2011 in review

I will do my best to make a long-ish story a bit shorter. January went out with a bang at a friend’s amazing birthday retreat in NH where we made art, sang songs, practiced yoga, wrote poetry, went snowshoeing and dined on amazingly prepared raw food meals. February was when I realized I really needed to make a drastic change in my diet in order to experience real health – sugar, dairy, gluten and anything else that fed yeast was out the window. Also in February, I began designing a wedding invitation for some dear friends and took a fun trip to Franconia, NH with my mom’s family. In March I attended a fantastic course in CranioSacral therapy and added this amazing form of bodywork to my practice. I enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition’s training program to become a holistic health coach, and I attended my goddaugter Stella’s fourth birthday party. April (back to iphoto…) found me in my kitchen or on the couch. I cooked delicious, beautiful and fun meals, looking for ways to be creative within the restrictions of my new diet, and I rested a lot.

In mid-May, my health coaching program started and on May 21st, we had a new member of our family join us – Ivy the goat was born that morning, and she continues to bring lots of joy to the goat yard. The next day, my dad and I sailed in 28 foot Mabel from Vineyard Haven to Chappy with four young people as part of their initial orientation to a year-long vineyard fellowship program. What was cool about the trip for me was realizing, finally, I am more comfortable sailing that wee boat as the captain than not. This felt like a big deal for me and a testament to a new-found level of comfort and self-confidence. It wasn’t that all of sudden I had become a better sailor; I think it had more to do with just being more relaxed and calm in general, and willing to be responsible even when I wasn’t sure how things would turn out. In June I attended what would have been my 11-year highschool reunion (had I stayed in school), and it was great fun to see folks who I hadn’t seen in years. I also finally bought myself a “real” digital camera and while I have been having a blast taking photos with it, I am a bit overwhelmed by the task of learning how to really use it. July was a busy month with lots of massage work, friends having babies, eating veggies out of the garden, visiting with family (from both coasts!) and friends, selling my photo cards at the farmers market, attending a lovely wedding in VT and camping by myself in my new tent!

August began with a bang in NYC for a dear friend’s (since kindergarten!) bachelorette party, and a day spent wandering around the village. Mid-month August found me back on the water and LOVING it. It has been six years since I worked on a big schooner and the week I spent sailing as 2nd mate in Spirit of Massachusetts from Mystic, CT to Gloucester, MA with a bunch of teenagers was the perfect way to get back at it. The crew was awesome, we had gorgeous weather and fantastic sailing. I got off the ship thinking, I want to do more of this! And then I thought about sailing anywhere but New England in the summertime and I didn’t feel so enthusiastic, so I’m looking forward to being on the water again…next summer. At the end of August, my friend Jessica had a “hurricane wedding”, and then in early September I headed up to VT with my family for a “family vacation”. This consisted mostly of us driving around in the rain in two separate vehicles, snacking and staring wide-eyed at the washed away roads and houses. We did have some nice visits with friends and family along the way as well. The beginning of October found me in beautiful Boothbay, Maine where my dear friend Charity married her new love, Rob. I have to say I had the most fun I’ve ever had at a wedding, and there wasn’t even dancing. I’m not quite sure what made it magic, but it was. I spent the next two weeks packing all of my belongings into a storage locker and moving out of the sweet home I had shared with my dear friend Amanda for the last year and a half. She is engaged, and I wish her so much happiness!

Mid-october I headed off the island on a road-trip adventure. I told myself that I could go wherever I wanted once I got off the island – no one was expecting me, and my intention was to head south eventually, but the place I found I wanted to go most was Portland, ME! I headed north and spent a good five days in Portland, resting and re-charging for my road trip. And really, the only reason I was even willing to leave and head out on the road was because I told myself I could head back there soon. I had a fantastic road trip, spent many lovely visits with friends, making it as far south as Charleston, SC before being very ready to head home, exactly a month after I had left. Although I visited many interesting places on my trip, I felt clear that Portland would be my home again soon. I have spent the last month doing who knows what (read: figuring out what life is all about) and all I know is that it has been challening, and I am looking forward to landing in one place in January when I take up residence at my friends’ home while they are in Hawaii for three months. Upon their return, I plan to pack up my stuff and drive myself back up north to Portland. After that, who knows. I am excited to create a new life in a city I love, surrounded by friends and water. Please feel free to come and visit once I get settled.

