A gelatinous cube of fury

I'm a fan of juggling.  This video includes moves from very old Vaudeville routines, circus clowning, modern juggling, and more.  Impressive.

Munmuni Payeng Is Planting a Million Trees in Flood-Hit Assam

Munmuni Payeng, the 'Forest Queen of Assam,' stands resilient against the floods that have long tormented her homeland, Majuli Island. Inspired by her father, the legendary 'Forest Man' of India, Munmuni's mission is clear: plant a million native trees to combat the ceaseless erosion and displacement her community faces. Her efforts are marked not by grand gestures but by a steadfast commitment to reinvigorating the land and fostering a collective resilience. She enlists local communities, particularly children, in her crusade to transform despair into hope, believing deeply that "when you plant with a child, you plant for a lifetime." Munmuni's journey is a profound testament to the power of quiet revolutions, where environmental restoration becomes a tapestry woven with shared stories and seeds of solidarity.


Trees are a tremendous help against flooding. Some trees, such as mangroves, are actually ecosystem engineers.

The enshittification of American power

There is no question that the last century, and particularly since the end of the Cold War, the world has been characterized by US hegemony exercised through its military and economic power, and control over financial institutions. But in a long article in Wired with the above title, Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman argue that under the Trump regime, the US is starting to follow the pattern of big tech entities like Google and Facebook and that this is eventually going to lead to a decline in US power and influence in the world.


This makes a disturbing amount of sense.

8.8 magnitude earthquake 133 km from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamtsjatka, Russia
4 hours ago

Tsunami alerts have gone out to Japan, Alaska, and various other places.

Today is mostly sunny and sweltering.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I found a cinnamon fern sprouting in the forest garden.  :D  I never know what will suddenly spring up from things I planted earlier.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a pair of mourning doves.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I checked the garden but nothing was ripe.

However, I think I've got a good start on my landrace zinnias.  There is a nice cluster of purple and red ones where I planted the seeds gathered from the Charleston Food Forest last fall.  :D  Now I just have to hope that these do a good job of setting seed.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/29/25 -- I walked out to the north end of the yard today.  The telephone pole garden has balsam, gladioli, sunflowers, and zinnias blooming.  :D  Naked ladies are putting up flower stalks nearby, but none have opened yet.

I picked a couple of blackberries from the late-fruiting bush.  Wildflowers are blooming all over the prairie garden.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
 

This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "Books and Learning." I'll be soliciting ideas for readers, writers, storytellers, scribes, editors, publishers, students, teachers, caregivers, children, parents, bookworms, nerds, bookstore owners, librarians, an anonymous benefactor, activists, volunteers, superheroes, supervillains, other bookish people, reading, writing, delighting the reader, editing, publishing, bookbinding, shopping for books, telling stories, teaching, inviting students to a lesson, demonstrating tools, educating the whole child, learning, studying, parenting, lending a hand, cooperating, concentrating on a current task, volunteering, supporting people in hard times, respecting people, modeling manners and skills, learning to trust others, observing the environment, engaging all the senses, cultivating a full life, creating intimacy, making friends, getting to know each other, cooking together, choosing your own goals, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, making mistakes, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, other educational activities, books, scrolls, magical tomes, printing presses, pens and pencils, bookstores, libraries, Little Free Libraries, book nooks, windowseats, Montessori schools, other alternative schools, preschools or daycares, Montessori homeschool, prepared environment, colleges and universities, beautiful places, craft centers, community centers, coffeehouses, outdoor classrooms, parks, nature centers, other spaces designed for learning, Triton Teen Centers, mentor circles, intentional communities, clubs, quiet rooms, inclusive workplaces, Thalassia, the Maldives, the Lacuna,  the Aqademy of the Qrossroads, Waldorf toys, Montessori materials, intrinsic motivation, child independence, respect for the child, freedom to choose, freedom of time and uninterrupted work periods, absorbent mind, post-traumatic growth, individualized education, three-part cards, language lessons, mathematics, diverse ages and abilities, self-correcting toys and lessons, natural consequences, freedom of movement, intentional neighboring, diversity, inclusivity, emotional closeness, nonsexual intimacies, first contact, rescue, interspecies relationships, trial and error, trust issues, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One involves education and reading in the Lacuna.

Arts and Crafts America focuses on fine arts and practical crafts, sometimes education.  Bookbinding would be a logical craft.

The Bear Tunnels has future books in a past culture.

Daughters of the Apocalypse have to rediscover many historic skills for survival, including earlier methods of sharing knowledge.

Frankenstein's Family has two scientists teaching villagers to be thoughtful instead of stupid, and after a few years, several more people keenly interested in books and education.

Not Quite Kansas started with mishandling a book of spells, and involves trying to learn about a whole new world.

Path of the Paladins includes the Canticle of Thorns and other books.

Peculiar Obligations has Quakers in organized crime.  The Religious Society of Friends has been greatly involved in education, including abolitionist and natural science publications.

Polychrome Heroics is largely about people learning things.  Threads particularly focused on this include Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Aquariana, the Big One, Danso and Family, Dr. Infanta, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Rutledge, and Trichromatic Attachments.

Quixotic Ideas is set in a world with plenty of magic and a positive tone, where people often help each other and solve challenges peacefully.  It includes a healthy magical school.

Schrodinger's Heroes save the world from alternate dimensions, and they learn a lot along the way.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.

( New to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )