When words and art resonate

***

‘Art defies defeat by its very existence, 

representing the celebration of life, in spite of 

all attempts to degrade and destroy it.”

            - - - Nadine Gordimer

***

Celebration of life  by Merlin Flower 

The Room of Ancient Keys

 

Today.  

Today is a day for poetry.

And coffee.

Grandma once gave me a tip:

During difficult times,
you move forward in small steps.
Do what you have to do, but little by little.
Don’t think about the future,
not even what might happen tomorrow.
Wash the dishes.
Take off the dust.
Write a letter.
Make some soup.
Do you see?
You are moving forward step by step.
Take a step and stop.
Get some rest.
Compliment yourself.
Take another step.
Then another one.
You won’t notice, but your steps will grow
bigger and bigger.
And time will come
when you can think about the future
without crying.
Good morning.

              - - -  Elena Mikhalkova

Some weeks . . .

 

”My Soul is in a Hurry” by Mario de Andrade

 I counted my years

and realized that I have

Less time to live by,

Than I have lived so far.

I feel like a child who won a pack of candies: at first, he ate them with pleasure

But when he realized that there was little left, he began to taste them intensely.

I have no time for endless meetings

where the statutes, rules, procedures & internal regulations are discussed,

knowing that nothing will be done.

I no longer have the patience

To stand absurd people who,

despite their chronological age,

have not grown up.

My time is too short:

I want the essence,

my spirit is in a hurry.

I do not have much candy

In the package anymore.

I want to live next to humans,

very realistic people who know

How to laugh at their mistakes,

Who are not inflated by their own triumphs

and who take responsibility for their actions.

In this way, human dignity is defended

and we live in truth and honesty.

It is the essentials that make life useful.

I want to surround myself with people

who know how to touch the hearts of those whom hard strokes of life

have taught to grow with sweet touches of the soul.

Yes, I'm in a hurry.

I'm in a hurry to live with the intensity that only maturity can bring.

I do not intend to waste any of the remaining desserts.

I am sure they will be exquisite,

much more than those eaten so far.

My goal is to reach the end satisfied

and at peace with my loved ones and my conscience.

We have two lives

and the second begins when you realize you only have one.

GET MAD, DAMN IT!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

                   - Margaret Mead

Breathe.  Look for beauty.  Do good things for yourself. 

 But also - GET MAD. 

 Wring your hands, if you must, but DO SOMETHING!!!!!

I'm mad.  Mad as hell.  HOW CAN YOU NOT BE MAD?!

I call and write my representatives almost every day. WE ALL SHOULD. 

  It does not matter whether they are Republicans or Democrats.

  It is no longer about politics. 

 It's whether you care enough about this country to fight for it and for democracy. 

 It doesn't help if you say you already know how your members of congress feel, or how they'll vote. 

 They NEED to know how their constituents feel. 

CALL 

202-224-3121

TODAY

Do you care enough to take FIVE MINUTES out of your day?!

FIVE MINUTES.

Do SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. 

Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. 

Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

               - - -  Elie Wiesel

Remember what you must do - RECOMMENDED READING

Some days, only poetry will do.

Today, for me, it's Nikita Gill 

* * *

Remember what you must do

When they undervalue you,

when they think
your softness is your weakness,
when they treat your kindness
like it is their advantage.

You awaken
every dragon,
every wolf,
every monster
that sleeps inside of you
and you remind them
what hell looks like
when it wears the skin
of a gentle human.

― Nikita Gill, Wild Embers: Poems of Rebellion, Fire and Beauty

Speaking up

 

When I wake up in the morning I roll over to my left and look up.

That coffee mug is usually what I see.

Here's why.

40+ years ago it became a daily thing for Donald and I to bring one another morning coffee in bed.

Whichever of us happened to get up first would make coffee and bring two cups to bed.

It's how we started our day.  

Things have changed over the years.  Now that we're retired, I am often still reading when Donald falls asleep, so he's usually the first one up.  

Sometimes the first one up by several hours.

He'll fix me a cup of coffee and leave it on my nightstand.

Yes, sometimes it's stone cold by the time I wake up and he's gone on about his business, and that's okay.

It still makes me smile.

And I know I am loved.

And that knowledge has never been more important than it is right now.

When I was younger I was fairly fearless.  Granted, some of that fearlessness came from the naivety of being young and untested.  Witnessing and confronting mortality had not yet happened.

But it's more than that.

For one thing, I have, on occasion, been stopped by police for driving too fast.

It was annoying, frustrating, certainly not fun, but, sadly unlike our friends and family of color, I was never scared to pull over while those lights flashed and the siren whoop-whooped.

Not true today.  I think I would try to keep driving long enough to find a well populated spot before pulling over.  But now we know, even having a crowd of people around is not enough to keep us from being shot and killed.

I could write volumes about this, but I just don't have it in me right now. 

This morning while having my quiet cup of coffee, I did what I often do.

I wrote to my members of congress.  Tillis, Budd, and Foxx.

Today I was on a tear and included many many many things I'm upset, angry, and scared about.

ICE, Greenland, Venezuela, Health Care.  Our missing congress.

