We Are Alive (Bruce Springsteen)

When 8 p.m. this past Thursday night rolled around, I was front-and-center to my TV, MSNBC dialed in, with the Dream Team of Rachel, Nicolle, and Joy (plus Chris and Lawrence).  Chair Bennie Thompson kicked it off, and the subsequent proceedings held us all in rapt attention until the very end (including the 10-minute recess during which the above panel gave their mid-hearing commentary).  From the narrative, the deposition interviews, and the two witnesses... it was a compelling connect-the-dots of foundational evidence, designed to show that President Trump designed and perpetrated this beyond-riot insurrection:  "Riots usually have no intent; they devolve from protests and have no purpose except to vent steam by destroying things.  An insurrection is an attempt to overthrow the legitimate government."

This all hearkens back to the phrase used after Watergate about Nixon:  "What did the President know, and when did he know it?".  Stay tuned!

Feel Good... um... Sunday?... 😉

~ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert:  Kermit and the gang open the curtain on the January 6th Committee's first primetime hearing.

~
  

~ Here's every word of the first Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation:  ...read the full transcript from the June 9 hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6th Capitol attack. The transcript was produced by CQ.

~ Letters From an American by Heather Cox Richardson, June 10, 2022:  Preliminary reports say that about 20 million people watched last night’s compelling hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. That number, which does not include streaming or later views, is fewer than tune in for a normal State of the Union address, but more than for the World Series. In contrast, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 11-hour testimony in a 2015 Benghazi hearing drew only about 4 million viewers. 

~ Only one major cable news channel did not carry the Jan. 6 hearing live: Fox News:  Fox is the nation's most highly rated cable news station and is a favorite of conservatives, Republicans and devotees of former President Donald Trump. But its live coverage of Thursday's Jan. 6 hearing was relegated to Fox Business Network, which is much more lightly viewed, and its digital sites.

~ What’s next for the Jan. 6 panel: More hearings, more Trump:  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has laid out a roadmap for the hearings this month as it examines President Donald Trump’s responsibility for the melee and the damage that resulted for law enforcement officers, members of Congress and others in attendance that day.  The next round of hearings won’t take place in prime time like the debut on Thursday, but lawmakers will go into greater detail about specific aspects of the insurrection.

SONG:  We Are Alive by Bruce Springsteen (link ncludes commentary by Michael Moore)

BOOK:  Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy by Jamie Raskin

POEM:  The Start by Matt Mason (the state poet of Nebraska)

It probably started

in a whisper, a murmur,

a low tone hardly caught by the papers,

a sticker, a poster,

a brick wall with slogans in fresh black paint

because

it probably started with a shove,

some bluster, a gunshot,

crushed fingers, it probably started

with a speech that caught the right ears

on an otherwise happy day,

yellow flowers in a wooden stand on the sidewalk,

red apples, radio

trying hard to smooth out the mood,

kid hurrying past, thinking,

God, is that man on the corner

shouting

about me,

pulls his hat low,

it probably started

with another man

drunk on swagger,

it probably started

with a small crowd

coaxing exciting lies,

it probably started

with a neighborhood’s head bowed

as the drone grows each day

(though they’ll claim

it came

in a quick, monstrous surprise).

QUOTE:  "On this point, there is no room for debate. Those who invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them: That the election was stolen, and that he was the rightful president. President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack." ~ U.S. Representative (R-Wyo.) Liz Cheney, Vice-Chair of the January 6 Select Committee

Lives in the Balance (Jackson Browne)

Night of Stars by Victor Sparre

Feeling a bit melancholy this morning, in that Garden Day was cancelled, due to (steady earlier this a.m. and now pouring) rain.  In fact, there is a Tropical Storm Warning for South Florida this entire weekend, meaning a few plans I had are now on hold, or at least re-calibrated.  It's okay, though; I've done two short yoga sessions (Adriene released her June 2022 calendar) as well as a Joy Workout (noted below) shared in the New York Times a few weeks ago.  Prior to that, I had my standard two cups of coffee, the second accompanied by an apple fritter my dear husband went up to Dunkin Donuts for.  Yum!  My day bodes an overabundance of reading (is there any such thing?!?), and maybe a hot bath.  No reason to leave this house, so I am burrowing in... ☔

As more details continue to unfold re: the Uvalde school shooting last week, it is obviously apparent that stricter gun controls are needed, and I am appalled that so many resist the need for even the smallest of restrictions (no assault rifles sold to anyone under the age of 21?  Hello, no-brainer!).  In the meantime, we grieve... we mourn... we speak our minds/truth... and we continue to advocate for the children, and for anyone who has been killed or wounded in these senseless acts of violence.  And, while we change the world, we can still count our blessings... 💖

It is indeed Feel Good Friday and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy!

~ Jen Psaki’s legacy? One of the best press secretaries ever:  During her last week at the White House, we look back on her tenure and the integrity she brought to the job.

~ Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki will join MSNBC this fall:

Psaki will also host a show on MSNBC's hub on the Peacock streaming service, which the network said is expected to debut in the first quarter of 2023.

~ In Life’s Last Chapter, What Matters? A Room With a View:  A window overlooking a stand of trees helped revive this writer’s dying mother

~ Emily Dickinson’s Electric Love Letters to Susan Gilbert:  “Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me as you used to?… I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you… that the expectation… makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast.”

