(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
These clouds are works of art.
I like what Bob Ross said about painting clouds: “Let’s build us a happy, little cloud that floats around the sky.”




(Photo credit to Enchanted Seashells)
Mother’s Night (Mōdraniht) is an ancient Germanic/Anglo-Saxon tradition, celebrated on the eve of the Winter Solstice, marking the first night of Yule to honor ancestral mothers, female deities like Frigg, and the divine feminine, to focus on nurturing, protection, and rebirth. It’s a solemn yet festive night for remembrance, offerings, and connecting with life’s cycles, often involving candles, feasts, and rituals for the “Disir” (mother spirits).
The first thing that comes to my mind is to honor my very own Mother Spirit with some yummy chocolate, so I will!

Winter solstice —
the farthest touch
of dark.
The sun’s been
arching back,
breathing behind the clouds,
taking its time,
waiting
for you, too. –Tanya Markul
❄
Here are a few positive affirmations to greet this winter solstice:
❄ Embrace the Darkness – I welcome the darkness, for within it lies the seeds of new beginnings.
❄ Find Inner Light – I am a beacon of light, radiating warmth and positivity even in the coldest of times.
❄ Release and Renew – I release what no longer serves me, making space for growth and transformation.
❄ Connect with Nature – I am attuned to the rhythms of the Earth, finding harmony in its cycles.
❄ Cultivate Gratitude – I am grateful for the lessons of the past and the opportunities of the future.
Curated from rebeccadouglas.co.uk

“Trade me a memory,” the butterfly said
A memory that’s heavy and harsh,
And I’ll sit and I’ll listen and try my sweet best
To lighten the load on your heart.
From a poem by Becky Hemsley+Art by Amanda Cass
A little timeline cleanse right now seems appropriate. At the end of the day, there is only love.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about T-I-M-E. Time flies. I hate to be late; I like to be ON TIME. Does time really exist at all or have we been brainwashed to think iit does?
Too much thinking about time as ephemeral makes me anxious. Too much thinking about anything does the same thing. My non-logical mind has determined that TIME itself isn’t the issue; THINKING about it IS and it makes my brain melt, just like Dali’s clocks.

“Time doesn’t exist, clocks exist. Time is just an agreed upon construct.”
— David Foster Wallace
“It takes just one unattended moment for an hour to pass.”
― Sherod Santos, Square Inch Hours: Poems
Santos was born in South Carolina, graduated from San Diego State University, and studied at the University of California, Irvine. I never met him when I attended SDSU, but I knew ABOUT him; all of us who studied creative writing and poetry knew about “Rod” Santos and W.S. Merwin and Glover Davis, who was actually my professor.
David Foster Wallace was an acclaimed American writer known for his fiction, nonfiction, and critical essays that explored the complexities of consciousness, irony, and the human condition. Wallace wrote the novel Infinite Jest.
“The Persistence of Memory” is an iconic 1931 surrealist oil painting by Salvador Dalí, famous for its “melting” clocks draped over a desolate, dream-like landscape inspired by his Catalonian home. The painting uses a paranoiac-critical method to explore the subconscious, with the distorted clocks symbolizing the fluidity and subjectivity of time, influenced by Freudian psychology and potentially Einstein’s theory of relativity. From Google.
Could Leon Russell’s version of As Time Goes By be the best ever? I think so…mature Leon was awesome, too.
I don’t think I ever knew there were more verses. I’m not sure if this is the original or if someone added to it, but it’s lovely.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
When the blazing sun is set,
And the grass with dew is wet,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
Then the traveler in the dark
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see where to go
If you did not twinkle so.
In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye
Till the sun is in the sky.
As your bright and tiny spark
Lights the traveler in the dark,
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
The Star by Jane Taylor
Art from Pinterest
As long as there are bluebirds, there will be miracles and a way to find happiness.

Quote curated from Pinterest: Credit to the writer.
Art by Ida Rentoul Outwaite
I’m at #3 with Angel Boy, #2 with Angel Girl.

I remember that the original Angel Boy was about fourteen years old when he entered the final stage, taller than me. Now I have to get on my tiptoes to hug him and HE bends down to me.
In my mind, he’s still and forever #1 or #2, so it doesn’t seem right that the roles have reversed, and it won’t be long before the Angel Kids will also be taller than me, because mostly everyone else is.
I guess that’s why they call me Little Grandma.
**I found this on Pinterest, but credit goes to artist Giselle Dekel.**