Being a Third World Country. 

I may not be as fearless as I once was, but I am, by damned, determined not to be cowed by our own elected officials.  

They're supposed to follow the will of the people.  NOT the will of an insane tin pot bully of a dictator.

As long as I breathe I will remind them of this.

I hope you will too.

Questions

 

1.  A question for my women friends.

Suppose you are sitting in your car and you are approached by men wearing uniforms.  Carrying guns.  With masks covering their faces.

When they demand you get out of the car, what do you do?

2.  Question for my men friends.

Suppose your wife/daughter/mother/sister/friend is sitting in her car and she is  approached by men wearing uniforms.  Carrying guns.  With masks covering their faces.

When they demand she get out of the car, what would you have her do?

3.  Another question for my men friends.

Suppose you are sitting in your car and you are approached by men wearing uniforms.  Carrying guns.  With masks covering their faces.

When they demand you get out of the car, what do you do?

4.  Another question for my men friends.

Suppose your husband/son/father/brother/friend is sitting in his car and he is approached by men wearing uniforms.  Carrying guns.  With masks covering their faces.

When they demand he get out of the car, what would you have him do?

-  -  -

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. 

Live Updates: Minnesota Officials Dispute Federal Account of Fatal ICE Shooting 

 https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01/07/us/minnesota-shooting-ice?unlocked_article_code=1.C1A.w8jW.d3E1l_bk5LJw∣=em-share

Aloka and the Buddhist Monks on their Walk for Peace

I continue following Aloka and the Buddhist Monks on their Walk for Peace.  I hope Don Barley and Annabelle and I can drive to a location nearby in the next few days to just stand on the side of the road to witness their journey.  

I'm so very sick of all the hateful things this country has come to represent. 😪 Buddhist Monks and Aloka The Peace Dog may help me stop crying.

Are the peace walk monks stopping in North Carolina?

Yes, the Walk for Peace will lead the monks through North Carolina. The following destinations and approximate windows of arrival are listed on the map:

• First Baptist Church-West, 1801 Oaklawn Ave., Charlotte - Estimated arrival between Jan. 10-20
• 265 Willow Creek Drive, Salisbury - Jan. 10-20
• 2021 Bishop Road, Greensboro - Jan. 20-30
• 331 Silk Hope Road, Siler City - Jan. 20-30
• Paul Derr Track Facility, 2495 Cates Ave., Raleigh - Jan. 20-30
• 3591 NC-58, Centerville - Jan. 20-30

https://www.wxii12.com/article/monks-walk-for-peace-route-tracking-map-north-carolina/69935886

Map of The Peace Walk :

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1f7eSxLc3YUERnnfeAK3NMg2hBI4zKDY&fbclid=IwY2xjawPLiwdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR6qGMp1LLgX944uUnWE6k3d5Zc-opJyrSkXvo0tJFTlUDs37mBP8ITTEcV8ug_aem_gyG-NhkLhoUJ1vNrpJswCg&ll=36.238339026498075%2C-81.4958817619127&z=6&sfnsn=mo

Books, My 2025 Favorites, and More Meandering

I read 123 books in 2025.

This was down from 138 books read in 2024.

It's still a lot of books; i know that.

But.

My ability to concentrate was hampered by the state of things that interfered with my reading.  

It interfered with a lot of things.  

My state of general well-being resides at the top of the list.

Things aren't looking any better for this year.  

I seem to walk around in a state of unrest, angry, frightened, tearful, sad.

Exhausted.

And the constant never-ending drama of dispicableness of Washington DC and Maralago continues.

Today, the 6th of January, and I have yet to finish reading a single book.  I did start a book on Jan 1 which sounded good, but I kept thinking about a different book that seemed to be calling me.

So, I put down the first book, (which I hope to go back to), and picked up the second.

But then got distracted by things like football, and putting away a few Christmas sit-abouts, and that already mentioned constant never-ending drama of dispicableness of Washington DC and Maralago.

I've been writing and calling our non-existent congress almost every day, someimes more than once, and there you have it - a big ol' timesuck of my reading time.

Here's an example of me talking to me.  Every single day: "What to tackle today in emails and/or calls to congress?  Hmmm . . .  Health care, grocery prices, illegal destruction of the White House, those Epstein Files, Jack Smith, ICE, the ineptness if this administration, the, imo, corruptness of this administration, Venezuela, calls for impeachment, or or or WHAT?!?!!  There's just SO much!!!!"

But.  In the list of hopeful things is The Buddhist Monks (and Aloka) Walk for Peace which you can read about all over the internet.  Here's a good article published yesterday.

I have found comfort and solace following their walk. 

But anyhoooooo . . . after all the meandering . . .

Here's that list of favorite books I read last year.

We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls #1) by Karin Slaughter (William Morrow, 2025).

Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2025).

Apostle’s Cove (A Cork O'Connor Mystery) by William Kent Krueger (Atria Books, 2025).

My Beloved (A Mitford Novel) by Jan Karon (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025).

All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Minotaur Books, 2025).

Hunter’s Heart Ridge (A Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows Mystery) by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Minotaur Books, 2025).

Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing, 2025).

