Uncategorized, -  Nov 28, 2025

Mountains and Waters Alliance: Coming Home

I drove from summer into fall, from Minnesota to New England and beyond, through two months of dazzling fall colors, losing and finding them again as I headed south, or headed down. Sunday I started north and into late fall. Tuesday I drove into a winter storm and arrived safely at friends in Michigan. I’ll be home in a few days – depending on the winter storms.

This poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay traveled with me:

O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!   Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!   Thy mists, that roll and rise!    Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag    And all but cry with colour!   That gaunt crag   To crush!   To lift the lean of that black bluff!   World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!

Long have I known a glory in it all,     But never knew I this;  Here such a passion is    As stretcheth me apart,—Lord, I do fear   Thou’st made the world too beautiful this year;  My soul is all but out of me,— let fall  No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.

I memorized that in high school, 60 years ago, and remembered the whole thing with only two mistakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving:

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, also known as the National Day of Mourning, honored by indigenous peoples across the United States.  I’m having difficulty finding words about anything else.Here are just a few words about the public realm. We’re slowly watching public resistance to imperial cruelty, kidnappings, theft from the public, and wars around the world. Sometimes I call Trump “Caligula” after the mad emperor of Rome. His replacements could well be worse. Yet mostly I think we just need to survive to the midterms.

Some encouragement. Judges are doing well, governors and police less well, and the criminal thugs called ICE are doing their best to terrorize people.

AI may be the biggest threat, to the economy and to human community. Here is a long and detailed discussion about AI and why to worry. Again, there’s so much resistance that I’m encouraged.

This was a book trip, meant both for promoting my new book Open Reality and for making connections, with people and with places. I hadn’t imagined that it would be either so satisfying or so exhausting. Now I settle down for a bit, give some local talks, reach out to publications, and edit the recordings for posting. I’ll make a study guide for discussion groups, and share it freely.

If you liked Open Reality, you can support it in any of these ways:

• Ask your library to buy it.
• Ask your local bookstore to stock it.
• Send a review to any publication you subscribe to.
• Very helpful: Suggest it to your local book group, study group, library or church or organization as a book to use. (Ask me for the study guide.) Use it in a college or high school or community education class.
• If you have skills to volunteer with editing, social media, or administration, please contact me.

Money helps.

Shortly I’ll send out next year’s budget and a fundraising request for Giving Tuesday. We accept tax-deductible donations.

There’s a special drive on at iGive, a free fundraising tool that will send us a small percentage of money spent at participating stores. New members who join today through November 30 can get an extra $15 donation for Mountains and Waters Alliance if they make their first purchase within 30 days. https://www.iGive.com/5wQfQw This is pretty easy, if you accept the “button” on whatever device you use for online shopping. (It’s secure, never had a problem.)

I liked this song, somehow feels connected with Thanksgiving: https://www.davidrovics.com/songbook/i-was-a-stranger/

 

Blessings to you as we move into winter.

Love,

Shodo