Raining outside, a gentle spring rain and the sky is overcast. There are days like this, to remind that every cloud has a silver lining. The wildflower seeds that I scattered yesterday are responding, as I write, to the H²0 that moistens, softens the outer covering. The inner living kernel will activate soon… Stay tuned.

But also,”Every silver lining also has it’s cloud.” I continue to stammer inwardly at the Oval Office press conference fiasco of two days ago. The President of Ukraine was berated, “dressed down” as if he were a child, ill-dressed for the occasion. First at curbside as our President made a snarky joke about the Ukrainian’s manner of dress. The issue surfaced again shortly as the camera’s rolled, when an administration-endorsed reporter asked Zelensky whether he owned a suit…

Zelensky was and is more of a man than anyone seated around him in that press conference. As the leader of a nation at war with a superior adversary, his own life, and that of his people at risk, 24×7 – has the right to dress as he pleases, no explanation owed to anyone.

This is Fat Tuesday. This tottering world as “fucked up” as it has ever been, still this place is home. And is worth our devotion, and our defending.

How about a tune? I think this will serve us well: Ship to Wreck by Florence +  the Machine

Ship To Wreck

Don’t touch the sleeping pills, they mess with my head,
Dredging the Great White Sharks, swimming in the bed,
And here comes a Killer Whale, to sing me to sleep,
Thrashing the covers off, it has me by its teeth.

And oh my love remind me, what was it that I said?
I can’t help but pull the earth around me, to make my bed
And oh my love remind me, what was it that I did?
Did I drink too much?
Am I losing touch?
Did I build this ship to wreck?

To wreck, to wreck, to wreck,
Did I build this ship to wreck?

What’s with the long face? Do you want more?
Thousands of red-eyed mice, scratching at the door,
Don’t let the curtain catch you, cause you’ve been here before,
The chair is an island darling, you can’t touch the floor,

And oh my love remind me, what was it that I said?
I can’t help but pull the earth around me, to make my bed
And oh my love remind me, what was it that I did?
Did I drink too much?
Am I losing touch?
Did I build this ship to wreck?

To wreck, to wreck, to wreck,
Did I build this ship to wreck?

Ooh-ooh ohh, ooh-ooh ohh, ooh-ooh ohh
Ooh-ooh ohh, ooh-ooh ohh, ooh-ooh ohh

Good God, under starless skies we are lost,
And into the breach we got tossed,
And the water’s coming in fast!

And oh my love remind me, what was it that I said?
I can’t help but pull the earth around me, to make my bed
And oh my love remind me, what was it that I did?
Did I drink too much?
Am I losing touch?
Did I build this ship to wreck?

To wreck, to wreck, to wreck,
Did I build this ship to wreck?

To wreck, to wreck, to wreck,
Did I build this ship to wreck?

Lyrics by Florence Leontine Mary Welch, Thomas Edward Percy Hull