Riders of White Horses

 

The Monks and Aloka are home in their temple in Texas after their 2,300-mile Walk for Peace.

February 17, 2026

 

And here’s a new honoring of the Walk;

 

 

Last night I watched Steven Colbert interview Rep. James Talarico, who is running of the office of Senator for Texas.

What a sweet guy, and why oh why would such a nice guy be banned from the airways?

Talarico promotes the separation of Church and state, now how absurd is that? And he is a Christian who says that God has two laws: one, to love God; two, to love one’s neighbor. That's it.

How radical.

Love your neighbor includes Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Gnostics, Agnostics, Atheists, and the many others I don’t know about. For us to become a “Christian” country is to ignore our basic premise, one that we have guarded for 70 years—and that is that we welcome all faiths, and we practice the separation of Church and State.

The FCC ordered Colbert, in no uncertain terms, NOT to have Talarico on his show. So, what did Colbert do?

He had him on his show.

First, Colbert gave notice on his time slot that Talarico would be appearing that night, but his interview would not be aired on the TV channel. It would be on YouTube.

Here is the link:

Rep. James Talarico On Confronting Christian Nationalism, And Strange Days In The Texas Legislature.  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTJ7Pz_59A/

 

Of course, the real reason is that the present administration is afraid that Texas will elect a Democratic Senator and flip the state.

Geesh, and Nixon resigned when he was caught breaking into the Democratic Headquarters. Boy, have we come a long way. Now it is blatant interference, stealing, lying, and oppression.

Hey, we’re better than that. We came from good stock—immigrants.

And…

If you heard me complaining that I had to take a continuing ed course for my Real Estate License, here’s proof that I did.  

I also said that I’m not selling houses. But I have a voice, paper, and a pen, and I will continue to throw out tidbits of information if anyone is interested. If not, ignore it.

 

But not this: 

Once upon a time, a man named William Levitt had the funds and smarts to capitalize on a good thing. Veterans were coming home from the war, marrying, starting families, and needing homes. And they had the VA bill to help them.

Remember the cookie-cutter houses of the 50s? That was Levittown, Levitt’s brainchild. He mass-produced 17,000 homes with a covenant that ran with the land—meaning it applied no matter how many times the house sold. That covenant stipulated that the owners could sell only to white people.

A violation meant risking losing the property.

Levitt’s was a large development, but not the only one. Levitt charged only a $100 down payment, zero dollars for Vets, but not black vets.

Levitt set the stage for a housing shortage.  Although built in the 50’s by 2017, 75% of the Levitt houses were white, 14.6% were Hispanic, 7% were Asian, and only 1% was black.

I’m telling you this to emphasize how hard it is to get people to change, and that discrimination has long-reaching consequences.

Enter: A Knight on a White Horse:

Times were bad in the 60’s with rioting and burning in the streets. President Lyndon Johnson, long an advocate for Civil Rights, asked why the black community was so stirred up, especially after Kennedy’s Civil Rights Act.

The answer? There was still a great disparity between the blacks and the whites.

At the time, a Fair Housing Bill was languishing on the Senate floor, being argued over, and fought over.

Johnson called Congress, and said, "Pass that Bill." 

The Fair Housing Act (FHA) passed the very next day. April 11, 1968.

Now it is unlawful to deny the purchase of a home based on Race, Color, National Origin, Age, (except for 55 and older housing) Religion, Familial (meaning children), Disabilities* and Sex* (gender).

*These two came later.

And notice that one individual can affect the quality of the day and the status of individuals.

Be a rider of white horses.

A Valentine for You

 “Eighty percent of everything that is true and beautiful can be experienced on a 10-minute walk.”—Anne Lamott

I need to take a walk.

 

Lamott said she got that quote from her husband.

I read her Substack post this morning and found that it’s Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine's Day!*

She spoke of love, the magnificence and sloppiness of it, and she said she almost sent her husband a card that said, “I love you to the bottom of my butt.”

That girl is a joy!

And I was reminded once again that Lamott called God GUS, “Great Universal Spirit.”

