Ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata), a broad-winged damselfly. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebony_j...

Good morning from Maine. I hope Sunday finds you safe & loved, where ever you are. May the trail rise to meet you May the wind be ever at your back May the sun shine warm upon your face The rains fall soft upon your dwelling And until we meet again May hope of better days ahead kindle your spirit.

📜🗽🌉⚖️🚀📱🇺🇸 Happy Fourth of July from Maine! We celebrated 250 years in Bar Harbor, where folks always convene a great parade. What’s the view from your window?

Hello from Maine, where it’s as hot as I can recall. We hiked in shade, washed away sweat in a crystalline lake, & plunged deep into a frigid bay with golden spaniels who keep showing me how to be fully present in Acadia in summer. Watching “The Death or Robin Hood” & World Cup, feeling grateful.

I saw more padded “practice helmets” in games this year, which apparently reduce concussion rates. Given the risk of CTE & the impact of losing skill players to concussion protocols, do you think all players & teams will eventually adopt them in games? www.nfl.com/news/nfl-to-...

Despite a son of Queens being in the @whitehouse-47.bsky.social there is no pizza to be had at his “state fair” ?! It’s #PizzaGate. What I saw rising in early June looked nothing like the country fairs in NY, MA, MD, PA & ME. Russia famously had a Potemkin Village. Trump has built a Potemkin Fair.

Good morning from Maine. The dogs & I had a good hike in Acadia, where we found wild strawberries & crystal clear water. Lobster was on the menu on our first night, along with local beer. We’ve made good life choices, based upon the news out of DC. Wishing you folks a graceful start to summer.

One future is already here. Electric trikes with swappable batteries charged with the sun are just not evenly distributed yet. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/b... Love to see @nytimes.com reporters adding insight in the comments.

A happy Father’s Day to my Dad, Ben Howard, & all the fathers out there. Thanks to my cousin Kelley M-k Brown for capturing us together at the farmer’s market on the village green.

Reminder to all Americans: www.AirNow.gov can give you air quality where you live. A fire subdomain shows where wildfires & smoke plumes are: fire.airnow.gov Silver Lake, Glendale, & Burbank have unhealthy air due to a massive warehouse fire. www.latimes.com/california/s... There are city warnings.

On June 19, 2026, we are recognizing a historic moment in the story of the United States of America, even as some of our fellow Americans seek to forget our past. Today, our nation celebrate the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans and the end of chattel slavery after the Civil War.

“Juneteenth is the oldest known US celebration of the abolition of the chattel slave system, and the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in Texas.” www.nps.gov/articles/jun...

Greenwater Services seems a little on the nose. The writers for this season are phoning it in.

“Trump & his gang…understand that when the facts of a certain matter aren’t on your side, you benefit when all facts are devalued in general. Go instead with emotions, appeal to instincts, what people ‘feel’ is right”— @garrykasparov.bsky.social End stage of truth decay? Facts become unknowable.

@whitehouse-47.bsky.social secrecy, opacity, & abusive relationship with the press & the People will get more of us killed in a pandemic, war, or natural disaster. Publish original docs online in an open format. Be transparent, accountable, participatory, & collaborative. (Yes, I know they won’t.)

Appears to be so. Sad, & predictable. And a metaphor for so much else about this administration, sacred civic spaces, institutions, & processes.

Good morning. Dropped 30° Fahrenheit & left the humidity of dystopian DC behind, driving to upstate NY through rural Maryland & Pennsylvania yesterday. Here, I get to see a Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus), chipmunks, & wee red squirrels 🐿️, instead of sparrows, starlings, & rats.

A good night in Washington, DC: ⚽️ World Cup + 🍺 at the Brig 🌉 Dogwalk to Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge ⚽️World Cup+🏀NBA Finals 🍊🍹at Solace 🚧 Dogwalk home to the Hill past bright lights, police, & National Guard. I love our city/state, but it’s time for us to get some space from this place.

Still one of the best experiences I’ve had in DC.

If ospreys can successfully raise a chick on a piling in the middle of the Anacostia River year after year, I should be able to manage coparenting a tween human to adulthood. There been a lot of adulting this past decade, but I always find inspiration in Fred & Helen at the Douglass Memorial Bridge.

As a database of judicial rulings compiled by journalists at @politico.com shows, ICE is violating the constitutional rights of people in the USA.

I would have appreciated @meidastouch.com asking me for permission to license my work before they used my photo, with @-ttribution and a link to my account or website — or offering to pay for it: They’re a commercial enterprise. Any guidance on standards & practices, @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social?

I disagree. It is not a graveyard. It is not a trash heap. Our neighborhood on Capitol Hill is gorgeous & there are 700,000+ Washingtonians who have pride in houses, gardens, parks, & streets. Urban blight persists but Trump’s lies & insults are not an accurate portrait of DC as it is in 2026.

@politico.com reports @deptofinterior.bsky.social claimed algae is residual from lines that were off for 8 weeks. www.politico.com/news/2026/06... TIL NPS invested in new “nanobubbler” filtration. TBD how it works. I hope a crew to “maintain the grounds from wildlife” doesn’t mean birds are banned.

This is likely to be my last dispatch from the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial for a while. It’s been surreal to see & share ground truth, compared to what people are posting online.

The Lincoln Memorial closed to visitors at 10 AM today, ahead of the weigh-in for the upcoming UFC fight at the @whitehouse-47.bsky.social

Meanwhile, in my Facebook comments, a U.S. Army veteran expressed disappointment in the Trump administration because people like me haven’t been deported yet, like in a “late 1930s/mid 1940s approach to the country.” “Read between the lines.” NB: I’d posted a photo of myself from 2020 in a mask.

Read this update from Meta to the tune of “Every Breath You Take” by the Police. www.facebook.com/help/1455040... Self-regulation is not enough.

@USGSA.gov announced the U.S. government sold the Old Post Office Building in DC. @WSJ.com reported how much, & to whom: $80 million, to the firm that holds the long-term lease on the property. ICYMI, the Trump Organization sold the leasing rights for $375 million in 2022. Looked inflated, then.