Full Moon Saturday Morning

It was a sight that I often do not see -- a full moon in the morning hanging in the western sky. I had gone out early to retrieve the morning paper and upon turning around to come back in, the moon was just there, bright and round as ever. Often the cloud cover is such that if the moon IS there, it is obscured, but not so today:

The moon in the morning, and the floral arrangement for mourning . . . this was a memorable day.

A  public final farewell was given yesterday to Eleanor, who passed away two days after Christmas. A gathering in the local Episcopal Church was attending by many far and near.

This "Milestones" appeared in our local paper two days prior:

It is events like the above that cause us to reflect on our own lives and the frangibility of life itself.

One thing that we've done is to instigate a New Year's Resolution -- okay two weeks late, but hopefully "in time" . . .

In my growing up days I remember once after my father had spent a few days in our local hospital for some procedure, he came home with a new found belief. As a result of this new awareness, we were all going to eat more "meatless entrees" from the likes of Loma Linda Foods.

The Hinsdale Hospital was run by the Seventh-day Adventists like many hospitals throughout the country. They don't eat or serve meat (unless your doctor prescribes it). My father came home a believer. The church group members lead very health conscious lives and usually enjoy long life.

I'm not sure how long the vegetarian diet in our household lasted -- but it wasn't for very long. "Veggie Links" just couldn't replace the taste of the "real deal" and so that resolution did not last in our house.

So, we too are going to look at something that we think we'll want to adopt more of -- Hygge . . .
There is a lot of Norwegian on my side of the family and there is a lot of Danish on Gail's.

Clicking on the above, you can read the description of what Hygge (pronounced Hoo--gah) is all about. On weekends like the current one the description sounds "pretty good". We've ordered a book on Hygge and will look forward to reading that in the coming days and nights.

And we have not forgotten about Dino. He actually is getting very used to his new "Hygge" inspired bed:

We were not sure if Dino would ever use this new bed in the way it was described -- but has he ever!

Gail sat with him and encouraged him to climb inside and little by little he did -- and now he sometimes does it all by himself and totally snuggles in and drifts off to a snore infested slumber.

We are pleased at the result of this bed for Dino. He must feel the warmth and security of being in such a warm and inviting space.

We don't envision getting a people version, but we hope to embrace more of the positives surrounding our days and finding as much happiness in our everyday lives through the reading of the hints in the Hygge book.  We'll see.

What else has occupied our time. One is making "comfort" style food like the large pot of pea soup that we made this week. The soup has given us several meals and is reminiscent of the bowls of "Pea Soup Andersen's" soup that we always stop for whenever we drive through the Solvang, California area.

We also made a large pulled pork roast that provided the basis for several dinners as well. The pork shoulder roast is so easy to fix and is one of the most inexpensive cuts to buy these days.

We have enjoyed watching some of the NFL playoff games -- the one we were disappointed in was the loss to Atlanta by Seattle . . . once a Seahawk fan . . . we'll see what Greenbay does later today.

And finally I am still attending class, though since the classes are virtual it is easy to be tempted to skip at times -- but I am finding the material really valuable and interesting.

And so, that is a bit of our week.  See you all "in a few"!