I think I will title a book “Dear GUS,”

Lamott’s book Bird by Bird, Some Instructions on Writing and Life, was the first book I read on writing (and life). Published in 1995!!!! Thirty years ago!

In Bird by Bird, she was a single mom struggling with a newborn. Now she is a grandmother, and so am I.

I still have the book with its original cover, but I see it has been reissued with other covers, and it is a bestseller.

Way to go, girl!

And oh my God, GUS, my Real Estate re-licensing goes on and on! I thought it was over. And I don’t sell houses.

What is this, my ego—wanting to keep my license? I worked hard for it a year ago, and I didn’t want to lose it, so last month I took their required 30-hour continuing education course, dreaded it, but actually enjoyed it. (It was the best RE course to date.) I had to wait until my birthday month to file it with the state, so two days ago I attempted to do that, and found this: “You must take the State and Federal Fair Housing Course.” (Another 2 hours)

Ok, I did it, reluctantly paid their $300 to get my license, and then, this morning, I got an email: “Your license isn’t complete until your Principal Broker files it with the State. You must pay $150.”

Augggggh!

The end of the month is coming up, and if I miss it, they will charge me again.

At least I get 2 years before another renewal, and being a licensed Broker may give me some clout, for I have a few things to say about Housing history and how it is instrumental in advancing Civil Liberties.

Would you believe, according to that continuing ed class, Real Estate Agents rank in repetition behind Politicians and Used Car Salespeople?  I’m sorry, used car people. And consider this: when we sold our house in California, our Real Estate Agent told us he was giving $10,000 from his commission to a former girlfriend because she was the one who got him into Real Estate.

You will find good people everywhere.

I’m of the ilk that if people behaved themselves, we wouldn’t have to pass so many laws, also, I realize that when people are working on commission only, it is ripe for skullduggery.

Life consists of contrasts. While you are out walking and noticing little flowers that are poking their heads out of what were bare sticks all winter, (Winter? It’s February) your heart also aches because shootings, bombings, and general unrest or malaise still exists in our country.  I need to go back to my idea of, “It depends upon which window you look out of.” Rather like the photographer’s lens, it depends on what they focus on. Prettiness can be framed right in the middle of a disaster.

This week, after walking in spirit with the Buddhist Monk’s Peace Walk, I felt an after-Christmas drop when it ended, and found on my computer that Political business as usual still abounds.

Dear GUS, don’t let the people who were moved by the peace movement forget how thrilled they were with it.

And dear ones, “Do not be sad it’s over. Be glad it happened.”

I believe an awakening is happening. The propaganda machine will try to persuade you that it isn’t, but don’t believe them. Look over here: There is peace in people. There is joy in people. We are awakening after a long sleep.

And you know about awakening a sleeping giant.

They are formidable.

 

A Valentine card for you: click on picture:

 

https://jlcards.com/rq6vW3/

This Answered My Question of Last Night

 

 

This is unprecedented, something I'm not likely to see again in my lifetime, a simple, silent walk for peace, with tens of thousands of people turning out in the bitter cold to cheer the Buddhist monks on in their 108 day walk for Peace through rain and storms, snow and bitterly cold to walk the 2,300 miles from Texas to Washington D.C.

And look at the above map. Totally awesome! 

Love will triumph.💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

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Will the Monks Walking for Peace Arrive in Washington D.C. Today?

Didn’t the Indian legend say, “In times of trouble, I will send a comforter?”

 

Look what came. 

 

 

 

 

Nineteen monks and one dog set out to walk 2,300 miles for peace. They began in Fort Worth Texas on October 26, 2025, and it looks like they might arrive in Washington DC tomorrow, that will be February 10, 2026. That is some 107 days of walking, many days barefoot, averaging about 20 miles a day.

 

  

 

The Buddhist monks are fanning alive the spark that has existed in us all along. They offer flowers. They stop occasionally to say a prayer, pat a child, or tie a twine Peace bracelet around someone’s wrist.

