If we were having coffee: Busyness edition

Water inverted.

Of all the things that human beings make and do for each other, it is the unquantifiable ones that contribute most to human happiness.

~ Charles Eisenstein

Marsh grasses.

If we were having coffee or tea or some other beverage (or no beverage at all for that matter), I would be delighted to see you again.  Welcome back to the ranch.  Hugs if you’re amenable to them.  Come on in and we’ll take our usual seats out on the porch.  Or maybe you’d like to sit out on the deck or the dock today?  It is, as they say, unseasonably mild with a high near (or above) 70°F expected.  We might not even need a jacket.  It is a little bit of a hike to the dock.  Only a quarter of a mile.  It’s worth the walk.  The bench is hard but the light is soft and warm, and the view of the water is soothing.  Plus you might enjoy the walk through the woods to get from here to there.

Dune grasses.

How are you?  What’s new in your world?  Have you traveled anywhere or seen any new sights lately?  Has anyone traveled to see and spend time with you?  Are you celebrating any holidays this month?  If so, which one?  Or two?  Or are you going to celebrate them all?  Maybe each day is holiday and you celebrate them all no matter what month it happens to be?  Have you been on any good walks or hikes since we last chatted?  Read any good books or seen any good movies?

Let’s take a walk on the beach.

I finally finished reading Moonheart by Charles de Lint.  Magical and fun are the best words I can think of to describe it.  I hope to read more of Charles de Lint’s books in the future.  I haven’t decided what I’ll read next.  Maybe Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep.  I’ve had the book on my to-read shelf for a while.  I put it off thinking I might read The Shining again, but I know the story well enough that there’s no need for me to spend time doing that.

I’m also still making my way through Nothing to Grasp, a book about non-duality recommended by a friend (thanks, Kathy!).

Standing by the dunes, the beach stretches out before us.

If we were having coffee or tea or something else, I would tell you that I’ve been very busy although it’s hard to say what has been keeping me so occupied.  Everything, I suppose.  Chores, getting outside to enjoy the wonderful weather we’ve been experiencing, finishing up the living room renovations (which includes unpacking things that were not unpacked when we moved here because we were waiting until the renovation was completed), playing with the cats who are getting too chubby and need the exercise, shopping for holiday gifts, and a whole host of other things I’m forgetting.

M and I have been out to eat a few times over the past week or so.  That’s unusual.  We heard on the news that Vinny’s La Roma Italian restaurant up in Salisbury will be closing for good at the end of the year so we joined a lot of other people who had obviously heard the news and had dinner there one night.  It is sad for us that they’re closing because the food is really good, but Vinny is ready to retire which might make it a happy occasion as well.  On Wednesday we went back up to Salisbury to have dinner at the Market Street Inn.  It was my birthday dinner.  A little late, but that’s usually the case with our celebrations.  I’m not sure it would feel right if we actually celebrated on time.  At any rate, the food was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it including the Apple Pie Bread Pudding for dessert.  I don’t often order dessert because I’m full by the time I get to that part of the meal.  I was thinking that next time I will order dessert first, then the appetizer, and then ask them to box up my entree so I can take it home to eat the next day.  In case you’re wondering what I had for my birthday dinner (other than dessert), I started with the Caprese Salad Skewers (smoked mozzarella cheese and tomatoes on skewers served with a pesto vinaigrette dressing and a balsamic reduction), and had the Grilled Scallops with Risotto special for my entree.  Every bite was wonderful, including the jambalaya (appetizer) and Ahi tuna (entree) I nicked from M’s plate/bowl.  I might have the Ahi tuna the next time we visit.  It was perfectly seared on the outside and rare on the inside.  Yum.

Receiving.

If we were having coffee or tea or some other beverage, I would tell you that I am still having fun designing and drawing mandalas.  They still look rather primitive, but that’s part of the fun.  My skill with a compass is improving.  I am using a small sketchbook I was given by one of my daughters-in-law and it’s become a mandala journal.  I design and draw one each day, usually after my morning meditation.  I sometimes photograph them so that I can play with them in an editing program.  I like mixing my arts and media that way.

