Hello to you. I just saw the sad news that Dolly Parton has died at age 80. It’s hard to believe as she has been a part of my life for so long. One of my earliest memories of her was my going into the book mobile and signing out her album with the song Coat of Many Colors:
I feel so bad for his little girl who is only 3 years old! Her dad was shot right in front of her. When is enough enough?!! My prayers go out to her and her mother.
Changing gears…..
Todays prompt is so true of me. All my life so far I’ve been in school – life school. I have experienced both the good and bad lessons life has to teach. I believe we don’t go through things for no reason – especially difficult things. When we approach difficult things as learning opportunities we grow as people. We become the sort of person that can then turn around and use what we’ve learned to help other people facing similar challenges. When we face difficulties we can choose to shut down and become bitter or we can bloom where we are planted.
Turning to God during trials makes the load lighter. There has been so many times when I turned my trials over to God that doors previously closed flew open! The way was made smoother than it would be on my own. These past couple of years I have really been using the power of prayer to help me and others get through difficult times.
Spin of the Prayer Wheel today:
God, help me to be a pure vehicle for your love, and light, and wisdom.
Hello to you. It’s another hot day here. I will get my walk in when the sun goes down! This morning prayer was good. We stayed a little extra time to pray over the 21 Days Of Prayer prayer requests. The prayers ranged from health to requests for people to return to their faith. A lot of atheists! One request that touched my heart was from a lonely person reaching out in a world where it’s difficult to make lasting friendships. The older you get the harder it is!
Last night I was able to watch an interesting documentary on PBS about the Apollo 11 mission to Mars. I have been one of those people who was skeptical of the mission even happening and it being a hoax. The documentary did a good job of bringing the mission to life. It put my skepticism to rest.
8 Days: To the Moon and Back is a 2019 documentary-drama that recreates the Apollo 11 mission, blending declassified cockpit audio, NASA archives, CGI, and dramatic reenactments to tell the story of the first moon landing. Directed by Anthony Philipson, it stars actors like Rufus Wright as Neil Armstrong, Jack Tarlton as Buzz Aldrin, and Patrick Kennedy as Michael Collins, bringing the astronauts’ experiences to life through their own words. The film covers the full eight-day journey, from launch to return, revealing details often unseen in historical footage.
From the World Prayer Wheel today:
In the joy of your heart, Your light remains.
In the gift of your caring, Your light remains
Where you reached out to help, Your light remains.
Where you sat in silent peace, Your light remains.
In the place where you worked, Your light remains
In the stillness of the starry night, Your light remains
In the light of each day fully embraced, Your light remains.
Like the touch of an Angel, Your light remains.
When you live as a light, Your heart is joined in the Infinite Light of Love. And that about you which is eternal … remains.
Hello there! How are you? If you’re American you are probably having a cookout and preparing for fireworks tonight. I hope if you are reading from America and you have pets that you secure them. I know a lot of people have to give their pets tranquilizers to get through this night. Thankfully my Link doesn’t get worked up like most dogs. So many people like fireworks! They are pretty to watch but aren’t very eco friendly!
There has been quite a hoopla over today marking 250 years – we made it this far and I have hope for the future despite everything going on right now. Freedom isn’t free! It’s good to see so many people loving our country.
I had a wonderful meal and visit with my Aunt, Uncle, cousin and his wife and two of my Aunts Granddaughters Richelle and Tatum, Tatum’s husband Kyle and baby Liam. We had hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, corn on the cob, fruit, watermelon and ice cream and brownies for dessert. Liam was definitely the star of the show. Once he got acclimated to everybody, he had a great time. Great Grandma my Aunt gave him some metal measuring cups he loved clanging together. We all know what he’s getting for Christmas! My Uncle, Great Grandpa said he’s going to get Liam a drum set! lol! 😂 We made a special memory today! So special!
My sweet Auntie and I – Grandma Becker would be so proud! She loved celebrating the 4th in her backyard in Ft. Collins CO My beautiful Grandma Becker (I couldn’t flip picture!)
If God could talk it wouldn’t be in English or Latin or Arabic It wouldn’t be in Yiddish or Spanglish or pidgin
If God could talk the words would crack like thunder pour down like a torrent of jewels flooding our basements with shining ideas, sparkling conclusions.
If God could talk a thought would be a redwood a word an ocean a sentence a century.
If God could talk I would not have to for all the words today requires would flow in on the morning breeze and find their way to the morning news.
