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Tues. Dec. 16, 2025: Lovely Lights Everywhere

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Waning Moon

Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

Hello, and welcome to another week! I hope you had a lovely weekend.

The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is up here.

I had trouble getting my act together on Friday, and decided to just take it slowly.

I am saddened by the deaths of Tom Stoppard, Sophie Kinsella, and Joanna Trollope. Stoppard’s work was a huge part of my professional life, although I never worked with him directly. I read some of Kinsella’s work over the years, although my interests changed. I read a lot of Joanna Trollope on the plane back and forth to the UK in the 90’s.

Got my act together after breakfast. Scraped down the car windows, loaded up, and headed out. Library first, for a drop off/pick up, then to the pharmacy for my mom’s prescription. Big shop at Big Y (bought more than I expected, but that’s pretty normal around the holidays). Headed out to Williamstown to do the cookie drop-off I hadn’t been able to do on Monday, because they were closed. Stopped at another errand on the way home.

Bea and Charlotte were both waiting in the window.

Got everything hauled up the stairs, put away, and there it was lunchtime. Ate lunch, did the day’s marketing.

Then, it was time to dig back into the ghostwriting. That was my afternoon, well into the evening, the ghostwriting. Still not finished.

Pizza for dinner, which was great. We hadn’t had a pizza in a long time. Relaxed in the evening.

Saturday morning, I worked on the textile piece. It was sunny, great for the hand stitching, and I got the work I thought would have to spread out over two days done in the morning. I worked the text portion of the piece in my head as I stitched. It’s different that my original concept, but kind of cool.

I was done a little before noon, put together a cookie platter, and headed out. Dropped off some books at the library, swung by Big Y to pick up one thing – and then found what I wanted for both the Solstice meal and the Christmas eve meal, so grabbed that. I’m trying something out of my comfort zone for Solstice, but if it works, it will be really good.

Then, I headed over to Bear and Bee Bookshop to deliver cookies. I hadn’t seen Rye in ages, and it was great to catch up with her. I also found the perfect gift for a friend. I hadn’t found the right thing yet, and there it was. I grabbed a book I’d seen a few months ago, assumed they’d sold, but it was still waiting for me. I also grabbed one of the small journals Molly Rideout makes. You can see examples on her Etsy shop here. One of my freelance clients sent me an end-of-year bonus, and so I treated myself to one of Molly’s handmade journals.

An independent artist/small business makes a purchase that supports another independent artist/small business from an independent bookstore locally. Best way to shop, and one purchase makes three people happy!

It was flurrying by the time I left (even though it wasn’t supposed to start snowing until later in the evening). But I got home just fine, and gave myself the afternoon to play with cats and read. I read LIFE’S SHORT, TALK FAST, edited by Ann Hood, which is a collection of essays about the GILMORE GIRLS, and was very interesting. I also read some more in Emily Nunn’s memoir, THE COMFORT FOOD DIARIES.

I made turkey meatloaf and mashed potatoes per request, and they both turned out well. Played with the cats. Finished decorating the tree, and set up the rest of the Santas on the top of the big bookcase in my office.

I was frightened to hear about the shooting at Brown University, since some people with whom I worked closely early in my career are now based there, but I checked in with them, and they are physically unharmed, although understandably upset. The fact that, as of Monday, they still had no one in custody was also disturbing. Providence isn’t that big. I was also distressed to hear about the mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia. It’s the guns. Let’s stop pretending it’s anything other than the guns.

Slept reasonably well, although I had weird dreams. We were told to expect “a coating to an inch of snow” overnight, but there were several inches when I woke up on Sunday, and it snowed most of the day. Bea and I sat and looked out of the window as the sky got lighter, during meditation.

I got the bread going in the morning, and then we wrote the domestic cards, and I packed the last three small packages. It took about 4 ½ hours, and we wrote about 50 cards. That sounds like a lot, but way back in the mid-90’s, I wrote more than 400 cards a year. But that was also when I was working multiple shows a year, and kept up with people(everyone on each contact list) for several years after the shows closed. Plus, I was doing international writers’ conferences at the time, and keeping in touch with all of those people.

I had two risings and the baking of the bread during Sunday’s card writing. The bread rose much more than I expected, which was fun, and we had warm bread and butter for lunch, which was great. Whenever I make bread and transfer it from the proofing bowl to the pans, I always forget how warm the dough itself is.

My very first tortoiseshell cat, Elsa, used to curl up on the linen towels I use over the rising dough, because it was so soft and warm. In case you’re wondering why I never gave away fresh yeast bread during the Elsa years.

There were two water main breaks in two different areas of the city, but fortunately, we still had water. Our pressure was a little low while they worked on the one nearest us, but we still had it.

By midafternoon, I was tired, the cards were packed to go to the post office (I got  the cute snow globe stamps this year, too), and everything was put away. I finished the Emily Nunn memoir and pondered a few things.

I texted with a childhood friend, who had some sad news to share. I wish I could be more helpful than just sitting with her in sadness.

