Linda Hoye's Blog, page 34

Now

Now it is 2022. I rise early and settle in on the sofa in the den with Murphy and a big, beautiful mug of soy milky frothy coffee (I’ll get back on the intermittent fasting and Yerba mate wagon next week). It’s a morning like any other save for evidence that Daughter and Granddaughter might

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2021. The Year in Review

On this the last day of the year, it seems fitting to take a literal look back at some ordinary days of 2021 with twelve photos and a few memories. We welcomed the start of the year with a mild January. We went outside and took the dogs for walks on balmy afternoons. We did

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Top Ten 2021 Reads

For the most part, books served as my escape hatch from another upside-down inside-out year. I read mostly fiction, discovering a handful of new-to-me authors writing what I refer to as “domestic fiction” (books about family relationships) and suspense, which is a new genre for me. I also enjoyed long-awaited memoirs written by my Story

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I’m Not Optimistic

As we step lightly through these final days of 2021, it occurs that I’m leaving this year with a vastly different mindset than what I entered it with. As it was for many of us, my emotional well-being took a beating in 2020, and I fell into deep depression. I began 2021 seeking help and

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As The Year Winds Down

Traditionally, I use the last week of the year to clean up loose ends, tidy up, look back, and plan for a fresh start in the coming year. Years ago, when I was still working and many people were out of the office during this week, a reduction in the number of meetings and a

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Merry Christmas

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I

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Never Say Never

I never thought I’d do it, but I purchased, not one but two, Amazon Echo Dots on Black Friday, and they finally arrived yesterday. I asked around before I bought them, and people seemed to use them most often for listening to music. I wanted it to simplify our TV watching since I got a

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On the Way Home

I’m praying as I’m driving. I often do. Alone in my car, I whisper petitions and, sometimes, speak aloud the longings of my heart for those I love. More often, my prayers are deep and silent, offered in the fugue-likeness of autopilot driving. Today, I’m praying for someone I love who is struggling, reminding the

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Time Travel

I dream I’m in the little bungalow I grew up in on 7th Avenue. I’m downstairs in, what we called the rumpus room, but in my dream I refer to it as the rec room. It hasn’t been used for a while and I’m tidying up because I’m hosting a gathering (which, if you know

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What Love Looked Like This Week

Hands held. Driveways shovelled. Laughter shared. A chocolate offered. A gift given. A sacrifice made. A candy bar cut in four pieces. Serious conversation. Meals cooked. Tears. Hugs. Prayers. Clean bath towels in bathrooms. Notes written. Dishes washed. Questions asked. Mincemeat tarts. Vegetables chopped. Ringing bells. A coffee shop. Text messages. Windshield washer fluid poured

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