Cold Sun and Deep Mud

The first thing our military did was blow up a school and we're supposed to believe it was an accident? When our president said he wants to punitively bomb civilians, the press protected him by saying he's too stupid to know what a war crime is, but then everyone he hired says "we love war crimes"

Slightly opaque water with a light brown color. Long shadows from the forest compete with reflections of trees on the water's surface.

More flooded forest with a jumbled mix of shadow and reflection

All the water flooding the forest from a nearby creek was super silty

A small red flower in a patch of mud.

A close up of a skunk cabbage shows the red curling shape of the flower

More skunk cabbage flowers which grow directly from the ground with no stems.

A skunk cabbage flower which is mostly submerged. The forest's tall trees are reflected in the water.

There were dozens of these little skunk cabbage flowers

A path up a hill in the forest. There are signs that say "no horses" and "most difficult". The sky is blue with fluffy white clouds that show between the tree trunks and branches.

An old rotten log is dark green.

A pine tree that is covered in dark green moss, pale green lichen, and a small shelf of little mushrooms.

A twisting pine tree next to a bench on the side of the trail.

My legs are kind of tired tho

A trail through the forest, sun shines on a pale colored tree, while most of the forest is bare of leaves.

A fallen log is incredibly green with moss.

This green log contrasts the dry brown leaves that cover the ground.

A tree leaks dark sap from an old broken branch.

It was a beautiful windy day today

I had a really good first date so that means we have about three weeks until the apocalypse

As someone whose period of historic interest is ww1 and the time leading up to I gotta say, doesn't look good.

Every US president has been alive at the same time as a former slave.

Some dice and popsicle sticks with various numbers on them, they make the pairs 6,8 0,1,9 and three 5s

Chapter VIII OF THE HAPPY SUCCESS OF THE VALIANT DON QUIXOTE, AND THE DREADFUL AND INCONCEIVABLE ADVENTURE OF THE WIND-MILLS, WITH OTHER INCIDENTS WORTHY TO BE RECORDED BY THE MOST ABLE HISTORIAN In the midst of this their conversation, they discovered thirty or forty wind-mills all together on the plain, which the knight no sooner perceived, than he said to his squire, "chance has conducted our affairs even better than we could either wish or hope for; look there, friend Sancho, and behold thirty or forty outrageous giants, with whom, I intend to engage in battle, and put every soul of them to death, so that we may begin to enrich ourselves with their spoils; for, it is a meritorious warfare, and serviceable both to God and man, to extirpate such a wicked race from the face of the earth." "What giants do you mean?" Said Sancho Panza in amazement.

To whom do I speak today? The world is left to those who do iniquity. No government can remain stable in an unstable society and an unstable world. Revels, feasting, repose, toil, anxiety, arms, the well known hangouts of gamblers and petty criminals. Fatal mortality. Sublime insolvency. The past is a work of art. All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. The king is only interested in words, his mouth is smoother than oil. It is a criminal power to be feared, not respected, and outwitted in any way whatever. Jealousy love tyrant's lord thus soul chilling dire disdain lend me the dagger and the cord to stab remembrance strangle pain.

Random numbers
36 75 86
93 3 910
23 80 55
And some sentences from my bookshelf scrambled together into a poem

Some blue anchan noodles in a Styrofoam cup with broth and a green onion and chicken.

I had a great time at the noodle festival downtown and now I'm so full, everything I tried was delicious and this one looked pretty cuz it was blue. My favorite was either khao piak or tom yum but there were a dozen other options I didn't try.

The ground is all muddy and the path is flooded except for the thin wooden boards that run along either side of the trail. To the left is a large pool of water where normally there is none.

Another section of trail that is completely flooded except for the planks on either side of the trail. To the right of the trail in the water is an old green log which rests on the riverbank when it's not flooded.

This small creek has filled the floodplain, as it often does during a big melt. The dark water holds some light from the pale sky.

The sunset reflects off water in this flooded forest, helping to show all the shrubs and small trees and plants.

I'm lucky I have good balance otherwise I would have had to turn back a few times

A small wooden foot bridge with black metal railings through a flooded forest.