Oh highway 81, how I love you.

Highway 81 made my 10-hour day of driving with my friend Becca, from NC to PA, a breeze.

I awoke this morning at 6AM, was in the car for 10+ hours, had a social evening, and here it is 10pm and I am still alive an functional. And I think I have the fabulous stretch of road that runs up along the Blue Ridge mountains to thank.

It feels good to be headed north again. I thought I would have all the time in the world for writing and blog posts, etc. while I was on the road, but it has turned out not that way. I am itching and anxious to get home to be able to do some of that stuff. I am so thankful for all of my hosts on this journey so far, and the ones yet to come, but I am dreaming of sleeping in my own bed, cooking in my own kitchen, and washing my own dishes. Where this will happen still remains to be seen. My parents' house on Chappy will remain my home base for the next month or two as my plans evolve.

I have really loved visiting new towns and cities along the east coast, but I am still most drawn to Portland, ME and Martha's Vineyard. Coastal living takes the prize for me, and I had a charming couple days of adventure in the city of Charleston - the southernmost (is that one word?) stop on my tour of the Atlantic seaboard.

Post on Charleston, adventures in Asheville, NC and Floyd, VA to follow. I have recently become disenchanted with blogspot's abilities to display photos, so I may be moving my blog somewhere else soon. I'll be sure to post the new location.

a day in columbia

highlights include:

Realizing that I don't actually have an obsession with cleaning the kitchen... In fact, when I am not resenting someone else, or worried that someone will resent me if I don't, I have very little motivation to clean the kitchen at 9pm. I would rather read a book. Whoopee!

Eating ripe persimmons at the farmers' market this morning - an Asian variety that apparently doesn't need a frost to get sweet.

Laying on a blanket in the sun with Abbey and talking about the Enneagram, and the bizarre strategies that we have come up with for surviving in the world. Bizarre, though not abnormal as far as being human goes. Strategies such as giving things to others in hopes that they will then know what you need and want, and give that to you.

Eating stewed prunes with cinnamon and cream. OMG. yum.

Going to Gold's gym and running on the indoor track. I discovered that I have a VERY steady pace. And also that I would really like to buy those new-fangled "toe" shoes to run in cause I love to run barefoot. But it makes the bottoms of my feet hurt.

Abbey teaching me how to swim (in a salt-water pool)! For real swim. With goggles and a cap and a sporty one piece. I learned to keep my body straight like a long plank, and to let my upper body rotate, and let my elbows point towards the sky. It is a whole new world, and I'm excited to find myself a road bike and consider doing a triathlon. I didn't realize that the thing that was keeping me from doing one was not that I didn't have any interest, but rather that I didn't know how to swim!

Tomorrow we are driving out to Charleston to have an adventure. Abbey and Blake haven't been there, and I have never arrived there by land. I'll spend the night and take the bus back this way tomorrow. It has been so fun to be here visiting these dear friends. We have been eating like kings, and chatting like schoolgirls. Good times.

Blue Ridge Blues...

