Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow in the eponymous Pennsylvania town that feeds the rodent. And Donald Trump has endorsed (wait for it …) NEWT GINGRICH!

Uh, whoops. They reported FUTURE news, and The Donald, being such a model of consistency, changed his notion at the last minute and endorsed Romney.

And so, we finally know what that creature on top of his head is. Turns out, it was a groundhog all along, and, attached to “the Donald,” it couldn’t STAND for any other groundhog to upstage it.

Mystery solved. Case closed. What else?

Courage.

That plop you just heard in the Conservative Cesspool was Rick Perry, dropping out of the race.

He was goin’ for four aces but only ended up with a busted flush.

Or, perhaps he’s just “seceding.”

Courage.

An aesthetic interlude.

It’s time to clear these 2011 drawings out so we can make room for the 2012 models! This is meant only as metaphor. However, I do have an exhibition opening in Springfield, Oregon in early February. Details to come. Only one is “political.” Otherwise, you’re safe.

Leaving Oregon

If “a picture is worth a thousand words,” here are 18,000 words’ worth. More below the fold.

Surprise Valley

Just passing through

Desert Moon

Oregon Outback

Above Summer Lake

Desert monument

Old house

Souvenir

US Grant

Depression construction

California desert near Mexican border

mt kynthos

Christmas 1959

Christmas 2011

Goodbye 2011

Welcome to Arizona!

The Return of the Giant Deer

That pretty much clears out 2011.

Courage.

One throws up one’s hands in despair for poor Reason, so oft invoked, so rarely practiced.

Take a look at the snarling coverage.

(I don’t know that any actual snarling is going on, but there is a general blogospheric need for venting, from the evidence.)

The tacitly agreed-upon tactic seems to be to smear using the 1 = all proposition and hoping the endless scheiss-sturm will rub off on the Occupy Wall Street Protests around the nation and around the world.

Against such a tide of chaos this little skiff of a blog cannot hope to row.

So, here’s something funny I found, instead. Author unknown:

And so it goes.

Uh, what were we talking about, again?

(Please do not send this in an e-mail to your grandmother. Thanks.)

Courage.