~ The Joy Workout:  Six researched-backed moves to improve your mood (reach, sway, bounce, shake, jump for joy, and one I named “celebrate” that looks like tossing confetti in the air)

SONG:  Lives in the Balance by Jackson Browne

BOOK:  Children Under Fire: An American Crisis by John Woodrow Cox 

POEM(S):  We Need to Teach the Children the Old Words by Caroline Mellor

“Words are world-makers”

— Robert MacFarlane

We need to teach the children the old words,

words like brabble and grubble,

twitter-light and clinkerbell;

words which dance and trip and slip

and drip like honey off the tongue

Teach them that a hazy halo of cloud

around the moon is called a moonbroch

and that swiftly moving clouds are named cairies;

how a vixen’s wedding is a sunny shower of rain,

and that a single sunbeam breaking through thick cloud

is known as a messenger

Teach them to know the seasons and scents

of queen of the meadow and bride of the sun,

how to tell Jupiter’s staff from fairy fingers

and which roses bloom with the strawberry moon

Teach them to spot pricklebacks in the tottlegrass,

how to recognise a smeuse or a bishop-barnaby,

when to watch the sky for flittermice and yaffles,

and to pay attention to the dumbeldore and mousearnickle

as she graces the lazy leahs of summer

Teach them a few of the old Sussex words for mud,

like gubber and slub and stodge and pug,

so they know that the precious soil beneath their toes

is anything but worthless dirt

Teach them to be users and keepers and makers

of the words which bring the land alive:

a storybook, where everything has its rightful place,

including us;

where the wilds are fearful and filled with magic

and people do noble things, and nothing is impossible

In this world of harsh new words —

words like planetary dysmorphia and solastalgia,

extinction debt and grief mitigation,

megadrought and megafire,

anthropogenic, pyrocene,

words which alarm and get stuck in our throats

describing a world which our hearts cannot grasp —

we need to teach the children the old words,

so that if they should feel lost,

the old words might colour for them

a warm and breathing, living map,

a light to guide them safely home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Glossary

brabble — to argue loudly about matters of no importance

grubble — to grope around in the dark for something that you can’t see

clinkerbell — icicle

twitter-light — twilight

queen of the meadow — meadowsweet

bride of the sun — calendula

Jupiter’s staff — mullein

fairy fingers — foxglove

*prickleback — hedgehog

*tottle grass — high grass

smeuse —the gap in the base of a hedge made by the regular passage of a small animal

*bishop-barnaby — ladybird

*yaffle — green woodpecker

*flittermouse — bat

*dumbledore — bumblebee

*mousearnickle — dragonfly

leah — meadow, clearing

*gubber — black mud of rotting organic matter

*pug — a kind of loam, particularly the sticky yellow Wealden clay

*stodge — thick puddingy mud

*slub — thick mud

Author's Note:   I owe the title and first line of this poem to my friend, Jelly Julieda, who has graciously granted me permission to use her words here. I have also been hugely inspired by the work of Robert MacFarlane, and urge you to read his wonderful book Landmarks if you are interested in the relationship between landscape and language.

The words marked with an *asterisk are native to my home in the Sussex Weald.

Poem to Be Read at 3:00 a.m. by Donald Justice

Excepting the diner

On the outskirts

The town of Ladora

At 3 A.M.

Was dark but

For my headlights

And up in

One second-story room

A single light

Where someone

Was sick or

Perhaps reading

As I drove past

At seventy

Not thinking

This poem

Is for whoever

Had the light on

QUOTE(S):  "The world spins. We stumble on. It is enough." ~ Colum McCann

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” ~ Helen Keller

Hallelujah (HAIM)

Okay, raise your hand if you're tired of me saying:  "It's been one month... six weeks... three months... [fill in unit of time measurement here] since my last confession... um... blog post".  I've been busy but I've also been cocooning, if that makes a bit of sense.  RHG and I were talking the other night, reminiscing about the years I suffered from Full Plate Syndrome, and I worked hard to eventually scrape many things off my dish.  I laughed that now, when I add something, it's not a heaping helping of mashed potatoes, but more along the lines of one... pea... at... a... time.  And I'm good with that... 😍

I recently attended a livestream with Anna Quindlen, moderated by Kelly Corrigan (more about her in an upcoming Mother's Day post).  I have been following AQ's writing since first reading her Life in the 30's column when we lived in Puerto Rico (1985-1989), followed by her novels as well as non-fiction works.  There's just something about her "voice" that is simple yet beautiful; her new book (non-fiction) is called Write for Your Life (see link below), and is geared to those who love to write but don't do it professionally.  I related to so many things she said, especially:  "I don't send you a letter to *tell* you something; I send you a letter to *give* you something."  Whoa.  Wow.  Goosebumps.

If you are a friend, or a follower of my blog, or both... you are long familiar with my can't-do-anything-in-25-words-or-less philosophy.  I mean... I can, but I don't want to... not when there's a whole language and vocabulary out there just waiting to be used and highlighted.  This is where I shine; I have missed writing... and her livestream fueled my desire to get back to blogging too, even if only once a week.  

So, here I am.  Rather than recap from where I left off (mid-February... really?!?), I will Begin Again... in the Now... possibly sharing tidbits of that Bermuda Triangle of lost time... or maybe not.  Life is pretty d*mn lovely.  I still read, walk, garden, hug my Colin, sip my hot tea, count my blessings.  Hope there is joy in your days as well, whether bestowed-by-The-Universe magical or earned-tooth-and-nail (equally valued).

