This page is an easy way to find my blog posts that are about life, philosophy, and things that bug me. You know, none of that ranch, pet, and nature stuff.

A Nice Lull
The good news is I feel better today. I was even able to ride Drew. Taking it easy was a good idea. I had a lot to do today but nothing too stressful. After our weekly friends’ lunch, Anita came over to get the Red House ready for guests while I did a bunch of…
What Internet?
Do you remember life before the internet? This will be short, in grumpy old woman mode. Heck yeah I remember life before the Internet! I voted before Al Gore invented it! I didn’t get a computer until I was in graduate school. It had two floppy disk drives. I got email the next year. No…
Sit a Spell
Lee is probably right. I don’t just sit often enough. I’m always jumping up to do something, like take a picture or pull weeds. Indoors, I have to read or knit. I want to learn how to just sit more. I did get some practice today, though. First, some of our old outdoor furniture got…
Leading and Following
Are you a leader or a follower? That’s the blog prompt for today. It’s a hard one. I’ve been put into the position of leadership over and over. I don’t think I’m all that good at it, though, because I spend a lot of time figuring out how to lead and keep those I’m leading…
Trimming, Literally and Figuratively
With the radio news making me nauseated today (good thing I avoided Lee’s nightly dose of depression known as ABC Nightly News), and thinking somber thoughts about the local police officer who died in the line of duty (plus a friend’s husband out doing the thankless and scary task of guarding the border down south,…
Things Just Build Up
It’s funny how it goes. You cope, cope, cope. You grant folks grace, repeatedly. You deal with illness and death around you without falling apart. Then you don’t. I’m sure that’s normal. I’m trying to keep letting some unkind things I’ve noticed slide by me. All the mental challenges make it hard right now. In…
Sad Times
Wow. People just go around shooting each other and doing collateral damage. Our community lost a police officer after someone shot their wife and then shot at the officers who came after him. I’m not going into details. It’s too sad. I just feel terrible for my law enforcement friends and their families. I’m sure…
Internet AT LAST!
Last week when Sandy the Squirrel accidentally set off the transformer across the road, my fancy wired router bit the dust. Since then, I’ve been trying to get it fixed, replaced with a new one, or replaced by some other thing. It’s been gruesome. I have spent over 8 hours on the phone or online…
Nervous?
What makes you nervous? Today’s blog prompt would have been answered much differently when I was younger. I was BORN nervous. It’s how I’m wired, and feeling abandoned (in my mind) so often didn’t help me stay calm. Today, though, I’ve gotten to a place where I’m not nervous all the time. Things don’t get…
Not Gonna Go There (in two ways)
What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why? First, let’s answer today’s prompt from our friends at Day One. Now, there are a few places I’m not very interested in going, at least as they are now. I’m interested in the land and the everyday folks everywhere, though, and would be…
Sometimes It’s So Weird You Have to Laugh
Admittedly, I am not laughing right now, but I’m sure I’ll be able to at some point. I woke up this morning with the positive attitude that all would be well. I had a technician scheduled to come work on my router, I’d be able to finish my work project, and things would be just…
Circle of Life Turns with a Boom
Life is hard on the animals around Walker’s Creek these days. And life is hard on humans everywhere these days. After dealing with the animals and watching the Parade of Dead People (the national television news) this evening, I lapsed into an anxiety attack. I have just about had enough of death and sadness. Those…
The Circle of Life – Not Fun
Warning: If the circle of life doesn’t go over well with you, skip this one. I’m sort of sensitive, as you may have figured out, and while I have a realistic view of life and death, I’m still vulnerable to caring about the life around me. So, last Thursday, when I went to get in…
A Positive Change
Describe one positive change you have made in your life. Since today has been pretty rough, I think I’ll just answer the daily blogging prompt. It is the perfect time to remind myself of the positive changes I’ve made in the past couple of years. The prompt asked for one, but I’ll share a couple.…
Celebration of Floral Diversity
Long day that at least brought good rain without an accompanying tornado warning, that’s what it was. I did get out in the dampness to look for new flowers. Two I saw yesterday when I didn’t have the phone with me were hiding thanks to the rain, but I was pleased to spot our patch…
What’s Popping Up on This Beautiful Spring Day?
