Ahoy, dear friends! It’s so good to return from my blogging sabbatical. Much has happened at home since I last wrote here. We adopted a sweet, fluffy ragdoll cat named Skye, but had to say goodbye to our beloved hamster friend, The Doctor. My daughter completed 8th grade at our local public middle school (Tahanto MS/HS in Boylston, MA) and is now working through 9th grade. But, she is planning on a return to home-schooling in January. Transitions to formal schooling have been rather bumpy for her and the only reason she completed 8th grade has been the switch to totally remote learning last Spring. The school day was shorter then, so she had more time to engage in her passions: such as growing food in our garden beds and cooking what she’s grown, bicycling, hiking on local conservation trails, writing stories on her Chromebook and reading Shakespeare. She is eager to return to having more time to do those things. She wants to have the freedom to find part-time employment while preparing to take the GED exam when she’s eighteen, instead of waiting to graduate high school when she’s twenty.
Gallery of The Year’s Memories










Lessons from the Pandemic
Because of the lockdown in response to the Pandemic this past Spring, I was able to complete my life coach certification, participate in an art exploration group that met online once a month, and to learn more from a variety of webinars around some of my passions: labyrinths, dreaming, poetry, painting & drawing, music, writing, etc. I also contributed to Virtual Choir compilations for several vocal groups. The summer and fall were filled with gardening, hiking, walking labyrinths, drawing and making music. My daughter made lots of ice cream from the fruit we grow on the property of my co-housing community.
Winter has arrived now. In response to the gathering darkness I have slowed my steps to a gentler pace. If I accomplish nothing else in a day, I make sure to walk the wooded labyrinth at the south end of our community. This moving meditation keeps me grounded in a perspective of balance. I cannot accomplish everything in one day, so I celebrate what I do accomplish and let go of the rest. My inner work will inform my priorities for how I spend my time. I am ready to gather myself in, grab a book and a cuppa, curl up in a cozy nook and let my mind enjoy some wild adventures. I do not know what lies ahead for me. All I know is that I will live my present with passion and gratitude.
Journal prompt: How will you be spending your time this Winter? What will you do with the longer night hours after sundown? I hope this time of cocooning brings you many bright blessings!

“By replacing fear of the unknown with curiosity, we open ourselves to an infinite stream of possibilities.”
Carl Jung