It is indeed Feel Good Friday and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy!

~ MacKenzie Scott Has Pledged to Donate Half Her Net Worth to Charity:  It's a pledge her ex-husband, Jeff Bezos, has yet to make.

~ Love the Hit Game Wordle? Try BRDL, a Bird-Inspired Spinoff:  The daily word quiz that has taken the internet by storm now has a version for birders. Just make sure you know your banding codes.

~ Break a Leg but Never Whistle: How Stage Superstitions Live On:  The return of the Scottish play (that’s “Macbeth” to the rest of you) is a reminder of the idiosyncratic rituals and routines that bring actors comfort.

~ The Best Teas, According to Wirecutter’s Obsessive Staff:  A great cup of tea can make everything better. Even though tea is not as popular as coffee in the US, we think it deserves its place as the second-most widely consumed beverage in the world (water being the first). 

~ 70+ Perennial Vegetables to Plant Once and Harvest for Years:  Edible perennial gardening is a way to grow delicious crops while saving time, money, and effort. 

NR:  One Two Three by Laurie Frankel

SONG:  Hallelujah by HAIM

BOOK:  Write for Your Life by Anna Quindlen 

POEM:  What You Missed That Day You Were Absent From Fourth Grade by Brad Aaron Modlin

Mrs. Nelson explained how to stand still and listen

to the wind, how to find meaning in pumping gas,

how peeling potatoes can be a form of prayer. She took

questions on how not to feel lost in the dark

After lunch she distributed worksheets

that covered ways to remember your grandfather’s

voice. Then the class discussed falling asleep

without feeling you had forgotten to do something else—

something important—and how to believe

the house you wake in is your home. This prompted

Mrs. Nelson to draw a chalkboard diagram detailing

how to chant the Psalms during cigarette breaks,

and how not to squirm for sound when your own thoughts

are all you hear; also, that you have enough.

The English lesson was that I am

is a complete sentence.

And just before the afternoon bell, she made the math equation

look easy. The one that proves that hundreds of questions,

and feeling cold, and all those nights spent looking

for whatever it was you lost, and one person

add up to something.

QUOTE(S):  "When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life." ~ Jean Shinoda Bolen

“We have a tendency to think in terms of doing and not in terms of being. We think that when we are not doing anything, we are wasting our time. But that is not true. Our time is first of all for us to be. To be what? To be alive, to be peaceful, to be joyful, to be loving. And that is what the world needs most.”

Thich Nhat Hanh 

“Doing those deeply unfashionable things—slowing down, letting your spare time expand, getting enough sleep, resting—is a radical act now, but it is essential. This is a crossroads we all know, a moment when you need to shed a skin. If you do, you’ll expose all those painful nerve endings and feel so raw that you’ll need to take care of yourself for a while. If you don’t, then that skin will harden around you.” ~ Katherine May

Holly Tree (Dar Williams)

In honor of Halloween this Sunday (October 31, as usual!).

"Calling yourself a witch at this moment in history is a BIG deal. Our way of being as women has been persecuted for millennia. The word ‘witch’ has been vilified and slung around as an insult. So it’s no wonder that we, as women, hold back our power, hush our voices, and stay small because we’ve been told that being powerful is unsafe. 

Our work, the work of the witch, is to make it safe to be powerful again. 

Being powerful in the face of thousands of years of patriarchal expectations and conditioning means going against so many of the things you’ve been taught, right?  And yet… the power to shape events, to change things up and make things happen flows naturally through you. Your biology is honed and optimized to wield that power and use it for good. 

It’s your birthright as a woman.

This is witch work.

The thing is, so many of us have grown really good at playing the roles we’ve been offered up as women in the world...

The problem? I don’t know about you, but when I’ve played these roles (and I’ve played many of them in the past), I’ve always found myself feeling a combination of unfulfilled/hungry/displeased/restless. 

And if you feel that restlessness too? That’s the unexpressed part of you. 

Over time, that part of you starts to scream inside. The scream becomes deafening. All-consuming. 

For some it shows up as pain and dis-ease in the body. For others it’ll be depression and/or anxiety. 

You may use food/drink/shopping/drugs to numb it. 

At first, you’ll probably push it down. 

And in pushing down the scream, you’ll go one of two ways. You’ll either become despondent and submissive to life, or you’ll become aggressive and/or hardened – taking on predominantly masculine traits to survive....

I totally disconnected from my female body. I lived my life from the neck up, operating and making decisions decisions from my head.I lived life like a dude because that option seemed much easier than having to deal with being a woman who was never seen or heard...

Pushing down the scream is what we’re dealing with here... it’s a basic reality for so many women in the western world. Recognize it in your body. 

Recognize it in your being, because it’s time to stop pushing it down. It’s time to start letting it all be seen and felt. FULLY. 

This is witch work.

How do we dare to express our fullness? 

We must bring it ALL. 

Rage AND laughter. 

Beauty AND strength. 

Fierceness AND grace. 

Vulnerability AND force. 

Compassion AND passion."

~ Lisa Lister, Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic.

It is indeed Feel Good Friday and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy!

~ Six Kinds of Vegan Witches To Know:  Witches are known for being anti-establishment, resourceful, independent and deeply connected to the natural world, so is it any surprise that vegans have a natural affinity for witchery?