Today is so beautiful I just had to go out and enjoy it. Just gazing across the fields and watching butterflies flitting among the flowers lowered my blood pressure. The Hermits’ Rest is beautiful this time of year. I’m still carefully taking photos of each new plant that starts blooming. Each new one makes me…
I’m weird
What is one word that describes you? This question made me smile. I’ve felt weird my whole life. I made up a club called the Weird Happys (sic.) in middle school and invited all my interesting, smart, non-traditional friends to join. I’ve always been weird, non-standard and rather off center. That’s never been a problem…
Working through Horse Challenges (and others) Pays Off
It’s been a challenging few days. Have you ever been through a period where even the simplest things turn complicated? It’s felt like that lately. I mean, I just wanted to wash my car yesterday and every one I went to was closed. No wonder I don’t like going to Austin anymore. And the dentist…
What’s Your Favorite Movie to Re-watch?
What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times? Oh geez I’m answering another prompt. But when I read this question, this film studies minor had quick answers. I’ll do television in another post. I’ll just make a list of the top ten-ish very few films I have watched multiple times. Why…
Everyone Is Busy
You hear that a lot, right? That people fill their lives with too much stuff, make their kids too busy, etc. true, I like to be doing things and am no good at just sitting. But I declare that some of the things that occupy my time aren’t making me busy. I would guess that…
Goldie and Her Friends Attend to Important Matters
I always wonder what the animals do all say when I’m working. Today I snuck out and spied on Goldie, to see what was going on in the woods. Soon the whole pack joined her for a very important meeting with the neighbors. Apparently, the dogs and cattle had some items to discuss, and Goldie…
What’s My Name?
What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance? This was today’s blog prompt. I know I already wrote today, but wanted to contribute. My name can be difficult! My middle name given at birth is Ann. I’m one of the few people in my immediate family who doesn’t go by their middle…
What Exactly Constitutes “News?”
This has been rolling around in my mind for a few months. I’m somewhat rant-y and quite a lot confused about this. I’m totally cognizant of the fact (oops, another word whose definition is migrating faster than is usual for words to change) that there is a wide blurred space between news and entertainment. Combined…
American Rural Health Care, You Stink
I have spent the past two days trying to get a chest x-ray, you know, because my chest is full of fluid and probably horrible fungal growth. I am concerned, you see. I am beginning to see why people just use the emergency room as their primary healthcare provider, because trying to AVOID such things…
Quiet Times and Ci-ne-ma
Whew, did it rain a lot for the past few days. There’s not much a person with no car can do in a downpour, so I did the thing I’d say I’d do and found myself a plan B. I had Wi-Fi, and the condo place had a DVD rental station, so I’ve taken a…
Talk Therapy in Its Many Forms
Between work and the weather, I haven’t been doing much that’s very exciting for the past two days. Nonetheless, I’m feeling pretty darned good. I’ve managed to place myself in the Piscean sweet spot between my desires to be alone and meditate and my need for human contact. That’s rare. I have too much of…
Anticipation Rarely Fails to Disappoint Me
I was really looking forward to yesterday. Family members who don’t hate me were going to come stay with me for a few days. We were going to visit people, go out to eat, wander around to parts of the island I can’t go to (this place is crawling with gated communities), and talk about…
Wish I Could Crawl in People’s Heads (Briefly)
I spend way too much of the time that I’m reading the news, perusing social media, and watching folks around me saying, “Hmm.” I’m a person, far as I can tell. But I feel so different from humans I observe. It’s not new; I’ve felt out of place among humanity most of my life. What…
Mysteries, Musings, and Squirrels
