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smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Smiling Cucumber
@smilingcucumber.bsky.social
140 followers 110 following 260 posts
An onion can make people cry but there has never been a vegetable invented to make them laugh. ― Will Rogers
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smilingcucumber.bsky.social
This Veterans Day morning fog made a huge flock of crows invisible, but boy were they chatty!
Seaweed is flattened atop shoreline rocks during low tide while a thick fog drifts across the water and blurs the outlines of a stretch of land in the distance.
November 11, 2025 at 7:36 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
In The Guardian today, by David Smith:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Four paragraphs highlighted from linked article: "Progressives and moderates were both given fodder to make a case that they have the antidote to Trumpism. The reality, of course, in a wildly diverse country of 50 states and 340 million people, is not one or the other, but all of the above. The maxim that all politics is local has taken a beating in recent years, but is not entirely dead. The Democratic party is a glorious melee of different constituencies and viewpoints in contrast to the brittle monoculture of the Trump cult. What unites it ahead of next year’s midterms is a desire for fighters rather than folders and for a relentless focus on the affordability crisis even as the president flaunts power and wealth. Asked whether Mamdani or Spanberger is the future of the party, congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told the MSNBC network: “At the end of the day I don’t think that our party needs to have one face. Our country does not have one face. It’s about all of us as a team together, and we all understand the assignment. “Our assignment everywhere is to send the strongest fighters for the working class wherever possible. In some places, like Virginia, for the gubernatorial seat, that’s going to look like Abigail Spanberger. In New York City, unequivocally it is Zohran Mamdani.”
November 5, 2025 at 9:15 AM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Tonight you have delivered a mandate for change.

If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.

New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant. -ZM
Zohran Mamdani, mayor-elect of New York City, smiles as he begins his election night speech. Zohran Mamdani waves to crowd last night, pictured below overlay in the New York Times of the article "Zohran Mamdani Is Elected Mayor of New York City".
November 5, 2025 at 8:50 AM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Stunning result.
November 3, 2025 at 5:02 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Another comment, by @OurSmallTableRecipes:
"As an example of how food banks cannot become the default for feeding people, I live in a small town in a rural area, hours away from the closest town with more than 30,000 people. We have one food bank, which is open on the first and third Thursday of the month, from 10am to 1pm, only. In order to use it, you drive to it and get in the car line that snakes through the neighborhood, usually needing to get in line around 9am. Then you sit in your car waiting, for hours, and when it's your turn you're handed a pre-packed food box. This makes the service unusable for people who work during the day, who have small children who can't sit in the car for several hours, who don't have a car, who have food allergies or dietary restrictions, etc. The postal employees are trying to supplement it by having a "give a can, take a can" bin, but that has several of the same problems. A stay-at-home mom has announced that she's baking bread and putting it in her little free library, but she lives in the country miles out of town, so people without cars or gas money won't be hiking out for a loaf of bread. People with food allergies or medical dietary restrictions generally don't even try going to food banks, church food drives, etc, because they have to stick to known safe brands and products. Letting people select their own food on their own schedule works. That's what SNAP does."
November 2, 2025 at 10:01 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
A comment by @gabrielag9846 pinned by Hank Green as top comment under the video:
Comment by @gabrielag9846 pinned by Hank Green as top comment: "Food banker here with an IMPORTANT MESSAGE: You listening? PLEASE DO NOT use your money to buy cheap food for the food banks or pantries. Just give them that money. I'm 100% serious. Food banks, especially the really organized ones, can get WAY more for the dollar than any individual can, unless you're literally ordering by the truckload from a manufacturer like we are. Feeding America has a whole purchasing network with negotiated prices that make this system work. Also, every time you buy and donate random food items, it creates work for the food bank/pantry. We need to inspect it for safety, sort it into categories, and then work it into inventory. If you donate money, we use it to buy much more food, and we intentionally purchase based on what kind of item is needed. It can also be used to put fuel in the trucks that gets the food to its ultimate destination. We absolutely do appreciate every donation, and we use items donated from food drives and individuals every day. But look at it this way: You can buy a 5-lb sack of potatoes for $3.00, for example. I can get them for 50 cents per sack because my organization has negotiated the price with the distributor and ordered 10 pallets of them. We need every kind of support we can get right now, but PLEASE let us do the smart shopping <3 "
November 2, 2025 at 9:32 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
A Statement From Buckingham Palace
"His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew. "Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him. "Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse."
October 30, 2025 at 7:46 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
I am upset, yes!