~ A Scaredy-Cat’s Investigation Into Why People Enjoy Fear:  Halloween is here again. That means your co-workers have planted surprise spiders around the office. You’ve been invited to a haunted hayride. Your neighbor’s yard has a full cemetery, rigged with motion detectors and pop-up zombies.

~ Monster Burgers Are Here This Weekend (Saturday, October 30 and Sunday, October 31):  Parlour Vegan's Halloween menu! (make sure to click over to page 2 as well... 👻 )

~ When ‘Boo!’ Is Only the Beginning:  What does it take to scare the candy corn out of someone? Performers at two of New York’s hallowed haunted attractions explain the secrets behind the shocks.

~ The Rumpus Advice Column #98: Monsters and Ghosts:  Dear Sugar, my mother left my father the month I was born. She remarried and had my brother two years later. My stepfather (the only father I knew) committed suicide when I was five years old. My mother became a raging alcoholic following his death. (continued at link)

~ BONUS, although not Halloween-related:  Dar Williams livestream: I'll Meet You Here, Live From the Road, tonight at 9:45 p.m. EDT!  Join Dar Williams, cellist/guitarist/vocalist Ward Williams, and keyboardist/vocalist Bryn Roberts to experience the I’ll Meet You Here tour from the comfort of your home. If you are immunocompromised, or caring for someone who is, you might not be able to come out to a live venue for the shows. We’ve read your emails and social media comments requesting an option to join Dar virtually. This show is for YOU. The show is free, but tips are always welcome and appreciated to help cover the costs of bringing this livestream to your home. Dar very much appreciates your enthusiasm and support!

SONG:  Holly Tree by Dar Williams

BOOK:  Magic Lessons: Book #1 of the Practical Magic Series by Alice Hoffman

POEM:  Macbeth, Act IV, Scene I [Round about the cauldron go] by William Shakespeare

The three witches, casting a spell

Round about the cauldron go;   

In the poison’d entrails throw.   

Toad, that under cold stone    

Days and nights hast thirty one   

Swelter’d venom sleeping got,   

Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.   

     Double, double toil and trouble; 

     Fire burn and cauldron bubble.   

Fillet of a fenny snake,   

In the cauldron boil and bake;   

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,   

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,   

Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,   

Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,   

For a charm of powerful trouble, 

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.   

     Double, double toil and trouble;   

     Fire burn and cauldron bubble.  

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,      

Witches’ mummy, maw and gulf     

Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark,     

Root of hemlock digg’d i’ the dark,     

Liver of blaspheming Jew,      

Gall of goat, and slips of yew     

Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse,     

Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips,     

Finger of birth-strangled babe      

Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,     

Make the gruel thick and slab:     

Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,     

For the ingredients of our cauldron.

     Double, double toil and trouble;   

     Fire burn and cauldron bubble.  

QUOTE(S):  “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”  ~ W.B. Yeats

Where your fear is, there is your task. ~ C.G. Jung

“I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life - and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” ~ Georgia O’Keeffe 

I Swear (All-4-One)

Despite what the above memes might make you believe, it's been a good week.  It's just that I really like to swear, the f-word being my favorite, which I sprinkle liberally into conversation.  However, I am slowly getting to know people in my new gardening community, and don't want to offend anyone... so I'm trying to become more selective about the words as well as situations in which I curse.  A worthy challenge or an exercise in futility?  We shall see... 😁

This week saw a lovely phone chat with Melanie, picking up Colin, Zoom with Nancy and Judi, my monthly massage, a Caring Community leadership Zoom meeting, and two garden events... one our regular Friday gathering and this morning a planting/tutorial on herbs.  We volunteers were given cut branches with dried lippia leaves, and I do believe it is now my favorite tea.  Yum!

Apparently Feel Good Friday has morphed into Feel Good Saturday (whoops!) and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy!

~ Remembering Gary Paulsen, author of 'Dogsled' and 'Hatchet':  The Newbery award-winning author, who died Oct. 13, wrote over 200 books, many of which were tales of adventure aimed at young adults. In 1994, Paulsen talked about Alaska's Iditarod dog sled race.

~ The Paradox of Less is More (And How It Will Improve Your Life):  “Don’t use a lot where a little will do.”

~ Miami Book Fair is back with a street fair, in-person events — and new COVID rules:  This year the fair, which runs Nov. 14-21, is a hybrid, a blend of in-person and online events that brings the fair closer to what it was before our story took an unfortunate turn in 2020.

~ Mentor to Make a Difference:  Did you know that 43% of Florida students cannot read at a minimally proficient level by the end of third grade? ReadingPals, a statewide volunteer-based literacy initiative provides mentors for students from Pre-K through 3rd grade for one hour a week for 25 weeks to read to a child. 

~ Little Love Jar:  A jar stuffed with love, praise, friendship, and memories, gathered from the people who matter most. The recipient will be celebrated like never before with this personalized gift filled to the brim with joy, inspiration, humor and LOVE. Each Little Love Jar is filled with up to 175 messages, collected from friends and family worldwide. ($85.  Hmmm.  Is it awful that I'm going to "borrow" this *very* cool idea, and do it for my own family and friends this holiday season?)

