Where I cover the good and the hard in my week, visiting the non-preachy side of ritual and self-reflection.
And you get to join in if you feel like it.
What worked?
Being in character.
I got to pretend to be … let’s call her Ms. [B], for a good chunk of this week, and this gave me a really good sense of what it is like to be her.
So then everything I was working on happened through the filter of her, and that gave me some much needed distance/perspective/insight.
Also it turns out she has no qualms about all kinds of things that I have ALL THE QUALMS about. None whatsoever. So that was liberating and cool.
Knowing what I wanted.
I was really clear about what I wanted. I asked Danielle if she wanted too. She did. And then everything worked and we made it happen.
Making everything into a spy game.
Secret codes for the secret codes.
Everything is an op. Everything stands for something. Everything is silly. Everything gets a ridiculous and vaguely-but-confusingly-sexy name. Operation Four On The Floor commencing at 19:00 hours. Who’s the contact? Our man in Zurich.
This is how I got everything done this week and made all the not-fun things fun to boot.
Next time I might…
Remember that being in character is really intense…
You know how when you invent a character, it’s somehow always astonishing to realize that they are suddenly their own people, making their own choices? Right.
A lot of what I processed through being Ms. [B] was INTENSE. She has access to an entire range of emotional states that I don’t really know about. She loves hard, feels deeply and … yeah, intensity!
I know she was working through some things for me (also a lot of things From Then), and I think it would help to have more time/space/acknowledgment for that.
Collect 8-letter words.
The more of these at my disposal the better. Especially if they are sexy or odd or fun to say.
(Suggestions welcome! Into the pot!)
P.L.E.A.S.U.R.E. already is an eight letter word, yes, I know.
Plan for solstice ahead of time.
See also: almanac of Havi Bell.
The hard.
- Working on the weekend.
- Sleeping through dance class every day.
- Waking up at four a.m.
- It’s cold! And dark!
- Havis need to bounce outside. And when it is too cold and dark to bounce outside, Havis get all Eeyore about it.
- Fake Beach Day was headachey. I stayed at home, which was not good. Too much energy and needing to disperse it.
- Too many things.
- Marisa is gone.
- Ugh the news. Ugh social media. Ugh why can’t everything come with trigger warnings.
- Sore muscles.
- Ridiculous requests.
- People forgetting things I’ve taught them.
- Six more weeks until I’m off to VICARAGE!
The good.
- The secret benefactor of my head/heart.
- Getting Things Done. Including the final 2% on The Big Iguana Of Stuck.
- A five day playdate with my playmate that was nothing short of spectacular. We played, in character, from Saturday night until Thursday morning.
- Getting to be Ms. B. and feeling all of her (complicated and fascinating) feelings.
- Lusciousness. Pleasure. Presence.
- A third secret compass.
- Quickie goodbye visit with Marisa for all the hugs. No really. All of them.
- Nick.
- The rededication ceremony at Stompopolis.
- Foyle’s War.
- I set up the thing that I was scared to set up.
- I have dates for the vicarage.
- A present. Just for me!
- Writing playdate with banjo accompaniment and much laughter.
- Operation Schmurphy Tango! Dear god how I love being a pretend spy.
- All the monster coloring and negotiating paid off with a massive epiphany that changes everything.
- I remembered to pause, and that was the exact right thing to do. Not everything requires a response!
- Six more weeks until I’m off to VICARAGE!
- I loved this week. Heart heart heart heart heart.
- Danielle and I ran away together and now we are at the beach and everything is better because of this.
Superpowers!
A superpower I had this week…
Remembering that nothing is wasted. No, really.
At the time it seemed like I was just screwing around, messing up my life, doing one dead-end thing after another. But from where I stand now, it looks like I was following a treasure map. Lining things up. Adding skills.
And guess what? All the things that are happening right now that feel like a waste of time… they’re part of the treasure map for the next thing. This is exciting.
And a superpower I want next week.
The superpower of being (thanks, Steven!) benevolently unpredictable.
YES PLEASE.
Playing live at the meme beach house — the Fake Band of the Week!
Background. Ez and I make up bands. Stu (retired Bolshevik-fearing voice-to-text software) once invented hanging out at the Meme Beach House“. It’s just one guy.
This week’s band is from Kyle, who is so great that he also gave me imaginary glitter spraypaint:
Agile Triple Negative
Though, of course, it’s really just one guy.