The trees growing here meet their reflections as they stand in a few feet of water and the setting sun makes a splash of yellow.

Beautiful blue sky everywhere you look between the trees and at your feet and in the air and in your eyes.

The flowing water and vacant forest are turning dark as the sun begins to set and an orange glow appears beyond the tangle of trees.

There's been a few days of snow with intermittent thaws since then but the ten day forecast looks like rain so who knows what I'll see when I go back

Some fallen logs in the wet muddy ground. They are covered in blotchy mosses in different shades of green, with some kind of orange thing growing out the end of one of the cut logs.

A small green curl in a patch of mud is the start of a skunk cabbage flower. They don't grow on stems and they don't open very wide so it won't get much bigger than that.

The forest is flooded on either side of the trail as it transitions into a boardwalk.

A moss and lichen encrusted tree is next to a log in the water beside the boardwalk.

I did find the starts of some little skunk cabbages but most of the prime habitat was under a couple inches of water, which is fine they don't mind.

Snow and water flood the trail but the rest of the muddy ground is buried in brown leaves.

Sun shines on the forest floor, broken by long shadows of bare trees.

A bench on a sandy mossy hill in the forest. The sky is bright blue.

Looking down a hill at a creek hidden by trees. The ground is a mix of brown leaves and green moss.

It was difficult finding solid ground but my feet didn't get too wet.

A trail through the forest is flooded with water over melting ice. I walked along the edge of the path where it was drier but still muddy. Luckily the deep layer of brown leaves kept it off my shoes.

A tree trunk resplendent green with moss around the base and lichen on the bark.

A curving path through the woods is covered in slushy snow. The many thin trees let you see far through the forest.

A tree trunk covered in pale green lichen.

I went for a hike last week on one of those days it was above freezing and everything flooded, looking for the first wildflowers of the season

a man with a towel around his neck says i made this for you . Alt: A man holding a drink and screaming "I made this for you"

My nose after I clear out my sinuses for the fourth time today

It's despicable that police are still attacking people with dogs and murdering them. There is absolutely no reason to use a dog as a weapon, it's irresponsible, cruel, and racist. Which basically sums up law enforcement.

Another performer hanging from a metal ring with one leg stretched out and flames on her hands while snow falls.

A large orange shapey metal sculpture which gives the calder plaza its name. It has a warm glow from the nearby ring of fire.

A beautiful winter night in grand rapids

A large gout of flame shot from an iron flower lights the dark. There is a woman sitting in a suspended metal circle hanging from a ring of fire.

A performer on stage in heavy falling snow. She is about to balance on a glass bottle.

The performer is now laying on a bed of nails while an audience member stands on her chest. The stage has turned white with snow and she didn't wear shoes for the rest of her performance.

A juggler in white is balancing a bowling ball on a wooden stick on his forehead.

All of the performers were super impressive and respect for working in such conditions

A box of mirrors and lights shows a booth of carnival games through a window and reflects someone on stilts

On a small black stage there is a bearded man balancing on a board on a roller stacked on some uneven chairs and he is juggling knives.

A man is standing in a flaming circle and twirling some burning balls on the ends of rope.

A person in a colorful polkadot dress and wearing a colorful halo crown looking down at some excited children in coats and scarfs and hats, there is a small crowd of people and some tall buildings in the background.

It was super cold and windy but I had fun at the circus downtown

It's always strange the first day of the year that I wear shorts and feel the wind through my hair.

War violates the order of nature, and causes parents to bury their children. The affairs of war more than anything else is subject to change. To venerate the simple days which lead the seasons by in a serener bright, in a more golden light, I see each little doubt and fear, each little discord here termed mortality. The priests tell me my soul is worth all the gold in the world but the merchants wouldn't give me a nickel. Donec eris felix, multos numerabis amicos; tempora si fuerint nubila, solus eris. (When you are fortunate you will have many friends; but if the skies cloud over, you will be alone.)

Random numbers of the day
57, 86, 57
6369, 6, 363
5, 62, 4
And a mix of random sentences from my bookshelf derived from them

The sunset red light is bright on the icy shore, reflecting off the white snow and clear ice. The dark water and broken jumbled ice also catches some of the sunset color.

