Local Posts Seattle, WA (zoom)

There are only two moments each year when the Sun lies directly above Earth’s equator. These moments are the equinoxes, when, at any location, the lengths of day and night are roughly equal. The March equinox happens sometime between March 19 and 21. The September equinox occurs sometime between September 21 and 24.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox marks the beginning of Spring and the September equinox the beginning of Fall. The reverse takes place in the Southern Hemisphere.

"If you’ve ever attended one of the free lectures at the Elger Bay Institute of Aesthetic Enlargement, you know that continuing education flourishes on the erudite South End. For those of you who have cable TV, you probably feel like you don’t need to take advantage of the Institute’s seminars, tutorials and lectures offered to the public, not when you can get every episode of every series made since Milton Berle brought enlightenment to America through the magic of television"..... More at The Skeeter Daddle Diaries ➜

"I guess since all my cronies are throwing in the towel and taking retirement on schedule, it’s only reasonable I’ve been getting calls from the Mabana Financial Services asking if I’d like to come on down to their lavish offices overlooking the Port of Mabana and discuss fiscal strategies for my upcoming Golden Years. Ho ho, would I ever? Course, like I tell Ben, the head honcho down at MFS, it’s a little like saddling up the horse that ske-daddled when I left the barn door open back in my earning years. Earning years. Old Ben loves expressions like that". More at The Skeeter Daddle Diaries ➜

Gee, I don’t know. Imagine calling Donald Trump and his gang of goofballs weird. What, them? Elon Musk and his X platform of misinformation? C’mon, we all know he’s as normal as you and me and the potted plant in the room with us. So what if he plans to colonize Mars in our lifetime, probably not a bad plan at all, maybe start with Don and JD? Matt Goetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene? How about Lauren Boebert? Rudy, America’s mayor? Nothing strange about those nice people, right?..... More at The Skeeter Daddle Diaries ➜

"I went to apply for my State Park Annual Permit yesterday, what used to be free to us citizens, but now costs us taxpayers because the State doesn’t have enough tax dollars for what it used to have enough for so the budget needs to be balanced. Now the poor can pay what the guy launching his 25 foot Bayliner pays for a permit, same way he does at the gas station for the gas tax, same as he does at the drug store, same as he does just about everywhere he buys something. This is what we call Recessive Taxation. No breaks for the indigent. You know, folks we now refer to as Takers...... More at The Skeeter Daddle Diaries ➜

"Here’s some good news for you beleaguered gun right advocates: now you can buy your ammo from a vending machine. No need to haul down to your local gun dealer for bullets, just wheel up to the conveniently placed dispenser in your local chain grocery store. Course, at this time the only states where they’re located is Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama but you can rest assure American Rounds, the distributor, will expand exponentially until it reaches your very own Safeway". ...More at The Skeeter Daddle Diaries ➜

Photo shared by Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American

"A study from the University of Washington, published last week in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, reports the noise from the Boeing EA-18G Growlers and their training drills present a “substantial risk” to two-thirds of Island County residents" More at The Seattle Times ➜
(U.S. Navy Photo)

Today's your natal day
Sweet flowers I bring;
Mother accept I pray,
My offering.

And may you happy live,
And long us bless;
Receiving as you give
Great happiness.

"To My Mother on Her Birthday" was Christina Rossetti's first poem, written when she was eleven. Apropos for Mother's Day.

Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 –1894), was an English writer born in London. She authored many romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Britain: "In the Bleak Midwinter" and "Love Came Down at Christmas",  She was a sister of the artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

"When I first arrived on the South End, my biggest concern was finding a job. I’ve always maintained, and still do, that the only thing worse than work is looking for work. The best days of my life are those where I quit or gave notice or just walked off. The worst were the days following when it dawned on me I would now have to go searching for another dead end minimum wage position". More at The Skeeter Daddle Diaries ➜