Hallo Hallo! I am saying Hallo Hallo. Announcement time.
Picture me wearing that crazy hat…
Take the class on Time.
That’s all I will say for now about that.
That’s it for me …
Join my Friday ritual in the comments if you feel like it. Or call silent retreat!
We let people have their own experience. We’re supportive and welcoming. And we don’t give advice (unless people specifically ask for it).
Wishing you a glorrrrrrrrrrrrious day, a restful weekend and a happy week to come.
Shabbat shalom.
p.s. It’s fine if it’s not Friday anymore. There’s complete chicken amnesty — join in whenever (or not) and it’s no big deal.
Follow
Greetings Chickeneers and Spy Havi!
Wishing a happy happy solstice to all!
An 8 letter word for Havi – meanders (like my mind)
Another super fast week or WHAT???
OK – here I go…
What worked?
+ Pausing – yay yay yay for the pause!
+ Planning a simple Yule/Solstice Ritual
+ Getting ourselves home before the big snow hit
Next time I might…
Make tea as soon as we get home – to warm us up as we wait for the fire to warm the shakey-shack.
THE HARD:
– the cold cold coldness and the damp damp dampness can cause this ole bod to ache ache ache. I admit it.
– had one of those weeks when all my clothes felt… ugh. And my hair felt double ugh. and I just felt…. well…. let us say HIDEOUS. Urge to PURGE the closet and start again. Close I came to shaving my head to be rid of this scraggly ole witch hair. Lawdy. Actually I wish it was witch hair. Witches have such good hair. Like in Practical Magic… I want THAT HAIR!!! And I want midnight margaritas too!
Luckily the Yule Ritual on Friday really helped with this whole…. mess… of self… loathing. I feel much better now. Honest.
– the plow just got stuck in our yard. I get a bit afraid when that happens. I always worry that he won’t come back and we will have to shovel it ALL out by hand. But hey… we could do that… it would just take a WHILE.
Luckily, my beloved raggedy man helped the plow get unstuck. Huzzah!
THE GOOD:
+ Marking the solstice/yule with a simple, but fun ritual involving doodles, words, the warmth of fire and some home made bread. YUM. Oh truly and truly a lovely time spent and a shift FELT. Here is to creativity and beauty and growth in the coming year.
+ Gathering with family and friends to hoist a drink, eat some food and tell some stories.
+ Appreciating a friend’s generosity and LOVING his spanky new bathtub. Oh the luxury!!!! Thank you, man of the fires for letting us stay in your lovely home while you are away and make use of all the wonderful treats like the bath and cable and netflix and… oh right… I’m supposed to be visiting family, not hunkered down with the TV (don’t tellllll on me)
+ Seeing the smile on MiL’s face when her daughter arrived for the holidays. Oh it warmed my heart. Welcome home, Sis!
+ Walks and talks and planning surprises for the 25th.
+ Finding a lovely handmade shawl of the softest green that I had hidden away “for special”. Pulled it out to wear during my Yule ritual and have decided to wear it daily through the holidays. Bright blessings of gratitude to K and her magic fingers. Thank you for this bit of glory to wrap around me.
+ I have such a great great sense of well being today. Grateful for this place, and all of you CHICKENEERS!
Grateful for our wood stove, for pinon incense and the magic of being to reach a friend in Paris with some love when I really NEEDED too (yay interweeb)!
And finally – a hard but good thing…
I will spend tomorrow saying farewell to a friend. We will attend his memorial in town. He was a good soul and will be sorely missed. I wish him…. a happy journey.
Sending bright blessings to you, Havi.
And to all the Chickeneers.
Stay cozy
and, as always, go easy – Pam
Cheers, Chickeneers!
It was a week of unwinding. Now somethings are more clear and some are more messy.
The Hard
– Iguanas on assigning grades and turning them in and related matters
– too many phone calls
– having to go do the dumb picture with Santa (I dislike it but it makes my mother-in-law sooooooo happy)
The Good
– super great yoga classes
– brunch and a movie with friends
– the new system at the mall where you give your cell phone number and they text you when it is your turn to see Santa so you don’t have to stand in line
– cute high heels in a brand I like and in my size on clearance for $22!
analemma. firebird. organism. zeppelin.
http://www.poslarchive.com/math/scrabble/lists/common-8.html
Chicken! I miss my chicken on weeks I don’t get it.