SONG:  I Swear by All-4-One

BOOK:  How to Swear: An Illustrated Guide by Stephen Wildish

POEM:  Swear by Psalmist

A day can suck.
A day can blow.
It can go to hell
or go to shit.
You can screw it
— you can fuck it.
It can be damned like a soul.
It may kiss your ass, if you give it permission.
Or fuck you in the same ass once it’s been presented.
It can shit on you,
piss on you;
a day can be a bitch.
When you think about it, a day can be all kinds of expletives.
A day can be pretty damn insensitive,
perverse, uncouth, reprehensible,
lascivious, immoral, without principal,
improper, indiscreet, a libertine,
vulgar, crude, ribald, lewd, deranged.
A day can be all of these things.
But just you wait, because tomorrow,
I swear,
it could be inexplicably chaste.

QUOTE:  "Contrary to the negative stereotype that folks who swear have poor vocabularies, a fluency in taboo language correlates with overall verbal fluency. The more words you know, the more you know... and the more colorfully you can express yourself, with nuance, metaphor, and emotion." ~ Faith Salie

Joy (Carlos Santana and Chris Stapleton)

Full, satisfying, lovely week!  Zoom with Nancy and Judi... a fasting/bloodwork appointment with a follow-up doctor visit in a few weeks (on the surface, all looked good)... two library pick-ups... a sweet phone chat with my sister Mari... Zoom book club with my OverReaders Anonymous group (since September 2001 and counting!)... picked up Colin from preschool... a Dollar Tree shopping spree ($24 and so much great stuff!)... and this morning our regular Community Garden get-together (today we installed netting over some hooped beds, repotted plants into smaller containers to sell at our Pop-Up Market, and even saw some donkeys:  the collective noun is herd but, since there were only four, that doesn't really apply...  Two more garden events this weekend:

Mulching and Pollinator Garden on Saturday:  

https://www.facebook.com/events/224145272915317

Pop-Up Market on Sunday:

https://www.facebook.com/events/857790578206545

...and on the seventh day, she rested (ha ha ha ha ha!)

P.S.  I am also faithfully/obsessively back in my walking routine, for two reasons:  1) the weather is a bit cooler, and the humidity a tad lower... and 2) a dear friend has been converting a series of *mixtapes* I made in 1997/98 to Spotify playlists.  Talk about Memory Lane, literally as well as figuratively!  Thanks and love, MW... 💞 ♭♭♭ 😎

NR:  The Leavers by Lisa Ko

It is indeed Feel Good Friday (cutting it close again!) and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy!

~ Scenes from the Life of Roz Chast:  In the past four decades, the cartoonist has created a universe of spidery lines and nervous spaces, turning anxious truth-telling into an authoritative art.

~ 10 Ways To Connect To The Earth and Others:  How do you feeling complete and connected to the Earth and others? It takes effort, but it is worth it. We must bring our focus outside of ourselves to allow us to reach out to people and to the world around us in positive ways.

~ Do You Believe?:  Michael Dean as Cher wows audiences with his uncanny ability to impersonate the one and only Cher.  He is available for corporate

and charitable events, celebrations and other special occasions.

~ Welcome to She’s Full of Lit!:  While book blogs and book reviews abound on the internet, the three of us (Elizabeth, Moira, and Shannon), felt that we had a distinctive voice to bring to the book world.  

~ Feeling Anxious? Journaling Might Help:  Guided notebooks that borrow principles from cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness are aiming to put mental-health tools in the hands of the people.

~ Bonus item:  Matt Amodio’s ‘Jeopardy!’ Streak Ends After 38 Wins:  The computer science Ph.D. student had the second-longest winning streak in the history of the game show. [Susan's note:  I record Jeopardy every night, and watch it either later that evening or the next day (have been doing that for years).  Of course, I am impressed and in awe of Matt Amodio's mad skills/memory/brainpower, having won $1,518,601 over the course of his run since July 21.  However, it just wasn't fun anymore, as the Ph.D. student bulldozed over his competitors with his knowledge, his strategy, and his high-risk betting, making every game a runaway... except that last one, obviously.  It feels good to be back to "the good ol' days again", with an even playing field... until the next wunderkind comes along... 👀

 

SONG:  Joy by Carlos Santana, with Chris Stapleton

BOOK:  These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett

POEM:  five acts of protest by Maya Stein

1. It is too late in the season for the tomato vines to bear fruit. Nevertheless,

a bloom has appeared the color of a kindergarten sun.

2. Potato chips, eaten in a moving car, napkinless.

3. A coupon will arrive in the mail and it will appear glossy with promise, or a celebrity

you admire will begin a new skin care routine that leaves them ebullient with youth

and you will want that same glow bestowed on your tired face. Instead, make applesauce.

Write a chirpy Post-it note to your neighbor. Scotch tape it on a Mason jar you’ve filled

to the brim. Deliver it, unannounced, to their doorstep.

4. Stillness. No, really. Stop moving for One. Whole. Minute.

5. Grief and its surrender. Joy and its surrender. Any act and its surrender.

QUOTE:  "Some days I am overwhelmed with sadness, a heavy heart, and a sense of loss; some days I awaken already infused with a sense of gratitude and joy. Every day, however, I wake up prepared to be curious and interested, to approach all interactions with myself and others with compassion, and to do what I can to challenge thoughts and beliefs that I don’t want to take into my future. I just know that next year will be a better year." ~ Catherine Nabbs

Sweet Spot (Antje Duvekot)

Good but very low-key week... exactly what I needed after the breakneck pace of the last few.  Zoom with Nancy and Judi, a library pick-up, volunteering in the community garden this morning.  Much weeding, and joyful satisfaction!  We harvested apple bananas (yes, that's a real thing!) and papayas for the food bank, saw many peacock butterflies (thanks to Claire for the ID), and even spotted, amidst the chicken wire (to keep out the iguanas), a chrysalis... 😃

On my way out, I stopped into the farmers' market in front, and bought beefsteak tomatoes, two different kinds of sweet potatoes, Gala apples, locally-made vegan coconut yogurt, as well as baba ganoush.  The first thing I did when I got home was make a tomato sandwich (to quote songwriter Guy Clark:  "only two things money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes"... ❤ )  Yum!

