Autumn | Mixed Metaphors

Oct 19 2020

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Sealioning, Chukars, Pandemic Fatigue

As I write, it’s Sunday morning. The temperature is 40 degrees (feels like 34) — raining with the possibility of snow today — the first of the season — as we prepare for the l-o-n-g, dark, and cold Midwestern fall and winter ahead. COVID-19 cases in my home state of Wisconsin are surging; we are hot spot, logging an infection rate just under 25%. Trump campaigned here Saturday in Janesville, risking the lives of the citizens he was elected to protect. It’s an increasingly dystopian time, 15 days away from the election. Will our lives be mentally, physically, and spiritually restored, or how many more of us die? Continue reading →

Tagged Autumn, Chukars, COVID-19, Dispatch from the Hideout, Pandemic Fatigue, Pod Squad, Quarantine Bubble, Random Topics, SASY, Sealioning, Shelter-in-Place, Social Distancing, Winter, Wisconsin

Nov 03 2019

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Comfort Food: Winter Blues, Holidays, & Weight Gain

“Food is a lot of people’s therapy — when we say comfort food, we really mean that. It’s releasing dopamine and serotonin in your brain that makes you feel good.” — Brett Hoebel

“Comfort food is the food that makes us feel good — satisfied, calm, cared for and carefree. It’s food that fills us up both mentally and physically. Finding comfort in food is a basic human experience.” — Ellie Krieger

Last night, I turned the clocks back an hour. This morning the sun rose earlier and tonight it will set sooner. Daylight Savings Time is over and regardless of your views on its merits — or not — for me it’s the onset of Living the Mole Life, a season characterized by comfort foods, winter blues, the holidays, and weight gain. I isolate, sleep, and eat more than I do the rest of the year. I basically hibernate and retreat to my hideout. Continue reading →

Tagged Autumn, Comfort Foods, Family, Friends, Hibernate, Holiday Parties, Holidays, Home, Mother, Potlucks, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Seasons, Weight Gain, Winter, Winter Blues

Sep 12 2019

1 Comment

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Dispatch from the Hideout: Premature Hibernation

“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.” ― Albert Camus

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ― C.G. Jung

Though it’s not officially autumn yet, I feel the urge to go underground, to hibernate prematurely. Like caterpillars who cocoon in a chrysalis and emerge in a new form as a butterfly, it’s my desire to find a safe place to enable transformation.

The world seems like it’s becoming more threatening, whether it’s our natural world and the consequences of climate change, or our political environment and the actions and policies by those currently in power. On a personal level, things sometime happen to us — and for me — how I respond makes a difference in my emotional and spiritual health and serenity. While there are storms happening outside of me, there’s also turmoil and uncertainty stirring within. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Ambivert, Autumn, Changing of the Seasons, Couples Therapy, Death, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Home, Isolate, Legacy, Mental Health, Premature Hibernation, Recovery, Relationships, Therapy, Underground, Winter

Aug 27 2017

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Seasons/Change

“Memories recycle of seasons past
of people absent and places far away.
I soothe myself with the solace of ritual.
There is comfort in repetition
and wonder in change.” — From the poem, The Solace of Ritual, Linda Lenzke

It has been and continues to be a hellavu week, a reminder of the power of nature — the relationship of the sun, moon, and earth — and how it impacts the weather. Beginning this past Monday in North America, we witnessed the total or partial eclipse of the sun, depending on where we landed on, or near, the path of totality. Continue reading →

Tagged Autumn, Change, Changing of the Seasons, Hurricane Harvey, Midwest, Seasons, Snow, Snow Days, Solar Eclipse, Spring, Spring Fever, Staycation, Summer, Winter

Mar 12 2017

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The Itchy Restlessness of Spring Fever

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” ― Mark Twain

It’s true, I came down with a case of spring fever again this year, beginning in February — the symptoms were clear: Itchy restlessness, daydreaming, and questioning the choices in my life — wondering what the future holds for me. Desires and appetites grow stronger. I begin to wear clothes outdoors that are inappropriate for the weather, light jackets, short-sleeves, go sockless with canvas shoes or sandals with snow underfoot. Continue reading →

Tagged Autumn, Daylight Savings Time, Films, Full Moon, Itchy Restlessness, Relationships, Road Trips, Seasons, Spring, Spring Fever, Vernal Equinox, Winter, Wisconsin Film Festival

