Shift

Every morning the crows call out to let me know they're here for breakfast. Luna and I head downstairs and out the back door, where I toss out a bunch of dog kibble for them, which they love.

The kibble, though, has to be the kind for small dogs or puppies.  They don't care much for the adult dog size.

Then we sat outside with them for awhile, listening to them talk to us and each other. I adore them and they know it. It's daily magic. 

This morning, we stayed outside for awhile since the terrible heat and humidity we've been plagued with all summer has broken, replaced with glorious cool, soul-soothing air.

As we sat out this morning listening to the crows and the soft breeze through the trees, I noticed that the light has started to changed already.  Fall light is coming.

The harsh sunlight of summer is starting to be replaced by the soft filtered light of Autumn.

I can already feel the rigidity I've been holding inside because of the frenetic nature of summer starting to melt away.  Sweet relief.

Speaking of my crows, I believe I've gotten my first crow gift.
I came upstairs to my office late this morning and opened the window next to my desk. 
Something shiny caught my eye. 

Tucked into the frame where the window screen sets in was this torn topping from a shiny bag. It definitely wasn't anything of mine and there's no way it found its way up there by itself and then tucked itself into the window frame unless we had some kind of mad wind storm or hurricane and I missed it.

More magic.

Yesterday was JP's birthday.  He is not big on his birthday so it was just a low-key day.  It is not in my nature to not make a fuss on anyone's birthday, but I would never do anything he didn't want so we chilled.  I wasn't feeling good anyway, Sherb had a migraine and I didn't want her to drag herself out and over, so it all kind of worked out.

Our new neighbors moved in this weekend so we bought them a housewarming gift of a charcuterie cheese board and a nice bottle of wine.  JP brought it over to them in the afternoon and he must have mentioned to them that it was his birthday. 

Lo and behold, our doorbell rings a few hours later and there are our new neighbors handing JP a big old ice cream cake from Dairy Queen personalized with 'Happy Birthday JP'!  I mean, how kind was that?

Since I wasn't feel well, we put the cake away and now have a date to share it and cocktails with our new neighbors on Thursday for a belated birthday mini-celebration.  So fun.

I know JP doesn't like to make much of his birthday but I saw the look in his eyes yesterday when he carried that cake into the house. 

A little kindness really does go a long way.

Homegirl

Sick of me talking about the weather yet?

Sorry.

But hope is on the horizon as this dreadfully hot summer with all of its oppressive sunshine and breathtaking (literally) humidity and dew points will soon yield to fake Fall (Labor Day) and then real Fall...when it will still be stupid hot but pumpkins and mums will start showing up everywhere psyching you into not thinking about how the temperature really hasn't changed much at all.

I have been stuck in the house for the past four or five days because it's too hot for me to safely go outside.

My lungs - damaged since they both collapsed 10 years ago - don't take kindly to humidity so I have to stay inside when it's oven-like outside. On the bright side of being forced to be mostly housebound for 3-4 months, you can legitimately call me Homegirl...which I kind of like.

In fact, I was inspired to design a new t-shirt as a result.  If there actually is an upside to being housebound it's tapping into all kinds of creativity so I don't lose my mind from boredom.

Introvert that I am, I actually love being at home; it is here that I would rather be than any other place.

I just don't like it when I'm forced to stay there because I'm in Climate Prison.  That's when things get dicey.

However, as I write this - the day after a cold front moved in - it is 58­° glorious breathable degrees this morning.

Halleujah, I have been set free!

At the almost end of August, I can finally go outside and enjoy summer.

"Cozy Palace"

'Cozy Palace'

click here to see ordering info

"Nowadays," she said, "it is almost a sin to stereotype and make judgments on people.
You can get tarred and feathered and given one of a hundred different labels if you say out loud what some people think is the wrong thing.

 Yet all them same people are sometimes the ones who talk bad about where I live.

Well I don't care what they say. I love where I live. This place is my cozy palace.