Today has been one that made me think a lot. I’m second guessing myself a lot since Lee went off to go back to the ranch. My plan is to stay here for another week to do a lot of meditating, walking, and introspection. So far, the introspecting is making me feel a little unhinged,…
Gifts of Love That Live On and On
No doubt I’ve mentioned before that one of my “love languages” is gifts. This is funny to me because I’m not a very good gift giver. Or maybe it’s just that I don’t like to just randomly give things; I want to give meaningful gifts. For example, we didn’t do much for Christmas this year,…
Crafty Crafting
It’s nice to be back to normal. Life here is just fine, working hard, playing with horses, and enjoying new plants as they return each season. No complaints. I’m glad I’ve relaxed about a lot of things, like caring about people’s opinions of me, trying to lose weight…etc. One thing I’ve also let go of…
Farewell, Trusty Friend
I’m going to admit something. I really liked my old car. It was a dream car to me, a British racing green Jaguar XF. Yes, I owned a British luxury car for 6 years. But guess what? It cost much less than most Texans’ giant pickup trucks. And it went zoom. I had been made…
Why My 2022 Blog Stats Don’t Disappoint Me
People often share year-end blog recaps. I remembered that today (oops) and checked the hits and views and other statistics from last year. I was not too surprised to realize my numbers were down 13% compared to 2021. I know a couple of reasons why not as many visitors came last year. One: not as…
Another Day, Another Year
Resolution time? No. I’ll keep doing my best to learn, grow, be kind, promote love and peace among my neighbors. I guess I resolve to keep going. I think the way 2022 differs from the last couple years is that the lows were lower and the highs higher. The family stuff has been particularly scary,…
Bizarro World
When I was young, I read comic books as much as I could. I loved the Superman family (especially Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes). Sometimes the writers seemed to run out of ideas and published some really dumb concepts. Bizarro Superman, from Bizarro World was one of those concepts, but always good for a…
We Interrupt This Scenic Beauty…
…with a whine The height of “fall color” has arrived, and I’m really enjoying looking at it. But oh my goodness, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired! How long can a cold last, anyway? How much mucous can one nasal cavity hold? I guess I am going to find out, because…
Autumn of Life Is Here
When the fall color arrives here in the middle of Texas, it’s subtle, and you don’t see it coming. I love this season and take comfort in the quiet beauty of our cedar elms and oaks as they prepare to lose their leaves for the winter. Today dawned sunny and crisp, but not cold. It…
Penney Goes Ballistic When I Sneeze
Here’s a new development! As you may know, I’ve been sick for a few days. That’s made me a bit sneezy. (The strep throat is way better but it’s pretty obvious I have come down the the common cold, a thing I haven’t had in a long time!) The dogs have been taking good care…
Dealing with People Like Me
Advice for me, too For the first time in a few years, I didn’t blog for a while. I’m not back because people were clamoring for me to write (in fact, no one said anything at all about it, which is perfectly fine). I’m back because I figured out some stuff about my mental challenges…
Do unto Others
I’ve seen a lot of younger, more “woke” (in the good sense, not the pejorative sense) folks reminding us older folks to not treat others as you’d like to be treated, but to treat them how THEY would prefer. That made me wonder how I’m supposed to know that? How do you know how someone…
The Free Tranquilizer: Nature
I’m always telling you all how much being out in nature helps me deal with my chronic anxiety and Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD). Today I’m really taking advantage of it and pulling out all the stops with nature, cuteness, and sunshine helping me deal with how people treat me and (the worst) the fact that…
Cozy
There isn’t much going on. It threatened to rain here all day, but didn’t until evening. Lee and I went to the Lowe’s and Target stores in Temple (the town, not a synagogue, even though it was Friday afternoon), where it did rain a bit. Dodging raindrops got me chilly, though I was glad we…
My Decorating Style is “Dated.” So What?