 

People by the thousands are coming, bundled up in the snow and freezing cold, to stand by the roadsides to welcome them, to give them fruit or flowers, to say, “Welcome to our city, to say, “ Thank you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for showing up on my blog.

 

What the World needs now is love sweet love,

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1711080199775921

 

Who Are We Really?

 

 

 Look closely, "The words of the prophets are written in the Subway walls."

--Simon and Garfunkle

Who Are We Really?

We are little spark plugs, but maybe not running at full capacity.

And an egomaniac who lives in the White House is running amok on my computer. Now he is threatening to take away elections. What? What? What? What? What?!

I was on my way here to talk about a movie when I ran into that.

It’s hard to have fun anymore.

But look-it here, we have some clever people in our country.

 

The movie? 

Oh yeah. My first though was to skip it. I was prepared not to like it. A review said that, while they found the acting excellent, they didn’t like the movie. And notice that the first Wicked movie received 10 Academy Award nominations, while WICKED for good received none.

YET THAT MOVIE WAS SPOT ON.

It so accurately depicted our present state, you would think it was written for us specifically, yet it was published in 1995. I can’t believe it.  

The two principal players, Cynthia Erivo (the witch) and Aviana Grande (Glinda), were superb, and the casting of Jeff Goldblum was genius. His performance was genius. That speech seemed written for Goldblum—and for now.

No more, go see it.

 

  

“We must be willing, individually and as a nation, to accept whatever sacrifices may be required of us. A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”

--Dwight D. Eisenhower

This is what perseverance and dedication looks like:

 

 

 

The Heart Knows

 

Spiritual Warriors

Last night I went to bed with joy swelling in my heart. For I had watched the awakening of America, and I felt proud once again to be an American.

I understand how we have felt beaten down. Once I saw a movie where, in a Nazi concentration camp, a man was stripped naked, tied to a post as tribal hunters would bring home a fresh kill, sprayed with water, and allowed to freeze to death.

The inmates were forced to watch.

I was screaming inside, " Rush him, you are more than him, rush the man with the hose, the man with the gun. He will only shoot one or two of you before the rest overpowers him.

But who wants to be the first?

You need a unified group behind you. Otherwise, you are just another dead idealist.

We value our lives and want to live. And if the one inmate had spoken, had suggested the overrun, he would have been a goner, and the others would be back in fear and captivity.

We needed a small group of warriors to silently walk for peace. To stir our hearts to health and hope once again.

 

 

And the I.C.E  killings lit the spark that exists in the hearts of many of us, that we aren’t going to take it anymore.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUMXkqbjYyv/

And this is only a part of the people. They are taking to the streets in LA, San Diego, Boston, all over. We are watching history—we are always making history, but this is unprecedented. I began copying photos to save for posterity and to share. (It’s all over Instagram—for that’s where people are photographing and posting, and where you see kind hearts all over the place. People have lined up for 7 miles to praise the Monks on their 2,300-mile hike for peace. But if you aren’t watching Instagram, you can miss it.

This morning, my surging heart dropped a notch when I turned on my computer and saw nothing about the marches, the assemblages of people all over America who say, “We aren’t going to take it anymore.” I did see that a judge issued a ruling on I.C.E.’s presence in Minnesota.

 

“U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez denied a request from Minnesota officials for a temporary restraining order, despite acknowledging what she described as “profound and even heart breaking” consequences for communities in the state.”

She said “those are not the only harms to be considered,” however.

“The Eighth Circuit has recently reiterated that entry or injunction barring the federal government from enforcing federal law imposes significant harm on the government,” the judge wrote.”

 “Significant harm on the government?!!! Brother! Hey, did you notice, I.C.E. is killing people, and the government is blaming the victims? And the President will not intervene in a Democratic jurisdiction unless they say, "Please." Silly me, I thought we were a two party system.

 

There is a sign over the door at the Cardo Rehab Gym at the River Bend Hospital in Springfield, Oregon that reads:

“The heart can do anything.”

 

P.S. I have opened a New Newsletter, and for the past four days have posted small comments. I would love it if you would join me. 

click on the image

 

 

This is what commitment looks like: