1. SNOW!!! We finally got some actual, honest-to-goodness, full on, genuine snow. We had one morning early in the week where it was very cold and there was just a dusting of snow, but a few days later the real storm showed up. They’d predicted 1-3 inches, but we got eight. It was up to Ringo’s knees. We’d had such a long warm dry fall into the beginning of winter that when the snow came, there was still a lawn chair in the yard and our sun umbrellas were still outside.
2. Morning walks. Because of weather and such, I only ended up on one of these this week, which was weird. It was also a late walk because it was extra cold so Ringo and I waited until later in the morning to walk.
3. Family. Mom is still doing good, sleeping more and talking a lot less, but still remembers who we are and getting such good care. Jessamy’s baby is due late January so she had an ultrasound where we can see the baby’s face. I’m going out to Oregon sometime the end of January, to visit and give Mom a haircut she badly needs, start getting her house ready to sell (*sigh*), and if I’m lucky, meet the new baby.
They decorated Mom’s door for the holidays“Selfie” Mom sent me, with Chris’s helpSelfie I sent MomBaby!
4. Practice. No yoga this week either, and I’m really starting to miss them. I had a whole plan for a practice honoring the Full Cold Super Moon, but I’ll just bring it next time. Writing on Friday morning was magic, medicine — oh how I adore that group of women! My meditation practice has been easier to find and settle into, which typically happens during this darker season.
5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I’ve still been telling Eric every day, “I’m glad you’re home,” even though he’s been back from trip for two weeks. Really, I could tell him that every day for the rest of our lives, because I am always glad he’s home.
He tried so hard to stay awake 🙂
Bonus joy: lunch at Mount Everest Café with Eric, texting with Chris and Chloe’, other people’s kids and dogs and Christmas lights, reading poetry, down blankets and pillows and coats, wool sweaters and socks, slippers, watching good TV (right now that’s The Pitt on HBO), listening to podcasts, shopping for Christmas presents (I don’t love everything about it but when I think of something I know someone is really going to like, it makes me happy), a big glass of cold clean water, naan and onion pakora, a hot cup of coffee and warm mug of green tea, Panda Peanut Butter Puffs cereal with Fairlife milk, the moonlight reflecting off the snow, therapy, being able to message my doctor and get a quick response rather than having to schedule and wait for and then pay for an in office appointment, being able to schedule or change or cancel appointments online, Hendrix’s school picture (I know I said that already but it’s right here where I can see it and I just looked at it again), making each other laugh, the hydromassage chair, aqua aerobics, getting to see Frank (my gym dad), sitting in the sauna, snow tires, a warm shower, clean pjs, yoga videos on YouTube (because sometimes I like someone else to tell me what to do, without having to leave the house or put on a bra), naps, clean sheets, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.
2. Emerging Form Episode 151: Alison Luterman on Striving. (podcast) “Alison tells us about her ongoing singing lessons and how they have changed the way she listens, not only to music but to conversations and the rest of the world. This practice is at the heart of her new collection, Hard Listening. Not only does she read from the book, but she shares about what she learned about creativity from studying the lives of her singing heroes, the interweaving of politics and creative practice, and how to explore and share pleasure in the midst of difficult times.” P.S. forgive me if I already shared this one.
3. On Being with Krista Tippett with Justin Vernon: Being Bon Iver. (podcast) “A sweet and searching conversation between Krista and the man behind Bon Iver at this year’s On Air Fest, full of wisdom and revelation. He is a person who experiences deeply, who metabolizes creatively, and who just keeps growing. He opens up with Krista about the strangeness of being loved for how he put his broken heart to music. They venture into the mysteries of God and of numbers, the problem of fame, and the deep working of time in a life. He’s now released a gorgeous fifth album, SABLE, fABLE. This one tells of immense healing and learning.”
4. The Dreads by Danusha Laméris. “May we be each other’s answering voices, and may we wake to the possibility that we do not know who we will answer or how. Or, for that matter, who will answer us. But hold, somehow, the possibility of chorus. Of overlapping song.”
9. Leah Lamb: Stories Show Us the Way on the Sounds True podcast. “If you’re seeking guidance through uncertainty, hoping to reclaim your voice as a creator, or wondering how to tell stories that serve life itself, this conversation offers both inspiration and practical wisdom for the path ahead.”
16. ‘Hamnet’ Review: The Rest Is Silence on The New York Times. (gift link) “Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal star in a heartbreaking adaptation of the best-selling novel.”
17. Why is everybody losing weight and what do we do? Sincerely, a person who’s lost weight by Lizzo. “What do we do? We continue to have conversations. We continue to hold each other accountable. We release ourselves from the illusion that there is only good and bad. We re-introduce nuance into our discussions. I want us to allow the body positive movement to expand and grow far away from the commercial slop its become. Because movements move…”
19. Death and Taxes by Courtney Martin. “Maybe I’m just a sad girl whose dad is dying a long, slow death, but what passes for politics these days so often feels like it’s missing the whole point. We all die. If we are lucky, we grow old and learn the frustration and beauty of limitations. Politics should be about the urgent prospect of being alive for a finite amount of time and wanting that experience to be as fair and beautiful as possible for as many people as possible for as long as possible. Until it’s over, and then honoring that universal fate, too.”
29. Why Your Kitchen Looks Like That on The New York Times. (gift link) “A century of American kitchen design, from the dawn of electricity to the kitchen island.”
30. Death drives a hard bargain… (and why you shouldn’t hoard your stories) by Laura Lentz on Writing at Red Lights.
31. Let’s get cozy! “Why the familiar helps me dare the unfamiliar” from Danny Gregory.
32. Interest is everything on The Imperfectionist. “Finally, there’s something importantly resilient about interest, too. Meaningful projects aren’t always fun; life certainly isn’t always easy; and the moment in history through which we’re living definitely isn’t calming and relaxing. But maybe it is always, or almost always, possible to find and pursue something that’s truly and enliveningly interesting about the place in life in which you find yourself, and the paths that are open to you to take.”
37. I Swore I Saw Andrea in a Hotel Elevator. “What if signs are how the dead write poetry?” by Megan Falley. “So now I say thank you to what remains. The silhouette. The shadow. The ashes. The memory. Their face on the silver screen. The laughter I am fortunate enough to have captured in so many videos. The love letters they keep dropping onto my path. And the impossible, outrageous luck of having been loved like that at all.”
40. 100 Notable Books of 2025 on The New York Times. (gift link) “Here is the standout fiction and nonfiction of the year, selected by the staff of The New York Times Book Review.”
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 