Oct 10 2016

2 Comments

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Ferment: Distilling Culture & Politics

fer·ment– verb

1. (of a substance) undergo fermentation.
“the drink had fermented, turning some of the juice into alcohol”
synonyms: undergo fermentation, brew;

2. incite or stir up (trouble or disorder).
“the politicians and warlords who are fermenting this chaos”
synonyms: cause, bring about, give rise to, generate, engender, spawn, instigate, provoke, incite, excite, stir up, whip up, foment

The past month has been wet, stormy, and unseasonably warm. The lack of sunshine began eroding my well-being. The political climate continued to heat up too, becoming a category 5 shit-storm, casting a dark cloud on my outlook for the future. I realized I wasn’t spending enough time in nature during my favorite season of the year doing the things that feed my spirit. Instead I kept reading more online and watching commentators discuss the fermenting disillusionment of the electorate. Continue reading →

Tagged Autumn, Culture, Farm/Art DTour, Ferment, Fermentation Fest, Politics, Presidential Election, Road Trip

Aug 28 2016

1 Comment

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Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

“I watch the ripples change their size
but never leave the stream
of warm impermanence
so the days float through my eyes” — David Bowie, Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

The summer is beginning to wind down and autumn is right around the corner. I often muse about the changing seasons this time of the year and reflect on my life, time-hopping from the past to the future, then back to today. Though it’s common to look back at the preceding year on New Year’s Eve or look ahead to the coming year the next day, I usually follow the school year calendar and my annual staycation. Some habits are hard to break. Continue reading →

Tagged Ageism, Aging, Autumn, Change, Changing Seasons, Family, Friends, Loss, Love, Memoir, Moving, Rightsizing, Staycation, Summer, Things Change, Third Act, Time-Hopping

Nov 01 2015

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Living the Mole Life

“…we can’t live in the light all of the time. You have to take whatever light you can hold into the dark with you.” ― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

Last night was Halloween, also known as Hallow’s Eve or Samhain, the Celtic festival that bridges fall and winter, when people light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts and the darkness. On State Street here in Madison, Wisconsin it was Freakfest. Before we went to bed, we turned our clocks back an hour; it was the last day of Daylight Saving Time (DST) and though we gained an extra hour of sleep, we begin living the mole life again. Continue reading →

Tagged Autumn, Changing of the Seasons, Circadian Clock, Darkness, Daylight Saving Time, Depression, DST, Light, SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Seasons, Spring, Summer, Winter

Sep 06 2015

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The Pleasures (and Lessons) of a Staycation

“A vacation that is spent at one’s home enjoying all that home and one’s home environs have to offer.”— Urban Dictionary

“You don’t have to go far to travel.” — Me

It’s that time of year again when September arrives and I extend the Labor Day holiday by taking my annual Staycation. While students return to school after their families unpack from vacation and pack those back-to-school backpacks full of brand new school supplies, I take a break from my day-to-day work routines and make my “to-do only if I want to lists.” Continue reading →

Tagged Autumn, Family, Films, Friends, Holidays, Home, Journaling, Journals, Madison, Movies, Racine, September, Staycation, The Changing Seasons, Wisconsin, Work, Writing

Aug 31 2014

3 Comments

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The Impermanence of Life

“Impermanence is one of the essential doctrines or three marks of existence in Buddhism. The term expresses the Buddhist notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is transient, or in a constant state of flux.” ― Source: Wikipedia

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ― Alan Wilson Watts

Though the weather is summer-like with hot, humid days and buggy nights, autumn awaits around the corner as the sun rises later and sets sooner each day. Children return to school, and families reset their routines. It is a wistful, introspective time of year for me, a time to reflect on my life, to look back at where I’ve been and to what’s ahead. I often make new commitments and sometimes let go of others. Fall is always a time of change, both externally and internally. Continue reading →

Tagged Amends, Autumn, Buddhism, Changes, Death, Impermanence, Journaling, Letting Go, Loss, Love, Reconciliation, Relationships, Seasons, Third Act

Mixed Metaphors

Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! – A place where words, this writer, and readers play together.

Tag Archives: Autumn

Comfort Food: Winter Blues, Holidays, & Weight Gain

Dispatch from the Hideout: Premature Hibernation

Seasons/Change

The Itchy Restlessness of Spring Fever

Ferment: Distilling Culture & Politics

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Living the Mole Life

The Pleasures (and Lessons) of a Staycation

The Impermanence of Life