I got myself in a bit of a tizzy last night while I was randomly clicking on “news” items in my Facebook feed. I landed on a clickbait article about how to achieve the very important goal of not having your home look like your grandmother’s home. According to the author, this is a horrible…
No, Not Me, a Clone
Oh friends. I have a wee vent. I’d like to have a lot of words with whoever came up with those “clever” clones of Instagram accounts that show up in the Messenger app with people’s names and photos and say brilliant stuff like, “Hello hope you are doing?” (today’s) or “Hello, how are you doing…
Bletch
That’s a thing I used to say as a young teen. Trying to ignore world events isn’t working for the last couple of days. I get concerned. Then I can’t sleep. Then I get moody. Must be the hormones. Also. Tired of insects. Flies and moths in the house. Do they make you feel icky?…
Old Patterns
I’m thinking a lot the past couple of days about old patterns. One I’m happy to keep around. I’m still enjoying the granny squares. My 63 camo squares are now nine green burritos that are actually strips of seven squares. I just can’t stop until they are all joined! Do you see it? Of course…
Healing and Grace
It’s been almost a year since I grabbed the opportunity to leave a job where it had become increasingly obvious I wasn’t wanted. The new offer was so perfect I had to accept. It’s been a great year Today I attended the yearly conference put on by my old employer. It was my first time…
Everything’s Coming Up Roses
I’m just gonna pretend that’s true. Why not? I’m tired of living in fear of “the other,” which I think comes from all the stories you hear about crazed people on the other side who want to shoot you or take your guns, or whatever. Just two examples. After reading about the boy, the mole,…
Two Dreams, One Came True, One Didn’t (Thankfully)
Let me start with the dream that didn’t come true. I was obviously a bit stressed out from going to work and not knowing where the office actually was. That night, I had a dream that I was visiting my previous job, the previous location for it. Everyone was there, and it had been remodeled…
What Foods Would You Choose?
I had a couple of odd dreams last night. One was a plain ole nasty nightmare in which I had to free Apache from something keeping him from escaping a fire. I remember dragging him out while throwing chicken and dog food out telling all the other animals to run, run, run. Well, yuck. I…
I’m Rich! I’m Rich!
Hot damn! I knew one day this blogging thing would pay off. All those chicken, horse, and dog photos have finally made me a wealthy woman! No, no, no. I’m not rich. But a couple of years ago I thought I’d give it a try and put ads on my blog. I find ads incredibly…
Cooling It Down
I’m visualizing calm and coolness. Neither is easy, since poor Kathleen is still racking up the challenges and trying to avoid the hospital, and it still hasn’t rained again. It didn’t go over 100° today so far, so that’s encouraging. And the cumulus clouds seem bigger today that they have been. So I’m patiently hoping…
You’re Doing the Best You Can
A couple of folks in my circle need to hear this. YOU ARE DOING THE BEST YOU CAN Yep. You may have screwed up. You may not meet others’ expectations. You may not be able to do all the things for all the people (or animals) you wish you could. I think you’re fine. I’m…
Meet Kendall Sue Bruns!
Huh? Who? Many of you may remember when I previously blogged for our real estate company, Hermit Haus Redevelopment. Since we ended that venture, Lee and I have continued to buy, renovate, and sell or rent property. It was Lee’s official retirement job until he took on the money duties at Hearts, Homes, and Hands,…
Heat. Sick.
Feeling bad today. Stomach stress and literally falling asleep randomly. No COVID, so my social life didn’t kill me. Glad for those free test kits. I think I’ve just tried to do too much outside the past few days. I’m sure I’ll be better tomorrow. At least I picked colors for our next renovation project…
Found Out What’s Wrong with Me!
Well, I found out one thing that’s wrong with me. More accurately I have finally identified the name of the syndrome that reflects the set of symptoms I’ve been trying to cope with my whole life. And great news, it’s not curable! To be honest, though, just knowing how I feel is an actual “thing”…
Who Says I Don’t Have Friends?
