Happy New Year! It’s funny how much hope is generated just by swapping out a used up calendar with a brand new one. But there’s always hope in fresh starts, and anticipation, in a blank page, a new morning, the first stitches of a crochet hook. My usual New Year’s Eve ritual was ignored. I […]
So maybe this change in routine has affected me more than I realize. Maybe my sheltering in place is no longer due to a virus but a depression. I like the social distancing. Maybe a little too much. I think it may be depression because I don’t do anything at home. Earlier I wrote about […]
Did you know that “mistakable” is the English word that includes the entire history of the English language? Neither did I. I was listening to “Språkteigen”, a Norwegian radio program on language and Norwegian dialects, and the organizers of a “word exhibit” were interviewed. The exhibit consisted of a single word from each language on […]
You know how the kitchen always ends up a mess when you cook, even if you’re one of the clean-as-you-go folks? There will be a delicious meal – and there will be splashes and spots and dirty dishes. 2019 was like that. I learned so much but it was a hard year. 2019 has left […]
I have been tagged to dig up two quotes on health by a fellow blogger, Paula. Check out her quotes. She’s included some of my favorites! Mental health is important, too! “To enjoy a good old age, take care of your eyes, hearing, teeth and feet.” —Marion Mundal My grandma. I am taking her advice.
Prologue: I am no longer on partial sick leave. I am considered well and am back to work 100%! I have new tasks but am the master of my day, even though my work calendar has never been as full as it is now! Now: I was tasked with teaching some part-time workers about what […]
If you had lived we’d be still talking If you had lived we’d be hanging out at our favorite café If you had lived I’d be visiting you in the nursing home If you had lived We’d still be creating memories together But you didn’t live You didn’t make it this far with me I […]
I think I’ve mentioned Daily Om before, a website that offers life affirming essays and online courses. I’m currently taking a course on clearing. On any other website, it would be called decluttering, but it’s not just getting rid of stuff. It’s the why we hang on to things and how it feels to have […]
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others their trespasses.” Matthew 6:12 I remember when I first started to seriously forgive people with whom I had a difficult relationship. I thought forgiving them would end something. It didn’t. It started something (I wish I’d been warned). I thought forgiveness was a way to pull a […]
Obviously, something deep in my subconscious wants to imitate Nedry’s lock screen in “Jurassic Park”, doing his finger-wagging “Ah-ah-ah”. I had bronchitis in February. Was out sick for two weeks. Bronchitis was something I had a lot as a kid. Usually when the bullying over time finally got to me, my body would react with […]
Of all the seasonal transitions, the one between winter and spring seems to be the most violent. I’ve tried to predict weather using astrology (astrometeorology). The starting point are the seasonal ingress charts, i.e. the charts for the equinoxes and the solstices or the cardinal signs. For the spring equinox the chart is made for […]
I cannot remember when men first landed on the moon, in 1969. I was alive and old enough to remember something like that. We had a TV. That is to say, my granduncle had a TV—up on the old farm, in a little valley above a fjord. There was nothing on it until 6 pm, […]
(Part 1 here) Sometimes, I think that I have undiagnosed ADHD. I relate too well to descriptions of people with ADD etc. Apparently, December children are overrepresented on the ADD spectrum. I am a December child. My therapist did point out that it doesn’t really matter if I have ADD or not; I hold down […]
Inspired by Paula’s “elevenie” poem (“Elfchen” in German) ending in darkness, here’s mine about the end of short winter days: Darkness Occupies daytime In the winter Until a climbing sun Returns An elevenie poem has 5 lines with one word on line 1, two words on line 2, three words on line 3, four words […]
The charm of Bergen is its old streets and equally old houses. The classic tourist photos look something like this: An old residential street So I thought I’d show you the less charming, more modern side. The side of the city I usually see. Honestly, I like this part, too. It’s just not the most […]
A friend commented on another blog post of mine about how we’re told that loneliness shortens a life span like a smoking habit does. Her married parents are now within waving distance of 90; she doubts she’ll get to that age. I have a theory, or maybe it’s just a good ol’ opinion about longevity […]
A little musing and sharing via eleven questions thought up by Lisa and found via Paula. 1) Socks? Love them or hate them? Handknitted socks a co-worker made for Secret Santa. And I won them! They keep my feet toasty in rubber boots. — I have cold feet. Socks, please, and they have to cover […]
In my ongoing journey to figure myself and life and all that stuff out, I’m now trying to learn about non-attachment. Attachment = expectation. In “The Shack”, they suggest you ditch the noun and go for the verb: Expecting. That is making more and more sense to me. Expectation sets you up for failure; expecting […]
Once physical disease is ruled out, it is time to consider the root cause of most mental depression: a lack of love and connection in life (not a lack of serotonin). Source: Wikipedia Commons Via Paula’s blog comes the idea of grabbing some book, going to page 62 and line 6 on that page to […]
The spring of 1969, I traveled across country with my grandma and grandpa. Just before leaving California, I had heard The Beatles song “Help!”. The movie had been showing on TV one evening at my mother’s. I liked the song and I remember singing it in Maine, where we’d stopped off at Grandma’s son’s place […]
A Roll in the Universe 