
Thanksgiving was all I had cracked it up to be: quiet, gentle, simple. I didn’t cook a turkey until yesterday, and then only because I got a screamin’ deal at Costco… a 17 lber for $7. Now I’ve got to make a bunch of new friends so I can get rid of the body…so much turkey. I really only wanted it so I can make soup with the carcass.
Speaking of getting rid of carcasses, check out my latest writing endeavor – a murder mystery series. There is no actual mystery about the deed itself or who done it; and it is not a self-help or how-to instruction manual. Anyone could have/should have done it long ago. If it were a typical murder mystery, there might be ten or fifteen possible perpetrators, and even more reasons. But we already know who did it, and why. This is more of a how we gonna get rid of the body? Didn’t plan that far ahead, did ya… so it’s time to Focus…we all need a little more focus in our lives, right?
Back to the real mysteries of life, the ups and downs we experience this time of year. On my side of the mountain, the change in weather for me is not so much SAD (seasonal affected disorder) as it is for many, but more a settling time; one that triggers memories – short term and long ago.


It’s time again, and this year’s settling season is proving to be a bit more difficult than previous years; so many losses this year for the family for our world in general. I feel I have finally unpacked all those boxes I had stored in my brain over the months. I was able to gently put some things to rest, and released others back into the wild. And then there are those that get carefully repacked, either worth keeping around for another while, or I have trouble letting them go. So, it’s time to take the garbage out before I sneak back into the bag to “save” even more for another day. I feel Marie Kondo’s smile on my shoulders. I take up the task of preparing for a new year, a new series of wins and losses. I say good bye kindly to some folks in my life that have not worked out as planned, that have not contributed to the peace I seek; and I embrace those new that I have invited in because they resonate in my soul.
As the blessings of this Thanksgiving begin to blur in my rear view, I turn my face into this gray sky. I like this sky; maybe because it appears of my age. I am a winter person. My color chart therapist told me so. I love jewel tones; they used to love me too, but as I get older, I seem to be fading. Fading can be scary, but I’m working on it. I have wrapped it carefully in a new box for the new year.

This month’s soup…
is of course the soup of the settling season because it ain’t
likely to fly away and ya gotta get rid of the body somehow.

Poetry:

Short Story:

Final Thought:
May the tie you wear be long enough to anchor you to the ground, but not so long as to cause you to trip. (This almost makes sense if you read the short story above…)


Send me your favorite Christmas cookie recipe in comments section below! Oscar loves cookies!