I've also tried to catch up on my reading, because putting together the TCC newsletter was taking up a lot of my discretionary time; it was a fun challenge, but I do get grumpy when I don't consume words on a regular basis.  Reinstating a feature I haven't used in a while:

NR:  House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

It is indeed Feel Good Friday (cutting it close again!) and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy!

~ Baking That’s Simple, but Always Satisfying:  In her new monthly column, Genevieve Ko shares easy, streamlined recipes, like handmade crisps and cookies, so you can feed your loved ones (and yourself) effortlessly.

~ Books Don't Cost A Thing: A #GoodbyeFines Playlist:  It's one fine day at the Library! On October 5, The New York Public Library announced that we're closing the book on late fines. That's right—NYPL no longer charges late fines on overdue material. 

~ Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill:  This site is Atlanta's first Community Urban Food Forest, as well as a new model for a City of Atlanta park. The food forest will produce a wide variety of fresh, flavorful, and healthy nuts, fruits,  vegetables, herbs,  and mushrooms, which will become available for public consumption.  Located in an area identified as a food desert, the site was a working farm as recently as 2000. Neighbors still talk about the land’s former owners, Ruby and Willie Morgan, who left excess produce from their farm on fence posts for neighbors to claim and enjoy. 

~ Designed to remind us of stories worth sharing:  At Anecdote, we’re making fragrance a conversation piece. Inspired by personal recollections and cultural trends, each candle is an everyday luxury designed to remind us of stories worth sharing.

~ William Steig’s Books Explored the Reality That Adults Don’t Want Children to Know About:  Writers for young children have a nearly impossible task: to amuse both the kid being read to and the adult doing the reading. Doing one or the other is hard enough, and only a select handful of geniuses can manage both. William Steig is one. 

SONG:  Sweet Spot by Antje Duvekot

BOOK:  Yes! I AM by Opal Murray (my dear friend Opal from the UUCFL asked me to review her book; I agreed, and was beyond relieved that it was a lovely read.  Don't be surprised if it ends up in your mailbox in the next few months... 💗 )

POEM:  Field Guide by Tony Hoagland

Once, in the cool blue middle of a lake,

up to my neck in that most precious element of all,

I found a pale-gray, curled-upwards pigeon feather

floating on the tension of the water

at the very instant when a dragonfly,

like a blue-green iridescent bobby pin,

hovered over it, then lit, and rested.

That’s all.

I mention this in the same way

that I fold the corner of a page

in certain library books,

so that the next reader will know

where to look for the good parts.

QUOTE:  "Be amazed. Take a step back and look at your life with gratitude every now and then. Be amazed. Squeeze every last ounce of goodness out of what is around you. Savor it. Soak it up. Luxuriate in it. Be amazed. When you’re burned out, bone weary, and bedraggled, use amazement to fill yourself back up. Seek out those situations, people, and activities that remind you of what it means and how it feels to be amazed." ~ Leslie Ralph

Rainbow Connection (Kermit the Frog)

Has it really been two weeks since my husband and I visited Ft. Myers Beach to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary?!?  Apparently so!

We drove across the state on scenic Alligator Alley... saw McMansions (ugh) north of Bonita Springs where shabby beach cottages used to be... checked into our beachfront room (the same hotel we used to vacation with family decades ago)... spent time at both the gulf and the pool... had some of the most delicious pizza we've ever eaten... applied aloe and cucumber peel-off face masques (!)... saw a rainbow (above)... read (a lot!)... walked along the beach and collected shells... visited The Silver Witch and picked up trinkets for the kids... saw an almost-perfect sunset... enjoyed another delicious dinner... begged for (and were granted) a late check-out... sad to leave, but reconnected and grateful for the experience... ☀🌈

It is indeed Feel Good Friday (coming in just barely under the wire!) and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy!

~ Face the Music: Singer-songwriter Dar Williams is back with ‘I’ll Meet You Here’:  The album is scheduled for release on Oct. 1 (TODAY!!!).

And this Spotlight Album Review: Dar Williams "I’ll Meet You Here"

~ The Melting Face Emoji Has Already Won Us Over:  Of the 37 new emojis approved this year, one has stood out as a visual proxy for our collective malaise.

~ Michaela Coel's Inspiring Emmy Speech in Full: 'Do Not Be Afraid to Disappear':  Accepting her award at the 2021 Emmys, Coel, becoming the first Black woman to take home the prize, dedicated her prize to "every survivor of sexual assault" and gave a nod to aspiring writers across the world.

~ Disney updates content warning for racism in classic films:  When played on the Disney+ streaming service, films such as Dumbo, Peter Pan and Jungle Book now flash up with a warning about stereotypes.