I have some, but most are online friends. I have some local ones, but the only one I’ve seen for the past month is Tarrin, and she got paid to show up. Just kidding. It’s my fault as much as anyone else’s! My car has had a flat tire since before we left for California.…
What’s a Micro-affirmation?
That was my question today, when my Facebook friend Gene Deel posted this: [T]he opposite of a micro-aggression is micro-affirmation (or as my workplace calls it, ‘microsupport’) – “displaying small and subtle acts of kindness, caring, and appreciation”.Facebook post I’ve read about micro-aggressions for years. They are often things people do that they don’t even…
Cultivating Calm
I read today that what horses want is peace. No wonder I like horses. I, too, crave peace. And calm. It’s been my goal all my life. I do not crave excitement, uncertainty, or the unexpected. But, guess what? That stuff shows up all the time. What to do? I’m relieved that my anti-anxiety meds…
Hope Is a Lily
Today I was walking around the property wishing it would rain again. I looked down and saw this ray is sunshine. The rain lilies always surprise me. We only got .6 inches of rain a few days ago, but these copper lilies popped right up for their yearly visit. Glorious. It’s so dry and parched…
The Burden of Perfectionism
Hey folks, just wanted you to know I am on a more even keel today. I had a great talk with my therapist, made an appointment for more medications, and have had some very helpful conversations with friends. It takes a village to drag someone out of a pit, and I’d say I’m 3/4 of…
When Your Feelings Are No Longer Squelched
Note: I realize I am a privileged person who has nice things, food, shelter, and a good education. My family that speaks to me does their best to support me. And I am NOT blaming other people for my perception. That’s on me! As I repeatedly state in my personal blog here, I’m grateful for…
We Sizzle in the Summer
Today, Sara and I headed back to the lovely Watts Way arena for our fourth Working Horse Central show. I’d hoped Drew and I had improved enough to get some significantly better scores, but, I’ll have to be satisfied with knowing we’ve improved regardless of our scores. I’ll just keep trying. The big highlight for…
Product Endorsements? Sort of
Yesterday I got some new items to add to my arsenal of products that protect my health. After all, I’m in really good shape for someone my age, according to my doctor. You see, I looked up what could be causing the disturbing symptoms I’d suddenly started having, where my knees hurt so badly I…
Mojo Sinking
Wondering if Jim Morrison was singing about mojo rising. Mine is sinking. But I had the energy to look up that song. Mr Mojo Risin is an anagram (A word, phrase, or name formed by rearranging the letters of another) for Jim Morris name. He believed or at least stated he was going to be…
Information Rather Than Advice: Again
Another thing they used to say in La Leche League was that we preferred to give information rather than advice. I’ve talked about this before, but I have feelings about it. So here I am again. When we were helping women with their babies, we’d let them know what we knew, what the current research…
People before Things
I’ve been thinking about this saying we always used to bring up when my kids were little and I spent a lot of time with women who chose a pared-down lifestyle so they could stay home while their kids were young. It was important for us to let our children know we valued them more…
Ouch, More Than One Way
The day started with an ouch and ended with a painful long-term one. I was planning to go ride with Sara this morning and ran late, but I had Apache clean and saddled in time. We were walking to the mounting block, which is in the portable round pen. As we entered, the stirrup in…
Thoughts and Actions, Please
Today I’ve been feeling sick. I’m not a gun lover in the first place, and now I feel like we are all just waiting for our turns to be someone’s target. The cynic in me feels that the people who run the US care only about themselves, their families, babies (up to the moment of…
Freedom: A Loaded Word
You know what? I used to think I was free. I used to think more and more people where I live were becoming freer. I used to think the world was becoming a better place. I can remember feeling especially happy to live in a place where people were free to worship or not worship…
I CAN Try New Things!
When I finally get a day off, I can cram a lot of fun into it, that’s for sure, and yesterday I even stepped outside my comfort zone successfully, more than once. I’m so proud. One thing I’m happy with myself for doing is finding my own fun by myself. As Lee has gotten more…
Sculpture! Birds! Nature Surprises! Beauty?
