As you know, a few weeks ago I visited the LA Arboretum. During the day, it’s just the usual collection of plants from around the world. But in December and January it’s transformed each night into the “Moonlight Forest,” which is….

…a bunch of lighted-up things. I’m not even sure what to call them. But they’re all based on Chinese culture and they’re quite pretty. The display below is typical, a collection of lilies of some kind. There were also lotus blossoms, peacocks, jellyfish, dragons, crescent moons, all the yearly animals, and so forth. It was not quite what I was expecting when I bought a ticket, and I still haven’t decided if it was worth seeing. Either way, though, I’ve got half a dozen more pictures like this one, and I’ll probably put them up eventually. Or maybe I’ll do them all at once. My photo queue is really, really backed up these days and I need to start clearing it out.

December 9, 2018 — Los Angeles Arboretum, Arcadia, California

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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