Blog 10 of 14 in my series, “Good to Go, Hard to Leave” as part of my Big Hairy Audacious Year!: Taking Hold in Order to Let Go

In the movie, “The World According to Garp”, young child Garp climbs out onto a roof. He begins to slide down the roof and is soon hanging onto the gutter to keep from falling. The gutter begins to pull away from the roof, and the little boy clings to it to keep from falling. His

Blog BHAY, #9 in series of 14 about “Good to Go, Hard to Leave”: Letting Go to Take Hold

I’m moving in stages. I’ll be creating my new home carload by carload, and then in one big truck load. Today I’m making room for the first carload: the cats, their letterboxes, litter, food, and scratching post, plus my bedding, towels, some cleaning supplies, kitchen goods, just enough clothes to see me through my first

BHAY Blog 7 of 14 in series“Good to Go, Hard to Leave”: Energy Conservation

It’s been so hot and so very humid with lower air quality here in SW Pennsylvania; my window air conditioners have been running non-stop for over a week. This gives me two rooms in the house that are comfortable during the day, two rooms where I’m willing to put forth more than minimum effort in

BHAY Blog 6 of 14, “Good to Go, Hard to Leave”: Course Corrections – Tweaks Happen

My car’s navigation system is not yet synced with my phone’s app, so I haven’t used the car’s system for directions yet. But that hasn’t stopped by Navigation System from providing directions: it will tell me, turn left in 1. 4 miles, turn right in 15 miles, continue straight for 20 miles … I have

BHAY Blog: Day 5, “Good to Go, Hard to Leave”. Getting By with a Little (Actually, a Lot of) Help from My Friends

One of the loveliest things about moving is that it makes time spent with friends more precious and appreciated. Although they will still be within reach of a phone call, text, email or Zoom meeting but the easy visit on a porch or over a cup of coffee is over. Even though I know I’ll

Blog for my BHAY – Day 3 of “Good to Go, Hard to Leave”: Cats!

There were apartments available with more amenities, there were little charming houses for rent, there was an airBnB that would have been perfect for the long-term, but none of these are my future home. The cats are coming with me. Coming up this week is the the two year anniversary of them becoming part of

BHAY: Putting the Big in my Big Hairy Audacious Year

In order to discern my path to reach my goals for this year, I need to know my starting point. So I got on the bathroom scale to write my current weight in my planner.  I also wrapped a measuring tape around my waist so I could my starting number in my planner. The numbers are recorded, and I know now my starting point.  Later that night , while waiting for sleep it occurred to me to find out my BMI, the Body Mass Index.  So, I found my height on the chart, and then traced the path of the weights listed until I came to the one that was closest to what the scale registered.  Turns out: it’s going to be a daunting journey to get ready to climb that hill on Iona.   I think the phrase “Morbidly obese” is inaccurate. I may be obese, but I’m not morbid, I’m cheerful, resilient, generally optimistic and hopeful. I know, I know the phrase “morbidly obese” refers to the impact the excess weight is having on my health. I was just messing

My Audacious 2021 – Blog 2: Love in a Time of Cholera? Try Personal Growth in a Time of Pandemic and Societal Unrest

It felt selfish and silly to get my hair cut and colored just days after the invasion of the US Capitol.  Surely there was something more important for me to do. Okay, I was praying, and scrolling through social media to learn more about the events, plus hearing about phenomena like QAnon and “cancel culture”

The Big Hairy Audacious Beauty of Plan B: Blog #11: Lessons on Carols, “Silent Night”

Very few things go as planned. Trying to force things to go as planned or expected can cost us relationships, our joy, waste our time, and rob us of the opportunity to experience the beauty of Plan B. As so often happens, I was reminded about this just last night. The video I was trying

My Big Hairy Audacious Take on Lessons from Carols: BHAY Blog #9

Underneath Yellowstone National Park a plume of magma moves up from the earth’s core, superheating the underground water table so that on a  very regular basis a geyser shoots up through the crust, delighting onlookers at the Park. It’s a tourist attraction, and a reminder that there’s more happening under our feet than we can