Posted on : By : Michelle Posted in : Uncategorized

My Theme(s) for 2023

I’ve been choosing a word of the year since 2020. My words so far have been Create (2020), Tend (2021), and Joy (2022). The idea behind choosing a theme is to focus your attention on one area of your life you would like to change or enhance in some way. So, if someone wanted to improve their fitness they might choose the word Strength. There are many, many articles online regarding the practice of choosing a yearly theme. I was introduced to the concept through a podcast I enjoy, Happier with Gretchen Rubin. 

I have spent the last couple of weeks in a period of discernment, looking back on my 2022 and imagining how I want my 2023 to look and feel.

2022 felt like a very scattered year –  like I had a lot of good intentions and not enough follow through. I don’t think I sent out one birthday card to friends and family. No Christmas cards. I fell down on my correspondence with dear friends. 

I’m very hard on myself, so it’s very easy to pick out the places where I fell down in 2022. I did struggle with time seeming to fly by (oops, I missed that birthday; oops I missed the best time to photograph the herons nesting; oops, I’m late in renewing the registration for my car) and with life seeming to be more something that happened to me rather than something I made happen. 

Of course, many aspects of life are not ours to plan or choose. They do just happen. Catastrophic weather. Health problems large and small. Getting older. The decisions/moods/happiness of other people. Some of these things we realize we have no control over. Others we (I) somehow tend to think we can influence to a greater extent than is realistic. I know that part of the work I still need to do within myself is to be better at categorizing things into what I can control and what I cannot control.

Which brings me to my word(s) for 2023 – working on some of the things that are under my control.

In 2023 I want to make my life feel more intentional. When I think back on 2022 it’s like I was driving a car and only looking at the road directly in front of the car, not seeing the road work or the slow-down a mile ahead. I was reacting more than acting. As you can imagine, this can and did lead to a lot of unnecessary stress. 

I picked four words for 2023 instead of one. My words are: FOCUS, ORDER, SERENITY, and JOY. 

Focus and Order will inspire and remind me to be more strategic in my life. To plan, to record that plan, to refer to the plan often, and to carry out the plan in a calm manner. I will be using an old-fashioned paper-and-pen planner into which I will faithfully record doctor’s appointments, birthdays, oil changes, registration renewals. The one I have chosen (this one from Amazon) starts with a broad overview of the year and then drills down to the nitty gritty day to day. I’ve used paper-and-pen planners before and they have worked well for me, so I am realistically optimistic that this tool will help me this year.

Serenity, my third word, is hopefully a state of mind I will reach by keeping all of the minutiae of my life under control. It will also remind me of the Serenity Prayer, which states, “God, grant me the serenity to accept  the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” That wisdom to know the difference, man. That is the hard one.

I’m keeping Joy as one of my themes for this year. I loved having it as my theme last year, and I want to keep the notion of being joyful at the forefront. A dear friend of mine focused on Joy as well, and she would send me texts telling me what brought her joy on any given day (not every day, but on a regular basis). I derived so much joy just seeing what brought her joy. 

Speaking of joy – today I went for a walk in the Cuyahoga National Forest with Sam and Pokey. We saw two herons, one of which was so close and so unconcerned with our presence that I was able to get some pretty nice photos. Even Pokey’s barking didn’t scare it away. Those moments of being in the presence of such beautiful creatures in such close proximity absolutely filled me with joy. 

Happy New Year, everyone. My next post will be my “23 for 2023” – 23 things I plan to experience during this year. 

Love,

Michelle xoxo

Posted on : By : Michelle Posted in : Uncategorized

The Big Chill

Like much of the United States, Ohio is currently being visited by a pretty extreme weather system. We have been under a winter storm warning and wind chill warning since early Friday morning. As I write this at 6:43 am on Saturday morning, the temperature is negative 2 degrees Fahrenheit, with high winds making it feel like negative 24 degrees Fahrenheit. We have been hunkering down here, venturing outside briefly only to shovel the small amount of snow in the driveway (Chris) or refill the bird feeder (me).

