Chirped by Cass and Tina
Feeling a little isolated lately? Don’t give up on your book club! Reading and discussing a great book together provides connection and mental stimulation. In a virtual format, it’s also a great excuse to close yourself up in your room with friends and a glass of wine! Lol. Book clubs can work nearly as well virtually as they do in person. In some ways, they can be even better! Give your book club a New Year’s Refresh with these ideas for injecting a little more fun, swag, and kinship, while still staying safe…
Book Selections
Every September our book club selects new titles for the year ahead. Selection night is usually accompanied by a potluck dinner at my house. We gather together, eat, drink, and present our book ideas. Then we choose what books to read for each month. This year, due to the pandemic, we had to meet via Zoom. It was still a fun night, and we are excited about the titles we have lined up for the coming year. If you’re curious about what we chose… here’s the list! Continue reading
The past few months have been busy, with our fledglings sent home or visiting over the summer. Our Empty Nester lives have been all aflutter with family activities. Routines certainly change when all the chicks are home! One thing that remained consistent during these crazy times was our commitment to our serene summer walks.
Tina has a quiet residential loop by her home and a wooded path connecting to a neighboring community. Her walks happen later in the day, often when her husband (now working remotely) has a break in his meetings. For her, walks are a chance to connect with her husband, stay active – and make the blog dog ecstatically happy.
I love the way the morning sun comes up over the trees and makes the fields sparkle with shimmers of dew on the leaves and spider webs. Tina is drawn to the golden glow that lights everything up just before sunset.
While stretches of our paths seem awash with weeds, a transformation occurs as the summer marches on. Unexpected pops of color and texture all get their time in the sun. These little surprises brighten our days…
Nature isn’t the only impressive gardener around. My path runs by one home in particular whose yard is a continual marvel to me. The time and energy they put into their gardens make for a very plentiful harvest and a beautiful space. I always wish my own vegetable patch would look that way.
Sometimes we get lucky and encounter a few friends on our walks. They watch from the fields, peek out from the bushes, or just carry on about their business. Good thing our dogs are always on a leash!
On certain mornings there is a section of my route that becomes the “Game of Frogger,” as I try to steer clear of dozens of leopard slugs making their way across the path. Similarly, after a good rain, Tina’s trail through the woods sprouts an amazing variety of delicate mushrooms. Her mom has a fondness for woodland fungi, so she tries to capture them in photos before the blog dog tramples them.
Surprise Sightings
Cass and I have put together a couple of “
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Since I have some extra “at home” time due to the Coronavirus, I decided to tackle the three plastic totes full of old pictures and photo albums from my parents and grandparents. I have two siblings, so I wanted to divide up the photos between all of us. That meant figuring out what photos I needed scanned, so that we each have copies of these precious family memories. It also meant figuring out how to extract photos from damaging old albums, in order to better preserve them. And that was a project worth chirping about all by itself!