If God could talk God’s word would be carried on the wings of eagles the ankles of gnats in the pouches of kangaroos and the paws of polar bears.
It would spread through the sound of honey bees and hyenas be translated into a rainbow by blue herons and cardinals, blackbirds and yellowjackets pink flamingos and gray whales, purple martins and chameleons.
It would cause rivers to flow, tides to rise, moons to wax, suns to set, sparrows to fly, planets to revolve, universes to expand if God could talk.
Hello to you. I hope this finds you well from where you are visiting me here. Today is Memorial Day here in the US and my deceased birth mom’s 84 birthday.
Drawing I did of my mom Jeannie many years ago
My thoughts and prayers go out to all the family and friends of those who have fought and died for their country. In addition to that my thoughts turn to those who have fought and lost the battle with mental illness. My mom Jeannie, at the age of 26 is such a person. I was afraid for much of my early life that I wasn’t going to live past 26 – end up just like my mom. I am now 58 – well beyond my fears!
One of the most special memories I have of celebrating Memorial Day is with my exes family going to Arlington National Cemetery. My exes dad and his family played taps at exactly 3 pm at different corners of the cemetery:
https://youtu.be/nhxxOvdM1SE?si=yj7rOt0BimzB6M98 – Taps – We share a Memorial Day tribute, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force Band. It features a bugler from The Ceremonial Brass performing Taps at Culpeper National Cemetery in Virginia
Taps for Veterans Every Memorial Day at 3:00 PM local time, Americans from coast to coast pause to honor those who gave their lives in service to our country.
I nearly lost it seeing so many graves. There were several new graves. The ages of those fallen were my age and younger. Gone too soon!
Hello to you in your now. How are you doing? I am writing to you from my favorite spot – the couch with my panda boy Link. I remembered my phone for the first walk today and was rewarded with roses in bloom everywhere!
Now is a time of roses in the neighborhood I love this picture with his Momma Tippie. He is almost all gray and white now. You can see why we called him panda boy!
I started the new higher dose of olanzapine today. I haven’t really noticed a difference yet – it takes some time for the body to adjust. I am still having the weeble wobble stuff going on with my ears. May be the doctor I will be getting will have new ideas from the doctor I just had!
I asked the internet for positive news about roses and this is what came up as an answer:
Modern rose breeding has successfully solved the historical trade-off between stunning petal colors and deep fragrance. Geneticists have identified the specific pathways that allow new cultivars to produce vibrant blooms without sacrificing their signature scent, while also creating highly resilient, heat-tolerant varieties that require far less maintenance.
Exciting Developments in the Rose World
Stronger Fragrance & Genetics: Molecular researchers have mapped the complex DNA of modern roses. They have isolated the genes responsible for prolonged, repeat blooming and are finding ways to bring back robust fragrance without losing bold, vibrant colors.
Ultra-Resilient Cultivars: Modern varieties are increasingly engineered for heat tolerance, meaning they can thrive in challenging climates without needing constant chemical interventions. Disease-resistant shrub and groundcover roses are now widely available for home gardens.
True Blue Blooms: After years of botanical research, horticulturalists have successfully cultivated and refined “true blue” roses using natural pigment engineering—a color that was previously considered botanically impossible.
Where to Find & Explore the Best Roses
Whether you are looking to plant a low-maintenance garden or just want to admire award-winning blooms, these trusted platforms can help:
American Rose Society: Access official care guides, find local rose societies in Idaho, and browse the latest award-winning rose introductions.
Heirloom Roses: Shop a massive collection of own-root roses that are known for their vigor, fragrance, and disease resistance.
David Austin Roses: Browse the iconic, heavily fragrant English roses that combine classic, old-world charm with hardy, modern disease resistance.
Have you ever noticed how most roses you buy in the store have no smell? I hope that will change.
Dear Jesus I thank you for this day.  I thank you for all the beauty in this world and my being able to get out and enjoy it. Please continue to be with my cousin Heidi on her healing journey. I pray for your presence with the elderly, the sick, the unhoused, the poor, the hungry, the addicted, neglected and abused. Amen.
Hello to you. I hope this finds you well. I just scrapped an entire post because I know not many people will want to read a rant about how our wild spaces are being violated. I think a lot of people are just so beat up by this world right now that they have become apathetic to it all. They need good news! What is going right with the world?!!! I found the following on the good news network page:
Ice Cream Truck Gives Free Scoop to Little Boy Who Couldn’t Afford It. Now It’s Free for All Kids This Summer
“We don’t turn kids away when they don’t have money,” says Madyson Silvagnoli, owner of Maddy’s Ice Cream and More.
