Welcome to the Greatest Summer on Earth!

Today, I’m predicting it. It’s cold, a bit rainy and not at all summer-like. Yet, this summer holds so very much promise that I’m just going to be bold and declare it the Greatest Summer on Earth. Why, you ask? Oh, let me just regale you. Well, first, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)Continue reading “Welcome to the Greatest Summer on Earth!”

An accidental retirement?

The backspace key on my computer has come off. I guess there really is no turning back and I must retire. 😊 Seriously, though, the computer is only two years old and I have to depreciate it over three years so I absolutely refuse to buy another one when this one isn’t fully depreciated. I’mContinue reading “An accidental retirement?”

When my forest returns… .

It’s very nearly mid-May and despite an early start to spring, the recent spate of cold weather slowed the march towards the full glory of my forest. At this point, it’s only about 60% filled in. It needs to get to 80% before the hillside behind the house turns to a complete sea of green.Continue reading “When my forest returns… .”

The good life.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about “the good life.” In general, we spend very little of our lives actually content. If you think about it, we start out pretty content – only crying or complaining for three simple things: we are hungry, we are tired or we are uncomfortable. Childhood, when it’s done right,Continue reading “The good life.”

Save me some daylight, please!

I am one of those people who wholeheartedly embrace all of the Daylight Savings Time process. In winter, I literally count down to the days when DST begins again. And in fall? Well, it hits at just the right time to enjoy an extra hour of sleep. This year? It’s arrival couldn’t be more perfect.Continue reading “Save me some daylight, please!”

My “what’s next?”

Yesterday, we nearly completed piers 7 and 8 for our new deck. We have 9 and 10 left to go next weekend. After that? Well, we can start framing. We eventually need to dig and pour a cement pad for the stairs, which my husband insists on placing piers underneath to avoid frost heave, butContinue reading “My “what’s next?””

Regaining perspective

I haven’t posted in awhile, but that’s not because I haven’t been writing. I have. You wouldn’t have wanted to read it. What I wrote about was full-on anxiety about our deck building project. Like I always do, I painfully wrote out each anxiety, thought, plan or concern. It’s cathartic for me, but painful toContinue reading “Regaining perspective”

Turn signals.

This little family is making that turn towards home. You know the route, right? It’s been a long trip and you’re tired. The car smells of old food and a little sweat, and you stopped caring three stops ago about keeping things organized or clean. Instead, in a fatigue-driven sense of exasperation, you just decided,Continue reading “Turn signals.”