PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Invisible Shadows The car’s rev and the garage door’s gentle rumble tells Maurice his sister’s family is leaving for the annual feast at Maryjane’s house. He remembers Maryjane’s turtle cheesecake and starts drooling. Maurice wiggles out of the sleeping bag carefully hidden in Susie’s shed. He makes his way to her back slider and jimmies the lock.

image link A little-known legend: A troll family lived in a cave under the bridge, by the wide river, in a remote part of Russia.  As this was in the northern region, the winters there were plentiful with snow, ice, extreme cold, and bitter winds. Trolls had no concept of putting provisions away for the long season, so they foraged for roots, what animals they could trap, and fish from the river.

This year's list has been tweaked a little but most of my old favorites are still on it.  Hoping you have spotify and are able to hear it. LINKS TO YOUTUBESSilver and Gold Burl IvesDon’t Shoot Me Santa The Killers and Ryan PardeyFather Christmas The KinksChristmas in Hollis Run-DMCMust Be Santa Bob DylanChristmas (Please Come Home)

Not sure how many times I've reposted it, but here it is again. Voices intertwineto manifest the divinedirect interface I'll be posting my spotify holiday playlist tomorrow morning. Steeleye Span per wikipedia:Steeleye Span are an English folk rock band formed in 1969. Still active today, they are, along with Fairport Convention, amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat".

This is a preserved copy of a 60 Minutes news segment reporting on the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo(CECOT), a maximum-security prison in El...

Giuffre’s family calls the success of her posthumous memoir, Nobody's Girl, ‘bittersweet’ after her death in April

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image link Last year was the first proclaimed MOD when I made a playlist of my favorite songs from Midnight Oil’s 6th, 7th, and 8th albums, Diesel & Dust, Blue Sky Mining, and Earth & Sun & Moon. These are the three albums I owned at the time and had listened to a lot when they first came out. It was on December 23, 2024 that I made the proclamation.

energy gatheredcold short solstice days preparefor long eveninghuddle closely face to facecomfort brightens lonely space   sanctuary singsholy instruments bring joytell sacred storiesone with one they sound as oneworshippers gather today   everyone welcomedeserves is just a conceptto dine in rules outwith judgment there is no placedignity for all   Notes:

St. Vincent album cover photo for "All Born Screaming"image from Atwood Magazine, which also has a spotify playlist of the album linked to it The first two bands I thought about for today’s prompt were Lucius and St. Vincent. Because I just saw St. Vincent on Colbert again, I went with the latter. I wrote about St. Vincent in 2024’s Women Music March.

click on link to take you to a page with various live cams trained on Mackinac Straits area Today I've learned about two big developments in the fight against Canada's Enbridge building a tunnel around their decrepit oil pipelines running under the Straits of Mackinac, where 21% of the world's fresh water resides. The first, at The Current on Substack, where, "This week, 

  image from a post that ranks Norah's albums DecemberDecember, come to meI hope I can seeYou're not just in dreamsI will let you beWhy can't you believeHow much you really mean?December, won't you comeBack with snow, even sun?Don't say that it's doneI will carry you homeTake you from the loneliest place…

PHOTO PROMPT © Peter Abbey Life Waves “Isn’t it funny how life’s waves wash over us with a certain rhythm?” Serena says to no one in particular as she reclines in her ergolounger, gazing at Lake Michigan. “It sure is,” says Pete. Serena looks behind her, where the bass voice is coming from. A tall, tanned man in neon green trunks is stretched out on his stomach on his peace towel.

image link The older she got, the less sure she was about anything. Ready or Not At Rosita’s, her favorite dive, nestled into a corner hidden in the shadows missed by candles, Jin sips Jim Beam and Coke and lets her eyes roam around the room. There’s old Bern, sitting at the bar with Matilda. They’d been regulars here when she was still in paisley halter tops and time-faded bell bottom jeans, a new girl in town, and a stranger to every lonely sap in the small neighborhood bar that the big city has ignored for the last 50 years.

In the Year 2025JanuaryCalifornia wildfiresa fascist re-electedthings are heating upAmericaFebruaryChinese tariffsEagles beat Chiefsgames that we playwinning?MarchTrudeau resignswrongful deportations beginBurma earthquake kills thousandsunavoidables?April”Sinners” premiersNZ seismic threatsRussia bombs Sumy civiliansdestructionMayMidwest tornadoesNPR PBS axedfirst American Pope electedhope?

image by Daniel Sleep Will Have to Wait Oh, how I longto curl up,warm-cocooned,for crescent’s dreamlight’s long night. Alas, winter dreamsto hibernate must wait.Faithful frigid friendextends their visit. Awake, I step into wool socks,shove into gloves,layer paint to show snowdrifts some churning love. Mish is today's host of dVerse' Quadrille Monday.  Mish wants us to write a 44-word poem using the word hibernate.

Please take a moment to follow the link and read Jeffrey's essay. Clean water matters. From Bill Latka of Oil & Water Don't Mix: This is exactly the kind of sharp analysis we need to cut through corporate messaging that puts our Great Lakes at risk. I'm genuinely grateful to Jeff for his clear, revealing thinking. He is a terrific writer, and I feel he's topped himself this time.

Stranded Album Art When I saw this week’s Song Lyric Sunday’s prompt, my first thought was a place in my home State of Michigan, and I can think of a few songs that mention it: “America,” by Simon & Garfunkel, “Brass in Pocket,” by The Pretenders, “Dancin’ in the Street,” by Martha and the Vandellas,” “Eight Mile,” by Eminem, “Panic in Detroit,” by David Bowie, “Sweet Payne,” by The Hold Steady, and many others.

Happy Friday Everyone! Lots of contending with the weather this week, but a few opportunities to forget about it also.  I went out for dinner with older son last night and took a few pics of the place we went.  It's one of our favorite places to go.   Son usually gets pizza.  I got eggplant parmesan with angel hair pasta.  Delicious!  

Michigan December Tableaucoat, boots, hat, scarf, gloveslong strides punch white snowgarage lock’s unfrozenblessing before taskbacktrack holes to houserehang keys on hookshiny red beast primed,plugged in, roars to lifechurns into bright lightchute spews white rivercoating cottonwooduntil time to turnround we go, circuitsheated grip warmersease arthritic joints.

The post is about a song, about a place, and about a time in our history -- the present.

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson Never Again The parties we used to have! Held on Thursday nights, around the calendar. Everyone knew to bring a dish, a bottle, and a CD of their favorite tunes. Winter time may have been the best of all. Everyone bundled up, rosy-cheeked, snuggling with neighbors, hands over the raised fire pit, keeping warm while laughing.