Banking on Tomorrow

  Timber Point Trail , Biddeford, Maine

 Today is the 5th day of the 16th week, the 16th day of the 4th month, the 106th day of 2026 [ with only 252 shopping days until Christmas ], and: Blue Umbrella Day - focusing attention on the high rate of sexual abuse/violence that an estimated 1 of 13 boys have to deal with College Student Grief Awareness Day Day of the Mushroom - time to celebrate fungi Emancipation Day Foursquare Day or 4sqDay - probably the first social media day that started back in 2010 that encourages using the app to check-in and review places    Get to Know your Customers Day - this happens quarterly.  Always leaves a sour taste in my mouth as it was the phrase used in banking to force the Patriot Act tracking down our throats  International Pizza Cake Day - to make a pizza cake, you actually stack multiple pizzas on top of each other in a cake pan National Ask An Atheist Day - according to Google, the most common question an atheist is asked is what stops them from doing evil  ...

  NASA/Reid Wiseman

  "Door into summer" posted in BluSky by Jeff Nelson https://bsky.app/profile/brewdude2112.bsky.social

  The Aurora Tree Image Credit and Copyright: Alyn Wallace

I guess it is obvious by now that I am very confused about the differences between a blog, a journal, and an essay - the latter sounding far more impressive and slightly intimidating with a far more easily discernable structure.  And yet, many essays are still quite personal, especially the reflective or lyrical ones.  The structure is the same as a musical composition or news story - introduction, content, conclusion.   I've played about with different formatting, but have settled into a pattern.   For introductions, I write about the point in time that I find myself in:     Today is the 6th day of the 13th week, the 27th day of the 3rd month, the 86th day of 2026                          [ sometimes      rather whimsically adding how many shopping days until Christmas as an aside ]  I then proceed to anchor myself even more firmly into the timeline by ...