~ The Caring Community Newsletter (scroll about halfway down):  I hope this comes through.  It will be out officially tomorrow, but had to share a sneak-peek tonight.  I am very proud of my work... 😍

SONG:  Rainbow Connection (Kermit the Frog)

BOOK:  Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Prasadam-Halls, David Litchfield (Illustrator)

POEM:  If You Want the Rainbow by Amy Baskin

—inspired by Dolly Parton’s infinitely wise words

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow

you gotta put up with the rain.”

But storms can hit harder than any blow.

Just when you need relief, the skies will flow

and pummel you with tears and aches and pain.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,

kiss your hurts and hug them close. Above all, take it slow.

And breathe! Losing your shit cannot be called “a gain;”

your storms can hit harder than any blow!

Get wet. Jump in puddles toe-to-toe.

Take a stroll, hand-in-hand with a friend. This is sane.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,

thank the rain! It saturates you ‘til you know

you cannot get any wetter. Head inside. Get dry again

once storms have hit harder than any blow.

Towel off. Drink tea. Cuddle. Then work hard! And throw

aside the fears that you can’t take it. Let those wane.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,

know storms hit hard. They’re part of getting clean and letting go.

QUOTE:  “This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Garden of Delights (Lisa Loeb)

Feel as if I am catching up with my life, and my life is catching up with me!  Such a fabulous week:  I babysat Colin, Zoomed with Nancy and Judi, livestreamed with Val Emmich, had a massage with Kimberly, volunteered in the HOPE food bank garden, did a library pick-up, transported Colin from point A to point B (while listening to a Sesame Street CD).  Also putting the finishing touches on The Caring Community newsletter which, goddess willing, will be ready for publication/distribution on October 1.  In other words, it's been a Great Delight.  Hope you're taking the above advice to heart as well... 😍 🌈 🌅 💖

Plus, to paraphrase Meghan Trainor (by John Roedel, below):

"I'm all 'bout that poem, 'bout that poem

I'm all 'bout that poem

'Bout that poem

Hey

Hey

Hey hey

Ooh

You know you love this poem

A ah ah ah yeah"... 💓

It is indeed Feel Good Friday and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy!

~ A Photographer’s Old College Classmates, Back Then and Now:  The portraits in “Reunion” deliver a visual consistency that feels both plain and profound.

~ Let's Grow Some Flowers!  Learn to grow amazing flowers from your Cute Root card when you follow our instructions.

~ His books on Rosa Parks and MLK were banned. Here’s what this South Florida author did:  “If you’re taking the lessons of Rosa Parks, you have to fight back,” said the creator of the Ordinary People Change the World series, which profiles historic figures including Abraham Lincoln, Frida Kahlo, Helen Keller and Neil Armstrong for kids.

~ A Hundred Falling Veils:  there's a poem in every day (Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

~ Dogwood Refillery:  Dogwood Refillery's mission extends beyond just low-waste, but being conscious in every aspect of life to be sustainable.

SONG:  Garden of Delights by Lisa Loeb

BOOK:  The Monocle Book of Gentle Living: A guide to slowing down, enjoying more and being happy by Tyler Brûlé, Andrew Tuck, Josh Fehnert, Joe Pickard

POEM:  by John Roedel

I have now taken 47.5 lumbering trips around the sun to observe the human experience and here is a brief recap on a little I have learned so far:

The angriest people are usually 

the ones who are the most afraid.

Empathy is a very under-taught

subject in our schools.

People who can’t laugh at themselves

make for terrible comedians.

If you mix Daiquiri Ice and Chocolate

ice cream at Baskin Robbins you’ll know

exactly what heaven tastes like.

Not enough people take the time

to jump in puddles.

We somehow normalized giving

our guns baby names and naming

our babies after guns. 

The inside of our eyelids play

the same monster movies over and over. 

Dandelions aren’t weeds. No, they aren’t.  Stop arguing with me. 

A womb is a temple of miracles where souls and bodies form the most perfectly strange communities. 

By the way, hospice beds are the exact same. 

Politics make for terrible eyeglasses 

to see the world through.

There are not enough books written about lighthouses and way too many about vampires.

We take part in so many things that 

don’t bring us joy all in the name of “tradition”.

The best naps happen during rainstorms.

Our cell phones have more plans

than our actual lives. 

We fetishize butterflies a little

too much, I mean, come on.

Kissing is magic. If a kiss doesn’t 

feel magical then it isn’t one.  It’s just

lip chores. 

We choose if the holes in our hearts 

kill us or turn us into woodwind instruments.

Rivers have taught me as much about God

as Sunday School ever did.

If we stare up into the stars long enough

we will feel this little tug on the threads of

our spirit.  It will be like the pull of a magnet.  

We are drawn upwards.  We are attracted to

the expanse.  We are being called to return 

where it is we came from.  We come to know

that everything out there in the endless field

of celestial delights came from the same burst

of creation that eventually formed us.  And those

thoughts are gently pulling on us every time we

gaze up into the night sky. 

Trees make really wonderful life coaches.

Whenever we hold hands with each other

our pulses try their best to synchronize.

There should be an Olympic sport 

that is all about untangling extension cords.

Eating a hamburger while sitting

on the hood of a car is something 

people should go do more often.

Our memories should never have

walls to them.  We should be able

to visit them without getting stuck.

We treat grief like it’s a summer storm 

-as if it’s a temporary event that will 

quickly pass.  It won’t. Grief is a comet.  

It terraforms our world.

Grief doesn’t always destroy us - but it

changes the shape of our continents. 

We hide too much beautiful art in places

where we only people who don’t care 

about art can afford to see it.