The Hard
– Baby not sleeping. Like, waking up at 11p.m. and going to sleep at 8a.m. And similar.
– So many meetings. With contractors and carpet guys and window guys and floor guys and rat guys and all the guys. There were way too many guys.
– Why is it so hard to figure out/describe what’s going on with the crawl space and get someone to fix it? I do not understand.
– Not having a memory. I always had an excellent memory, and now I can’t even hold a conversation because I forget what the other person said before I can answer.
– Oh my God my back. And neck. And all the other muscles that don’t particularly enjoy bouncing a ten pound baby all night and then trying to sleep for a few hours here and there in the softest/lumpiest/suckiest bed ever.
– So ridiculously cold and rainy. Very difficult for walks, etc.
– I don’t like words I can’t pronounce/have no way of figuring out how to pronounce *or* words for which there are many common spellings and I have no reason to prefer one over the other.
– Painful situation remains painful! And situational!!
The Good:
– Last night. When the baby miraculously slept for 6 hours, and then we had a friend staying with us who took her for another 3. THAT IS 9 HOURS! 6 OF WHICH WERE UNINTERRUPTED!!
– I got pants! And they are…loud. And spectacular. And they fit me. They are, importantly, *not* the same pair of maternity jeans I’ve been wearing nonstop since approximately August.
– Also other clothes. Clothes!
– M came and did all our laundry and cleaned the kitchen and made us dinner and held Scarlet so we could clean the bedroom.
– Then R came and brought takeout and typed up a thing that needed typing and got us groceries.
– We are possibly getting a nanny. Fingers crossed.
– ESME IS HERE! (I have been counting down so long.) Not only is this awesome because yay for Esme, but also she is willing to hold a baby for hours, and this helps everything.
– The floor at the purple house is done! (Also, the floor is gorgeous. Gorgeous.) And we have all the paint for the bedrooms, which we will paint tomorrow. That means that as soon as the contractor finishes the bathroom, WE CAN MOVE IN! It probably still won’t be until January, but seriously, I’ll take it.
– It makes me insanely happy to buy zero VOC paint, and low VOC floor finish, and fancy wool carpet.
– My bike is getting fixed as we speak (as I type). I cannot wait to (buy some rain pants and) bike everywhere again.
– Stompopolis rededication. Also Hannukah generally.
– Scarlet has started smiling. All the time. It’s the best.
– She’s also a month old today. And yesterday was my six month wedding anniversary. I like that the wonderful things in my life have happened and that I can mark time about this.
Love to all!
An eight-letter word for pleasure: MECHAIEH! 😀 😀 😀
(I’m serious in the sparklingest, y’all! It’s a transliteration of a Yiddish term for “a great pleasure.”)
What worked:
Taking advantage of unplanned awake time in the middle of the night to get some shopping done, thus avoiding crowded roads and other annoyances.
Trusting.
Not nagging.
What I might try next time:
More Old Turkish Lady Yoga.
Visualizing.
The Hard:
Not enough time my favorite café.
Forgetting my phone when I was out, so I couldn’t take care of a couple of iguana calls when I felt motivated to do so.
Weird sleep pattern. Again. Still.
Two dentist appointments!
Bad weather, snow over ice, so I had to cancel an appointment for MrB.
My car doesn’t brake well on icy roads.
The Good:
Found some assemble-yourself bookcases for MrB, and had my son’s help assembling them.
Dr released MrB from wheelchair (again) to walk inside the house.
Surprise visit from the home-health physical therapist.
I got things done! Including putting up Christmas decorations and hanging the winter curtains. I finally made the platform for MrB’s new recliner. And I have been working my way through the huge pile of iguanas and doom.
The world did not end today.
Superpower I had:
Finding helpful people everywhere.
Superpowers I want next week:
Finding pleasure and showing love in the way that the people I love can receive it best.
Waving to everyone. Hugs for the hard, yay for the good.
Superpowers:
I wanted the ability to find parking spaces. That happened today! 🙂
I also wanted to ask the right questions at the right time. That hasn’t made itself known, but I re-encountered something clewful on what those questions might be.
It’d be nice to draw on both these powers next week. ‘Cause, y’know, holidays. Conversations. The eeps. Etc.
What worked this week:
* alternate routes
* taking my time
Next time I might:
* allow more time for a more deliberate inventory. Because not knowing where the stamps have got to has been making me nuts.
Hard:
* Friends losing partners, pets, property… so much sadness.