Combined these (neither one my image) today.
The East Wing demolition yesterday
and
Frank Zappa on CNN in 1981:
Top image: Heartbreaking demolition at the East Wing of the White House yesterday. Lower image: Frank Zappa under his 1981 CNN interview quote: "The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre." —Frank Zappa
October 21, 2025 at 11:15 AM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Pete Souza's iconic 2009 image of President Obama introducing the family's new Portuguese Water Dog "Bo" to "The People's House" with a run down the East Collonade, 2009. 🐾
October 21, 2025 at 10:50 AM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
I fondly remember Pete Souza's iconic 2009 image of President Obama introducing the family's new Portuguese Water Dog "Bo" to "The People's House" with a run down the East Collonade, 2009. 🐾

THIS is not that.
Top image: Heartbreaking demolition at the East Wing of the White House yesterday. Lower image: Frank Zappa under his 1981 CNN interview quote: "The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre." —Frank Zappa
October 21, 2025 at 10:49 AM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Thank you for allowing us this offering....
Poppy blossoming last month in the celery bed.
Ms. Keaton, unforgettable and ours.
October 11, 2025 at 11:06 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
So much of everything is terrible but last night I caught sight of gentle moonlight on the Mississippi River as it flowed past a riot of colorful neon lights at the Big Dam Street Fair in Keokuk, Iowa. 🌙⛴️🎡🎠YouTube rocks!
At 8 p.m. on September 26th the figures of a few people in the foreground appear tiny under the blaze of colorful neon lights on more than seven rides filling the middle ground, and the glow of the waxing moon highlights the river flowing by in the background.
September 27, 2025 at 12:08 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Doesn't Dahlia look good in the midday light now? 💃
Sunflowers, snapdragons and dense green leaves frame the swirled petals of a peachy-yellow dahlia facing the camera.
September 25, 2025 at 5:16 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Many years ago a friend recommended that I pick an image to represent my dream man. I paired these in a fave thrifted photo folder. Thank you for living in our time, dear Robert Redford. 🌄💛
In the left frame is a depiction of a winged spiritual being ascending, and on the right is a tanned Robert Redford smiling warmly, looking to his left as the photo was taken. RIP
September 16, 2025 at 1:54 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Ahhhhh, with this sunflower shining above my head in the community garden I see that not EV-rything is terrible. 🌻😍
Bright yellow petals frame a Spirographed circle of seeds growing with the support of dark green leaves and warm sunshine.
September 6, 2025 at 9:28 AM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
One minute before sunrise, a bird flew high above the dark band of shoreline cradling promise of another day.🕊️ Peace.
August 30, 2025 at 3:19 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Feeling dramatic today! And APOD delivered this: Asperitas Clouds Over New Zealand, 2005.
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25081...
"Asperitas (formerly referred to as Undulatus Asperitas) is a distinctive, but relatively rare cloud formation that takes the appearance of rippling waves. These wave-like structures form on the underside of the cloud to makes it look like a rough sea surface when viewed from below."
August 17, 2025 at 11:44 AM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
"House with Drying Laundry" (1917) by Egon Schiele.
Muted patchwork colors, spiked roofs and mountaintops, blouses, bloomers and neatly paired stockings out to dry. This IS my mood today.🎨🖼️⛅
A playful patchwork in muted colors. "A multi-story residential building with a distinct architectural style that suggests a European setting, possibly reflecting the aesthetic of Viennese architecture during the early 20th century."
August 17, 2025 at 11:43 AM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Flowers require nothing from us yet give us everything! 🤗 This color medley made my eyes dance so I hope you'll enjoy it too.
A large aster flower's collar of bright pink petals with sunny yellow center is the star of a small bouquet of garden blooms on a wooden windowsill below a stem of green and russet begonia leaves which protect a cluster of tiny red petals. The day is overcast, and the colors pop.
July 26, 2025 at 4:23 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Lost in those clouds is nice!🌤️Found this blue cloud on the ground on my way home today.
June 27, 2025 at 5:59 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Ooh, I met two lovely dogs on Monday at the train station. 🤩 Today I picked up trash on my walk home but this item was a keeper so if the imperative makes a Blueskie happy it's for you, too.
A laminated blue cloud shape held between thumb and forefinger, with the imperative "DREAM BIG" on it in bold white letters, and the word "BIG" is extra BIG.
June 27, 2025 at 5:44 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
everything is terrible but

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

—Leonard Cohen

my image in cool damp northern woods 😎
cool damp northern woods from the perspective of old tree roots -- looking up at sunlight backlighting young green ferns
June 27, 2025 at 8:44 AM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Things are terrible but my hope is restored after yesterday's national outpouring of truth, bravery and comforting sanity.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpiK...
A poster held by a non-white young man during the No Kings protest on June 14th states emphatically: "WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS ... We Build Your Houses, We Cut Your Grass, We Cook Your Food, We Clean Your House, We Pay Taxes... We Make America GREAT"
June 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
From The New York Times today.
June 11, 2025 at 7:21 PM
smilingcucumber.bsky.social
Grateful to have heard Carl sing this several times in the early nineties. Blissful.
June 11, 2025 at 7:00 PM