Month: December 2023

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Happy Happy Merry Happy!

I wrote this verse and made it into a card many years ago. It was a new feeling I had about winter, brought about, as I recall, by working from home and my boys grown. I no longer had to face getting my car out on snowy, icy roads if I didn’t feel like it. I was able to think of winter as a cozy time.

I just now finished this year’s Christmas cards. I put lights on a little tree outside just two days ago. And it’s balmy here today, with rain predicted for our Christmas Day, with a high of 60. My cards are late and apparently winter is, too, this year. We are in sync.

The other day in the woods a guy called out, “Merry Happy!” as he passed with his dogs. I like that. So I’m thinking “Happy Happy Merry Happy!” Hanukkah, Solstice, Christmas, and New Year’s. Many reasons to celebrate. Many reasons to call out cheerfully to people one doesn’t even know. It’s just too bad the holidays are all crammed in together, rather than spread throughout the winter, for even though I like winter much better than I used to, one does still long for a beach around about the end of January or early February.

A virtual 2023 Christmas card from me to you

Anyway, I just wanted to call out cheerfully to all of you, who make it possible for me to write these letters every Sunday morning. Without you there would be no point. Now that I’ve said that I’m remembering that I told a friend just yesterday that I would write a strongly worded letter to God about all the health troubles my friend has been facing, with aplomb, I might add, for years and years. So I suppose I could write my letters even if you weren’t out there reading them. I could send them out to the universe. Nevertheless I’m grateful for you, lovely reader, and am happy to wish you all sorts of holiday cheer, or as much of it as you can stand.

“One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we celebrate the darkness as it is in its fullest influence. The once fertile forests are now bare and awaiting their rebirth. The surrounding shadows whispering to us of our natural-born powers. And the knowledge of a convergent awakening.” ― Dacha Avelin

“Mistletoe,” said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Harry’s head. He jumped out from under it. “Good thinking,” said Luna seriously. “It’s often infested with nargles.” ― J.K. Rowling , Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

“Jolabokaflod – noun; an Icelandic tradition in which books are given as Christmas presents and opened on December 24, after which the evening is spent reading the books: from a practice begun in 1944, when paper goods were among the most available items in postwar Iceland.” – Dictionary.com

If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. If you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. And if someone forwarded this one to you, you can sign up here to receive the letters right in your Inbox. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.

Thanks for listening,
Kay

P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”

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In Need of a Hug

Sometimes a person just really needs a hug.

Today is that day for me. I had a day that challenged me yesterday, following an early morning epiphany from a quote that I myself had posted several days earlier but failed to really take in until yesterday. It is thus:

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” – Rilke

Can you see the lovely space?

I felt unloved (though I know I am not), thus unlovable and then not terribly loving, followed again by unlovable, etc., etc. As it sometimes goes. But revisiting that quote made me decide that I should be a loving princess, rather than a bleak, dark dragon. Beautiful idea. Unfortunately, I failed. I did not manage to be Princess Kathleen, after all.

Woke up today, again, crabby. All possible human affection currently unavailable, I headed for my hugging tree in the woods. The trunk of that great big cottonwood has a nice concave place where a human of a certain size can fit, just so. I needed to fit myself into that space and commune with that tree, feel its cells buzzing all up close and commingling with my own. I needed to feel the love. I suppose, more, I needed to give the love, as Rilke says.

Sometimes being a good human is hard. Sometimes just being a human is hard, challenging, deflating, disappointing. I prefer it to be beautiful, uplifting, joyous, magical, mystifying, toe-tappingly musical. And often it is all of those things. But not always. And then one has to find a hugging tree. I hope you have one.

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” ― William Blake

“In our world, dear reader, sad and terrible things often happen, though I wish I could tell you otherwise. But strangely wonderful things also occur, and this is the truth that makes life worth living.” ― John Mark Green, She Had a Very Inconvenient Heart

“Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.” ― Herman Hesse, Bäume

If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. If you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. And if someone forwarded this one to you, you can sign up here to receive the letters right in your Inbox. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.

Thanks for listening,
Kay

P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”

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One Butch Thing & A Cautionary Tale

The one butch thing I feel confident I can do is change a tire. I’m not particularly good at sawing (too imprecise) or electrical things (I always worry that even if the power is off, it could jump out and get me anyway) or mechanical things–but I can change a tire and many’s the time I’ve done it.

Recently, that pesky CHECK TIRE PRESSURE light came on in my car, of course on a Saturday. I went and filled up all the tires, though I’m not very good at that, either. One of the tires kept going down all weekend and either I or my son filled it up. On Monday, after being told at Lee’s Tire Company (“round for you”) that I would have to wait until Tuesday to have it fixed, I had the brilliant notion (Oh yeah!) of putting on the spare. And so I did. My neighbor came across the street, astounded, and made a little video of me doing it. She then bragged to a friend that I, in my 70s, had changed my tire.

Unfortunately, the spare was flat. Not the first time this has happened! And certainly an unwelcome outcome, after I had exhausted myself with the tire changing. I may still be able to do it now that I’m in my 70s, but the doing of it exhausted me far more than it used to do back in the day. Whew!

Now for the cautionary tale. Years ago, when my then-husband and I were driving across the country, we had a flat in New Mexico. Well, he set about to put on the spare. He is actually the person who taught me how to change a tire. However, on this occasion he failed to set the brake before jacking up the car. Very big no-no! So it slipped off the jack and the jack punched a hole in the gas tank. Aiyiyi!!

Well, this is a very bad situation in which to find oneself. We ended up sitting in a cafe while a crazy man at a garage welded a patch onto the gas tank. In fact, everyone who worked in the place exited the building. As you can imagine, welding a gas tank is a dangerous thing to do. Gas fumes and welding torches do not make good bedfellows. Fortunately, no explosion occurred and we were, eventually, good to go. Amazing! So now I definitely know always to set the brake before jacking up a car.