Cooked my mom’s favorite sausage pasta, this time using the Silver Palate sauce. Big Y is now carrying Silver Palate products. I used to be obsessed with them, and love their cookbooks, although many of the recipes are a bit fussy for my life. There’s a parsnip and pear puree I want to try, and I can’t decide if it sounds fascinating or awful. Anyway, I loved their sauces back in my NYC days. I especially loved their Champagne vinaigrette dressing. I would buy mixed greens at the Union Square Farmer’s market, sprinkle some dressing on it, and be in heaven.

So I used the tomato-basil sauce in tonight’s dish. It doesn’t taste the way I remember, but it’s still pretty good. I was worried it would be a disappointment.

I did the tarot reading for the week in the evening (I usually do it first thing Sunday morning). I had it on a special cloth in the living room. Willa, that little hellion, came up and yanked on the cloth, scattering everything. Sigh. Willa! Billy Bunkum, down in Beacon, must have the brain cell they share this week.

It was the Third of Advent, so we had the tree and the candles on. I didn’t get the hall or the small tree on the porch done. I will have to do it this week.

Went to bed early and slept for nine hours. Could have easily slept longer. Remembered another handful of cards I had to write.

I was saddened and shocked to hear about the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle. I liked and respected his work very much, and his political activism. I was even sadder to hear that their son has been arrested in connection with this.

Of course, That Thing had to post something putrid in response, instead of something gracious. No surprises, just disgusted by all the collaborators across the boards in government.

Did the Intent for the Week post, and shared it through the different channels, did the graphic for the week’s tarot post, shared it through the different channels.

Rumor is that the latest Fed interest rate cut will lower the Social Security COLA. Usually, my mom gets her letter with the increase by late October. It’s now mid-December, and nothing.

I’m also worried that there will be additional insurance hikes, since there are no checks on them anymore. Chuck Schumer and the 8 Vichy Dems can posture all they want that this is on Republicans, but it is equally on them for caving, and on Schumer for lack of leadership. Of course they knew this would happen. This pretense that it makes them look good is just that – pretense. They colluded. They intentionally failed their constituents, and should pay a hefty price for that. I mean, Schumer and Merrick Garland could have prevented so much of this, had they done their damn jobs in February of 2021, but here we are.

After breakfast, I wrote the last of the cards, layered up, and tromped to the post office. It was very cold when I left, but slowly warmed a bit in the sunshine. The snow was all crunchy and fun to walk on. It was sunny, so everyone was cheerful, which always helps.

Mailed all the cards, mailed the last few small packages, and walked back. I’m starting to think my friends who get everything done by the end of October have the right idea. Next year, I want to get everything done before Thanksgiving, and mail all of it the week after, and then just do the baking the first week of December – that part works well. But with the post office chaos (even here, which has a pretty good one), it makes more sense to get everything out the door earlier. And I thought I was doing well this year, but according to them, the 15th is within the danger zone. At least I got the other packages out on the 8th!

I mean, I love doing holiday stuff in season, but when you have to rely on systems that run into trouble, one has to figure out how to get it all done, and compensate for what’s not working. Which shouldn’t be on us, when we’re paying more and more for less and less. And since there’s been so much sabotage to the systems, and a lack of political will to change that, we have to cope until we can clean political house. We just can’t become boiled frogs and adjust without cleaning political house and creating better systems.

Did my marketing for the day (yay, content calendar). Dealt with some paperwork.

I’d been mulling the ghostwriting in my head on and off all weekend, although I hadn’t pulled up the screen. The percolation time, the pacing and muttering time, is so important, but I always feel like I don’t have that time in this particular job. But it’s so necessary for things to work.

Berkshire Health is going to open an urgent care facility in the building that houses my mom’s doctor in Williamstown. I hope it’s somewhat separate, and we’re not all squashed together in the waiting room. We need another urgent care facility, since the one next to Stop & Shop closed, and the only other nearby option is the ER up the hill at the hospital. But it will be challenging to make it work in the designated space. Still, it’s better than trying to go down to Pittsfield.

We got a boil water order because of the water main breaks, and are told to expect it to hold for at least the rest of this week. When the city actually communicates, we all roll with it.

Worked on the ghostwriting. I need to go back and layer in a few things (I changed a murder weapon and have to make sure that’s consistent) and rewrite the climactic scene (again), but I hope to get it off my desk by noon, or at least, early afternoon. Once that’s off my desk, we’ll see what else needs attention this afternoon, until I go to yoga. I also have to dig out the car, since my mom has a very early doctor’s appointment tomorrow.

While I will be doing more ghostwriting this week (especially if the notes on the other piece come through, working forward on the next piece if they don’t), I also have to work on the historical mystery and the textile-and-text piece. I’m pretty sure I can finish the latter this weekend.

And, you know, enjoy the lights and the holiday!

#art #books #bread #decorating #shopLocal #snow #writing #writingCards