Simply Moments

Yesterday UPS dropped off this really heavy box of parts for Nick's drill press. It probably weighs twice as much as Benny's 13 lbs, however that didn't stop him one bit.  Ever since opening his Christmas presents, he thinks everything in a box is totally his...

I'm pretty sure 2020 will go down in history as one of the worst years ever.  With the pandemic, politics, and presidential incompetence, it was a never-ending Machiavellian drama of epic proportions.  To put it mildly. Yesterday I was going through my photo program and ended up looking at the entire year, month by month.  Some months didn't have many images, others--mostly Summer--had far too many.  It was a pictorial trip through the year, which I decided would be a good way to finish off the blog for 2020.  After all, a picture's worth a thousand words... January :  The only thing noteworthy was my orchid, which hadn't bloomed in five years, until by some miracle it finally did this month and ultimately went on to have six gorgeous flowers clear into May... February :  The virus news was just starting to worry everyone globally, but I don't think anyone ever expected what happened next.  Most of this month I took pictures of the early blossomin...

Over the years I've collected, or been given, several very cool snow globes.  I always forget how wonderful they are until that moment when I unbox them at Christmas. I love the fun in shaking them to swirl the snow, then listening to the perfect tunes when I wind the musical key.  That's when I know it's Christmas... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick shaved my head again last week. I asked him to just give me a trim as the April shave had finally grown out enough to be a bit wild and unruly.  We couldn't remember which trimmer attachment we'd used before, though I didn't want it shaved as close as last time because now it's Winter and I'd freeze without hair. We settled on the #5 attachment.  I asked him to start at my neck where it was really shaggy, though for some unknown reason he buzzed straight from the back of my neck to my forehead in one long swipe. Then there was a total, deep silence. I raised my head to see why he wasn't talking or moving.  Holy...

Every January for the past seven years, Adriene Mishler, my yoga teacher, has started the new year with a 30-day challenge: yoga every day for the whole month.  This will be my third year and I'm really looking forward to the event. Each year's yoga journey has a theme: Home, Dedicate, True, etc.  This time it's Breath.  In the yoga world, breath is everything.  It can calm, invigorate, heal; it's the one thing we can control, that also keeps us alive and kicking.  Adriene has many practices on her YouTube channel and in every single one, she actively encourages listening to the breath; it's amazing really how effective it is to "find your breath" and use it. I would truly like to invite anyone reading to join in.  It's free, it's rewarding beyond measure, you don't need any experience and all you have to do is show up every day.  An added benefit is the thrill of getting to January 31st and realizing you actually did it!! Since January is shap...

In my last post I mentioned how hard it had been to concentrate on anything of late, particularly reading a book, so I thought I would start out with a small thing, like poetry or a short story, sort of ease back into focusing.  And actually I managed to read a novella...yes, I read the whole thing!!  And okay, it was short, didn't take much effort, but whatever, I finished it and happily it appears my brain seems to be balancing out a tiny bit. So, feeling invigorated by my successful novella read, last Friday, I picked up a poetry anthology I've had for ages and decided to read whatever page the book opened up to. I generally read contemporary poetry--though the anthology covered a broad swath of poets--so I was curious what poem would be randomly given. Here it is, and isn't this just utterly compelling for 2020? “Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light; The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.   Ring out ...

I've been having some real trouble concentrating lately.  I've started at least half a dozen books but can't seem to get into them, even though three are authors I love and usually dive right in the minute their books are published.  It's frustrating and unnerving. Books have sustained me through highs and lows, ups and downs, single and coupled.  They have always been my escape, transporting me outside myself to new worlds and adventures.  When I can't read, I feel lost, like half of me is missing. This morning I happened across an article addressing this weirdness.  As the months go by and we're bombarded with fear and anxiety over the political turmoil, a virus sweeping out of control, unemployment...more and more people are feeling exactly as I am: they can't read anymore, nothing holds their attention, concentration is a thing of the past. Well, wow.  I was very relieved to find I wasn't losing the plot...or if I was, at least there were tons of ot...

Recently I discovered an amazing YouTube personality: Li Ziqi , a young Chinese woman who has filmed the most incredible videos of her life in rural China.  She's not only beautifully elegant to watch, but there's nothing she can't do.  Literally.  I've watched her make the most mouth-watering food, often made in a giant wood-fired wok.  In fact, most of her cooking is either done in the wok or in various pots and clay ovens, all with fire.  She grows all her own food, raises her own chickens and geese for meat and eggs, builds bamboo fences, makes furniture and clothes, and grows fabulous gardens overflowing with food and flowers. In one episode she went out to gather mushrooms, then made her own leaf basket to carry them home!   The background music is soothing, relaxing and makes you just melt into watching her work and cook and garden.  She takes care of her ancient granny and often cooks for some of the elderly people nearby, taking them love...