Hello again, dear readers.
Thanks for your heartfelt response to the first Tales, dears.
Some of you will probably receive duplicate copies, since my readership file is a glitch-filled rat’s-nest and seems to have lost or omitted about half of the original recipients… let me know if you receive several copies, please.
A couple of you shared your own bobcat and panther tales, and of having your experience denied (especially regarding the panther), by local experts..
I have to wonder if these officials are concerned about igniting the Endangered Species Act, if they do concede that these cats are still roaming.
Speaking of unlikely occurrences:
My courtyard was immersed in a nighttime snowstorm last week.
The source:
Odin and Carmen spent days creating a huge backdrop for the annual children’s performance of the
Nutcracker Suite at the nearby cultural center.
It’s about 20’x20’
Here’s Carmen watching Alba Maria doing an improv solo, between acts, on the night of the performance.
Being cast as a tree apparently didn’t quite suffice.
One other young ballerina seemed familiar. And I finally realized that she was the same sprite who’d appeared at an expo of Tahitian dance the week before…and in every other form of dance I’ve seen this
winter!
I so appreciate her spirit, though I’ll never get a chance to tell her, most likely…
Isn’t it interesting how we can touch and be touched by each other, without ever knowing it?
Try to remember that during your long dark winter night, dear readers…
Today is the winter solstice.
I generally wake up well before sunrise, brew my “childish drink,” and head down to witness the morning show:
Yesterday, I was rewarded with this slowly-emerging rainbow over the bay,
Although there is never a sunrise that is not rewarding…
After a couple hours of meditation on the bay, I usually head back up the hill. And there I resume my training routine – simple pilates, yoga, and other exercises. As I wrote to Andrea last week:
FASCINATING 🧐 that you are able to torture me from thousands of miles away…and without saying a word!… Anyway, I’m thinking of you (ruefully 😂) as I do toe-lifts, modified pushups, leg lifts, walking in straight lines heel-to-toe, and other horrendous exercises! Happy holidays, darling!
The photos are from Washington, D.C., where Andrea, a physical therapist, is able to torture me in person when I’m there. My sister Leslie goes three times a week! Which reminds me, dear readers:
Some of you expressed condolences to my elder siblings with heart conditions. But they are doing quite well, have resumed their daily routines, are both taking long daily walks, and have overcome 95% of the
debilitating symptoms….
Wattle Hollow is a relatively small retreat center (40 acres of woodlands on a mountainside in Northwest Arkansas) with capacity for 20 - 25 folks.