Have you ever wondered how birds stay warm in frigid temperatures? I found this article fascinating, but if you don’t want to click on the link the photos here will show you the main way they stay warm: by fluffing up their feathers. They trap pockets of air around their bodies this way – their very own “down jacket”, literally.

The birds were at the feeder all day long yesterday. I added some handfuls of high energy feed (a mixture with raisins and peanuts) to a couple of flat surfaces on our patio. On a normal day I notice a lot of feeding activity in the morning and then not again until later in the afternoon. Yesterday was constant.

Today is Christmas Eve. We have a very quiet evening planned: Sam and Pokey will sleep over and we will eat cheese fondue (with this homemade bread) and watch Paddington. Tomorrow morning we will have a breakfast of various homemade baked goods (almond croissants, ham and cheese croissants, sausage rolls) and, a blast from my childhood and a necessary fixture at all celebratory mornings, Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Sam will meet up with his dad later on Christmas morning and Chris and I will have a quiet Christmas meal of New York strip steaks, mushroom sauce, and homemade oven-baked, parmesan-coated French fries.

To be honest I have not been in a very Christmas-y mood this year. Possibly because I contracted Covid from my workplace a couple of weeks ago. Ten other colleagues in our rather small workplace also came down with it within the space of one week, and the entire office was subsequently told to work from home until after Christmas. I was lucky in that I had nearly no symptoms, but the process of isolating myself in the house (thankfully Chris did not get it) and suspending my walking practice out of an abundance of caution sort of threw me for a loop.

One thing I have been doing is thinking about what my one-word theme for 2023 will be. I love the process of deciding what my theme will be – it makes me really consider these types of questions: What do I need? What needs to go? What needs to be done in me and through me?

That last question sounds a bit religious, and I’m not a religious person. But I do believe in positive energy (which makes me sound New-Age-y, which I’m not, either). I think that energy is highly contagious, whether it be positive or negative. Think of how you feel after a wonderful visit with a friend, versus how you feel after listening to a coworker’s gossip or rant. Or, heaven forbid, Fox News or MSNBC. I do want to, in some way, contribute to the positive side of things, and that’s what I will be contemplating over the next week.

I will share my 2023 theme, as well as my “23 for 2023” list next weekend. Until then, stay warm. Merry Christmas to those who observe/celebrate the holiday!

Love,

Michelle xoxo

Posted on : By : Michelle Posted in : Uncategorized

Solstice

Today being the Winter Solstice, I set out with the intention to photograph both the sunrise and the sunset.
I’ve been starting work early these days, so I actually took my lunch hour (very) early and set out at 7:30 to catch the sunrise.
The last several days have been completely overcast, so I felt so lucky that the skies were partially clear.
The clouds were amazing!
After work, I set out for my favorite sunset-watching spot, anticipating a crowd, it being Solstice and all.
There was only one other dedicated sunset-watcher there (not just drifting by to take a selfie and then moving on).
I said to this woman, “I’m so surprised there aren’t more people here for the Solstice!”
She answered, “Yeah, Summer Solstice gets all the love.”
Well, I love you, dear Winter Solstice. I love you with all my heart. Welcome back, dear Sun.

Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.

Hello, you who make the morning

and spread it over the fields

and into the faces of the tulips

and the nodding morning glories,

and into the windows of, even, the

miserable and the crotchety —

best preacher that ever was,

dear star, that just happens

to be where you are in the universe

to keep us from ever-darkness,

to ease us with warm touching,

to hold us in the great hands of light —

good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day

in happiness, in kindness.

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Technical Difficulties

Hello friends! I’m back! I have been dealing with some very frustrating technical difficulties over the last few weeks. Out of the blue WordPress was not letting me edit or begin a post. I got a pop-up error message that I tried to resolve using all the advice out in Google Land, as well as the (really crap) technical support provided by Bluehost, my hosting service. All to no avail. Finally, Chris asked if it might be worthwhile trying his old laptop. Et voila, here I am. I think perhaps the problem was that the latest updates to WordPress and Bluehost finally rendered the operating system in my laptop (which has reached its own iOS update limit) incompatible. The plan is to get me a new laptop at some point, but until that time I’m so happy to have a pretty convenient workaround.

