Day 4897: A Feel Good Story & Sociable Weaver Birds.

"B4&after": gesso, junk paper collage on canvas.

  

                                                                       

  

Want music?

    Click: Norah Jones, Don't Know Why?

2GN2S

A Feel Good Story

Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words:

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letterbox at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page were the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away.

Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love.

Love, God

In the southern Kalahari Desert, the barren landscape is home to Sociable Weaver Birds, small birds known for building enormous communal nests. While they typically construct their nests in trees, the sparse vegetation in the arid conditions means suitable trees are rare. Adapting to their environment, the weavers have turned to telephone poles, which stretch across the desert. Each year, they continue to add to their nests, which eventually grow too large to resist gravity’s pull. These "social" birds not only live in large colonies but also create intricate homes made from sticks, grass, and cotton, which house several other bird species. The nests can shelter over 100 birds at once. Photographer Dillon Marsh’s series, Assimilation, beautifully captures these unique and impressive nests.

  

 

A 5+ minute video, Coin operated,  here

 

  

 

Just because ...

Guira Cuckoo

 

Tuesday's Smiles ... 

 

   

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.

  

 

 

Day 4896: 15 Musical Facts & Greenland.

  

For Martin Luther King Day, by Corita Kent

January 19, 2026

"it can be said of him, as of few men in like position, that he did not fear the weather and did not trim his sails, but instead, challenged the wind itself to improve its direction and to cause it to blow more softly and more kindly over the world and its people..." E.B. White 1963.

...

On this day we honor the work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we would also like to celebrate the work of Coretta Scott King who founded The King Center to educate on nonviolent social change and build #thebelovedcommunity.

...

Corita Kent, "it can be said of them," 1969, serigraph, 11.5 x 22.5 inches, (c) 2021 The Corita Art Center, The Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles. #heroesandsheroes #mlkday

                                                                       

  

Want music?

   Click: Norah Jones, Come Away with Me.

2GN2S

• 15 FACTS ABOUT MUSIC THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW

  • Listening to music is one of the few activities that involve the use of all parts of our brain.

•  When listening to music, your heart modifies its beats to try to imitate the rhythm of the music you listen to.

•   Did you know that having a song playing in our head all day and not being able to stop it? This phenomenon is known as "musical worm".
•   When listening to rock or pop our physical resistance can increase by 15%.
•   When we listen to music, dopamine is released in our brain, like when you take drugs, have eat.
•   Music can help us in reasoning processes and significantly improves the motor areas of our brain. That's why it is believed that music emerged to "help us all move together."

There is research that has shown that what we feel when we listen to a song is very similar to what the rest of the people in the same place are experiencing. (That's where it comes from that we make so many friends at concerts!).

•   The music listened to is stored in areas of the brain different from those of the memories, that's why people with Alzheimer's are able to remember melodies from their past.
•   Listening to loud music can cause us to drink drinks faster in less time. Now we understand why the music is so loud in discos.

•   Touching a musical instrument can improve verbal communication.
•   Flowers can grow faster if there is music around them.
•   The kind of music we like at the age of 20 is usually the kind of music we will like for the rest of our lives.
•   Babies learn the meaning of the emotions of the music before the meaning of the words. 
• The way we conceive the world is conditioned by the type of music we listen to.

Greenland is the largest island on Earth, covering roughly 2.16 million square kilometers, yet much of what defines its global importance remains hidden beneath ice that has dominated the landscape for hundreds of thousands of years. Nearly 80 percent of the island is locked under a massive ice sheet, creating the illusion of an empty, frozen world. But beneath that frozen surface lies one of the most resource-rich regions on the planet. As climate change accelerates ice melt and technology advances, Greenland is quietly emerging as a strategic focal point in the future of global energy, manufacturing, and geopolitics.

Under the ice and exposed rock, Greenland holds significant deposits of rare-earth elements, including lithium and other critical minerals essential for modern green technologies. These materials are indispensable for electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, and advanced electronics. In a world racing to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, access to rare-earth minerals has become a matter of national security and economic power.

Greenland also contains iron ore, uranium, and potentially vast reserves of oil and natural gas, making it one of the few places on Earth where traditional energy resources and future clean-energy materials coexist in abundance.

What makes Greenland especially significant is scale. Geological surveys suggest that several of its rare-earth deposits may rank among the largest known anywhere in the world. This has drawn intense international interest as countries seek to diversify supply chains away from limited sources and reduce vulnerability to geopolitical disruption. However, extracting these resources is far from simple.Greenland’s extreme climate, fragile ecosystems, limited infrastructure, and strong environmental protections create major logistical and ethical challenges. Local communities and policymakers must weigh economic opportunity against environmental risk, cultural preservation, and long-term sustainability.

As the ice slowly retreats, Greenland stands at a crossroads between preservation and exploitation. Its buried wealth could help power the global energy transition—or spark new geopolitical tensions in a rapidly warming Arctic. What was once considered a remote, frozen frontier is now becoming one of the most strategically important places on Earth, not because of what is visible, but because of what lies hidden beneath the ice.

 

  

 

A special 7 minute video, Alike,  here

 

 

 

Just because ...

Heart-spotted Woodpecker

 

Monday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.

  

 

Day 4895: John Wilson drawing & Ants Surviving Obstacles.

  

"Bree": ink, gesso, acrylic, collage on banana skin paper.

                                                                       

  

Want music?

    Click: Tobey Keith, Don't Let the Old Man In.

2GN2S

John Wilson (American, 1922–2015), "Steel Worker," 1959. 

Pastel and gouache on paper. Princeton University Art Museum / Art Resource, NY.

John Wilson’s drawing of a Black steel worker was featured on the cover of the July 23, 1959, issue of The Reporter.

Composed and resolute, the figure radiates dignity and strength, appearing almost sculptural against a backdrop of bold, heavy-outlined geometric forms. Near the center of the composition are his massive hands, firmly grasping a steel rod.

Inside the issue, Paul Jacobs’s essay, “The Negro Worker Asserts His Rights,” was accompanied by six illustrations by Wilson, among his most searing indictments of the discrimination faced by Black workers.

 

  

 

A 5+ minute video, Shellproof, here

 

 

 

Just because ...

Blond-crested Woodpecker 

 

Sunday's Smiles ... 

 

 

  Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.