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That 70’s joe.

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“After a Rain,” Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1879

Oil on canvas.

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Thanks, Gang.

I just wanted to thank all of you guys for the nice birthday wishes — both online and off.

They came in handy.  I can’t believe how old I am.   51! At this point, there are people walking around who are A HALF-CENTURY OLD who are actually YOUNGER than me.  Egads.



paja

(She could always just listen to audio from a Trump rally.)

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“On Valaam Island,” Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1873

Oil on canvas.

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“I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”

I will bring you flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.
I want to do with you
what spring does with the cherry trees.

from Pablo Neruda’s “Every Day You Play”



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Photo credit: JRennocks, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of tram in Silesia, Poland, by Oleksandr Dede, 2022

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“Home wasn’t a set house, or a single town on a map.”

“Home wasn’t a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together. Not a place, but a moment, and then another, building on each other like bricks to create a solid shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go.”

— Sarah Dessen

(This quote was found on the Ravenous Butterflies Facebook page.)



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“This is my rifle, this is my cup. This one’s for fightin’, this wakes me up.”

I clean my coffeemaker with same care and precision with which a Marine cleans his rifle.

The difference, of course, is that coffee PREVENTS me from killing people.