It’s funny – before these technical difficulties I would sometimes feel self imposed pressure to get on here and crank out a blog post. Once I was unable to do so, I missed the blog so much!

Okay, so, my bird photos – I’m quite pleased with my new setup. I’ve put up my seed feeder right outside my kitchen window – about three feet away from the window. That’s not new. What is new is a large-ish branch that I’ve stuck into the ground about three feet from the feeder. When things get really busy at the feeder birds will use this branch as a pit stop before or after feeding. That’s when I get my photos. It provides a more natural background for my photos than a green plastic feeder.

Life is good here. My exercise routine is still going well. I ate too much this long Thanksgiving weekend. We got a milk steamer/frother which is so much fun. We’re almost all caught up with Doc Martin. I just finished a super busy time at work and am about to begin another super busy time at work. I am loving the newest Taylor Swift album (never thought of myself as a Swiftie but here I am).

I am SO glad to be back on here, excited to be photographing the winter birds, and really looking forward to sharing more photos with you.

I hope you are doing well!

Love,

Michelle xoxo

Posted on : By : Michelle Posted in : Uncategorized

October’s End

Hi, friends! I’ve been settling back into normal life after our visit to the UK.

One thing that I’m tweaking at the moment is my workout schedule. About three quarters of the way through the six-week-long workplace exercise challenge I realized something: my anxiety levels had gone way, way down. As you can imagine, this made me very happy/excited – but I also knew that getting out and walking two-and-a-half to three hours a day would just not be sustainable for me, even if it did have this amazing effect on my anxiety. So, I’ve been messing around with the intensity of my workouts. Instead of just walking, I’ve been adding a 20-30 minute workout on the stair-climber machine at our gym. Two things I like about using this machine – 1) it pairs with my Apple Watch so I can see my heart rate on the monitor screen, and 2) I can therefore easily make these sessions into HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts by increasing and decreasing the speed of the steps over the course of the workout. I’m also continuing to walk, but the overall time I’ve been spending on my entire exercise session is about 1hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Something I can definitely fit into my day (I’m also back to three days a week strength training, which I am able quickly accomplish after work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays).

So far this decrease in time while increasing intensity seems to be working. However, I am finding that if I want the results to be apparent every day, I need to work out every day. No days off. Which is a bit of a bummer, but definitely worth it to me.

All of the photos in today’s post were taken with my new iPhone. I’m still getting used to the new phone (I’m definitely a creature of habit and not a huge fan of change) and have had to adjust some of the settings in order to have the photos transfer to my laptop full size, but I’m looking forward to figuring it out some more.

Happy Halloween, and I’ll see you back here soon!

Love,

Michelle xoxo

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Cotswolds Day Three

The first two photos of this post are actually from our dinner on day two of our Cotswolds visit but I forgot to include them in yesterday’s post. Including them today because no travelogue of the UK is complete without some fish and chips with mushy peas!

On day three we decided to visit several small villages, traveling northeast along A429 (for those following along with a map, lol) visiting Bourton on the Water, Upper and Lower Slaughter, and Stow on the Wold. We then drove southeast to Oxford to spend the night before heading to Heathrow early the next morning.

Phew! I love travel, and I love coming back home. I hope you enjoyed my photos; I love sharing them with you.

Chris and I got our new phones last week (iPhone 14 pro max – replacing our old iPhone 8 phones that had severely degraded battery capacity and were generally on their last legs) and I’ve been learning how to navigate the fancy-schmancy camera in my phone. The fall colors are at their peak right now, and I’m looking forward to sharing some photos in my next post.

Have a wonderful week, friends!

Love,

Michelle xoxo

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Cotswolds Day Two: Bath

Our second day in the Cotswolds was spent taking a day trip into Bath, which was about an hour’s drive (taking a scenic route) from Ewen. Our B&B host Neil highly recommended that we take the Park and Ride into Bath, which turned out to be perfect advice, there being very little parking of any kind (public or pay) in the city of Bath. Another gorgeous day weather-wise. We decided not to visit the Roman Baths (not fancying either the crowds or the 20 pound entrance fee per person).