* I like guns. I’m appalled at what I’ve heard both for and against gun rights/gun control.
* Feeling conflicted about some possibilities.
* Spells of outsider/underachiever syndrome. Holidays are sugar to monsters, hooo.
Good:
* It’s so good to be home.
* It’s so fun finding the right [mumble mumble] for my beloveds.
* The walls were repaired when I was away. The library has been painted a gorgeous blue.
* A client rewarded my patience with a sizable tip. Sweet!
* Peppermint bark.
* Beautiful weather for hiking.
* Completed a couple of rush jobs in spite of exhaustion/mood.
* A “bing!” moment with a piece I’d visited many times before.
Shabbat shalom and warm wishes to all y’all.
Foyle’s War, yes!
The Hard:
Holiday Blues. Piled on top of Alone Blues. Piled on Everyone Has Plans This Weekend But Me Blues. With a side of My Life Is Exactly As It Was Last Year At This Time Blues. Blergh.
The OK Cupid, and the Match and the Do What You Love and the produce aisle at Whole Foods and the blind dates and the make a list for the universe and the don’t think about it and the just live your life and it will happen – they don’t work.
The Good:
Drawing. Yesterday and today. It’s hard, and makes my eyes and brain have to see and then tell my hand and arm what they saw and they don’t all speak the same language yet. Writing is easier. But for now we draw.
And I drew a little sketch of my cat that actually looked like my cat.
I looooove “benevolently unpredictable” Thank you for that. I am not just, say, failing to be on one particular secretary’s exact timetable of doom: I am Benevolently Unpredictable. Like Tigger? But probably just imaginary bouncing at this moment.
This is a partial chicken. I got a beautiful datebook for 2013 and am putting my VPAs (instead of tedious to do lists) in it, and despite more house crap and fending off a fever (thank you massive dose of vitamin d and CLO etc etc!! surprises me every time that this works), most of the things happened.
“Finishing” did not, it’s the last item left, so I am now jacked up on gluten free sour worms, despite the risk, due to recently fended off flu, and I am going to just freaking do this.
For the love of the chickens. Until. . . tomorrow.
Hello Chickeners! ah friday, what a joy you are!
what worked:
-the Exiting the Day tea and early bedtime. I hit the combo that works best and this is it
-Flailing at odd moments!Now That i’ve started playing with Level two, level one arms are suddenly just a warm up.
-opting for Movement
the suck:
-the massive sad. and it keeps getting worse! enough already!
-getting more done at work, which is great, but having a lot more coming at me from all sides. worry
-having most of last friday eaten up by xmas shopping with husband. nose out of joint
-follwoed by a lobg weekend of busy busy and serving others, which i did cheerfully, til…
-the utter and complete rug pulled out from under me typeof arbitrary-supprt-fail that is the hallmark of an alcoholic spouse. yea me. by snday dinner time i was yelling at my husband. it got far stupider before lights out
-elder kid ASSURED me she studdied enough fro her first midterms. she brought home a D. she was playing video games when she told me. grrrrr
-the writing i’m not doing because i’m too busy getting ready
the sparkle:
-despite the hard, seeing everyone in the family try to help eah other out, try to be kind and present
-Moving! toite I was dancing!
-feeling the bliss of bhramari
-the power of pleasure
-lil thinsg wrking out
-lots of unexpecte gfts
-the expevtancy and hope o the long night
-yule with my coven!
-feeling very hopeful for 2013.
The hard:
Internet router dying.
This seems to have been a week of shoes! From ouch to annoying.
Money anxiety.
All the nightmares in one night, followed by nightmare hangover. This is not making today fun!
Silent retreat!
Moments of just wanting to curl up and sleep, and wanting more time for resting and napping.
Mouth ulcers. They return!
The good:
Getting up before dawn to see the solstice sun rise over the sea, taking a lots of photographs. Magicalness.
Burning the clocks!
Steamed buns!
Epic kitty snuggles.
Getting people Christmas presents.
Goddess readings and writing.
Doing work for a lovely client, and them really appreciating my help.
Exciting plans for the future.
Gorgeous country walk!
Dance + yoga!
What worked:
Taking care of myself.
Playing with the goddesses and following my intuition.
Next time I might:
Follow that intuitive hunch, even if it seems super inconvenient.
Love to you all!
Yes, we like Foyle’s War around here, too.