In between all of the bad and sad news are good things happening. My hope is in Jesus who manifests himself in good people and happenings each day. You just have to look! I can remember living in a Section 8 apartment but if you look at the pictures I took living there you would never know. Kyle, Sam and I looked for and found the beauty in between the trash. In between the ugliness of war and chaos are good people doing good things. All is not lost!
Hello to you today. I hope this finds you well. My thoughts today turn to water. This is what the internet had to say about current conditions:
Water shortages in the US are reaching critical levels, driven by climate change, aging infrastructure, and aquifer depletion, with New Mexico, California, Arizona, and the Colorado River Basin facing severe risks. Roughly 2.2 million Americans lack running water, and 44 million face water system quality issues. Groundwater, particularly the Ogallala aquifer, is rapidly declining. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Key Water Shortage Areas and Drivers
The West and Southwest: The Colorado River, which supplies water for seven states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming), is severely overallocated. Major reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell have experienced critically low levels.
Groundwater Depletion: Nearly 45% of water wells across the US have seen significant water level declines since 1980.
Infrastructure Issues: Aging infrastructure and failed septic systems are causing water insecurity, particularly impacting Latino, Black, and Indigenous communities.
The Ogallala Aquifer: This major agricultural water source is draining faster than it can replenish. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Impacted RegionsHighest Risk: New Mexico is classified as having “extremely high” water stress.
High Risk States: California, Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska face high water stress.
Widespread Risk: Future projections suggest that by 2071, nearly half of the 204 freshwater basins in the US may not be able to meet monthly water demands. [1, 2]
Solutions and OutlookLong-Term Strategies: Solutions include enhanced conservation efforts, water recycling, and desalination.
Infrastructure Investment: Increased funding for water infrastructure is considered crucial.
Agricultural Changes: Agricultural practices are expected to change significantly to reduce water consumption, as irrigation accounts for a large portion of water use. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Recent DevelopmentsAs of May 2026, widespread “severe to exceptional” drought continues in parts of the country.Renegotiations are underway for the Colorado River’s management, with key agreements set to expire.USGS released a comprehensive assessment on water resources in January 2025 to monitor these risks
All this is going on and yet they want to build huge data centers. Here is what the internet had to say about them in regards to water usage:
Data centers consume significant water, often 1–5 million gallons daily for large, hyperscale facilities to cool servers, roughly equivalent to a town of 10,000–50,000 people. As AI grows, this usage is rising, with AI-related data centers in the U.S. projected to require up to 32 billion gallons annually by 2028. [1, 2, 3]
Key Water Usage Facts & Figures (2026):
Daily Consumption: Medium-sized data centers can use roughly 300,000 to 500,000 gallons daily, while large, hyperscale facilities can hit 1–5 million gallons, especially during hot weather.
AI Impact: An AI chat session of roughly 20-50 queries can consume up to a 500ml bottle of water.
Aggregate Impact: U.S. data centers combined consumed about 17 billion gallons of on-site water in 2023. While significant locally, this accounts for roughly 0.3–0.4% of total U.S. daily water withdrawals, much less than agriculture.
Cooling Methods: Most high-usage data centers use evaporative cooling, which evaporates water to keep servers cool, making it a high-consumption, low-return process. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Environmental and Local Impact:Local Strain: Data centers can strain local water resources, with some studies showing that 31% of freshwater withdrawals by major companies like Google in 2023 were from medium-to-high water-stressed regions.
Contamination Risks: Cooling systems can introduce biocides (to prevent bacterial growth), corrosion inhibitors, and heavy metals into local water systems.
Water Management: Operators are increasingly using “closed-loop” systems to reduce consumption and exploring alternatives to freshwater, though saltwater is generally not feasible due to mineral buildup. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Future Outlook: Water withdrawals for AI-related operations in Texas alone could grow from 0.75% of state demand in 2025 to over 9% by 2040. Solutions like direct-to-chip and immersion cooling are being implemented to reduce, but not eliminate, the need for water. [1, 2]
I feel bad for the people of Utah:
A massive 40,000-acre “Stratos” AI data center project, backed by Kevin O’Leary and Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), was approved in Box Elder County, Utah, in May 2026. The project intends to support national AI capabilities with 9 gigawatts of power, though it faces intense scrutiny for high water usage and potential environmental impacts. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Key Details of the Utah AI Data Center Projects (as of May 2026)Stratos / Wonder Valley (Box Elder County)
Project Size: A massive 40,000-acre campus on unincorporated land in northwest Utah.
