the friday feed: carrots

In Roman mythology, Janus is the god of beginnings, endings, transitions, and doorways. He's often depicted with two faces, one looking forward and one looking back. During the month of January people look back at the past year and think about what they'd like to change for the new year. Cleaning up eating habits is a big one for many. Overall, my eating habits are very healthy but after coming off all the food from Thanksgiving through the Christmas holiday, I'm adding more vegetables to my diet and being more aware of snacking. I just love crackers and cheese dips. Such an easy, tasty nibble. I'm being mindful about keeping a bag of cut up veggies in the vegetable bin: carrots, celery, cucumbers, peppers, cauliflower to stay on the healthy side of snacking. Yes, every so often a few of those vegetables will find their way to the cheese dip or...

Crunch crunch crunch. Sometimes

I like them with ranch dressing.

(Don't tell anyone)

 

finding balance

"We come into this world head first and go out feet first; in between, it is all a matter of balance." ~ Paul Boese

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

It's been a quiet week. Bitterly cold, lots of snow, but in between the gray and snow, there's been clear skies and sunshine. The nighttime sky has put on quite a show. The first full moon of the year shined brightly on Monday night the and the planets lined up nicely, too. The January full moon is known as the Wolf Moon and is derived from Native American culture, in which during this time wolf packs could be heard howling on the outskirts of villages. Sunsets have been lovely, too. I stand in my front yard and watch the sun go down, sometimes quietly, sometimes in a blaze of glory.

The full Wolf Moon with Mars in the lower right corner. 

Photo by Ann Schuermann 📷

In the lower left corner, the blob shining above the middle tree is Jupiter.

Lots of snow and in some places nowhere to put it. The snow plowers for the Kroger parking cut the parking lot in half with this big pile of snow. So many people turned down the barricaded rows in hopes of finding a parking spot on the "right side." It turned into a boondoggle when they wanted to back out and another car wanted to find a close spot.

Little errands: go to Office Depot to get a blank ink cartridge for my printer. While there, I found a birthday card for my daughter. Crossed two errands off in one place. Love when that happens.

Up and Running, an athletic apparel store that specializes in running shoes, has put out its Frozen Feet Challenge. Those who participate have to walk a minimum of one mile outside everyday from January 13 to February 23, six weeks of daily winter walking. It's a fun way of getting out and walking during these winter days.

I've getting back into my yoga 3-4 times per week routine . From Thanksgiving on, I didn't get much yoga in and the first time back it was quite obvious that I hadn't been moving and stretching much for the last seven weeks. It's so important to keep moving.

While cleaning out a drawer, I found a pair of socks that my dad wore probably as a teenager. If he were alive, he would have celebrated his 91st birthday on January 9. These are some old socks but so warm. 

view from the kitchen window

To think this started with one little drop...

"Music comes from an icicle as it melts, to live again as spring water." 

~ Henry Williamson

monday's mulling: believe in your dreams

When the kids were home for the Christmas holiday, my daughter and I were sitting in the living room chatting when all at once she looked at the coffee table, saw the University of Dayton magazine, and exclaimed, "Ohmygosh, that's Stephanie Vermillion!" She and Stephanie became fast friends when they were in elementary school and even though time, careers, and distance have separated them, they still stay in touch.

Stephanie always had an adventurous spirit and when she started at the University of Dayton, she studied Journalism to embark on her dream of travel writing. She backpacked the Great Smoky Mountains with UD's Outdoor Adventure Club, climbed her way up the Flyer News chain of command, co-hosted TV shows on Flyer TV, and spent summers volunteering abroad from Ireland to Morocco. When she was in Morocco, she discovered a new hobby: stargazing. She had gone on a camping trip in the Sahara Desert and saw a meteor shower and admired the Milky Way. Once back at school, she signed up for her first astronomy class and as she said, "I've spent countless nights skipping sleep for stars."

Fast forward, she worked in Public Relations as her day job but had a successful side photography business. After six years of corporate life, she quit her PR job and carved out a career covering her passions - outdoor adventure, night sky tourism, wildlife conservation and culture - and had her photos published in National Geographic, Travel & Leisure, Outside Magazine and Vogue. She has traveled the world, which is now her office.

As Stephanie said in the article, "It's a dream that became possible the second I trusted in myself and answered the life-changing question: If not now, when?"

Stephanie has a debut book, 100 Nights of a Lifetime: The World's Ultimate Adventures After Dark, published by National Geographic.

And to think I knew this world traveler from way back when she and my daughter would make up stories and write their books...

reading day

The start of a new year gives us a chance to pause, reflect, and think about what we want to achieve in the next twelve months. I haven’t made New Year’s resolutions for quite a few years, but in the spirit of turning a new page, I am going to read more books this year. 

Yesterday, I started and finished my first book of 2025.

A couple months ago, my dear friend gave a book to me and she said, “This book reminds me of my mom.” The book, The Nightingale, by Kristen Hannah, takes place in German-occupied France during WWII when Germany had taken over the French government and transported the Jews to the German “work camps.” My friend’s mom was a German Jew living in Munich and her family escaped to Palestine. While in Palestine, Ruta met a man who became her husband and a Catholic priest helped them get to the United States. 

This book tells the story of two sisters in France during World War II. The sisters are estranged from each other and their father, and the book follows the two different paths they take to survive and resist the German occupation. I enjoyed the book and if you like sweet sentimentality with a memorable plot twist The Nightingale is a good read. The book is historical fiction and has a few historical inaccuracies. The Germans’ treatment of the French people and the Jews is horrific, as has been told in many, many accounts.

My friend loved the book, I enjoyed it. The storyline was predictable but the story of those who helped the Jews, the pilots whose planes were downed behind enemy lines, the survivors of the concentration camps, and the survival of the French people is so heroic and so inspiring.

let the sun shine

I could write about the 3 new inches of snow we got last night, but I don't want to.

May these sunflowers bring some sunshine to your day!