Let the Pros Handle It

After reading Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, I just couldn't imagine how Chloe Zhao could adapt the profoundly moving novel into a movie, because the book is mainly composed of the characters' inner thoughts. Ironically, in a work featuring the man who is often considered to be the greatest English playwright, there is so very little dialogue. And even after watching Jessie Buckley sweep the awards season and reading all the praise of her performance? I'm so much of a word person that I still didn't get it.

Until this afternoon.

With all manner of severe weather warnings closing schools and businesses all around us, we decided to draw the curtains, forget about the wild 21st-century world outside, and watch Hamnet. Within minutes, the adaptation and all the awards made so much sense. Jessie Buckley didn't need much dialogue to communicate suspicion, desire, love, compassion, panic, anguish, catharsis, and reconnection. It was an incredible performance.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

Doing My Part

It is not unusual to find a collection of shells and other beachcombing treasures on the deck of many seaside homes. We have certainly added our finds to those collections at many of the vacation rentals we've stayed in over the years. This weekend, our retreat is a riverhouse, so we weren't really expecting shells, but neither were we expecting the collection of ironwork festooning the stairs up to the front door.

One stroll down the gravel path that runs along the Susquehanna and the adjoining railroad tracks was explanation enough. On the mile walk down to the local wildflower preserve, we found spikes, clips, clamps, nuts, washers, bolts, and even a few lumps of coal, all for the collecting. And while they didn't slip quite so easily into a pocket as shells or sea glass might, there was a certain appeal to their heft, and I confess to carrying a couple of forged iron souvenirs back to the house.

Where they joined the collection on the steps, of course.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

The Ordinary

There's something about being on vacation that elevates the mundane for me. Rather than lying around seeking refuge from my day-to-day, I love figuring out how to riff on my daily routine in a whole new place. 

So, you might often find me scouring the rental house kitchen, supplementing their tools with the ones I packed, and collaborating with my brother to rustle up something delicious from whatever we could find at the local market and grocery. You might also encounter me walking the dog along a wooded trail, up a mountain,  or on a beach near our temporary digs. 

And tonight? You could peek through wide picture windows just after sunset and see me seated at the long counter overlooking the mighty Susquehanna, my computer screen reflected in my reading glasses as I write this, surrounded by people I love and the warm glow of the river house behind me.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

First Night in Pequea

This is our annual weekend away for the Oscars, and this year we have rented a home in Pequea, PA, right on the banks of the Susquehanna. The sky was leaden, and there were wind advisories when we headed north a little after noon. But the closer we got to the Mason-Dixon Line, the brighter it became. By the time we arrived, it was a porcelain blue, and the late afternoon sun was cutting a blinding swath across the river. The sunset was muted; a pale yellow fading to gold and finally indigo as Venus brightened in the western sky.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

I Can Do Better

Are you listening, or are you just waiting to talk?

When asked this question, I indignantly answer the former. Of course, I'm not just waiting to talk! I don't even like talking that much.

Are you listening or are you thinking about what you're going to say next?

But when the question is reframed, I have to admit that mild social anxiety, and perhaps the fact that I don't really like to talk, make me lean to the latter. Sometimes? I am preoccupied thinking about what I should say to contribute to the conversation, and I miss part of it. Other times, I have to confess I'm thinking about what I can say to get out of the conversation.

That's not very nice.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

Nerding Out

In December of 2024, we splurged and treated ourselves to an Advent calendar from Onyx Coffee Lab, an amazing outfit based in Arkansas. For 24 days, we enjoyed delicious beans sourced from Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Kenya, and Ethiopia, and roasted at their headquarters in Rogers, AR. I've always been kind of a coffee snob, but this experience was transformational. Along with 50 grams of coffee per day, we received tasting notes, brewing guides, and information on farming and processing. 

Onyx elevates coffee to an art, and I was hooked! At the time, my preferred brewing apparatus was a burr grinder and a Chemex pour-over, but I added a gooseneck kettle with temperature control, a scale with a timer, a couple of smaller pots, some fluted drippers, and organic paper filters to my equipment. I also order all of our coffee directly from a roaster, making my selection based on origin, processing (light-expressive, please!), and tasting notes. (pineapple brulee, cocoa nib, or marmalade, anyone?)

It's an expensive hobby! But I am intentional in my brewing, preparing just one serving at a time. (What can I say? I'm retired!) By now, I have the routine down to a science, and even so, I think not relying on a whole pot to replenish my cup makes me slow down. I am never disappointed with that first sip, or any of the later ones, either.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing. 

How Did They Know?

Today was surely the day to get outside! Temperatures in the 70s and sunshine and blue skies as far as you could see made it a perfect spring day. It's so early in the season that the trees are still bare, and so feeling the pleasant warmth of the sun on your face is inescapable, but there's still an underlying coolness to the air that balances that heat perfectly. Hat and sunglasses were nice, but not necessary as the dog and I made our way through the mild morning.

Why take on just one challenge when you can tackle two? This month, I'm using the Action for Happiness Mindful March calendar as a daily prompt for living and writing.