When I bake cookies in my little oven, they taste and smell just as good as the ones that fancy people make in their expensive kitchens. Maybe I don't have a granite countertop but I have prepared many meals on my plain laminate one that have nourished and given pleasure to me and the people I love. Heck, I could rip out my old countertop and put in a granite one anytime I want to but that's not going to change anything around here except to drain out my bank account for no good reason other than so I can say I got a granite countertop. No, thank you.

You know, this little place holds just as many memories as any other house anywhere on this planet, by God. This place knows our tears and every other high and low that's come our way. It's protected us from every storm that's passed through, too. And every year we set up the Christmas tree with our old ornaments and the twinkle lights right there in front of the windows so everyone can see.

Maybe it ain't much, but it's home.

Yes, it's home."

Old School Goodness

Yesterday afternoon I was on my way to the grocery store when I felt a little bit fuzzy-headed which often happens when I go outside into the bright sun.

Playing it safe, I decided to skip the store and go back home because no one wants to have a dizzy attack in the middle of a crowded grocery store causing all kinds of unwanted and embarrassing attention if, for example, you get so dizzy that you have to maybe sit down on the floor right there in front of the deli or seafood department.

Nowadays, with everyone being on drugs and because I religiously watch Live PD, I know if I get a dizzy attack in public that people will automatically think it's drug related and the police will be called and then next thing you know they'd be shoving Narcan up my nose all because I get dizzy from sunshine. I am fully aware that trying to tell authorities that I am not on drugs¹ but am instead dizzy from sunshine would further convince them that I actually was on drugs because how many people do you actually know get dizzy from sunshine?!

Playing out these kinds of scenarios in my head is actually why I just stay home a lot.  Thanks, anxiety.

Anyway, I turned off the main road into the neighborhood to go back home and that's when I saw the lemonade stand out of the corner of my eye and so I of course made a U-turn at the intersection just past it because no good and decent human being doesn't turn around and go back when you see a lemonade stand even if you're feeling a little bit dizzy-headed.

can you STAND the cuteness?!

I never have any real money on me much to JP's chagrin who is forever giving me cash "just in case" - I have such a good husband - but I did have a single dollar bill so I bought a small size and told them to keep the change.

Then I drove off feeling bad for only tipping them 300%.  Thanks, anxiety.

Where I live in New Castle County, Delaware, all you ever seem to hear about is terrible crime-y stuff.  Yet here was this Ode To Sweetness and Nostalgia and Fun right there almost in my backyard.
I wanted to stand out on the main road with a big sign directing traffic to this lemonade stand because you know what? We all need more lemonade stands in our lives.  We all need to turn our cars around and stop and get out and smile at and chat with adorable kids being innocent and catch the eye of their watchful mom (sitting out of the picture here but set up watching her babies from the driveway) giving her a "yay you!" look for letting her kids be kids.  That's good parenting, right there.

Actually, it's just a whole bunch of all kinds of good.

I'm going back over there today to see if they're hopefully set up again.

I'm prepared, I have cash.




¹¹(I hate any kind of drug, even the helpful kind. I even have to mull over taking a Tylenol for a good long while before I'll put one in my mouth.)

"Spirit."

"You’re forgetting one thing, you know, and that’s the spirit of the object, which, 

if you sit long enough, will finally creep in through the back door and grab you.” 

-A. Wyeth

Last Fall, I was lucky enough to spend an entire day wandering the grounds and inside the farmhouse at Kuerner Farm in Chadds Ford, PA. If you are a fan of Andrew Wyeth, you already know about Kuerner Farm. If you aren't familiar, Kuerner Farm is the backdrop of scores of Andrew Wyeth's works, spanning decades.

Andrew Wyeth is by far my most favorite artist. On that day, at that farm, I stood where he stood, walked where he walked, saw what he saw. There are some obvious reasons why I called this piece 'Spirit'.

I took this picture that day. It is the exact spot of Andrew Wyeth's piece called 'Groundhog Day' down to the exact wallpaper. 

I stood there for a long while on that day back in October, in front of that window, and I let all that spirit creep in through the back door of that farmhouse...and grab me.