So there you have it–the one butch thing I know how to do. What about all of you out there? Got any stories? I bet you do. We all have stories. That is one other thing I really do know.

“Difficult things aren’t easy, but they’re worth it.” – Mia Love

“The best way to learn is by doing. The only way to build a strong work ethic is getting your hands dirty.” – Alex Spannos

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller

If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. If you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. And if someone forwarded this one to you, you can sign up here to receive the letters right in your Inbox. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.

Thanks for listening,
Kay

P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”

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One Woman’s Treasure

Leaves. They’re pretty coming in, lovely on their way out, and beautiful (to some) on the ground. When I was a young girl, I boxed some up in the fall and brought them into the basement, to keep them out of the cold. I suppose we all love leaves to varying degrees.

My neighbors across the street hired a guy to clean up the leaves from their impressive pin oak. There was a leaf blower and there were many young girls with big rakes working away. (I hope he paid them.) Then the blue tarp was brought out and the gate of the pickup truck was lowered. I looked over wondering . . . wanting . . . hesitating . . . yearning . . .

I finally called out, “Excuse me?” They stopped their work. I walked over and said, “Do you think you could bring those leaves over here?” The man in charge gave me such a look. “You–want–the leaves.” I said yes. I’d recently torn out all the giant weeds and vines on the east side of my house, which I’ve done before, only to have them return. Even after dosing them with (shh) RoundUp, back they came. Thorny things, big giant tall things, all manner of vines, etc., all kinds of things! I, however, envision a variety of lovely bushy hydrangeas over there. Perfect spot and all, I’m guessing, though I am not actually a gardener.

I only ever garden as absolutely necessary, when I just can’t bear the look of my yard another moment. Most often, my gardener-ish behavior consists of pulling things out and chopping things down. Thus, for me, gardening is not in any way relaxing. I’d consulted another neighbor about my plan for this area and was given the go-ahead to chop it all down, pull up what I could (not much), cover the whole area with cardboard and then pile lots of leaves on top. Then, in the spring (I think?) put down dirt, compost, the lovely plants I want and lots of mulch. Or else hire the dreamy-eyed gardener I long for to do it.

So I’ve collected cardboard and hauled some big rocks (from a previous hare-brained project) over there. Now I need leaves, lots and lots of leaves. Right? Even though just last year I was bagging them up in a grumbly way, since most of them came from that pin oak and another neighbor’s tree. But here’s a guy across the street with a big tarp full of leaves, so why not? I offered to pay him but he said I’d be saving him a trip to the compost site. Yes. But that look! That look said, “Lady, you are crazy!”

Just goes to show how, as “they” say, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. So many of the things “they” say turn out to be true, don’t you think? Without research or clinical trials or empirical studies.

“Lovely flowers have been known to grow out of trash heaps.” – Elizabeth Kata

“The ground’s generosity takes in our compost and grows beauty! Try to be more like the ground.”― Rumi

“Life: composted lessons for our hearts to blossom into our souls.”― Soul Dancer, Pay Me What I’m Worth

If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. If you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. And if someone forwarded this one to you, you can sign up here to receive the letters right in your Inbox. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.

Thanks for listening,
Kay

P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”

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Be a Goldfish

The television more-than-a-comedy “Ted Lasso” is full of food for thought. Soccer coach Lasso has a take on teamwork, love, and how to live a good life that illuminates the best way to be a human. But one of his many bits of wisdom comes from the humble goldfish.

After a tough defeat, Ted says, “You know what the happiest animal in the world is? It’s a goldfish. It’s got a 10 second memory. Be a goldfish.” He goes on to encourage the team to forget the losses and focus on what’s next. Put the missed shots and opportunities, the losses and disappointments behind you and work on doing better. Shorthand for this, as the show goes forward (as we all are reminded to do) is, “Be a goldfish.”

I love this show. It’s one that is well worth watching. When I finally got to see all of it, I was spoiled for anything else. I just wanted to watch it all over again, which I quickly began to do. It is filled with nuggets of wisdom.

Be the goldfish. Leave it all in the past. Okay, don’t leave the beautiful things, the happinesses and glories, the lovely littles and bigs behind you. Keep those tucked away someplace safe. But don’t hang onto the ugly bits that aren’t doing you any good. Be a goldfish and swim over to your tiny castle, waving your pretty little tail as you go.

Rufus, paying rapt attention, as we all should.

I always feel that it’s important to look and listen for these bits of wisdom wherever I can, in whatever conversation, book, movie, overheard comment, child’s remark, dog’s behavior, act of nature, and of course my own reaction to something or other. It’s important to always be listening, paying attention, noticing. Otherwise, what might I be missing? What important message or idea might escape my notice? What bearer of wisdom might be left shaking its head and rolling its eyes, wondering how to get my attention next time?

But with “Ted Lasso,” there’s a banquet of wonderful morsels just laid out for you, so easy to pick up and so palatable. It might sound like I work for Apple+ TV but this show is worth watching. Honestly, I haven’t found much else of worth there, but when I find something like this gem, I want to tell about it.

Here are a few more Ted Lasso-isms.

“I promise you there is something worse out there than being sad, and that’s being alone and being sad. Ain’t no one in this room alone.”

“There’s two buttons I never like to hit: that’s panic and snooze.”

“I think things come into our lives to help us get from one place to a better one.”

If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. If you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. And if someone forwarded this one to you, you can sign up here to receive the letters right in your Inbox. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.

Thanks for listening,
Kay

P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”