What worked: Going with the flow, and at the same time, listening to my own internal choices for what I most wanted to do, moment by moment.
Next time, I might: Turn off the radio even sooner.
A hard thing: Someone very close to me is struggling with emotional problems right now. I wish so much that I could magically help — and I can’t. And I need to remember that the fact that I can’t is not about me. I am getting better about that, but it’s still hard.
A good thing: I’m finding a great deal of beauty and love in this holiday season. I’m remembering to drink in all the little things, and fill myself up, and to do it all over again whenever I find myself getting a bit drained. Comforting things are everywhere.
A superpower I’m claiming right now: The power to float, which is like flying, but slower and gentler, and much more subtle.
Sending so much love to everyone here, along with my gratitude for getting to be a part of it all. <3
Loved Foyle’s War! Always wish they had made more. Enjoy!
What a week!
The hard:
Hello stomach upset my old friend, I’ve come to curl up in a ball with you again. But no, I cannot stay home BECAUSE:
Too many meetings I didn’t want to have.
Former boss never fails to disappoint.
Holiday-related lists and anxiety.
Threatening weather reports! (and ugh, the news in general)
My cramp-inducing parents are in town, with all the attendant stress they create.
Stress and illness compelling me to forget all my self care tricks, making all of this worse.
The good:
Resting today and feeling a bit better.
Thank goodness for the hot water bottle!
Meetings are all done, and I am generally intact.
I am done with former boss and his superficial, history-rewriting, incurious ways. #detox
Mostly done with holiday tasks.
Parents will be leaving on the 26th, earlier than usual.
Despite threatening weather, forecasts, we have NO SNOW. This makes the holidays so much easier (my parents refuse to walk outside if there is any snow or ice). We may even get to visit my cousins.
Looking forward to:
Playing with the camera.
Book gloating.
Catching up on the movies I’ve missed.
Continuing my studies next year.
Figuring out the next move.
Next YEAR and the discoveries it will bring.
Happy solstice and whatever holidays you celebrate. May we all begin to turn toward the light.
Just wanted to say thank you, Havi, for the superpower mention of this week. Nothing is wasted. That echoed and reinforced some thoughts that’d been percolating in my head about old jobs, old places and old things that felt like wastes at the time, that only now are showing themselves as teachers of crazy skills I didn’t know how much I’d need. 🙂 And that makes the things that seem like wastes of time now feel more promising.
Thanks for the reminder and the lovely blog posts, as always. Have a great week and a wonderful holiday season.
Cluck
Hards
– hot weather headaches
– annual Christmas money stuff
– different people have different expectations and preferences and priorities around Christmas stuff. And also NO TASTE. Clearly!
– special needs
– limited access to the interwebs (gasp!)
– flaking out big time on a couple of Duuuhhh What Was The ONE Thing You Had To Do things and feeling flakey and ashamed
– seeing the very ugly pattern of being a fucking arsehole to somebody vulnerable and feeling ashamed of my arseholery
– tired. Too much! In the heat. Yuk.
Good stuff
+ I am interacting with Very Ugly Pattern and the shamey stuff
+ I have professional debt-dragon tamers on board to help with money stuff
+ I now have prayer flags across my doorways and oracle cards beside my bed. I think I may as well buy some rainbow tie-dyed cheesecloth and a dream-catcher and complete my public conversion to Complete Hippie-arsed Hippie. Ha!
+ cute kids, Wonderbaby is crawling and waves bye-bye and shakes her head ‘noooo’. Shmooopy! And there has never been a little boy more in love with his baby sister than mine. Naaaaaw….
+ realisations that I can invoke Now Is Not Then every time Little Lad doesn’t eat ‘enough’, like, he has been full between occurances of being Not Full, I’m not creating some impossible back-log of hunger that is going to have to be repaid ‘someday’. I can repay it at the next meal. It will be okay. #ihatefoodaversionmorethantheautismthatcreatesit
+ un casa solo mio (sp?)
+ a dear friend got some answers she was seeking
That’ll do. Goodnight cheeps. xoxoxo
The Hard:
Living situation is stressful and I’m not sure what to do
Big scary change at Silent Retreat, yikes, I am blaming myself but I know that is wrong
I finished a huge chunk yesterday, but not ALL, and now the level of exhaustion is like all the words for snow.
There is still more to do. I wanted to be done before xmas. Changes in (silent retreat) make it harder and scarier.