Today I got to have all the funs, to celebrate an actual day off, and have some emotional recharge. And of course I had to do some deep thinking. I’m on a roll with wonder and wondering. You may remember that Lee forgot to pack any shirts for the trip. The t- shirts he got…
Oceanside Philosophical Musings
Confession Time: I have trouble consuming information by listening. I am, as my late friend Ted used to say, a Reader. My spouse, on the other hand, is a listener. He listens to many, many podcasts. On our drive over to the beach, he played podcasts, because that’s how he’s been learning these days. He…
Yes, Good Customer Service Exists
So, Lee and I are headed to our yearly South Carolina condo stay. We left after work yesterday to get a few hours in, and stopped at the same Hampton Inn we stayed in last year. When we got there, one front desk person was on the phone. She had obviously been on the phone…
Bad Mental Health Day
I’m not ashamed that I’ve dealt with anxiety most of my life. I’m just wired that way. For the past few years I’ve done a lot of work to manage the stress levels in my life. I’ve: Changed jobs. Cut out volunteer work where people didn’t respect me or weren’t truthful. Minimized contact with people…
Happy Birthday to the Blog
Well guess what? I started this blog four years ago today. I’ll skip the stats. I’ve posted lots. Many people get them by email or read on Facebook. Thanks to all of you! I sure enjoy your comments, however you deliver them. I don’t expect anyone to read my ramblings, so it’s so gratifying to…
Taking a Flower Break
While I wait to be sure Drew is okay (morning report was he was holding his own), let’s just enjoy the beginning of the BEST time of year here in Texas: wildflower season. Yes, our bluebonnets are starting to shine. Ours aren’t as great as some places, like between here and Bryan, but they please…
Tornado Precautions You May Not Have Thought Of
Having just gone through yet another tornado warning around here, it’s been a common topic of discussion this week. I was talking to Lynn Hagan, who’s a social worker and Board Member with the Red Cross (as well as a part-time resident in a tornado-prone place), this morning. She told me of some precautions they’ve…
Reminder: Enjoy the Moment
When I see tragedies happening around the world that are caused by some frightening person’s lust for power or sense of entitlement (I want it, so I’ll take it), I have no illusions that the same thing can’t happen here or anywhere else. People let it happen. They are starting to talk about the other…
My Ten Commandments
I’ve been thinking about this for a few days. It started when I read a list of important things for living a good life that someone posted. It included things like not airing your dirty laundry (makes for a dull blog, but probably a good idea), not putting down your spouse in public, and my…
Who’s Afraid?
I’m not sure if “afraid” is the right word for what I want to talk about. I think I aim here to make the point that we aren’t all that different from people in societies we’ve been told to feel sorry for because they are not free to be their true selves. What got me…
Ducking and Covering
I was a child during the Cold War. I was petrified of atomic bombs. We had duck and cover drills in school, as if hiding under a desk would do us any good. I had nightmares about bomb shelters for decades. I don’t want to go to sleep tonight. Baby Suna might take over and…
The World Collapses, But I Feel Okay
This morning I was listening along with Lee to his morning podcasts when one of them (sorry, I forget which one) began to discuss a phenomenon that is not uncommon today. People report that they are experiencing a good time in their lives, with positive experiences, interactions, and situations. Yet those same people are concerned…
Prairienet: How I Made Friends and Found a Career
Today’s post is prompted by the happy coincidence that I found my very first volunteer nametag while unpacking a box today. It’s from way back in 1994 or 1995, when I was still living in Champaign, Illinois. Before THAT, I’d been an active member in the Champaign-Urbana Computer Users Group, where I met a whole…
Hope Springs, um, Each Spring
One of my favorite parts of living at the Hermits’ Rest is anticipating spring’s arrival. It’s darned early here! And today I noticed my beloved bluebonnets are up and ready to grow buds. I feel hope for the future when I’m reminded that Nature keeps plugging along. There are a few flowers out, especially the…
