Mel and I went for a walk in the rain this morning. We've been foregoing weekend morning walks in favour of playing pickleball. But today's wet weather had us reverting to a very pleasant stroll in our neighbourhood. I took the photo that appears in the visual (below) as we stood on the little bridge crossing Cattail Creek in Katimavik Woods.

Later we made a variation of a butternut squash soup, using banana squash from my mom's garden. If you have tried-and-true recipes that call for squash, please send them my way.

"Think about your particular assignment at this time in your life. It may be to get an education, it may be to rear children, it may be to be a grandparent, it may be to care for and relieve the suffering of someone you love, it may be to do a job in the most excellent way possible, it may be to support someone who has a difficult assignment of their own. Our assignments are varied and they change from time to time. Don't take them lightly. Give them your full heart and energy. Do them with enthusiasm. Do whatever you have to do this week with your whole heart and soul. To do less than this will leave you with an empty feeling."

— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

It's impossible to find perfection in another person, including a life partner. And yet it's so easy to think that our partners should be perfect. Instead, perhaps we should ask ourselves: Does this relationship nourish me? Does it give me the kind of support I crave? Is this person committed to sticking with me in good times and in bad? Does this person accept me, imperfections and all? Am I a better version of myself when I'm with this person?

"Love immediately. Love extravagantly. Like there's no tomorrow. Because, one day, that just might be true."

— Have a Nice Day

As a manager, I often wondered whether a task I assigned by email was being worked on, especially when the task was time-sensitive. In my experience, two simple words communicated receipt, acknowledgement and action in one fell swoop. Those two words were "On it!"

In her Huffpost article Why Cleaning And Organizing Is So Therapeutic When We're Stressed, Krissy Brady explains why tidying up can help us cope with anxiety. Written in March 2020, the article focuses on feelings of overwhelm and powerlessness that many people were experiencing at the beginning of the pandemic. "When things feel far outside our control," Brady states, "we turn to rituals like cleaning to self-soothe.... Cleaning provides us with a sense of control over our environment."

Take advantage of your new-found time to be more present in the lives of your family and friends. The Harvard Business Review article states: "close personal relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy." Keep in touch with your former colleagues. "Just because you are retiring doesn’t mean you have to lose touch with the group of friends you made in your workplace," says the British Heart Foundation article. Take the initiative to arrange regular get-togethers with individuals or groups of old colleagues. And don't stop there. Go beyond existing relationships to build new ones: join a club, volunteer, take an evening class, invite a neighbour for coffee.

"People start to heal the moment they feel heard."

— Cheryl Richardson

It's my experience that we are more likely to notice a famous person's diagnosis with a given disease when we know someone who has personally faced the same illness. So there is value in both types of stories—those of the well known and those of the little known.

"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow; but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."

— Agatha Christie

My superpower through this string of turbulent events has been writing. It's been an outlet for mourning what I've lost, for sharing what I've learned through the messy middle, and for redefining who I am. It's enabled me to express my emotions and to gain perspective. It's offered an opportunity to derive meaning out of difficult circumstances. It's given me a platform not only to share wisdom but to seek it as well. It's been a daily exercise in writing my story. That story could have been sad, bitter and self-pitying. Instead, it's been a string of posts filled with gratitude, love and little victories (and a few big ones too).

One of the best things about daytripping is that we can explore different parts of the same place, returning to favourite hangouts and adding new destinations with each visit. It's how I cook: superb recipes get added to our collection of favourites and become part of our regular rotation; mediocre recipes get dropped to make room for new discoveries.

"Find the beauty and joy in your daily rituals and you will find beauty and joy in your daily life. To love your habits is to love your days, and to love your days is to love your life."

— James Clear