“Memory”





“Memory”





“Stuck”


… from a January Savannah camellia and me.

Collards are probably my favorite winter vegetable. (Delete “probably.”)
Yesterday morning Robert and I went to our incredibly and beautifully diverse Savannah Farmers Market, where I grabbed a bunch of the green delicacy.
I rushed back home to clean them (the collards, not the farmers) and create my favorite part of the collarding experience— making the collard bouquet!

Isn’t she beautiful?!

Next, the chopping into manageable pieces. (Which sounds a bit too much like “Sweeny Todd” to suit my fancy.)

After placing the greens into an already-been-cooking mixture of broth and ham seasoning meat, and impatiently waiting for them to slowly cook …

DELICIOUS JOY!

Wait! Don’t throw those too-thick collard stems away, for goodness sake. Make homemade vegetable stock with them.




“Red protects itself. No color is as territorial. It stakes a claim, is on the alert against the spectrum.” – Derek Jarman




May your Holiday 2023 be filled with an Abundance of All Things you consider Good.

LOTSA LOVE, NEAL & HR

One more selfie …

(Robert always takes the selfies because I invariably drop the phone.)
So a while back, I did a short series of T-shirt Tuesdays with cool wildlife T-shirts I saw at the Savannah Wildlife Refuge gift shop.
Recently we went back, and I snapped a few more photos. (With a few folks staring at me for pulling the T-shirts off the racks and positioning them for my photo op.)
Today … the Heroic Heron.



Some of Robert’s photos of herons …



May we not be afraid to get our feet wet today.


HAPPY WET-FOOTED TUESDAY!

This year my Countdown to Christmas is a nontraditional Advent Calendar centering (pun intended) on mindfulness.

On the front of each card is neat little picture, and on the back are the instructions for the short meditation.


Today, Day Three of Advent … “TAKE A WINTER NATURE WALK.”

Here are today’s instructions:
Time to get outside and go on a winter nature walk.
As you start your walk, be mindful of the physical sensations of walking, like the lifting and falling of your feet, their contact on the ground, the movements of the muscles in your legs and body. Feel the cool, crisp air as you breathe it in.
Be attentive to nature as you walk. Take in the sights, sounds and smells. Take time to stop and examine things more closely. Consider the feelings and emotions that these things evoke. Be alert to the aspects of nature that contribute to the wintry feeling: the bare branches of trees, a layer of frost, your breath in the air, a brittle twig snapping underfoot.
If you are lucky enough to have snow, feel and hear it as you press it under your feet. Feast your eyes on how it dresses the world in sheets of white. Pick some up in your hand and feel the icy tingle. Examine it close up, study the beautiful pattern of a single snowflake. Note all the emotions and associations that come to mind while walking in the snow.
Spending time to mindfully experience nature is a healthy way to reduce stress and freshen the mind.
A sampling of our winter walks over the years …





May you Walk into Joyful Peace today.