I spent yesterday driving south on the Blue Ridge Parkway, through the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. It was a gorgeous drive, though I am LATE. The leaves have mostly fallen. The mountains were still blue, though. I guess that isn't a seasonal phenomenon. Thank goodness. I stopped in Boone, which is supposedly a cool town, but I have to say that November, as a season, doesn't do any visual favors for most parts of eastern USA. It was pretty brown. They have a health food store, though, and whenever I am feeling lost, I can usually find myself, and my way, in one of those purveyors of all things natural. [Sometimes when I am writing, I have to wonder where the words come from. I think, "I didn't know that word was in my vocabulary, and I have no idea if I just used it appropriately". So, my apologies for any inadvertently misused and abused pieces of the English language!] I bought gluten-free ginger bread men, butter, coconut ice cream, rice crackers and chevre. Hormonal cravings sure are bizarre.

I finally made it to Weaverville, NC, outside of Asheville, to the cozy home of my friend and dancing buddy, Becca, and her sweetie, Harrison. They had made me a delicious dinner, but I was so full of gingerbread men that I only had room for tea. (Until later on, when I had lots of room for my ice cream. Funny how that works). I got to sleep in their cozy little casa that is a recently renovated chicken coop! When Becca talked about scooping out the poop and knocking down walls, it reminded me of the creation of the elementary school that I attended. I still remember walking around the dusty stalls of the barn that we later converted to a house of learning. So funny the different lives that buildings can live.

my car is probably being ticketed as I type...

...but, I'm going to take a chance and write a few words. (I started this yesterday)

I am sitting in Malaprops bookstore in Asheville, NC. Malaprop's is a "proper" bookstore with a great little cafe, and a bag-check system. The latter being important for folks like me who seem to find it necessary carry around all of their belongings any time they leave the car for more than 30 seconds. The former quality is only important so there is somewhere to sit. I have found, lately, that café's only really are good for that and free hot water. Everyone I know drinks coffee, and has it available at home, and eating gluten-free and being wary of refined carbs, there isn't really much else for me to partake it. Ok, every once in awhile I indulge in a decaf latté or cappuccino, but this morning I was treated to delicious home-brewed decaf with powdered goat milk. I remember when my mom discovered that Meyenburg stuff and my favorite application of the white powder was to stir it into hot, blackberry-sage tea with a little bit of honey. Yum!

I left Kripalu and Western Mass on a gorgeous, sunny day in the early afternoon. I had considered camping in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and had a vision of pitching my tent and sitting on a picnic table, playing my guitar while the sun went down. I probably would have manifested that part of the vision quite easily, but I wasn't prepared to deal with the country's manifestation of snow the following morning. So, I kept on driving. It was a pretty drive down, though most of the foliage was way past prime.


I made it to Harrisburg, PA late that evening, and it was so good to see Yasmin. I wasn't sure how it would feel since I haven't been in touch lately with her son, my ex-boyfriend, but it was like no time had past. We had fun catching up about all that had happened in the four years since I had seen her last, and then I retired to the coziest bed I had yet encountered on my journey. I have always loved sleeping in beds that are "gemutlich" (a german word that is sort of like cozy, but even better), and this one fit the bill perfectly with its feather quilt and pillows and the addition of my duo of hot water bottles.

The snow had begun by the time I awoke the next morning, and even though the timing was slightly off, with leaves and grass still green, and halloween still ahead, it was delightful to sit around the kitchen table and visit with old friends while the white stuff fell thickly, and the power came and went. I have always enjoyed spending time in families with multiple siblings - there is something about the happy chatter and bickering that occurs in large families that just doesn't in mine. I was in heaven with nothing to do but laugh and chat and drink hot tea, and felt touched that my ex's siblings would take the time to come by and visit.

That evening we ventured out into the wild world of white and had a fantastic dinner at the restaurant where Yasmin's youngest son, Daniel, is a cook. We sat at the "chef's table", which is a rounded counter that butts right up to the kitchen, and got to watch as dinner was prepared. The food was all divine, with plenty of leftovers for the following day. My last day consisted of more visiting, and a beautiful hike in the woods outside of town, catching up with computer work in a cute coffee shop, and a dinner of leftovers in a warm house. The power had finally come back on while we were out and about. I left PA the following morning, and headed south for Virginia!

