Word of the Day: Excogitate (In/Out The Box)

EXCOGITATE: To think out; devise; invent. To study intently and carefully in order to grasp or comprehend fully.

TO THIINK IN OR THINK OUT…WHAT IS YOUR METHOD?

According to wiseGEEK, to think outside the box means means to “handle a situation or challenge in an unconventional manner. The origin of the phrase is believed to date back to the 1960s, and is often associated with a famous mental puzzle called The Nine Dots.”

I’ve had a lot of jobs over the years and I’ve found that no one really wanted me to think outside the box — independently, creatively, with imagination or compassion. I felt the overwhelming corporate mantra was to agree with everything and keep quiet.

And that leads us on to another outside the box obsession of mine…

I love boxes; cardboard boxes, wooden boxes, large and small boxes. Over the years, I’ve accumulated a massive collection. (I’m not a hoarder, I’m not a hoarder, I’m NOT a hoarder. Stop thinking that!)

But a box full of Bandit was my favorite. Our poor baby died of chronic renal failure. Wasn’t she soo beautiful? Sniff.

banditjuly10 003BOX
She’s speaking to me with her eyes, ” I don’t feel very good, Mommy.” Photo by Enchanted Seashells

Do you have a favorite box? What do you collect?

Word of The Day: Zipola

Zipola: Slang. Nothing at all; zip; zilch.

A monster has been created.

Almost ten-year-old Angel Boy 2.0 has become a rabid Scrabble player. Zipola is a word he used to gain a triple word score.

It’s a valid word in SOME Scrabble dictionaries, but not all. However, no one was going to take that pride and joy away from him, that’s for sure.

In fact, last night he surpassed 400 points in a one-on-one game, winning against his PhD literature professor dad, and it’s one of our proudest family moments.

It’s bad enough that I could NEVER win against the original Angel Boy; I can’t imagine the future as a total loser.

What Do You See

(It’s time to block out harsh reality for a while and return to pretty pictures and words.)

You see
We are all
Nothing but Stars
Passing each other
In the night.

A Little Poem by Athey Thompson
Art by Tijana Lucovik

New Year Greetings With a Fling of Sandpipers 𓅪

And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.
Rainer Maria Rilke

We’re getting ready for another storm but yesterday it still was sunny and warm. Check out these south-facing sandpipers, all looking in the same direction. I wonder what they’re thinking about…

Maybe they’re hoping 2026 will bring peace and harmony and love to the world. That’s my wish, too.

Do you know what a group of sandpipers is called?

There are many recognized collective nouns for a group of sandpipers:

𓅪 a bind
𓅪 a cluster
𓅪 a contradiction
𓅪 a fling
𓅪 a hill
𓅪 a time-step

My personal favorite is a “fling” of sandpipers.

𓅪 Happy 2026!
Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou

Mindfulness Mantra for 2026

Now that 2025 is almost over and we’re looking for inspiration to start a new year, how about this one? It’s said that Buddha repeated it when he taught mindfulness…

Atapi sampajano satima

It’s in the Pali language, an ancient language central to Theravada Buddhism.

Atapi sampajano satima is from Buddhist texts and means “ardent effort, clear comprehension, and constant mindfulness,” a core formula for the path to liberation.

It emphasizes diligent, wise, and continuous awareness of reality (impermanence) to see phenomena as they truly are, dissolving self-illusion.

This is a call to practice intensely (Atapi), understand deeply (Sampajano), and stay present (Satima) by observing the arising and passing of sensations and mental states without reaction, which leads to wisdom and freedom. 

We’re entering that dreaded holiday limbo zone between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, when time seems to almost stop moving in a sort of frenzied yet slightly depressed way.

If ever there was a time for meditation, calm, reflection, self care, and serenity, this is IT.

Atapi sampajano satima 

And BREATHE…

Wings of Magic

Meet Princess Aurora!

A couple days ago I was shopping with a girlfriend who was actually looking for Halloween decor for a party but as soon as I saw her tucked away on a shelf alongside sparkly lights and baubles, I knew she had to come home with me.

I had to name her, so she will forever be Princess Aurora. Isn’t she the most magical, adorable girl you’ve ever seen?

I guess this creation was meant to be a holiday decoration, but she’ll live on that chair all year long, or until a special little titian-haired Angel Girl claims her.

Princess Aurora’s magical wings light up, too. Beyond precious. Innocence personified.

Magical Places

“Magical places are always beautiful and deserve to be contemplated.
Always stay on the bridge between the invisible and the visible.”
Paolo Coelho

Found on Pinterest

This is heavenly…no phones, no social media, no distractions; simply a butterfly-filled meadow alongside a sunshiny, babbling brook.

This pic reminds me of one of my favorite songs by (who else) Leon Russell, Down On Deep River. It evokes the perfect, serene mood…

“Hear the crickets singing for a mile
And the sound of the bullfrogs make you smile
So lead me beside the still waters
Let me love you down on deep river.

Won’t you sit by my side
And hold to my hand and love me all the way?

And we’ll leave all the highways far behind
And just take a little blanket with the wine.”

Take The First Step

Photo of Agua Hedionda Lagoon by Enchanted Seashells

Word of The Day: Takiwātanga (Along With a Whole Lot of Other Stuff)

Yom Kippur starts at sundown and now we are embroiled in a government closure because the repubs are all insane and will do anything to NOT release the Epstein files, apparently at any cost.

Did you see the debacle of the gathering of generals in Virginia who had to sit there and listen to the felon and his drunken lapdog? Good for them for not applauding and for looking stoic and aghast. Maybe there’s SOME hope for us. Maybe.

Lately, we’ve heard a lot of talk from the orange POS and his worm-brained head of Health and Human Services (what a joke) about acetaminophen causing autism. The brand Tylenol came out with a classy response.


When I was in the teaching program, one of my student teaching experiences was in a classroom where the students had some form of autism. This was an area that I planned to focus on as an educator. I never pursued it, but I learned that all children learn in different ways and it’s up to teachers and parents to respect the differences and help them achieve academically as well as being compassionate to these special little beings.

The Māori word for autism is Takiwātanga, which translates to “in their own time and space”. Created by Māori linguist and rangatira (chief) Keri Opai, this term was developed to describe the unique experience of individuals on the autism spectrum. It reflects the idea that autistic people have their own unique timing, pacing, and way of experiencing the world. 

This sounds like the perfect time for another version of “A Song for You” by the Master of Space and Time, Leon Russell, of course. So mercurial, he added something special to every performance, in his own time and space.

The End of Roses


She felt vaguely upset and unsettled.
She was suddenly tired
of outworn dreams.
And in the garden
the petals of the
last red rose
were scattered by
a sudden little wind.
Summer was over

— it was Autumn.

“She felt vaguely upset and unsettled. She was suddenly tired of outworn dreams.
And in the garden the petals of the last red rose were scattered by a sudden little wind. Summer was over — it was Autumn.” L.M. Montgomery

Rainbow Valley is the seventh book in the chronology of the Anne of Green Gables series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Photos by Enchanted Seashells.