Good morning, Austin.

The LBJ Presidential Library in Austin TX has a new exhibit for our 250th. It’s called “What We Bring to the Table, tales of history and home” and it’s presented as stories of families who helped make America. Friends this is an exhibition about immigrants and how they built the US. It’s superb.

Just finished CS Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters (1942) - letters from a higher-up in hell advising his nephew, who is new to the recruitment job. Here he explains the ties between fear and hatred and advises sow fear to breed hatred. So relevant to today’s MAGA party.

Dusk at my favorite fishing hole. Two Red-winged Blackbirds were sitting on a bush next to the water. The Kingfisher was zooming up and down along the opposite bank, the ducks, of course, were swimming. Deschutes River, Central Oregon.

The morning chorus at my fishing cabin (Lower Deschutes River, OR) on Saturday. Also out and about, Anna’s Hummingbird and Osprey, who have occupied all the nesting platforms in the area.

Today is a particularly challenging day for those of us who watch the political news - nearly impossible to tell the difference between the headlines and the April Fools jokes.

Thanks for the gear, @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social All set.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! ⚾️ Play Ball!

Wordle 1,739 2/6 🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 That’s unusual. Very lucky first word today.

The SAVE act is not about keeping noncitizens from voting. We have laws for that. It would be the first time in the history of our great country that federal laws were enacted to restrict US citizens’ ability to exercise their constitutional right to vote. I can’t think of anything more shameful.

Happy St. Patrick’s day to all of the resisters.

The brave men & women in our military deserve better from the commander in chief.

Happy Pi day, y’all This is from Austin TX about 10 years ago. 5 planes wrote about 100 digits of Pi in the sky.

What the DOJ needs right now is a whistleblower. Name, shame, and prosecute everyone who abused women and girls trafficked by #epstein People will line up to pay your legal fees. Where’s Daniel Ellsberg when you need him?

I expect this will be very good.

I’m not an influencer. I don’t have a large social media following. But in light of this week’s Epstein/Trump revelations, I think women should start sharing how old we were when we first attracted sexual attention from an adult male. @womensmarch.com

Another book recommendation for the times. John Fugelsang was raised very Catholic (as was I) and wrote this book to refute, using the bible, the very anti-Jesus message coming from the “Christian” right. It’s scholarly, it’s funny, it’s shocking, and it’s a great gift for your MAGA pals.

Worth thinking carefully about as DHS prepares incarceration camps. Day of Remembrance is Thursday.

Friends — did you know that Jesse Jackson was a speaker at the 1st National Conference on Minority Participation in Earth Sciences? This 1972 USGS event sparked a lot of great work before R’s decided to shut it down. I was surprised when I learned of his participation-maybe you are too.

Finished my hat. I’m very happy with how it turned out. Celtic headband first, switched to smaller needles, picked up 84 stitches along one edge, decreased in 5 places, every other row, and finished with an ichord. Going to give my other 2 Melt the ICE hats away.

Making my own hat pattern. Step 1, a Celtic cable brim. Next, I’ll pick up stitches along the moss stitch edge for the hat body. Still deciding how to decrease and finish it, but it is likely to have a point and a tassel.

It’s far too early for buds to start showing up here in Central Oregon, at 3500 feet, but we have had unseasonably warm weather this month. It will be interesting to see how these trees cope if it gets cold again. Birch and Crabapple. 2/9/26

I’ve been following Tom for a long time for his tree knowledge. I really love this take on today’s political climate. Resist, yes, and more joy please.

Thanks, Alaska Airlines, for the free WiFi for flights leaving Seattle during the championship game. Much appreciated. @alaskaairlines.bsky.social

For years folks have said they need unrestricted access to guns to protect themselves from the government. Ironically, those folks are more likely to have joined ICE than to be fighting to protect the civil and constitutional rights of their neighbors from reckless, lawless, unrestrained DHS.

My current project is an illusion shawl. Depending on the angle of your view, it could look like stripes, or a pattern emerges. Fun project and a nice gift - she has auburn hair. Pattern is Sunshine Shawl, by Mark Jamieson, available on Ravelry.

If you’re looking for a place to donate, consider the @aaas.org Science and Technology Policy fellowship. This brings scholars to DC for a year to work in federal agencies. I worked with several of these scientists over the years and they are all stellar. (1/2) www.aaas.org/DanielWeinbe...

Making a shawl for my daughter. I was worried these colors were too similar, but I think it will work out. Knitting for Olive Soft Silk Mohair. Lace weight. Red Current and Pink Daisies. Size 4 needles. #knitting

Loved this dystopian book, although it veers quite close to home in its near-future dystopia (the US President is proudly illiterate.) “She said the church was a broken compass. That our job always and forever was to refuse Apocalypse in all its forms and work cheerfully against it.” ~ pg. 237

Ireland knows a thing or two about #NoKings

Turns out it’s the same in Europe. The “early bird” is the Robin. Sunrise is still 20 minutes away.

Guess which country they no longer ship to, here in Dingle Ireland?

Pay attention, friends.

I’ve been reading a lot in retirement, and two books I finished last week stand out for great writing, compelling characters, interesting relationships, and mothers and daughters. Both highly recommended. See thread for a little more about each book. 1/3

@sarahlsheffield.bsky.social - so glad Google popped this story into my news feed today. Retirement means I miss things sometimes. Congratulations Sarah! www.binghamton.edu/news/story/5...

JFK - where the drive from terminal 4 to terminal 7 is 23 minutes. 🙄

This is the first book I’ve read in a while that I feel compelled to share in real time. It’s really good. Inventive format, beautifully written, beautifully translated. Given the prose in English, I’d bet the Spanish is even better, so if you read Spanish, get the original (and report back!)

Do better @washingtonpost.com

Exactly. The destruction in just 109 days will take years, if not decades, to recover from.

Yippee! It’s Opening Day!

The best lunch at PDX.

Same. I will never understand and I am having a hard time forgiving it, even (maybe especially?) in my sister.

Handing Elon Musk the power over the budget is like letting the 12-year old control the family spending. He’ll stop paying the electric bill to buy more PlayStation games, only to learn later that the PlayStation requires electricity. This illegal madness must stop.

Hey #OPM Want to know what I did last week? This will need a 🧵 1) Honored my oath to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, because an oath is honor-bound even after you retire. To that end I … 1/5

Dear Manager This week I 1) hitched a ride in Baton Rouge, just before the rain 2) rode all the way to New Orleans 3) got my harmonica out from my red bandana 4) played some soft blues 5) to the beat of the rain and the rhythm of the wipers, we sang every song that driver knew. Good week.

For those of you bewildered by the Find-Out stage of FAFO, I just want to let you know that you are welcome here in the America that supports all Americans. Let’s work together to reiterate and uphold our national values.

I wonder what would happen if a Federal leader said No - I am not going to fire people - this is illegal. Or No, I not going to sign a letter stating that these employees are being fired for cause, because that is a lie. We may never know.

Well said. Check out her entire thread for a list of ways #NSF makes a difference for science, scientists, and Americans.

To my friends and colleagues in Federal Service-there are people who will help you.

Final blocking before adding the buttons and sending this off. Welcome to the world, sweet babe. I hope we can hold the democracy for you. #knitting