1. Morning walks. This week, we saw a few heron and some raccoons, heard a few owls, and saw the two mama deer and their four babies. It is for sure fall here and that makes me so happy, except that it’s dark for most of our walk so I don’t get to take as many pictures.
2. Practice. Yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of my completed initial 200hr yoga teacher training. I can’t believe it’s been ten years already. I’m so grateful for the humans at Red Sage Vets that practice with me every week.
3. Good books. I mentioned something recently about The Galveston Diet book I was reading, that I was thinking of trying it. Blergh… I can’t believe after all this time, I get caught up in what a plan like this promises, that I don’t know better than to avoid any sort of restrictive way of eating (Eatmore protein and fiber — I can do that! Never eat another slice of bread or any added sugar — I will eat ALL the donuts!), especially when it’s presented as, “this is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle!” Anything like this is clearly unhealthy for me (as a 45+ year bulimic), as well as unworkable and unsustainable. As a palate cleanser, I started reading The Wellness Trap this week, and I already feel so much better, so much more sane.
4. Good TV. I have a lot of subscriptions to streaming services, and there are a lot of shows and movies I’d like to watch, but I’ve found it hard lately to start and stay with anything. This weekend, I started watching The Perfect Couple on Netflix, and it is FUN, beautifully shot. It’s like a combination of The Affair and The White Lotus.
5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I am soaking it all up, as in a few weeks I’ll be heading back out to Oregon, exactly one year after the trip I made to care for and be with my dad when he died. As it’s been a year since my mom’s stroke and she hasn’t improved, sadly won’t ever be able to live independently again, I’m going to sit down with what is left of our family, her and my brother, and see if we can’t figure out a better long term plan. In the meantime, I’m getting all the hugs and cuddles and taking all the naps in my favorite place with my favorite beings.
Image by Eric
Bonus joy: after an August break my writing group is going to start meeting again this week, the comfort of knowing that at least financially my mom doesn’t have to worry, texting with my aunts and Chloe’ and Chris, cooler temperatures, donuts, trying new recipes, the confidence to know I can follow a recipe, stickers, clean sheets, vaccines (even though after getting both my flu shot and covid booster yesterday, my arm is so tender), getting in the pool, the sauna, the hydromassage chair, training with Shelby and the gang, good neighbors, grocery shopping, peaches, finally with Eric’s help getting all the towels folded and put away, new handtowels and washcloths so I don’t have to worry about running out anymore, how on the weekend Eric and Ringo spend so much time lounging in the backyard, trees, a massage with Dana, the tiny two month old black labradoodle named Izzy I got to say “hello” to as I was leaving Dana’s studio — she was SO soft!, books from the library, being able to download books from the library on to my kindle, breakfast burritos, blue sky, cedar fences, paint, Rocky Mountain bee plants, turtles, the ocean, the produce section, buying myself flowers with the $20 off coupon I got from the pharmacy for getting vaccinated, knowing that my trip to Oregon brings people I love relief before I even get there, naps, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.
1. The Secret Life of Librarians. “In partnership with the American Library Association and the New York Public Library, Carnegie Corporation of New York celebrates ten exceptional librarians every year with the I Love My Librarian Award…The Secret Life of Librarians explores their unexpected stories and contributions as civic heroes who improve lives and bring communities together.”
3. Casa Bonita documentary to debut in Denver. “Those around Colorado have probably heard of Casa Bonita at some point. The famed Mexican restaurant features an indoor waterfall, cliff divers and haunted caves. Created in 1974, the restaurant became a must-visit stop for locals and out-of-state visitors and has been described as the ‘Disneyland of Mexican restaurants.'”
7. Everything is Connected, Everything Changesfrom Upaya Online Programs. “Rebecca Solnit offers a fresh and poetic narrative of hope, in which we e are urged to view our burning world in way that acknowledges the deep and well tended seeds of peace that have been planted in various spiritual and political arenas for many years. She calls us to express the vow of the bodhisattva, to free all beings from suffering, and to return again and again to the difficulties of practice until we have completed the work at hand.”
9. Tiny forests are popping up across Australia. (Facebook reel) “Dr Grey Coupland is planting these tiny forests in schools, following the Miyawaki method, and says they bring biodiversity, cooling and nature to our suburbs.” More of this, please.
10. Happy Reunion. (Facebook reel) “There were tears of joy at an animal shelter in South Carolina recently, when a woman was finally reunited with her cat, 11 years after it had gone missing.” If you haven’t already, microchip your pets!
16. The multi-faceted Natasha Lyonneon CBS Sunday Morning. “Actress, writer, director and producer Natasha Lyonne, who earned Emmy nominations for ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ ‘Russian Doll’ and ‘Poker Face,’ has been an infectious presence on-screen for decades, playing characters who tend to be funny, perceptive, and a little weird. Lyonne talked with ‘Sunday Morning’ contributor Kelefa Sanneh about bringing her magnetic talent to the new film ‘His Three Daughters,’ and about how her chaotic childhood may have prepared her for a life being, as Time magazine put it, ‘the coolest person in the room.'”
17. Award-winning Native star quilt maker opens South Dakota storefront. “Bonnie LeBeau’s shop is one of a handful of Native-owned businesses in Rapid City and one of the only Native-owned stores offering Indigenous print fabric and quilting supplies in the Black Hills.”
18. The hardest thing about moving is not the people you leave behind – it’s the paths you’ll never walk again. “I have walked and run along this path thousands of times – sometimes alone, sometimes with my dog, husband, friends or neighbours. While the route remains constant, the experience never is. My outer cargo has included a raincoat, head torch, wellies, sunglasses, binoculars, backpack. My internal baggage, contentment and sadness, joy and anxiety, irritation and uncertainty. I’ve felt everything – as well as nothing at all – as I’ve added each new layer of footsteps to those that have gone before.” This is why I love our morning walks, so much.
33. Navigating Grief with Marisa Lee: Four Essential Strategies and Three Ways to Support the Bereaved on The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet podcast. “We talk about the experience of grief, the truth of how it impacts a person that no one ever teaches us, and how transformation is waiting on the other side of it. She also shares some very practical tools to support someone going through loss and gives us a sneak peek at what she’s up to next.”
37. Amy B. Scher: Releasing Emotional Blockages on Sounds True podcast. “Enjoy this experiential conversation exploring: how to identify the ways in which we hold ourselves back from our authenticity, relieving the unnecessary pressure we put on ourselves, perfectionism, the debilitating consequences of unresolved emotional blocks, energy psychology and EFT, using your intuition, the tapping technique, the role of the thymus gland, releasing stored nervousness, installing positive emotions as an adjunct to self-healing, avoiding the pitfall of toxic positivity, having patience with the process, the power of levity on the healing journey, and more.”
38. Resisting interpretation, “Experiencing the event, not the story of the event” on Poetry Unbound.
40. Chris La Tray Answers the Orion Questionnaire, “Montana’s Poet Laureate Chris La Tray is a Métis storyteller and the author of Becoming Little Shell: A Landless Indian’s Journey Home. He loves librarians, teachers, and booksellers, and can do a convincing peacock shriek. He also understands why you should never turn your back on an ornery Chihuahua, and how silence is sometimes better than song.”
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 