Squirrels and Thoughts

I sat out in the sun again this morning. It was hot and there was no wind. Near the end of my sit, a light breeze whispered through the branches of the elm tree across the street. I watched the leaves flutter for a moment before the breeze danced across the street, kicking up a few dead leaves here and there until it reached the neighbor’s trees next to my house.

Then it died before reaching my porch.

A dove and four starlings flew overhead. I heard chattering and watched two squirrels chase each other in the elm’s branches, then they scurried back down the trunk and raced across the yard. The neighbor two houses down came out with her morning cup of birdseed that she sprinkled along her sidewalk as the birds flew down for the all you can eat buffet.

This morning I finished reading the Take Off Your Pants book and I’m looking forward to picking out my next book that I’ll read outside. I have 2-3 books going at any given time—one for outside, one in the bedroom, one in the living room, etc.).

One of the books I just started reading is Jade by Sally Watson. It’s been one of my daughter’s favorite books since childhood and she recently found it again on Amazon and had to have a copy. It is about a fiercely independent young girl in the 1700s who joins a pirate ship and attempts to free slaves from a ship. I’m loving it so far.

Next week I am starting work on a new cookbook. It’s been a few months since I published the Beef and Chicken Liver cookbooks and I got burnt out from having too many projects on my plate.

I’ve had so many ideas and thoughts chasing each other in my head, like those squirrels in the elm tree, that now I’m ready to focus on putting those ideas to work.

Now that I’ve cleared a few things off and taken a break, I’m ready to start publishing again!

Until Monday . . .

Shanna

If you enjoy these journal entries, you can read the past ones here.