Tomorrow will be my final post about our UK trip – Upper and Lower Slaughter and Stow on the Wold!

Michelle xoxo

Posted on : By : Michelle Posted in : Uncategorized

Cotswolds Day One

After the wedding we spent three days in the Cotswolds. I’ve actually been working on this blog post for two evenings because I don’t really want to sound like a travelogue, especially since that involves reading Wikipedia articles on the Cotswolds or the Thames Head and trying not to plagiarize as I paraphrase their contents here, because my knowledge of this area really is limited to a few articles I’ve read and my experiences over a very short time.

So, the highlights (with Wikipedia links just in case) —

I had never stayed in a bed and breakfast before. As an introvert the idea always really intimidated me, to be honest – would I have to make small talk with the hosts? Would I have to make small talk with people in the breakfast room? Small talk is not a strong suit of mine, and generally when I’m on vacation I don’t like to intentionally put myself in uncomfortable situations. However, I decided to get over myself this time and booked us into two different B&Bs during this trip. I’m glad I did! The first B&B was called Well Cottage and it was completely lovely. I quickly got over feeling awkward and warmed to the entire experience. By the end I was nattering away in the breakfast room with anyone I could make eye contact with.

When booking our room in Well Cottage we found out that the Thames Path runs through the town of Ewen and only a mile or so down the path we could find the Thames Head. This was very exciting for us because Chris and I are big fans of the Rivers of London urban fantasy book series by Ben Aaronovitch. The series is mainly about magical crime fighting in London, but the world the characters inhabit is one in which all the rivers in England and most likely the whole world are actually gods and goddesses. and the upper reaches of the Thames are the where the very powerful Father Thames resides.

After our pilgrimage to the Thames Head we felt it necessary to have dinner at the Thames Head Inn (note the likeness of Father Thames in the signage!) — Bangers and Mash for me and Bubble and Squeak for Chris.

Day two of our Cotswolds adventure was spent in Bath – post to come tomorrow.

xoxo

Posted on : By : Michelle Posted in : Uncategorized

Hertfordshire

After spending fewer than 24 hours on the southern coast of England we traveled north of London to the county of Hertfordshire for the wedding. The weather was glorious, the bride and groom radiantly happy, the music and dancing exuberant, and the food abundant. We were so happy to be able to participate in Steve and Jamie’s special day. xoxo

Posted on : By : Michelle Posted in : Uncategorized

Bexhill-on-Sea

Great view of London as we got ready to land at Heathrow!

Hello friends! Sorry for my absence from here – I’ve decided I really am full of shit when I say things like, “I’m going to post here every week no matter what!” Lol. I’ve had a busy few weeks since last writing here. Remember that office wellness/fitness challenge I said I was going to be more relaxed about? Well, my competitive side got the best of me there, so that proclamation was bogus as well. I ended up finishing 2nd in a field of 45ish people, averaging 25-30 thousand steps a day. I also came down with a lingering cold. Coincidence? For the last few weeks of the competition there was literally not one waking moment when I didn’t have walking on the mind – there was no time for reading, kicking back and relaxing, blogging, taking photos of anything other than my walk. It was intense. But I am pretty proud of my effort, and also very glad it’s over.

Right after the competition ended, Chris and I headed out for the UK to attend the wedding of our nephew. I will post photos of that glorious day tomorrow, but since I took a gazillion photos with my trusty iPhone 8 during the trip (getting a 14 soon and I am so excited about the camera possibilities with the new phone!), I thought I would share the best of the bunch over the next few days.

Today’s photos are of Chris’ childhood town, Bexhill on Sea. His family moved there from London when Chris was ten. We spent less than 24 hours there this time, but soaked up as much of the beauty of the place as we could while we were there.

See you here tomorrow with photos of Hertfordshire and the big wedding day. xoxo