny how words change their meaning over time. "Gulf" here was a gas station on a country road that headed south along the Atlantic seaboard. "Gulf" more commonly now refers to a place on the other side of the Atlantic, an area on Earth that is in much turmoil. "Gulf" could also be used to describe the space that separates the dialog about what is occurring now in that Gulf that is on the other side of the planet.

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I remember from somewhere being introduced to the concept of "Christmas All Year Round". I think that it's a horrible idea. Imagine a world where Snoopy is dressed up as Santa all year and where everywhere you look there would be Snowmen. In every shop window would be toxic materials simulating fallen snow and the bad music masquerading as carols would be broadcast over every radio, TV, and IPod 24-7. I think that this would ultimately be recognized as an unhealthy situation and that Christmas is best kept to the one month of the year that we have to enjoy it

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National Airport: Incoming crew going out.

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Made in China, a kind of gender-bender look once big in the 1980s.

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I like this image. It is a happy mistake. Miles, Nicki, and I, along with some of Miles' pals, were hiking up Old Rag Mountain in Virginia and the light was nice, and the shadows dramatic, but the settings on the camera were not correct, so the exposure was long and the image is blurred. But, I still like it. It could have been a photo of an Impressionist painting from the early 1900s. It just seems that way to me. Also, since the walking figures are not recognizable, no one will upset that I posted their picture on the "Web".

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The Building Museum which was once the old Patent Building. It is, however, not true that civil war era soldiers rode their horses up the stairs of this building. Or so I'm told.

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He would sometimes wake up screaming, his voice horse and raw. The room around him would be dark and silent now, only the alarm clock softly ticking on the small table beside him. He would first be disoriented as the nightmare that woke him disolved away. He would then gradually know where he was and he would turn over and stare into the darkness until the sun began to show itself through the windows.

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If someone out there beyond our solar system was picking up our television broadcast signals they surely would think that we were a strange bunch down here. And maybe that's true. I, myself, don't feel qualified to make that judgment, but you've got to admit that we broadcast a lot of strange stuff. Besides the sex, the lies, and the videotape, there are the many murders, the various flavors of racism, sexism, puritanical hypocrisy, the pretend news that's no news at all, the general atmosphere of meanness that belittles all who touch it and that passes as everyday values that washes over us and is then distilled back into the video output, an endless process that, in the end, leaves everyone a little bit tipsy and then a little bit ill.

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