These Heathens by Mia McKenzie (Random House, 2025).

Through An Open Window by Pamela Terry (Ballantine Books, 2025).

That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White (Park Row, 2025).

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Crown, 2025).

The Look by Michelle Obama (Crown, 2025).

Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe (William Morrow, 2025)

Mary Oliver - Poet/Prophet

 Of The Empire

We will be known as a culture that feared death

and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity

for the few and cared little for the penury of the

many. We will be known as a culture that taught

and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke

little if at all about the quality of life for

people (other people), for dogs, for rivers. All

the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a

commodity. And they will say that this structure

was held together politically, which it was, and

they will say also that our politics was no more

than an apparatus to accommodate the feelings of

the heart, and that the heart, in those days,

was small, and hard, and full of meanness.

© 2008 by Mary Oliver

From her 2008 collection, Red Bird

Published by Beacon Press 2008

Today

 

Today is another day that I opened my eyes to yet another horror.

Those who voted for the unhinged man in our White House opened Pandora's Box and unleashed evil into the world.

They have to live with that and the consequences.

Sadly.  So do we.

So.

I will search out things to help ease the pain I feel in my heart.  The pain is real.  It is not forgiving.

If you're having similar feelings, join me in following Aloka and the Buddhist Monks on their Walk for Peace.  It will, I hope, help ease your heart.  ❤

https://www.facebook.com/share/1H5e4wVrXf/

https://www.facebook.com/share/1ANeLnuzuc/

We may not have a working congress, but for a short while we will be graced with these peace loving monks and a dog named Aloka (my vote for the next Nobel Peace Prize).

In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells]

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
   The flying cloud, the frosty light:
   The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
   The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
   For those that here we see no more;
   Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
   And ancient forms of party strife;
   Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
   The faithless coldness of the times;
   Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
   The civic slander and the spite;
   Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
   Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
   Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
   The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
   Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

               - - -  Alfred Lord Tennyson  

   

Some Ramblings and Meanderings

In the past couple of years I have joined a few Facebook groups.  A couple of those groups have been really nice fits.  Some, however, have been filled with way too much drama for my tastes so I left (including one I started!).  Some just quietly drift away. 

Some of my newer FB friends I've met through these groups have gotten in touch with me regarding my recent Books I Read in 2025 post at my blog with questions about how this came to be.  

When I first started this blog in 2008, I had no idea what I wanted out of it, what its use would be (if any) or to whom (if anyone).

My first blog was a copy of a guest piece I did for The Stiletto Gang, which is still going strong although I no longer know most of the contributors.

It was a piece I wrote about giving up my smoking habit.  

https://www.kayebarleymeanderingsandmuses.com/2008/07/

It was tied to my first foray into the world of crime fiction conventions.  Beginning with Bouchercon 2008 in Baltimore, MD

https://www.kayebarleymeanderingsandmuses.com/2008/10/bouchercon-2008-my-first-bcon.html

From here Meanderings and Muses took a big step.

We started hosting members of the crime fiction community.  We hosted authors (both well known and yet to be published), publicists, agents, editors, bloggers and reviewers, librarians, and readers. 

https://www.kayebarleymeanderingsandmuses.com/2009/10/announcing-next-years-guests.html

The Meanderings and Muses hosting tradition continued for many years until it simply became bigger than I could handle.  Growing from occasional guests to two guests a week was more than I wanted and more than I could do if I wanted it done well.  But when I look back now and read some of those posts I know that what we created here is to be celebrated and treasured.  Who knew how many would become well known names on The NYT Bestseller List?  Major award winners?  That some of them would have their work adapted for TV and films?  It makes me proud.  

I would be remiss to not mention that I met a great many of these people through the legendary (truly!) DorothyL Website from back in internet infancy.  Michael and Diane Kovacs, along with Kara Robinson, created a virtual salon for crime fiction that created a home for many.  

During the years, Meanderings and Muses has served as a journal.  A place for me to reminisce about growing up, holidays with my folks, trips I've taken, books, essays and short stories I've had published.  And it led me to Maddee James and her amazing and highly regarded website development company, xuni.com.  Maddee and her team built me a pretty fabulous author webpage - https://kayewilkinsonbarley.com/books/ -  that continues to make me happy, even when I'm not writing and have nothing new to add there.  

Meanderings and Muses is kind of a "Dear Diary  . . ." that I can look back on and relive some nice memories, and reflect on some of the hard times.

I can type a word or a phrase, a subject or a name, a recipe name, a date or an occasion into the little Meanderings and Muses search box, hit "enter" and be presented with columns and pieces and pictures that I may have completely forgotten.

And, to get back on point, it's been a handy spot to keep lists of books I've read.

That, my friends, is (in answer to the original question)  how my recent Books I Read in 2025  post at my blog came to be. 

It sometimes takes me awhile to get to the point.  😄

As my dearest old friend, Michael Dean, used to ask, "Kaye Alan. Can you just give us the Reader's Digest version, please?"

And after all these years, the answer is still, with love and apologies to Michael, "No.  Apparently not."

Here's Wishing Everyone Lots of 

Happy Reading 

in the Upcoming New Year!