I think whomever created pulp-free orange juice didn’t quite understand what orange juice is.

Sex in movies makes people cringe more than 

mass murder in movies and that probably makes the angels weep. 

Mothers should be given 10% discounts. Everywhere.

The best name any flower has ever 

been given is “Baby’s Breath”.

Kindness is elemental. 

A slow drive down a dirt road with the exact right song playing can be a baptism. 

I’m hopeful that we have finally 

reached the saturation point 

of reality tv shows involving 

angry neighbors and retired judges.

Although, I can’t quite prove it yet, I think every gust of wind is a ghost trying to win a race.

Our hearts are sponges.  What we put in is what squeezes out. 

When we fall in love we don’t actually fall. We float. We become weightless. 

We have turned the  expectations of other people into anchors that we wear our our necks. We are curving our spines by trying to fit in.

Airplanes look they shouldn’t work but somehow they do and we just get over it ~and that is the kind of shoulder shrugging we should do for people who live their lives in ways that we don’t understand. 

Listening to new music is an easy way to turn our minds into gates instead of bank vaults.

People are good - some of them just forget it.

We put way too many people in prisons, boxes, their places, in timeout and in hell. 

If the universe can still be expanding after all this time then I should willing to do the same. Every morning we become a newborn galaxy.  Every breath we take is a baby sun.  Every word of kindness we speak can build a new Earth in someone else’s heart.

Nobody can tell you how to heal. 

There should be more cupcakes. I know

there are already a bunch of cupcakes, I 

just think there should be more.

QUOTE:  “The shortest route to manifesting a better life is to be in a state of mindful appreciation of the present, acceptance of the past, and excitement for the future.” ~ Anthon St. Maarten

Amendment (Ani DiFranco)

I had such a sweet, thoughtful post scheduled for today... but, in the last 48 hours, I am just more and more pissed off!

F*cking Texas and their f*cking abortion ban (which I now read is also being planned by Florida, Arkansas, and South Dakota).  I may have my head in the sand/been living under a rock, but I'd never before heard of a shadow docket.  I call bullsh*t.

What can we do?  What *are* we going to do?  This is unacceptable.  We worked too hard for Roe v. Wade to see it crumble like the spines of the Republicans who are behind this offensive and oppressive legislation.

“Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe.

The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability.  Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” ~ Arundhati Roy, War Talk

and...

“One by one the women step up

and commit the forbidden act

of biting into patriarchal thought

refuting it, smashing it,

discarding it and beginning again

in the very beginning when women

loved their bodies

named their gods

authored their lives

when women refused to surrender

except to life as it pulsated through them.

Women reminding us

there is nothing wrong

there never has been anything wrong

there never will be anything wrong

with woman.”

~ Patricia Lynn Reilly

It is indeed Feel Good Friday and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy! 

~ First Look: Paradis Books & Bread, Miami’s Gamechanging Natural Wine Bar and Bookshop:  “It’s all an experiment."

~ A Simple 5-Step Process for Finding Peace in Times of Conflict:  Ever feel like you are living a life of chaos? Are you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated over these crazy past two years? When difficult things happen or conflict arises, it can be hard to feel peace.

~ Inviting Readers to ‘Dig Into the Whole Garden’:  Margaret Roach, a gardening columnist for The Times, wants readers to see planting and landscaping as more than outdoor decorating.

~ Spike Lee, Exultant at the ‘Epicenter’:  The filmmaker’s epic new documentary series, “NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½,” is an alternately mournful and irreverent tribute to New York.

~ Could you wear a dress for 100 days?  When Emma Beddington took part in a challenge to wear the same dress for 100 days, she wasn’t expecting to feel the positive force of sisterhood alongside a few neat cleaning hacks.

SONG:  Amendment by Ani DiFranco

BOOK: On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint by Maggie Nelson

POEM:  The Nothing by Sarah la Rosa

Dark water

muddy water

groundwater.

Creativity is like this

swirling 

and circling

and thick.

There is no easy, clear flow

of sparkling oceans and singing rivers.

My muse comes to me in the mud--

that sacred mixture

dirt and dark water

that heals blind eyes

and draws toxins

from the skin and deeper organs.

The smell is pungent.

This is the artery of the earth

this is the tar-coloured pitch

that feeds the tributaries

flowing toward La Loba who gathers

to Kali who destroys

to the truths I'd rather avoid

inside of myself

about myself

in spite of myself.

One has no choice

but to face the Great Nothing

if one is to find

the Underneath River.

It is a gift, the nothing.

It empties us utterly

of falsity and the hollow stubbornness

that claims to be abiding strength of spirit

but drains us of genuine courage instead.

And we must be emptied

if we are to be fed the living water of spirit.

And so, what is one to do?

What is the solution

the course of action

while stranded in the desert?

Do you sit and conserve your strength?

praying that you live

through this painful dehydration

of the soul?

No.

Continue on

feel the burning sand 

between your toes

feel yourself melting

and merging

with the Great Nothing.

Sink

below

dunes and heat.

There you will find

a cool, dark place

that smells of ancient rains

collected on the ground

beneath your blistered feet.

The waters rise.

QUOTE(S):  "I write because it makes me feel like someone's listening - or I am finally listening to myself." ~ Unknown

"I have a soft spot for books by tough, radically honest women with an uncommon antenna for magic, language, and landscape." ~ Maggie Nelson