Book Report: Phosphorescence
My husband, Lee, heard some people talking about this book on one of his podcasts, so he ordered it for me as a Christmas present. He said it just sounded like something I’d enjoy, and he was right! I’m so glad to have come across Phosphorescence: A Memoir of Finding Joy When Your World Goes…
Knittin’ and Readin’ and Regerts
Today it is windy as all heck. All my chairs, all the barrels in the horse area, and everything else that isn’t tied down has blown to new and interesting locations. Lee and I had tried to put together a storage shed yesterday, and placed it against a wall, where we thought it would be…
Today Did Not Go As Planned
It hasn’t been an ideal day for anyone in my house, and I’ll just say that this is not a great time to participate in the health care system. So, no one slept last night. Of course I had a 7am meeting, which ended up being the highlight of my day. And it was so…
Book Report: Atlas of the Heart
Here’s the review of Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, by Brené Brown (2021) that I promised recently. I think I am growing tired of self-help books or something, because this one didn’t impress me as much as some others I’ve read. There were good parts to this…
Feeling a New Feeling
Two things have happened that are a fortuitous coincidence. One is my son and his partner moving nearby. The other is reading Brené Brown’s latest book, Atlas of the Heart. The book seems sorta silly in concept. It’s a list of definitions of human emotions. Apparently many people can only identify three emotions: happy, sad,…
Moving on from the Alottest Year
A Facebook friend named Melissa, who went through so much this year, just summed up 2021 as the “alottest” year, because everything has been a lot. The lowest lows, very high highs. Hope and despair. Sure, every year has good and bad; that’s life. But wow, my head is spinning as I reflect back. So,…
Two Truths: We Need to Learn This
Last weekend, as I was driving home from my Drew lesson, I listened to an episode of Hidden Brain, by Shankar Vedantam. I’m so glad I did, because the story he shared, gently and neutrally, made the point that I’ve been slowly and painfully trying to articulate for the past few years: More than one…
Shiny and Strange Things, for Christi
I started work extra early today, so I got to stop before the pre-solstice sunset caught up with me. It had rained and misted much of the day, but the late-afternoon sun was shyly peeking out from the clouds. It turned the ranch into a jewel box of shining droplets hanging from every fence, blade…
Book Report: Anything Is Possible
Here’s one more Elizabeth Strout book. This is not exactly a sequel, but it builds upon the events and actors in My Name Is Lucy Barton. Anything Is Possible impressed me, because it has the same people in it, but is a completely different type of book than the book about Lucy. Here, you hear…
Y’all Won’t Believe THIS Coincidence
Do you remember reading about how much fun I had just wandering around Breckenridge, Colorado day before yesterday? And do you remember that I got very excited when I walked through a residential area and saw that a house had a big bird feeder and I hung around there trying to get photos of the…
A Rusty Tarot Reading
This may or may not surprise you, but those of you who actually know me remember that I have worked with tarot cards for many years. I find them very helpful for clarifying my thinking, figuring out trends, and learning about other people. In fact, this blog and our ranch, The Hermits’ Rest, is a…
Imagining the Future
I know I’m supposed to be living in the moment right now, but just for a few minutes let me digress and think about the future. Lee and I took a walk this evening and were looking around with the dogs and everything her. The sun was so beautiful in the sky as it was…
Still Competent
I will tell you what feels strange, but good. That would be having meetings with your supervisor and her boss in which both said what a great meeting it was and what good work you’re doing. It had been a couple of years since that happened. Nice. It’s amazing how feeling competent can affect your…
Does Your Subconscious Try to Sabotage You?
As you know, I started a new job a couple of weeks ago, consulting at Dell on the software I worked with at the previous job. The new job features a very smart team, some fun clients to work with, and a reasonable and kind boss. These are all good things! I’ve completed a couple…
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