Developer: Backed by Kevin O’Leary (O’Leary Digital) in partnership with West GenCo and MIDA.
Power & Output: Expected to generate and use roughly 9 gigawatts of power, which is more than double the current electricity consumption of the entire state of Utah.
Environmental Concerns: Critics cite significant potential air pollution, noise, and water consumption, estimated at 16.6 billion gallons per year, potentially affecting the Great Salt Lake.
Purpose: Touted by supporters as a critical AI infrastructure project to enhance US security against global competitors.
Unfortunately Idaho is not immune to the data centers and apparently has AI data centers under construction:
Idaho Conservation League:
🚧🤖 Idaho’s first AI data center is under construction– and another is on the way. More and more tech companies are eying Idaho for new data centers because of our relatively low electricity rates, abundance of land, existing tax breaks for these facilities, and our generally anti-regulation state government. This is likely just the beginning of the data center boom in Idaho.⚡️
🔋With electricity rates already increasing as a result of population growth and large industrial customers, we need to make sure that residential customers don’t subsidize infrastructure and energy costs related to these facilities. As we enter the brave new world of AI mega data centers, we should strive to be as prepared as possible to handle the increased strain they will put on our electric grid and water supply. 💧
Hello to you. Hope this finds you well. Today my thoughts are about the recent release of UAP files. Do you believe we have and still are being visited by beings from other dimensions and worlds? I think we are. For a long time when I have read about the ascension of Jesus I have thought perhaps he was lifted by a tractor beam to a waiting ship in the sky:
Is the release of these files another distraction on the part of our government? Is this release a plate with a middle finger behind it? It’s possible. The timing of this is suspicious. I want to actually see these beings with my own eyes! I am the doubting Thomas!
Watching them come and go The Templars and the Saracens They’re traveling the holy land Opening telegrams
Torture comes and torture goes Knights who’d give you anything They bear the cross of Coeur de Leon Salvation for the mirror blind
But if you pray all your sins are hooked upon the sky Pray and the heathen lie will disappear
Prayers they hide the saddest view (Believing the strangest things, loving the alien) And your prayers they break the sky in two (Believing the strangest things, loving the alien)
Thinking of a different time Palestine a modern problem Bounty and your wealth in land Terror in a best-laid plan
Watching them come and go Tomorrows and the yesterdays Christians and the unbelievers Hanging by the cross and nail
But if you pray all your sins are hooked upon the sky Pray and the heathen lie will disappear
Prayers they hide the saddest view (Believing the strangest things, loving the alien) And your prayers they break the sky in two (Believing the strangest things, loving the alien)
You pray til the break of dawn (Believing the strangest things, loving the alien) And you’ll believe you’re loving the alien (Believing the strangest things, loving the alien)
List the people you admire and look to for advice…
Hello to you. How is it in your world? Here in mine it’s sunny and warm again. I went and got groceries this morning after putting it off as long as I could. It was $214 just for me! That’s double what it was since all the tariffs nonsense began. Last night as I did my nightly prayers, I realized how much I hate our President and had to pray about it. Praying for those we don’t like is even more important than praying for those we do like. I had to pray for him to get the hate out of my heart. I don’t want to hate anybody but every day it’s one more thing he does that pisses me off. I can’t stand seeing his face or hearing his voice every day. I want him and his entire administration fired! I don’t understand why Congress hasn’t done anything. We shall have to see what Gods will is about it all. This uncalled for war with Iran must end!
In answer to today’s prompt I would say the people I look to for advice and admire is my family. I especially listen to my Aunt and Uncle. My Aunt and Uncle are the closest thing for me having parents. Sometimes they get it wrong but it’s rare. Other people I turn to are my Pastor and friends I’ve made through church.
Dear Jesus please guide the leaders at all levels of government. Give them wisdom and empathy towards the people they serve. Please wrap your loving arms around the unhoused, the addicted, the sick, those trying to heal, the abused, the poor and the hungry. Please continue to send your earth angels to the aide of neglected and abused animals. Amen.
I am finding these shorter exercises easier to do:
To be 