I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling GOOOOOD about the world opening up. Today I had lunch out with my sister for the first time in over a year. This past weekend I helped throw a long-delayed wedding shower for a close friend’s daughter and will soon travel (!) to attend the wedding. And [...]
Category Archives: Spirit
A Year of Sheltering in Place
Today marks the first anniversary of sheltering in place here in California. This milestone has me thinking about the last time I strolled into the pool across the street, unannounced, appointment- and mask-less. There was talk about shutting down and I wanted to swim a few laps just in case the pool closed for a couple of [...]
Also posted in Shelter, Style, Sustenance
Tagged California, COVID-19, masks, pandemic, pandemic anniversary, shelter-in-place, social distancing
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Midwives & Dowsers – Witches of the Wild West?
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Exodus 22:18 ~ “The witch hunts left a lasting effect: an aspect of the female has ever since been associated with the witch, and an aura of contamination has remained—especially around the midwife and other women healers.” Witches, Midwives & Nurses, Barbara Ehrenreich & Dierdre English ~ [...]
Posted in Spirit
Tagged childbirth, dowsers, folk magic, folklore, midwives, Wild West, witches
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Cruising with Covid
Seven months of sheltering-in-place and I’m still sailing on the USS COVID-19, where my roles alternate between captain and passenger, head chef and galley crew, entertainment director and audience member. It’s exhausting. Friends and family report the same pandemic fatigue. Some have more reason than others to complain. Three of my eight siblings or their [...]
Posted in Spirit
Tagged coronavirus, COVID-19, cruise ship, pandemic, Queen Mary 2, shelter-in-place, transatlantic crossing
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Under Fire
A photo of my local gas station made it into the New York Times this week. It showed a bunch of cars lined up for gas as residents prepared for what’s become the deadliest month of the year. October is always warm and dry, but in the last few years things have gotten worse as [...]
Also posted in Shelter, Style, Sustenance
Tagged firestorm, October, PG&E, power outage
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Marie Kondo Made Me Do It
Happy New Year! I launched into 2019 with a bad cold which had me couch-bound in a sea of crumpled tissues. Too bleary to act on ambitious resolutions, I watched other people achieve theirs by way of the popular Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. Kondo is the spritely Japanese organization guru who encourages [...]
Also posted in Shelter, Style
Tagged books, clutter, kondo, Marie Kondo, New Year's Resolutions, organization
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On Turning 60
I turned sixty this summer. Let’s pause for a minute and recognize the enormity of that statement. As a workout buddy said, at fifty you can pretend that your life is only half over. At sixty you’re not fooling anyone. Other older friends tell me to “jump on in, the water’s fine.” Having known them [...]
Also posted in Sustenance
Tagged aging, astrology, birthday, parties, sixty, turtles, yoga retreats
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Winter Reads
The sun is hiding today. Taking a rest from all those brilliant days and exquisite sunsets we had through the holidays. I peeked outside at the mauve hellebores barely visible in the fog before scurrying back inside to pick up a new book someone thought I’d like for Christmas or an old favorite that nobody [...]
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Tagged books, fashion, interior design, pickles, reading, snow boots, victorians, writing
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Candy Crush
Though we’re likely to get just a handful of trick-or-treaters tonight, it didn’t seem right not to have candy at the door. So, I swung by the local CVS and wandered the aisles looking for something to serve the brave ghouls and goblins who navigated their way to us. If I had a skeletal metabolism [...]
Also posted in Sustenance
Tagged Halloween, honoring our dead, Tootsie Rolls, trick-or-treaters
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Now That Was a Great Eclipse
When my brother Bruce sent an email to the whole family telling us that this summer there would be a total eclipse of the sun visible from mom’s backyard, I thought “big whoop.” I mean, I’d seen a few partial lunar eclipses before and they were interesting but not life-changing. Nevertheless, a major celestial event [...]
Also posted in Shelter, Style, Sustenance
Tagged eclipse, family, Great American Eclipse, Idaho, total eclipse
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