Book your trip to Kripalu today.

It is as good as you remember, or have imagined if you've never been here. Ever since I got here I have been scheming about all the different reasons I could come up with so I will get to come back soon... family vacation, extended-family reunions, continuing education credits, my 30th birthday, etc. The facility doesn't look like I expected it to, but I am having the most amazing time here. A couple of the highlights include:

~ an amazing spread of healthy foods at every single meal, from which I can choose EXACTLY what I feel like eating. And it's a buffet, so I can always go back for more, or different, or not eat it all, etc. And because there is not a big spread of sweet treats staring me in the face, I can spend my energy tuning into what I really want, instead of resisting the food that doesn't serve me.

~ The books in the shop. OMG. What an awesome collection!!! I have spent a bunch of time in there, using it like a library, and have been in heaven. One book that I found is called Trusting Your Vibes, by Sonia Choquette and it is about exactly that. And super useful.

~ The workshops offered for people who are here for R&R are great, and nice and short so they don't require a lot of commitment, which is great for 9-me. And I don't have to sign up for anything before hand, so I can change my mind at the last minute! It has been great practice in tuning into exactly what I want to do. And giving myself permission not to go to the afternoon yoga class, even though it SEEMS like a good idea.

~ I walked the labyrinth this afternoon in the snow. I found a random pink cosmos flower laying on the ground in the snow outside the entrance and picked it up. When I got to the middle, I saw that many people before me had left blossoms on the altar there. I hadn't known that was the practice, and even if I had, where would i have gotten a flower in the middle of a snow storm? The universe is taking care of me.

I could go on. It has been divine. Tomorrow is supposed to be gorgeous and I am planning to leave at lunch time and drive somewhere else. Don't know where yet. Can't really believe I'm willing to have no plan, but I'm clear that's the way I'm supposed to do it. I keep imagining myself at some nice campground with a gorgeous view in the mountains of West Virginia... We'll see.

time

it's already tomorrow,
and even though
it's a day later now than it was when it was yesterday
it feels as early as the clock says it is.

a lovely wedding

I just attended my dear friend Charity's wedding this weekend, and found myself enjoying myself more than I ever had before at a wedding. I was, for some reason, in my element. It wasn't the alcohol (cause I wasn't drinking) or the hot single guys (there weren't any that I hadn't previously dated) or the dancing (I didn't even do much of that). It was the amazing people there. I had the experience of feeling really connected to a bunch of people, gathering to witness a really special occasion, and there was no stuffiness or weird dynamics or superficial conversation. I found I was genuinely delighted to see people, and I think they felt the same way. I got more hugs than I have in a long time, and found myself talking so much that I was the last one with food on my plate, hell, I was the last one at the table with a plate at all. I took so long to eat that they ended up taking my plate away even before I was finished. I felt inspired, and excited and encouraged by the conversations I had that evening.

While talking with my friend Sorcha about my up-coming road trip, I started jumping around in a circle with excitement. I got to know friends' new significant others, and found them interesting and myself not feeling lonely at all. It was a successful weekend all around.

sailing buddies go skiing

a leggy trio

Merry Christmas, from the Knight-Morris Family Farm!

with love,

Lily, Elliot, Margaret & Sidney

Asha, Magee and the chickens

spicy

salsa. salsa. salsa. the kind where your feet move in and out, your hips back and forth, and your shoulders round and round. then there is the kind from a jar - hot, medium or mild, sometimes with roasted garlic, or black beans and corn. or the kind that is fresh, fresh, fresh. hot, hot, hot. that's the kind I like. a lot. hot, hot, hot. sweat beading on my forehead, and friction under my toes. in and out. back and forth. round and round.

