January  8, 2026

Sorry it's not slightly crispier, but when were  you last at a party where the host offered you sparkling cider with a twist of cherry and a cherry in your glass? Unfortunately, I won't drink it, but I can appreciate it's prettiness and I can appreciate the memories of Shirley Temples at Tony's Restaurant. 

I've been carless for 10 days now. This morning my knee felt strong enough to walk to the mailbox and to take a few photos along the way.  I actually  managed to get stuff done today, that's two days in a row of staying pretty focused.  My blood sugar is still high from the cortisone, but my head ache has lessened.   This morning was a success.  

Clara  came and got me and we went to a little get together for LAVA that we had put together prior to the holidays. It'd been almost a month since we sat in a room together.  I found it very sweet.   Tomorrow is Charlie's birthday, so we did a mini celebration for Elvis's birth, no I mean,  Charlie's b'day.  He's such great joy and energy to be with.

Working with Charlie  in 2025.Thanks Charlie. I  hope  we get to  do some fun things together.   

In my mailbox I received two sweet letters.  One was a photo card from D.  of an amaryllis bud.  And the second was a card and a poem from Zoe. Made me so happy.  She wrote  the poem for me.  3 generations of women/girls inspired to write by each other, I love it.  My father would have loved it, too.

Jo left all the Christmas stuff up for us. Lovely setting, sweet food, and  kind people. I'll miss them, but I won't miss the responsibilities.