J.B. Sommerset

  "A Fine Day" (c) 2025 J.B. Sommerset Sometimes I just have those days, ones that are nearly perfect. Ones that make me appreciate time a little more, it's not like they should last forever. They should last long enough to make it important, knowing that they are fleeting. Sometimes, the voice in my head functions clearer on days like this. Sometimes, it lets me hear what is deeper inside me. Here is your quote of the week. "Enlightenment is not a shift in what you know, it is not a change in your belief system or an enlargement of the way you understand the world. Although those things can accompany it, it is not dependent on them. Enlightenment is the absolute acceptance and tolerance of where you are in the world, in this moment, here and now." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

  "Sundowner" (c) 2024 J.B. Sommerset Sometimes nature speaks in ways I can't ignore. It can paint the world better than I could. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by things I, as a writer, don't have the words to describe. A paint so ethereal it has no phonetic meaning. I am reminded in those times how small and stupid I really am, although I think I am clever at times, I am but a stupid little spec among the bristles of an artist that has been mastering the craft for millions of years. If you haven't gathered, this weeks quote is about nature. "Nature has no evils, no malice, no bad intentions. Those things are projections of mankind's own sickness. Nature has no need for those things, and in many cases it does not tolerate them ruining it's painting. It shines in spite of us." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Spring Morning" (c) 2025 J.B. Sommerset For some reason, this one didn't get published last Friday, like it was supposed to, most likely some sort of user error. This weeks quote is one I came up with while sitting in the line at the D.M.V. years ago, it's still applicable today, especially at the D.M.V. "I have an incredible imagination, sometimes it's a gift. It lets me see impossible things, go to far off worlds and have unreal adventures. However, one thing it really struggles with is how insanely mediocre the inside of some people's minds are..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"The view from our House" (c) 2025 J.B. Sommerset This week's quote is more for me than it is for you, unless you too are running on fumes and the belief you have in yourself.  I have a tendency to get too many irons in the fire at the same time. The problem with a having to split the focus is that it's very hard to finish all the "stuffs" a person needs to do. Lately is seems that all of the projects I have been juggling are important, too important to put off. I am reminded of the little engine that could. Except I am also low on gas, and have bad wheel bearings.  This homesteading thing requires a lot of energy. So I decided to send the drone up above the trees and look out at the horizon. Beautiful! I took a photo of it for all of you.  It's a good reminder of why I work so hard at so many things. I am lucky to be able to live where I do, despite all the hardships. This week's quote if from the rough rider himself- Teddy Roosevelt. I hope it mean...

"In The Mist" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2025 This week has been a long one, there is so much to do in tax season, so much to do with the businesses. Now that we have an orange butthole's friends running the show, that might get even more complicated. Who knows, at this point some of us are just watching the crapper burn down. Anyway, here's a quote for all of you out there in the interwebs- it seems we are all lost... "Let's face it, if you have no where to be, lost isn't so bad..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

A 2025 Promise, J.B. Sommerset (c) 2025 Following up on the last quote of the week, here another one about being alone. In todays modern world, where we are all connected every minute of every day, the value of being alone is overshadowed by an artificial type of connection. That being said, even today, even as connected as we are, a person can still be utterly alone. So here's a quote about it... "The thing about being lonely is this; it's worse when you have to go through it alone." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"A January Evening" by J.B. Sommerset (c) 2025 This week I let my inner isolationist take the wheel for the quote. This one is from one of my old works, but I think it is more relevant today than it ever was when the world wasn't such a weird place. Hope you get some insight from this quote. "An axe, a saw, and a dog are much more a friend to the wise man than most of the persons of this world." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"January Mist" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2025 There are some explosive things that are happening this year. So far we haven't blown up the world... yet. We'll most likely get to that. But in the meantime, while we are still here, it's important to remember- we are still alive. So, here's a quote about being alive.  "Life is what you are doing when you're not dead, those who choose to do nothing are most likely already dead." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Snow again" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 There is an old Marxist saying that goes, "Religion is the opiate of the people." I agree in part with that quote, but there is more to that, it's summed up, sort of, in the rest of his writing. I have chosen to shorten that and add it here. So here you are, the quote of the week.  "Power is the opiate of the rich, much like religion is the opiate of the people..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Adolf Drump" J.B. Sommerset (2024) Wow, that election really through me off my game, I gotta make up for this somehow. Here's a quote I thought would be fitting for the times. This one isn't mine, but it needs to be said anyway: "The harshest tyranny is that which acts under the protection of legality and the banner of justice". F. Montesquieu Cheers! Here's to getting back on track.

"The End of the Horizon", J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 Hello again! And welcome back. This week has been physically challenging for me, I finished a retaining wall, and it was just me doing it. So my back kind of hurts, but I have this stone wall out front now, and that's kind of cool. With all that struggle, I still fill accomplished because every time I look out that window, I am going to see that wall. Hooray! I can't say that for most of the jobs I have worked through out my life. That's why this week the quote is about crap jobs we all worked at one time or another. Here you go, served up cold, just the way we like it. "The most grievous injury a person can suffer on the job is the loss of the self, the soul, and forgetting purpose." J.B. Sommerset  Cheers!