The sugar required to think straight and work through and finish is now in payback time and I feel gross. Like those 3d grade jokes, What’s grosser than gross. Me on Sunday morning.
Back pain? This is new.
The world’s most expensive dog, the dog of many surgeries, the dog who jumped out the window then wore casts for 2 years, the dog with what in an xray looks like a home-ec project in her leg, may need more surgery.
Grass fed raw butter costs $15/lb.
Someone said something very very annoying to me this week.
The Good:
Nice people come right away to fix things automatically without me having to deal with it, they are so nice, I really love and appreciate them
Flu remedy actually works, honestly what a miracle, I feel very lucky, thank you thank you
Finished writing Sag-Libra. (Why does my actual sense of accomplishment about this evaporate within an hour or two?)
While not finished, I heavily edited 100 pages
The italics/talking/time and date stamp present-tense structure showed and worked really well
Em texting support
Support today with house stuff
Seeing clearly even though it is sad and impossible exactly how much I can do, which is not really a lot
Awesome progress with Silent Retreat, really just what a wonderful opening
Going to sleep every night watching Arrested Development, if this keeps up I will have them memorized.
Oh yeah,I forgot: before the sugary push to finish, I went to Target and Jo Anns and bought little things for a new altar, little animal friends and some sparkly things and an owl pillow and then after that the push to finish was able to begin. This happened before, in June, with another thing. Must remember.
There is healthy food in the freezer for me on this most vegetably of vegetable brain days.
Love to all the chickens xo
Eight-letter words!
MADRIGAL
“Now is the month of maying”, by Thomas Morley
http://youtu.be/EwJLKdU50KE
“Come Sing Come Dance: A Christmas Madrigal” by Linda Spevacek http://youtu.be/4_qvAUizUMs
SPARKING
In Norwegian, ”spark” = kick, and also a kicksled. ”Sparking” = kicking, or kicksledding. And ’tis is a known fact that Kicksleds Are Cool (much like bowties). I also like the connotation ”get a kick out of”, which is how I feel when something I read/hear makes my brain spark. Oh, and try saying ”sparking” with a French, slightly supercilious accent.
KICKSLED has eight letters too, actually.
http://theaccidentalhermit.blogspot.no/2010/02/short-history-of-kick-sled.html
And one I made up:
VELVETIC – adj. Secretly or very quietly partaking of the qualities of velvet.
Happy Belated Tilt Day and Festivities Of Your Choice to all! I am so glad this space and culture and the people who make it up exists.
Worked: Taking care of myself, even when what I needed was *clearly* [insert monster phrase of the hour]. Noticing how different everything is when my needs have been met.
Using the River deliberately, explicitly, to connect and share and (try to) empathize. Understanding more about my relationship with certain branches of the river.
Ideas for next time: Play with ideas to find more support for the Yuletide-related stuff.
Hard: Crying until my head aches splittingly and my eyes feel sore for days. Multiple times. I had sort of hoped I was over that part. Ow.
[Silent retreat] which is absolutely terrifying and painful. And a little hopeful, but right now mostly HARD. Needing more appreciation and support around that.
Appreciation for: Book-type friends. Animal-type friends. Interwebs-type friends. Chocolate. Red apples. Gift bags. Fan fiction. People who care and say smart and useful things about difficult issues. Writing! That really nice and helpful bill collector. Internet banking and shopping and the postal service(s). The Venusians being unexpectedly thoughtful re: Eiffel Tower. THE TILT! Yay!
Superpower I had this week: First Things First.
One I’d like for the next: Finding what I need even when I don’t know what I need.
Here are some eight letter words!
sparkles
cheerful
cuddles
affinity
affluent
apricots
aquarium
benignly
patience
parallel
particle
rakishly
reflexes
I want to make up a character! I want him to be a hero!
I’m liking words that are full, like this year is full and done.
+mouthful
+youthful (no rhyme)
+wingding / shindigs (shindies!)
*carousal — “The origin of the word carouse can be found in a German interjection that meant “time to leave the bar.””!
+carousel, for the kids and the horse history buffs
+Judgment
+trainers (for running clothes!)
+pertness (gee, I wish saucy were eight letters)
+wildings? — what our generation did as teens
+snowblow
+snowcone
+solstice
+poultice
+deertick (ok, not sexy or anything, just revealing my “itch” to be hiking)
+anythAng
+kangaroo
+redberry