Day 2814: The Heat of the Day

Yesterday, when I was walking around in the heat of the day, I heard “The Heat of the Day” by the Pat Metheny Group.

The music of the Pat Metheny Group has helped me get through a lot of heat of many days, but I can never remember there being so much heat to get through before. Here and now, there’s the heat of

• uncontrolled wild fires,
• climate change,
• the pandemic,
• elections,
• unrest,
• injustice,
• distrust,
• lies,
• ignorance,
• personal attacks, and
• panic about the future.

In all that heat of many days, it feels like we’re heading to the end of the world.

In the heat of my writing this post, the ironically soothing “To the End of the World” is playing, which is helping me deal with the heat of a new day.

Can you see the heat of the day in these images?

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I do believe we’re stronger together, but the heat of these days seems to be driving us apart.

In the heat of this day, I will be providing crisis services remotely and training a new social work intern to withstand the heat of the day at the hospital.

In the heat of the moment, I shall chill by looking for your comments on this “Heat of the Day” post.

In the heat of your day, please remember my gratitude for all, including YOU.

Day 2528: I’m sick of _______

I’m sick of

• politics,

• trying to figure out my ring size,

• misspellings on signs,

• the high price of parking, and
• driving to work in the snow.

I’m NOT sick of

• people who are funny,

• helpful labels,

• cats,

• self-care,

•  Michael’s cooking,

• great music,

• your comments, and
• gratitude.

Day 1954: Drowning

On Vivian the intern’s last day, I received this page at work.

I assumed that page was from Vivian, drowning in all the tasks she needed to complete. And it was.  However, that page could have been from a lot of people, because many of us are drowning in tasks, work, obligations, news, politics, self-recrimination, violence, worry, guilt, and shame.

What do you do when you’re drowning?  Do you reach out, like Vivian?  How do you reach out?

I don’t worry about drowning in water, even though I can’t swim.  Being near water keeps me from drowning.  And so does blogging and taking photos, like these:

Here’s a live version of “Drowning in a Sea of Love” with Boz Scaggs and Donald Fagen.

I hope you don’t mind drowning in a sea of gratitude from me.

 

 

Day 1919: Bright Ideas

Since I’m having trouble finding bright ideas in the news or on social media these days, I was glad to see this in a store yesterday.

That bright photo shows a notebook for writing down one’s own bright ideas. I’m now having the bright idea that bright ideas often come from within. My next bright idea is this: maybe we should rely less on other people’s bright ideas, especially if the people pushing those ideas don’t seem particularly bright.

Do you see any bright ideas in my other photos from yesterday?

I’m now having the bright idea that I’ll be revisiting the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August. While I’ve had that bright idea several times before, some bright ideas are worth repeating.

I just had the bright idea to look for “Bright Ideas” on YouTube.

I look forward to seeing many bright ideas in the comments section, below.

Bright thanks to all who help me share bright ideas in this daily blog and — of course! — to you, for having the bright idea of reading it.

Day 1857: You Can’t Fight City Hall

You can’t fight the proliferation of definitions on the internet for phrases like “You Can’t Fight City Hall.”

The Urban Dictionary:

you can’t fight city hall

it is useless to clash with a politician or establishment, it is foolish to fight a battle that you can’t win

“After getting no support for the destitute for 10 years, I have learned you can’t fight city hall.”

Dictionary.com:

can’t fight City Hall

Unable to overcome bureaucratic rules, as in Brad couldn’t get a permit without going through channels—you can’t fight City Hall! This term transfers the seat of city government to a more general sense of bureaucracy in any sphere. [Mid-1800s ]

TheFreeDictionary:

can’t fight City Hall

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(you) can’t fight city hall

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You cannot defeat or prevail over a bureaucratic system or its rules. You might as well 

pay those parking tickets now because you’ll never win in court. You can’t fight city hall, after all.

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See also:city, fight, hall

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

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(You) can’t fight city hall.

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There is no way to win in a battle against a bureaucracy. Bill: I guess I’ll go ahead and 

pay the tax bill. Bob: Might as well. You can’t fight city hall. Mary: How did things go at 

your meeting with the zoning board? Sally: I gave up. Can’t fight city hall.

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See also:city, fight, hall

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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Even though you can’t fight city hall, I went to City Hall yesterday (fighting snow and traffic)  to fight an excessively high tax assessment of our new property on the South Shore of Boston.

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Maybe there are two kinds of people in this world: Those who fight City Hall and those who don’t (like Bill, Bob,  and Sally, above).

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I can’t fight my urges to fight city hall and to take pictures everywhere, including City Hall:

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You can’t fight the freeze in New England, so you might as well eat ice cream.

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You can’t fight  “You Can’t Fight City Hall”  by Dr. West’s Medicine Show & Junk Band.

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You can’t fight the thoughts and feelings you have about this post, so why bother?

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I can’t fight my gratitude for all who helped me create today’s blog and — of course! — YOU.

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Day 1770: What are you afraid of?

What are you afraid of?

Within the last week, I’ve heard about people who are afraid of

• the dark,
• heights,
•  war,
• people who abuse positions of power,
• the media,
• molesters,
• being seen as a molester,
• the police,
• world leaders,
• science,
• ignorance,
• doctors,
• dentists,
• infections,
• sickness,
• aging
• death,
• taxes,
• failure,
• success,
• school,
• working too much,
• working too little,
• making mistakes,
• driving,
• bicyclists,
• loss,
• certain thoughts,
• certain feelings,
• feeling too good,
• going outside,
• staying inside,
• action,
• inaction,
• the weather,
• being alone,
• crowds,
• social events,
• marriage,
• divorce,
• becoming less attractive,
• becoming an adult,
• men,
• women,
• cats,
• dogs,
• mice,
• bugs,
• snakes,
• phones,
• cotton balls, and
• peaches.

Is anyone afraid of any of these photos?

I’m afraid that one major emotion is missing from that Time special edition cover.   Are they afraid of anger?

Here‘s how to let go of pain/fear/anger in 60 seconds.

 

Are you afraid of leaving a comment?  I hope not.

What am I afraid of?  Heights, the dark, the cold,  and forgetting to express gratitude to all who help me create these posts and — of course! — to YOU.