I actually left my house at 9:30 tonight to go out salsa dancing. For those of you who know me well, you know this is not a common occurrence.... I'm an early morning girl, supposedly. But last night I was totally wooed by the rhythm and the movement of the salsa dance. And now that is all I want to do. The thing I am discovering is that even though I can move to the music like a pro, all by myself, when I try to move with a partner, I'm all thumbs... or big toes, in this case. I'm used to doing my own thing, and it's a whole different story to let someone else call the shots... it's like I don't even know the language yet, much less how to listen. But I'm excited to learn.

mornings

there is frost on the lamb's ears this morning, and the swamp has ice - frozen in those neat spiky patterns. there's ice on the rocks by cape pogue too, and yet the honey suckle and russian olive leaves hang right on to their slender, sticky branches. my legs and lungs liked running this morning...and my mind too. it was a good time to remember that I only exist now, and now, and now. not yesterday while I was worrying about my brother, and not today when I have to massage two stocky men, and not tonight when I'm going out and don't even know why. what a difficult concept to get my head around! no day but today. I ran around Brine's Pond three times, and the third time I noticed an animal tunnel mostly covered with leaves, and it made me wonder what other things I miss in my life when I'm busy worry about yesterday or tomorrow. or even just 20 minutes from now.

lost time

It's 11:13 pm, on 11/20, and I am surrounded by paper, rubberstamps, ink and photos.... It's a regular smorgasbord of art supplies, and I'm in heaven. When I get to stamping again, I always wonder why I don't do it more often. I'm remembering again that art is where I lose myself. Hours can pass by, and they'll go like a wink.

free massage and tea...

Free massage at the tea shop. I stopped into the tea shop to talk to Sarah, the proprietor, about providing free chair massage at her tea shop for Green Streets (It's the last Friday of every month when people are encouraged to wear green and travel green and get free stuff. Check out portlandgreenstreets.org). She liked the idea, and I will be there on Friday from 3-4pm at the very least. Probably a little earlier, and a little later too. As I was leaving she said, "Nice to meet you...I haven't met you before, have I?" I think she asked that because I sort of acted like I knew her. I have a way of doing that - acting like I know things that I don't. It's sometimes confusing to people when they don't know me well. Especially if they are teaching me how to do something, or telling me about something new. I nod and say, "Yeah", and, "Un hunh," as if I know all about it, but really I just mean, "Yeah, uh hunh, I get what you're talking about".

I think I probably got it from my mom. She says that she is a know-it-all too. The funny thing is that when you get right down to it, there's not much I know-it-all about. I don't really consider myself an expert on anything. Yet somehow, I seem to think I should. Know it all, that is. This morning I said to Ben that it was my first time doing something, and I should at least be able to do it right...it being my first time. After I said it I realized that didn't make any sense, really. If it's my first time, it should be OK to make a mistake. I guess I must have gotten programmed wrong. For me, first times are the place to make a good impression, not to mess things up. The most ironical thing is the actual place I was trying to make a good impression: an online spiritual inquiry group. I'm pretty sure God doesn't care if I send in my responses in the proper form or not. In fact, God would probably prefer I screw it all up and get humble instead. And then figure out why the hell I'm so attached to being right and knowing-it-all.

I gave two great massages today, and then I almost cooked my mesculin seeds. They are planted in a styrofoam cooler and I had put a piece of clear plastic over them last night to protect them from frost. In the morning I thought, "Hmm, might as well give them a little boost." I left the plastic on and when I came back a couple of hours later, there was steam coming out of the soil! OOPS. Maybe a little too much of a boost. Hopefully they survived their steaming, and they will be poking their heads up soon.

I have some cucumber plants in pots, now. I feel like I can call them plants cause they have little crinkly leaves starting - the first set of REAL leaves. And I have some arugula and basil seedlings too! I'm heeding my gardening book's advice and am only focusing on planting things that I really love to eat. Arugula, basil, cukes. Peas soon, too. I have recently been on a green kick. I've started wearing this color green, wait, I think it may even be chartreuse...is that possible?? Anyway, I've got three different green coats and a green hat, and today I used green chalk, and last night I made a green sauce for the pasta, and a green salad.

