I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me

Yesterday morning 7:00 a.m. I groped my way to work in pea-soup fog. But heading home at 7:00 p.m. the air was clear and the sky was beautiful. It looked a lot like this:

http://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-and-venus-low-in-west-at-dusk-on-january-25

And I spontaneously said, "Hi, Daddy!"

The Cheshire cat crescent moon looks like a smile, and Venus is twinkling to the left. I've seen this combination many times before, but now it makes me happy to imagine it's the smile of a young Daddy smiling at his little girl.

Welcome to My Happy Place

A cozy spot to curl up with the gray sheepskin... 

 ...near the new houseplant in a turquoise pot,...

 Where I can see the twinkle lights in the owl vase...

 ...on the little table with the secret drawer under the doily Grandma made...

 ...that hides the old-fashioned spinning toys.

And just outside the window is a fiery primrose tucked in a pot full of happy asparagus fern...

 ...around the corner from the cement planter filled with kangaroo paw, cyclamen, and another pretty primrose.

 Sweet pea plants are poking out of the ground beyond the hot pink cyclamen in the cobalt pot...

 ...and along the trellis beside the front walk.

So many happy corners on this crisp January morning. 

A hummingbird in the plum tree chirped at me while I took the outdoor photos, so I tried to capture him, too, but the photo is not good quality.

Ahhh...yes...this is a happy place indeed.

Start Where You Are

It's a new year. You can't go back. But you can start where you are.


Here's some good stuff starting here and now:

-Feeding the birds. They love it. It's a regular Bird Party in the park every morning. I refill the feeders every third day or so. And there is a bully Scrub Jay who squawks in and chases the little birds away, but I guess scrub jays have to eat too.

-Building garden boxes. Mr. Last did all the hard work. I just drove the screws. It may not look like much right now, but it's progress toward feeding ourselves and it also feeds my vision of creating a beautiful and productive garden corner.

-Creating our own little kingdom of "Wohl":

Again, Mr. Last does all the heavy work on this project. I am merely a consultant.

-When the daylight is gone or the weather is not so pleasant, I am reading The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes to be discussed at as part of my charter membership in the 37days Online Book Group. I have wanted to join a book group for ages, but never found one that suited me until now. 

None of this is earthshaking, but it is forward movement toward good. Feeding the birds, building garden boxes to grow food to feed us, improving the place where we live, exercising my mind. 

I'm starting where I am and heading toward where I want to be.

The Year of Living Dangerously

Only six days into 2012 and I'm already trying to grab onto it and slow this train down, forgoodnesssake!

A rambling recap so I don't lose these memories:

Said goodbye to 2011 by viewing one of our all-time-favorite films, Stardust.

And speaking of Neil Gaiman, someone has taken his inspirational words and created this fabulous poster to guide us in 2012:

Back to the recap...

Traveled northward on the first day of January to visit extended family and to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of a Great Artist. Our original plans to visit the Legion of Honor in San Francisco  the following day were thwarted by the fact that the museum was NOT OPEN that day, so we regrouped and had a different adventure in Oakland instead. Take that, San Francisco!

Anyway, our adventures left us famished so on the way home we stopped for some tasty Chow by the fireside:



Then onward to chocolate cake with colored-flame candles, and party poppers with crowns and prizes for all, and a balloon garland to last the year strung up in the new bedroom.

The Youngish One crammed her Christmas Vacation into a couple of bags and grabbed a flight out the next day:

(This is last year's leaving, but I was not able to watch the plane take off and become a dot in the sky this year. However, my heart feels the same sweet sadness every time my loved ones go. And this picture immediately reminds me of the feeling.)

As I am sure you have divined by now, next up is some soothing for ME. Because this is my blog. And it's all about ME.

My old planner book is full, so I started this one that I have been guarding preciously for thirteen months waiting for this time:

I also obtained a Spring bag in which to carry all my precious things: 

Seems excessive, I know, following on the heels of material abundance acquired during the holiday just past. But really, Hallmark marketing pushed me into such unseemly behavior: 

I will account for good behavior in upcoming posts as I am also embarking upon Elf-Improvement and Improvement of The World Around Us in 2012. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of...

Oh My, Oma!