she finally bloomed~
Minerva variety
Amaryllis joy!
Amaryllis
Ice, Ice, Babies
We were out Friday for a snow day, even though we knew that our precipitation prediction landed squarely in the ice band. By 7:00, our town’s social media page was already drumming the dramatic beats of slippery roads and treacherous conditions – a doomsday snow day I don’t take for granted for one moment, particularly living on a pine tree farm. When these weak branches begin to bear the weight of ice, it’s only a matter of time before they snap and break across power lines, leaving us in the dark and cold. As I took our three schnoodle babies out at 6 a.m. for their first morning outing, they pondered only for a moment at the top of the porch before navigating a path straight over to the grass, descending like ducks in a row – avoiding the pavement.
They’re smarter than we give them credit for. Me? I would have boldly stepped down, slipped and fallen, thinking nothing about the danger lurking under the sparkles that appear to be grip-like for early morning feet finding their way. Lots of folks in Tik Tok videos apparently see the same footholds I perceive and go viral in times like these. I don’t want to be them.
We slipped back inside to the warmth after the boys took care of their business, and I turned on the gas logs and the heated sherpa throw (while power lasts) and steeped a cup of green tea with honey. No deadlines, no emails, no makeup or hurried pace. Just a book and a cozy chair by the fire…….next to the Christmas tree that is still up and may stay until February or March or even April in the relaxed ambition I feel in 2025.
My One Little Word for 2025 is enough. And I’m feeling that today. In fact, I’ll take a day like this more often.
speckled-ice walkways
out for their morning business
even dogs think twice
Family & Faith
family and faith
my focus as I begin
twenty twenty five
time to consider
to give thanks for these blessings
to count all good things
Action Planning Acrostic
As the year begins, we
Consider all
That we want to accomplish:
Insurmountable
Obstacles
Never-ending
Projects
Loom large
As we stand back
Navigating a path
Negotiating the tasks ahead, asking:
Is it all that insurmountable, really?
Not when there is a structured plan to
Get the wheels turning…….
For the Sake of the Pig
My husband’s work sent a Heavenly Ham to us, and with just the two of us and a ham heavier than a lab puppy, I wasn’t quite sure how to make it work before it spoiled. The life of the poor pig weighed heavily enough on my conscience that I set out to be a good steward of all the readying he did before giving his life for our sustenance. I dug up a bag of black eyed peas and carved the meat from the bone, mixing protein and fiber together. It’s in the crock pot today, and it will be ENOUGH to get us through winter Sunday dinners with cornbread.
Ham Haiku
we don’t eat much pork
but for the sake of the pig
we’ll have ham and beans
Green Tea Goals
I’m sitting with my
cup of green tea by the fire
contemplating life
today, I reflect
on the past year, plan for the
year ahead: paper
and pencil in hand
to capture my thoughts and then
calendarize them…….
Uneasy Ollie
uneasy Ollie
walking on trail, hears gunfire
Dad’s arms take him in
it’s a tender scene
he knows where to seek comfort
ears flattened, eyes peeled
tail tucked underneath
shivering all the way back
to safety of home
Heated Blankets
bring on the snowstorms
Christmas gifts: heated blankets!
ready to plug in
we want to stay home
more than going anywhere
snuggling with our dogs
Turning Over a New Leaf
a new leaf: green tea
full of antioxidants ~
my New Year’s drink choice
My One Little Word for 2025
It’s that time of year: time to choose a word as a beacon to guide me through 2025.
I chose the word listen as my One Little Word three years ago, and for the past two years I have chosen the word pray to guide me through the years. My former words won’t leave me – I still keep them as my own – especially pray. Once a new word has been chosen, former words don’t vanish, turning down some dark alley lurking between the minutes of the midnight hour of New Year’s Eve. They stick like blood kin that want more words to come to the table in the family of chosen words, much like siblings wanting more brothers and sisters.
I’m not abandoning listen or pray. But a strange word took hold of me a few weeks ago, and I don’t fully know why. It’s an adjective and adverb and, according to the dictionary, can also be used as a pronoun and is sometimes used interjectionally, too. This is not an actionable verb as my former words have been.
My One Little Word for 2025 shall be enough.
It seems an unusual choice to me right now, but I know it will become clear once the year gets going. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that once we pray for the right word, we must listen hard enough when it comes alongside us with the pick me! pick me! promptings.
I felt tears welling a couple of years ago when I discovered I was a one on the Enneagram – an overachieving perfectionist whose own worst enemy is…..well, …… ME. I can’t ever seem to live up to my own bar – it’s been set far too high for far too long. I often feel I fall short, even when I succeed. I need to be able to say that I am enough – – and to believe me when I do.
If I do a thing, I overdo it.
I cook for an army rather than for the two of us at the table. I own too many books and too many shoes. I need to learn to appreciate the blessings of having enough– without having too much. I need to find my library card more often than the Amazon cart. I need to learn what is enough and to be a good steward of the management of it.
My sense of adventure is insatiable. I want to explore every GPS location on the globe and don’t quite know what to do with myself when I get there, while under-appreciating that the exquisite beauty of my own town is a unique world all its own – enough to keep me fascinated right here where I am if I only see it with the wonder-filled eyes it deserves.
And my world gets out of whack. I work long hours, and I’m feeling my bones and my soul tell me that doing too much in one place leaves too little in another. More balance would bring enough to both the professional realm and the personal one. I’m often rushing my husband through the extra glass of iced tea he likes to have at the end of a meal if we are in a restaurant, even at times when we have no hurry or particular place to be. I envy his ability to amble where I can’t seem to slow down and fill my lungs with enough air to take the time to relax and breathe a little.
There are gestures where I fall short: phone calls, birthday cards, random text messages to say I love you to those who mean the world to me. I fail to do enough to let my family and friends know how frequently I think of them.
The first word that appealed to me for 2025 was less. I almost chose it – then, I realized that less may not always hit the marks I need to hit. I could eat less, I could weigh less, I could spend less. I could check a few boxes and say I did less. But the real challenge will be sorting what needs more and what needs less to find the just-right balance of enough.
If you have chosen a OLW, please share it in the comments. I love the stories of how words manifest themselves to the people they choose. This is the first word that has me scratching my head about its reasons for knocking at my door. But here we are.
Happy New Year, and happy word finding!
Common Threads 