"It's not that easy being green;
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold...
or something much more colorful like that.

It's not easy being green.
It seems you blend in with so many other ord'nary things.
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of Spring.
And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain,or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?
Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful!
And I think it's what I want to be."
-Kermit the Frog

Flowering primaries

I sometimes wonder how my kids will think of me, what kind of mom I will be.... I was cooking rice tonight, and I left the kitchen with the burner on high heat, knowing full well that I would probably forget to come back in and check it before it had boiled away half the water, and my rice was sticking to the bottom. Yet I did it anyway. I think all that means, actually, is that I need a timer for my kitchen.

The moon is 99% full right now, aka "waxing gibbous" (according to igoogle). I can see it out my window if I lean way over, being careful not to fall into Charity's hibiscus with the bud getting ready to bloom. Hanging at the top of the window is Cha's bougainvillea which I have been babysitting for months now, and have even managed to have that bloom too. After almost killing it of dehydration in an attempt to protect it from the weird fruit-fly-like fungus flies that share Susannah's and my humble abode.

These flies first took up residence in the fall in the soil of the gorgeous rosemary plant that Susannah had given me for my 25th birthday this summer, and then when that died, they proceeded to infest other unwitting plants in our care. We have also been plant-sitting for Susannah's sister, Sal, and so far we've only lost one of her's. It was a tiny lavender plant that she started from seed, and it just dried up and died. We are hoping that maybe it will revive come summer, with lots of sun and water and fresh air. Anyhow, after thinking for awhile that we had a fruit fly infestation, a nice man told Susannah that our problem was probably some fungus flies, and that we should try drying out the soil of our plants in hopes of killing them. So far that hasn't worked, but I did manage to almost kill Cha's plants in the process. Maybe that's why they are blooming.... they figure they better put out any attempt to carry on the species. Little do they know that they live in a bedroom in Portland, Maine, and there are no fertile grounds nearby in which to spread.

I don't know when Cha's obsession with Bougainvillea started, but it was definitely in "full bloom" when we sailed together in the Caribbean on Harvey Gamage in the spring of 2003. I think obsessions with flowers are some of the best kinds... I guess they just don't seem like they would be harm full in any way to the obsessor, or the obsessee. Charity almost succeeded in transporting a beautiful bougainvillea from somewhere in the south all the way home, but i think it died after being drenched in salt water, and starved of light partway up the east coast. I'll have to check on that....


I have been having an absolute blast with my new digital camera, and I'll post a few slide shows along with these words. I documented our attendance at the Democratic caucuses in Portland, along with 4500 other folks ( attending, not necessarily documenting). We waited in line for about an hour before we were even able to get inside, and then once inside we waited in long snaking lines, sort of like a nightmare at the airport, except that everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Apparently they had only been expecting 2500 voters, though even with that many I think there still would have been a pretty LLLLOOOONNNNG wait. We finally reached our destination after at least an hour and a half of standing in line, and it became obvious why it all took as long as it did. There was only one person, with a huge, long list of names, for each letter of the alphabet. They had to look up each person, find their precinct, fill out their ballot, and then finally move onto the next person. I kept thinking, Man, if we had seen this mess as we came in the door, I might not have waited so patiently in line all that time. It was definitely an experience to remember, marking my first time participating in the presidential primaries.

A surprising service

The scent of my mom’s home-made “vertabrod” was wafting into my room on a wave of warm air as I woke up from my afternoon nap. My bedroom was filled with sunlight shining in from the windows lining three walls of the spacious, upstairs dwelling my parents built for me. I was in highschool and getting ready to leave home to go sail the seas by the time the room was finished. Until then, my bedrooms had been little attic-like spaces under the eaves. I am actually pretty good with small spaces, making them into cozy little nests, but by the time I had reached the end of highschool, I had too much stuff for my tower/loft above the living room and I was so excited to be able to explode into my new room in the addition.