I am still drawing and coloring with pencils.  Since I am enjoying it so much, I’ve added some art supplies to my wish list in hopes that Santa will bring me a Derwent square sketch book or Letraset Pro Markers or the much-needed pen eraser (it’s more precise than the block eraser I’m currently using).  The list is somewhat long and to be honest, other than the pen eraser and the square sketch book, I’m having a difficult time choosing what I’d really like.  There are so many different types of artist’s pens, and I’d like to try my hand at watercolors (the Caran d’Ache water soluble pastels, for instance, look amazing).  Art supplies are rather pricey too.  That makes it even more difficult to decide on what to get first.  I do have some children’s paints, including watercolors, and will start playing around with those soon just to get a feel for painting.  I might decide I don’t like paints at all, and that will narrow things down.  Or I might love paints, which will also narrow things down.

Sun salutation.

Speaking of meditation (I mentioned that before I went on a tangent about art supplies), if we were having coffee, I would ask if you’re familiar with davidji?  I keep meaning to mention this and then I thought it might be too late, but it turns out that it’s not.  Davidji has a free 40 Days of Transformation event going on, and the meditations are wonderful.  I was a little late in joining and I’m only on day 13, but davidji put up a note stating not to worry if you’re late because the meditations will continue to be available.  My point in bringing this up is that if you’re interested in joining, let me know and I’ll forward an invitation email to you.  (Just leave a comment saying you’re interested.  I can get your email address from that unless you’re commenting anonymously.  In which case, you’ll have to send me your email address.  See the sidebar for my email address.)  You may have to register at the site to participate.  I’m not sure because I was already registered and have been using (and enjoying) his meditations for several months.

A spiral.

If we were having coffee, tea, or something else, I would tell you that I got new glasses this week and I can see again!  Yay!  I decided to get new frames along with the lenses.  They’re pretty cool.  Someday I’ll take a self-portrait and show them to you.  Not today, though.  My hair is badly in need of a good cut.  Plus it needs shampooing.  The woman who cuts and colors my hair lectured me about washing it every day so I switched to every other day after my last hair cut.  It’s taken some getting used to, but my hair is loving it.  Turns out those natural oils serve a good purpose, and my hair looks so much better.  There is less breakage, and a less straw-like feel and appearance.

Alone.

If we were having coffee, tea, or some other beverage, I would tell you that I’ve been clearing away some things that were hanging over my head, things I’ve been putting off.  In some cases, I’ve put them off for years.  Talk about serious procrastination!  The winter solstice is coming around soon, and for some reason I can’t explain, I am feeling profoundly motivated to start with an almost clean slate.  There are projects I started that can’t be abandoned, and before I can move on to what I really want to do (continue to work on my book, to name one thing, and it should be noted that I do dip into it every day to add a little this or that so I’m not completely out of touch with it), I feel as though these other things must be finished first.  Over the past few weeks I’ve been whittling away at the long-time projects and have even finished a few.  (I can’t name them because some are gifts that will be given away soon.)  It is liberating, and quite refreshing, not to have them nagging at me in the background.

Sunbathing.

If we were having coffee, tea, or something else, I would tell you that I have rambled on more than enough, and it’s time to turn the chat over to you.  It’s possible, too, that you might need to be on your way.  If not, you’re welcome to stay for sunset.  It’s still stuck at 4:43 PM.  I wonder if it will stay that way until the solstice?  Sunsets have been glorious lately, as they tend to be this time of year.  The color palettes that Mother Nature is using are incredible.

A beautiful palette.

I want to apologize for not keeping up and visiting you often at your place, and for not keeping up with the comments you’ve left me here at Ye Olde Blogge.  Part of it is the busyness of the season.  Part of it is the time of year.  Even though we haven’t really experienced any winter weather yet, I feel myself wanting to slip into hibernation mode, and go deeper inwards.  Thank you for all of your visits, your likes, and your comments.  A big thank you for all the birthday wishes (which I hope to get around to addressing individually soon).

Lined up.

Be good, be kind, be loving, be well.  Just Be.  🙂

When darkness falls.

This post is in response to Part Time Monster’s #WeekendCoffeeShare.  Put the kettle on, start the coffee maker, open a bottle of wine, or whatever your preference is, and join us.  I’d love to hear all about what you were up to this week.