A beautiful orange sunset over frozen lake Michigan

The sun's rays have turned everything a red orange color

The sun is a burning red ball in the orange sky just above the horizon.

The endless complexity of the world is fascinating, also hard to put into words.

The sun is halfway below the horizon and the overcast clouds that fill most of the sky have begun to be underlit by the sun. The floating ice and the water of lake Michigan are dark.

The sun is now just below the horizon. The hazy clear sky has turned pale orange.

Sunset as seen from over the edge of the ice hill. Dark clouds fill most of the sky but the rest is orange and yellow over the ridge line.

Looking at sunset over lake Michigan from on top the sand dune. The sky is a mix of yellow and orange giving a tinge of color to the snow on shore.

I left before the best of the sunset, the hour just after the sun falls below the horizon, but I was really fucking cold by that point

The sunset red light is bright on the icy shore, reflecting off the white snow and clear ice. The dark water and broken jumbled ice also catches some of the sunset color.

A beautiful orange sunset over frozen lake Michigan

The sun's rays have turned everything a red orange color

The sun is a burning red ball in the orange sky just above the horizon.

The endless complexity of the world is fascinating, also hard to put into words.

The sun has finally fallen below the low clouds and entered the hazy gap near the horizon. Sunlight reflects off the dark water far away and the ice nearby.

The sun's light shines off everything, highlighting the crusty rims around the floating ice and shooting a lens flare across the image. The horizon is cast in beautiful orange.

Looking down at the water and ice. The sunset glow is captured by clear ice on shore.

The sun has been hidden by a passing cloud at the edge of the sky, reducing it to a glowing ball.

The freezing wind was so humid

Bright orange sunset over frozen lake Michigan

Looking back at shore from the edge of the ice. The sand dunes are tall in the distance. The beach is a thin strip of white snow. The ice nearby is a mostly flat field of ice balls with ominous flat patches.

Pale yellow sunset shines on the white ice.

Golden sunset over lake Michigan.

Luckily I didn't slip or fall at all despite that knobbly ice threatening to twist my ankles the whole way.

Peeking over the edge of the ice at sunset over lake Michigan. The sky is full of overcast clouds except for at the horizon which is full of bright orange light.

The same view from further down the coast. Peeking over the edge of the ice at sunset over lake Michigan. The sky is full of overcast clouds except for at the horizon which is full of bright orange light.

Looking down at the edge of the solid ice, it would be impossible to climb back up if you fell in. First is a drop of 5 or 6 feet straight down to the water, and then a steep climb of ten or fifteen feet, and another 4 or 5 foot cliff to the top where we are.

Looking south along the edge of the ice, there is a small plateau before the water.

Watching the waves push through this broken sheet of ice makes me wish I had Aquaman powers

A beautiful sunset over lake Michigan. The water is filled with floating ice with only a thin strip of darkness near the horizon, next to a gap in the clouds where the sky is bright yellow. Crystalline ice is loosely piled on the edge of shore, and riding the waves is a jumble of broken ice.

Looking out across lake Michigan to the North. The clouds are darker but they still clear up near the horizon.

Looking closer at the broken ice sheet shows the ice chunks have a sharp rim of ice crystals surrounding a pool of water at their center, like a marsh full of lily pads jam-packed together.

The sunset is now a blinding ribbon of clear sunlight.

These remind me of lily pads all growing together like that.

My gloves hand holding a piece of ice that is about an inch thick

I'm holding another sheet of thick clear ice. My gloves are brown, blue, and orange striped, and my sleeve has a multicolor stripey pattern.

I'm holding it so that you can see the stripes on my gloves through the ice like a pane of glass.

Standing on the very edge of the ice sheet and looking south. The clouds over lake Michigan have picked up some yellow sunset colors. There is a pile of loose clear ice chunks at the edge of the hill. Beyond this sheet of solid ice on shore is a vast field of floating ice locked together by the pushing waves.

There was a bunch of this interesting clear ice thrown onto the edge of the shore ice. I'm guessing it broke during this last melt, or maybe from the waves during the cold windy night before?