The floor is all wide, pine boards, and the walls are plastered and then painted a peachy-pink color that my mom and I mixed in “milk paint”. When I was home for Thanksgiving last month, I removed the screens and got through cleaning half my windows. I guess the nice thing about having the job only half done is that now I appreciate the clean ones more. I’ll probably get around to the other half of them next spring right before we put the screens back on.

As I lay there visualizing the warm Swedish tea rings that my mom would be pulling out of the oven soon, I heard my Uncle’s and Aunt’s voices at the door. It was the day before Christmas and they had walked through the woods to deliver our presents: a screech owl house for my mom and dad, and a pair of slightly bulged envelopes for my brother and I.

The topic of conversation was the recent memorial service for my great aunt, the late Peggy Jones (my mother’s namesake, though the first was her great Aunt Margaret, I think.) My uncle Curry had chosen the Presbyterian church because he didn’t see eye to eye with the minister at the Episcopalian church. The Presbyterian minister turned out to be quite the evangelical; He requested 15 minutes of the funeral service to speak and spent that whole time trying to convert them to the church. Apparently my mom and her cousin were laughing so hard they were crying, and crying so hard they were shaking their pew. And her cousin’s husband just wondered why they there were quite so moved at that part of the ceremony. My grandma said later on that it was the sort of thing that made you just want to get up and leave. Uncle Curry said to his daughter, “You’d be surprised how much your mom would have liked that service”, and Carol said, “Yes, you’re right, I would be surprised.”

It’s funny how there are things that I look forward to all year long, like our Swedish tea ring for Christmas breakfast, and fresh tomato pie in the summer, and grape jelly in the autumn, and I wonder, would Vertabrod ever taste quite as good if we had it one morning in August, or would tomato pie be quite as delicious if I made it once every couple of weeks?

Funny Features

Ben's been bugging me lately for a new post, and I promised to write one on the bus, on my way back up to Maine from the Vineyard. And I did. On my laptop. Which is in the car. In the parking garage. And I am upstairs in the windowless office on the third floor being not-quite-content to be here, without even a glimpse of the celestial dance between sun and clouds today.

The massage business is picking up somewhat and I am thankful for that. And I turned down the heat in here so it's no longer a sauna-type atmosphere. The thermostat has this funny feature where it will suddenly start whining shrilly, and the only way to make it stop is to turn the temperature up or down. Apparently, recently, the preferred direction had been towards sauna, and the counteracting movement had not yet been applied. But it's behaving today, and I am happily chillin' at 70 degrees.

Unlike last night when I had mistakenly worn my flannel pajamas (it being winter and all) to bed at Ben's house. He does not have the same funny feature on his thermostat, but he does like the temperature in his bedroom to replicate a sunny summer afternoon, complete with fan to blow the heat around. SO, NEEDless to say, last night I didn't have the NEED for any covers.*

I think I may finally have succeeded in using my time at home on the Vineyard to relax. I was a little under the weather, so my health necessitated taking naps and hanging out at home, and by the time I got back to Maine yesterday afternoon, I was in quite the spaced-out state. Bizarre. So very different from the way I left for Christmas: running around making and wrapping last minute gifts, packing and re-packing, making plans and running out the door. I have to say that I am a lover of the Christmas holiday, and somehow, even though Christmas morning at our house often starts off with someone being grumpy and me threatening to call the whole thing off, we usually manage to have a really nice day.

This year Christmas had an added bonus of babies. Not mine, but close enough to count. Two of my dearest friends have had babies in the last year, and while playing with them, the rest of the world seems to just fall away and I find myself splashing about in baby heaven.

mmmmmuffins....that melt in your mouth.

Sunday morning means it's time for muffins and I'm about to go make 'em. Melt-in-your-Mouth muffins are the variety that the Knight-Morris family likes to make.