Quick notes, tonight, as I head to bed early with the intent of trying a 7am Yin yoga class. Who have I become? Dinner tonight was incredibly simple: a thick piece of halibut, over rice seasoned with rice vinegar. I sprinkled on some furikake and some spicy mayo. I forgot a vegetable. Bertram was ready for any fish I was willing to relinquish.
The evening was spent with a respite from the news cycle and the waiting – my weekly Trivia with my best friend Lizzy and her family and the assorted collection of friends. Bertram and I relaxed on the couch – me under my new bright yellow 25 lb. weighted blanket, a great pandemic purchase.
While I’m at it, I sprayed a little olive oil spray in a bowl, cracked in an egg, and microwaved that for a little more than 30 seconds so the white was set, and ate it over some Maine Grains Heritage porridge I made this morning. Perfection.
The opportunity to write a dear friend a recommendation for a job that is made for her.
Meeting with a friend to go over her systems, lists, and productivity – made some suggestions of small tweaks (including scheduling a block of time in your week to tackle just the first action on nagging tasks!) We talked daily planning, weekly intentions, retros, and monthly intentions. I’m always looking for ways to help friends stay accountable to doing their good work in the world!
Something like living in The Upside Down right now – living in between is a particularly challenging place to be. For now, we wait. I focus on the Good Things that I can notice. Gratitude for the small things today:
Deep red mums from Trader Joe’s.
Wilting yellow mums from Trader Joe’s that I’m not ready to let go of.
A friend arriving to *Do The Thing this afternoon with a quilt to finish.
Another friend missing our weekly *Do The Thing today because she had to replace a painting at a gallery (because she had sold the one hanging there!)
A home sewn mask from Sondy.
Waking at first light, and sitting for an hour with a book.
The promise of a new hat, from a friend who knits.
A very large iced tea. Very large.
Prepping for new team members at Ompractice!
Emergency Pizza from my Farm Share.
My heated blanket from Target. (Bertram agrees.)
50 something degree weather after a few days dipped in the 30s.
The cover of the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (and generally this season in book covers.)
Writing a “reading benefit” policy for my company.
Seeing one of my Wellesley sibs win her race! Go Shayla!
Finishing up my elections course at Rice this semester tonight – thankful for the opportunity to learn with Caroline and her whole family of lifelong learners.
Last night I took a great class with Michael Lee – Yoga as Therapy: A Phoenix Rising Yoga and Meditation class, and was joined by my friend Elyse and her partner Nick (who was sporting for his first yoga class on Ompractice.) The class is a little different than most on Ompractice, it’s divided into six phases, that start with movement and move into stillness, with the opportunity to find deeper wisdom at the end.
Our focus this class was on equanimity – “mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.” I always approach my mat with an open mind, but was particularly surprised at how much I found myself feeling at the end of class. It was a good one, and I’m focused on maintaining that approach throughout my day and week.
This morning I found myself waking a few hours earlier than normal, ready to start my day. Today I wanted to focus on fall – thinking about the traditions, rituals, and feelings for living in the season. I started by scratching out the things that I wanted to sit with this morning:
How do I harness the energy of the season: crisp, cool, maturity and wisdom?
What will I create this season?
Who do I want to re-connect with?
How do I harvest my bounty, and prepare for the next season?
How do I bring the colors of fall into my life – those that are most vivid – greens, gold, orange, red, and yellow?
Self Care: I was delighted to see some folks downloading my Fall Self Care Bingo back from the archives.
Food: on the shelf next to my office seat, I have a copy of Nigel Slater’s Greenfeast: Autumn, Winter, that I’ve been thumbing through for inspiration this week. A few years ago I sat down to write about some of my favorite Foods of Fall: lots of squash, apples, cider, chili, persimmons, pumpkin, and of course my favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt.
Movement: I really appreciate the cooler weather in the fall. (I say that as I’m avoiding my run tonight because the temperature has dropped several degrees and it’s now windy. Update: bundled up and it was fine!)
Connection: I know that most people are foregoing holiday cards because… 2020, but I’ve resolved to contribute to the USPS, so if you’d like a dog themed holiday card, feel free to send me an email with your address, or reach out on social media in my DMs.
The Second Lunch is a (mostly) food blog by Sam Tackeff about recipes, food writing, ingredient hunting, travel, healthy living, fitness, and everything in between.
Please do not steal! Email me at sam [at] thesecondlunch.com – if you’d like to use one of my photos, and I’d be happy to share my terms. Thanks!
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