It was very, very foggy here this morning. Autumn often brings foggy mornings and I confess, I love them.

I swear, more trees have turned color overnight. It’s a little unnerving, how quickly it all changes. I’m not ready to leave summer behind but I guess I have no choice in the matter. Fall brings its own beauty, but it also brings a bit of melancholy. I have to fight that this every year but especially this year, because I can’t let myself plunge into despair. I refuse to cede my power. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but make sure you have your plan to vote, if you haven’t already voted. If you’re filling out an absentee ballot, make sure you follow all the instructions to the letter. If you can, drop it off at a ballot box. If you’re going in person to vote, as we are later next month, be prepared. The wait may be a long one. I’ve already thought about what we’ll need to bring.

I know some of you might be shocked, but one of my favorite words is the “F” word. As a voice/speech coach, I work with the power of vowels and consonants and that word starts with a fricative (F) then goes on to one vowel (uh) and ends with a plosive (k). You can linger on the frictative, almost hissing it, and then you can pop the plosive. It’s a powerful and satisfying expletive.

Anyway, that particular word, which I won’t spell out here in case you find it offensive, is what I’m going to use now: FFF him and his evil minions! We will triumph. He’s losing and he knows it and he’s panicking. He already knows the only way he can “win” is by cheating. We know it, too. And we’re going to turn out in numbers too big to manipulate. If need be, he will be dragged out of the Oval Office in cuffs, his carefully coifed hair a mess, orange makeup/bronzer dripping down his face, overly long red tie practically strangling him. Next stop: prison.

I’m energized. Tomorrow morning, I have my training session for phone banking. As an introvert, this is not at all something I am comfortable doing, but I’m going to do it, nonetheless.

All hands on deck.

We played the video of Orange Man being booed over and over again. Music to our ears! And his comment that he couldn’t understand what they were saying was BS. You’ve only to look at his eyes to know he heard every word. Every word.

Okay. I have no idea what I’m going to do today. The usual, I guess. The sun has come out and it’s quite beautiful out there, with that golden light that only comes in Autumn.

Happy Birthday to my best friend, Laural. We’ve been friends for 56 years.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

You can see that the trees are starting to show some fall color. The tree turning orange is the maple on the far side of the house. There are splashes of red, orange, yellow and brown on the property. Yesterday was a beautiful day, nearly 80 and warm – but not too warm. Today will be the same. You’d better believe we’re appreciating this while we can.

Neither of us slept well last night. I’m sure you’ll understand why, especially if you watched Rachel Maddow. It took me a long time to get to sleep and then I woke up for long periods of time throughout the night. So we’re both feeling a bit ragged this morning.

I’m reading The Library Book  by Susan Orlean, all about the Los Angeles Public Library and the fire that nearly destroyed it and the mystery that surrounds the fire to this day. I’ve had it in in my TBR pile for over a year and after finishing the Louise Penny, I was reluctant to start any other fiction. It wouldn’t be fair to the new read. Best to read some nonfiction as a palate cleanser.

I did a little work on the dollhouse the other day, using some scrap wood that I had on hand. It’s hard to get a good photo as it’s the ceiling, but I added some wood beams.

The shadow doesn’t give the true color of the ceiling, but it’s ‘sea glass.’ There are five beams, plus a corner support in the corners of the room. I am close to running out of the scrap wood, so I stopped at five beams. I’m trying to use what I have. Next up will be the floor – wide planks, I think.

I signed up to do phone and text banking for Biden. There is a training session for both – my first training session is this Saturday (via Zoom.) Don has signed up to do phone banking and one other thing that I can’t remember at the moment.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Don and I were having a bite to eat yesterday. We were on the porch, sitting on the glider (it was a gorgeous day.)

I started to talk about last week’s experiences with the black bear and the monarch butterfly, trying to find words for the power of those two connections, both of which took place in the span of three days. We are coping with two major things, all of us. The pandemic has overwhelmed us; grief, loss, fear, a complete change in daily life, a leader who lied to us about it and who simply doesn’t care. A *president* who is corrupt, evil, a mob boss, a criminal, a liar, a malignant narcissist, and a sociopath. A cabal of elected representatives who fall in line with whatever he says, who have abandoned their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. A corrupt Attorney General who has talked about charging protestors with sedition. I could go on and on.

My point being: I realize now what a gift these two encounters were. They were transcendent. We were allowed to move above and beyond everything that weighs us down on a daily basis to something powerful, wonderful, frightening, and intimate. Our encounter with the bear was intimate. We stared into that bear’s eyes and he/she did the same. Time stopped. We witnessed the transformation of a chrysalis into a monarch butterfly. We saved his life more than once and our concentration and connection and emotions were laser focused on this being. Everything else stopped. We were outside of the everyday. We connected with two beautiful creatures and they weren’t in a zoo, on television, or in a photo on Instagram. We shared the same space.

Transcendent.

I looked up bears as spirit animals this morning. They represent several things: strength and confidence, standing against adversity, taking action, healing and providing healing to others. From the spirit animal website: “The spirit of the bear is a strong source of support in times of difficulty. It provides courage and a stable foundation to face challenges. When the bear shows up as a spirit guide in your life, it’s perhaps time to stand for your beliefs and truth. This power animal will provide for support and strength.”

As for butterflies, we know they represent transformation, metamorphosis, renewal, rebirth, lightness of being, elevation from earthly matters, tuning into the emotional and spiritual, our souls. From the same website: “The butterfly is a symbol of powerful transformations. By analogy to the development of this animal, the meaning associated with the butterfly emphasizes the ability to move from one state, perspective, lifestyle to another.”

Normally, I don’t think to look into this kind of thing, but given the proximity and power of those two encounters, I felt the need to do just that.

I am so grateful that we went through those three days (also symbolic, if you think about it.) I am just now seeing beyond the immediate encounter to something beyond. As I move forward, especially in this next period leading up to and beyond the election, I am going to hold those memories close.

Today, Don and I are taking action. We’re donating to Act Blue and to the Biden campaign. And we’re going to volunteer for something that we can do here; phone banking, making sure people are registered to vote, whatever is needed. I was in such a state last night after watching Rachel and a bit of Lawrence that I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic. So it’s time to DO something rather than worry all of the time. I’ll keep you informed as we figure out just what that something is.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.