....since I've blogged. That's an understatement, for sure, because I see it's been since March.  I think life has been and continues to be challenging for all of us under this regime.  How are you getting along? Can you afford your life?  Are you finding happiness and joy wherever you can?  I think that's key now and always.  Oh, yes, and to be kind, to help each other, to listen, to understand.

I'm going to focus on all the good.  That's been my mantra since November of 2024, though it's easy to lose sight of that when the news is a continual onslaught of not good. The flowers in my neighborhood have been flourishing this summer because of all the rain and humidity.  Dahlias, especially, seem to be thriving and glorious all over!  I've seen more monarchs this year than I can remember.  They've been fluttering in my back alley garden on my cup plants and salvia, and they also have been loving the dahlias!  I caught this beauty the other day.

So.  Hello again.  I hope you're well.  That be kind up in that first paragraph?  That also applies to yourself.  Be kind to yourself.  We're all in this together.  Happy, happy day to you!

.....to work on a marvelous project with the oh-so-talented, creative, and inspiring Madelyn Sergel, who is a longtime tarot practictioner, playwright, former actor, and many, many other things.  She's written The Tarot Monologues, inspired by her continuing exploration of all things tarot, and this past Sunday, we filmed the first of the series and we had a BLAST!!  It was a dynamic and at the same time relaxed shoot, something new to us to do together in our long friendship/sisterhood, and we were in sync and loving every minute of figuring it all out.  

I've been finding it hard to create in this environment.  I feel a lot of self-doubt about my abilities and I've been second-guessing myself in my creative wanderings and auditions.  I feel I hijack myself sometimes, glued to the news and letting it color everything I do.  I forget to step away sometimes and let the news happen without me.  I've been taking tech breaks on weekends, unplugging, letting life happen and enjoying the moment, and I'm trying to find that same feeling during the weekdays.

Self-care has many, many facets and it's important that we take care of ourselves always, but especially in troubling and scary times.  I'm going to try to do a better job of taking care of me.  Don't forget to take the time to take care of you too.  Find joy, beauty, happiness, practice kindness and compassion.  We can't go wrong that way.  Here's a virtual hug for you.

...in the deep freeze!  Woke up to 2 degrees with a real feel of minus 11.  That's just too dang cold!!  My default mantra:  at least the sun is shining.  You can pretend it's warmer just by virtue of seeing the sun sparkle on the snow.

Taking a much-needed break from the news for a few days.  I'm guessing if anything catastrophic happens, my partner, friends, family will let me know.  For my well-being, I need to bow out of news checking for a bit.  It feels irresponsible in a way, but I can live with that.  

How do you self-care?  Some friends I know use food to help them feel better.  Some folks watch movies, read books, go to museums, do crafty things.  I walk, which has been difficult these last couple of weeks.  The air is so dry that it hurts my lungs when it's so freakin' cold.  The good news is that we're warming up to the 20s in a couple of days!  It'll feel downright balmy!

Whatever you do for self-care, I hope it's making you feel better amid all the chaos and awful things that are being perpetrated at home and abroad.  Take care of you.  And take care of others.  We're all delicate and in need of love and kindness.  Spread that around.  You'll feel really happy that you did :-)

...rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!  Man!!!  We are in the deep freeze!  Another day of teens weather here.  At least the sun is shining :-)  Gotta look for the positives wherever we can, right?  This extreme cold has curtailed my daily walks, and that hasn't been good for my psyche.  Nature is a reset button for me and I'm sorely missing my daily excursions.  What do I do when it's too cold/icky to walk outside?  Dance!  Yep, just put on some fun dance music and dance around the cottage.  Anything to get moving!  What do you do when you can't get outside?  

I hope you find some joy in your day today.  Joy is tough to come by these days.  Seek it out wherever you can.  Here's some for you (I keep a stash for those in need :-)  And consider yourself hugged.

....happy day to you! Happiness seems to be a difficult thing to come by these days.  You know how you can change that?  VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!!  No matter what the people who are trying to scare us are saying, YOUR VOTE COUNTS AND YOUR VOICE MATTERS.

Here's a picture of downtown Chicago.  In the words of Justin Wilson, the Cajun cook, don't it purty?

Go find yourself some purty today and considered yourself hugged.

.....Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas, 2025!  

....snow!!  Lots and lots and LOTS of snow!

...Thanksgiving!  I know.  There's a lot going on in the world that makes one wonder about gratefulness and being thankful.  But I'm focusing today while making my annual traditional veggie lasagna on all the wonderful things around me, my partner, our cottage that keeps us warm in the winter and cool in the summer, our families, our friends, our livelihoods, nature in all its splendor, kindness of strangers, our furry and feathered friends, the fact that we get up every day.....so if you're struggling, and I know so many are, perhaps bring your focus a little closer and think about what you have, not what you don't, and hug someone or smile at someone and feel the joy of life within you.  Life is short and precious.  You are loved.

I hope this day brings you bountiful joy and happiness.

....to say today, so I'm going to say it anyway :-)  Our autumn, which started out really hot for the Midwest, has now arrived with temperatures that just make you feel alive and happy.  The trees are changing colors, the humidity is low, the air is a little crisp, and all that is fall is starting to blossom here.  In the 'hood, people are clamoring to get their Halloween decorations up, and it's so fun to walk by and see all the clever takes on the spooky.  I love it that some folks go all out with scare while others are more gentle and cute in their approach.  Some of these decorations would have scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a kid!  I'm pretty much of a scaredy cat now - can't watch scary movies, can't read scary books - but it's fun to walk around both in the daytime and evening and see all the creativity and love that goes into this holiday.

How are you doing?  I hope you're doing as well as can be in this surreal and mixed-up world.  Find beauty wherever you can and practice kindness and patience.  You can never go wrong with that.  

​AND GO, CUBS!!!!!!

...are magical to me.  The colors, the layers....sometimes the way they look don't seem real!  This is a picture of our last sunset at Mauthe Lake, Kettle Moraine, Wisconsin.  I mean!!!

I hope your day is full of magic and color and layers, all beautiful, all astonishingly lovely.