"The Way Down", J.B. Sommerset (C) 2024 This should have been posted on Friday, I was, however, indisposed. So I am posting it now. One of the things about living on a mountain, and it being the fall, is that you have to get prepared for winter. This year, I have been chopping a lot of fire wood, and winterizing the house. We did alright last winter, but it was a mild winter in comparison to the one before it. This morning is the first morning since Friday that I have been able to sit down to update. So here it is, your quote of the week, it all about autumn: "Fall is the reminder that all things end, even suffering, and also that there is reprieve in the ending of things."  J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"The Little Blue Flower" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 I am not sure if I have posted this one before, but this is an election year and all kinds of talking-head lip-service is occupying our time. So things get a bit jumbled. This one is about bureaucracy. I hate bureaucracy more than most things. Most of it is unnecessary, and what isn't gets buried by the rest. So, here it is, your quote of the week: "Bureaucracy is an always will be the hammer the privileged use to keep the poor and impoverished subservient to their agendas..."  J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Little Yellow Flower", Copywrite J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 Folks, I am not one for drama, but sometimes people just start things because they can't live without the rush of endorphins that accompanies rumor spreading, bickering, gossiping, complaining, etc. I, in fact can't stand this kind of behavior. Some events recently led me to coin a new quote. So here it is, this is my reply to people who complain that they don't like the way people see them when they behave in certain ways: "You can't show up to the party with a big 'Shit-stirring stick' and expect that people think you are a baker..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

                                                      "Moe Mushrooms", Copywrite J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 Living way up here in the mountains I have to admit a few things. One of the hardest and most obnoxious is that nature does some hard lessons on all of us mountain folk- and also that there is nothing we can do to change that. For instance, forest fires, I dread July and August every year now, because everything is on fire for two to three months. But, and this is a hard understand, there isn't much I can do about it. So this weeks quote is an admission to it: "Mankind's power over nature is and always will be an illusion as far as nature is concerned. There is no amount of action that will stop the rain from falling, and no amount of begging that will save us from the flood. In essence, we are and always will be at it's merci. We have no power to cha...

                                                    "Mountain Moon", Copywrite J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 It's been a long couple of weeks, summer is winding down and there are a lot of projects that I need to get caught up on before the snow flies. Like all the wood choppin' and the stacking of at least a couple of cords. So, needless to say, I am very sore, and there is so much more to do. This week my "quote of the week" will reflect that. So here it is, short, simple, and almost like it was said by another old timer standing in his underwear on the front porch: "It will quit hurting when the pain goes away..." J.B. Sommerset. Cheers!

"The Red Belt" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2023 I was watching the news the other day, I know, I know, I shouldn't do that... anyway, I was reminded of how slanted the new is in this day and age. I noticed how certain news networks only play the part of the action that supports the narrative that bolsters their agenda. This is nothing new, I have noticed this many times, it's one of the reasons I don't watch the new much. Here's a quote that represents how I feel about news in these modern times.  "He who controls and filters the context of events can effectively control the narrative and change the meaning of how people see the truth..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Sand Between Toes" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2023 I have a family, and like most families some of them "ain't right". There has been some drama in the last few months and I won't bore everyone with those details. But here is a quote that I think encompasses some of the way people feel when confronted with the unpleasantness of family matters. "When we are sick out immune systems purge the poison- the viruses, the bacteria, the toxins. Emotions do the same for our spirit. When we are wronged, our anger is the inflammation of our soul trying to purge that wrong."  J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Mushrooms on the Mind" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2023 (Designed as tattoo art for a client) This week is more of an except than it is a quote. I was going through and editing one of my old works and this stood out to me. I wrote this years ago, I never thought I would work on it again, yet here I am. This one is from "Stories from Umbria". I liked it so much I decided to make it the quote of the week. The strange thing is, I don't remember writing it. "When we die, we are as children in the folds and voids contained within death, that is to say, what ever comes next. Lost in those vast infinites of unknown and incomprehensible experiences. In that place we shall be as children in the dark, much like when we were brought into this world, alone, weak, and ignorant to our predicaments. We will be as tadpoles in a vast pond, and sadly, many of us will be food for what ever lives there- the beasts that live on the other side of life." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Mist on the mountains" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2023 Up here, on this mountain I am frequently alone. It's never really bothered me, sometimes I wish there were some company, but I am never bored or unhappy with where I am, in part it's because it's not the first time I have lived this remote. Years ago I discovered what it was like to be surrounded by people, but still feel alone. It was then that I started to understand that it wasn't a need for company that made me feel alone, but it was that the quiet gave me space to hear my own voice in and that was the start of my self exploration. So, this weeks quote is about isolation and being lonely. I am pretty sure this has been said before in a different way, I just don't know who said it or when. "If you take the time to get to know yourself, and learn to prefer your own company, you will never be lonely." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!