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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings #PopeLeoXIV #Paris Friday, Sept 25 🍁 1. Great Greek dinner & fun evening with my g’daughter, her partner & my co-grandmother last night. 2. I’m within shouting distance of completing this abbreviated family history project (from 1636-1955). I’m stopping at 8th grade as no one gets to see my high school, college & 1970’s secrets. 🤣 3. Watched a lot of the Pope’s first busy day in 💗Paris — France seems VERY enthusiastic for Leo XIV!

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Tuesday, Sept 22🍁 1. Delightfully sunny Equinox Day with chilly mornings & evenings, the backyard jays have mostly shut up, and I had four hummingbirds in a crape myrtle tree without combat. 2. Met the challenge of accurately sorting out Polish immigrants’ names & dates for this family history project. 3. I’ve found genuine respite from doomscrolling by limiting daily time to a couple of brief sessions, AND a lovely online friend surprised me with a gene...

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Friday, Sep 18🍁 — catching up 1. Housecleaner on vacation, gardener AWOL, no deliveries, no visits, few texts & only 2 phone calls all week. A perfect island of solitude when space opens up & I feel free. 2. While creating a family history for grandkids from genealogy records & old photos, I discovered a surprising fact I’d missed previously: I’m first-generation American on my dad’s side & tenth generation American on my mom’s. (Dad fibbed, 🤣) 3...

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Thursday, Sep 10 🍁 1. Holy Cow, it was hot today but our blessed delta breeze is back in order & cooling things off. 2. I finally took needed pics, posted on NextDoor & in ten minutes gave away ALL my analog oil painting stuff — easels, paints, canvasses, brushes, everything. 3. Had groceries delivered & ate ice cream for dinner. (Because at this age, who cares?) 4. Bonus: Watched the 9/11 Memorial Mass from St. Patrick’s in Manhattan, which was lov...

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Wednesday, Sept 9 🍁 1. Local granddaughter and her partner are bringing dinner tonight, yay. 2. They have asked for our family’s history & I’ve been steeped in musty nostalgia for days, digitizing ancient photos & devising a journal/memoir. Very tedious work, but I do love creating artsy graphics. 🖌️👩‍🎨 3. Summer has returned & with it “my” teenaged scrub jays which are screeching SO LOUDLY I’ve had to shut doors & windows. I’m hoping my memory is co...

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Sunday, September 6 🍁 1. Chatty grandson visited last night, bringing poppyseed muffins from his other grandma. Yum. 2. Binged a lot of Season 1 of “For All Mankind.” 3. Scheduled appointment for 3 vaccines on the same day as a hairdresser appt. Big day for Cyn the Recluse!

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Friday, September 4 🍁 1. Two massive spruce trees, about 100 yards away, fill the long-distance view from my couch spot. I watched the screeching juvenile scrub jays spend their morning diving from the trees’ tip-tops almost 180° straight down, over & over again — amazing! 2. Super-quiet day with few interruptions — just me, an audio book & a new Procreate challenge. 😬 3. …and buttered popcorn for brunch! 🍿

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Thursday, Sep 3 🍁 1. Eldest granddaughter passed (with a ridiculously high score) her North American Boards in veterinary medicine. She’ll be finished in May unless she opts for further specialty training; she’s only been in school 22 years, lol. 2. #porchsitting today displayed waves of fluffy sky fractals, dolphins, a Bichon, a turtle & a Shitzu. The final wave was cloud cover heralding (maybe) rain. ☂️ 3. To avoid doomscrolling from real-life doom, I’ve cu...

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Sunday, Aug 23 🥀 1. Dinner visit with chatty grandson last night, whose conversation skills outweigh & outlast mine by 300%. I’ve embargoed his (GOP) politics, but apparently anything/anyone before 2015 is fair game. 😖 2. Very weird, haunting dreams in restless sleep, but realized it’s just the week of the stupid full/fool moon so it will pass. (We humans are 60-75% water…the tide doth riseth.) 3. Back to my normal hermitic life this week; YEA!

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Sunday, Aug 16 🥀 1. Stress-free, fun, gossipy visit with Vagabond son & DIL, which included presents from their recent trip to France & Germany. 2. Fave veggie sourdough pizza lunch on the patio with them and “my” nearby hummingbird. 3. Finished catching up on all episodes of an excellent podcast (Fr. Jim Martin on America Media). There are some remarkably intelligent & interesting people in the world!

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Saturday, Aug 8 🥀 1. After 15 years on Reddit, I deleted my account today. They’re going full-on AI in multiple ways, and there’s no “redeeming value” to posts anymore. Buh-bye! 2. Lovely patio nap today. 3. Most of my yard looks like the end o’ summer, but there are scads of new blooms on the oleanders. Unpredictability seems to be a hallmark of #ClimateCrisis. 4. Bonus: Rosemary potatoes in the air fryer and an omelet for dinner (if I ever get off this couch...

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings #birds Tuesday, Aug 4 🥀 1. Big, fat, round, firm, juicy, succulent, balloon-like red grapes with cottage cheese. 2. Our delta breeze has returned, temps are down, maybe no A/C today. 😬 3. Lulled into pure relaxation by two of our neighborhood’s Swainson’s hawks circling & soaring on the thermals this morning. Next time around, I want wings! 4. Bonus: This season’s Northern Royal #albatross chick is trying out his wings, preparing to fledge in 5-6 weeks. You...

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Monday, Aug 3 🥀 1. Chatty grandson came to visit last night & brought ice cream. 2. Had ice cream for lunch & a carb-coma nap. 😬 3. I’m breaking all our water restriction rules and running a backyard sprinkler for the birds. It’s 103° out and I’m pretty sure they’re hot.

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Sunday, Aug 2 🥀 1. Our heat wave has arrived, but with ceiling fans & judicious window/door management, my house stays cool without A/C until mid-afternoon. Blue skies & sunny days are worth the few HOT days. 2. Tomorrow is my eldest granddaughter’s 27th birthday — the year she’ll finish her veterinary medicine degree. She’s gorgeous, brainy, and so much fun! (She’s also in NC so I’m missing the cake!) 3. Long email from an Internet-only friend I’ve kno...

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings #bloomscrolling #photography Wednesday, July 29🌺 1. Peaceful, quiet, sunny days with few interruptions and a limited to-do list. 2. Caught up with all seasons’ podcasts from Fr. Jim Martin on the Jesuit ‘America Media’ channel. He is a skilled interviewer & had some remarkable guests. Looking forward to new content soon. 3. Oleander seeds look like dust bunnies & disperse wantonly in early spring, growing EVERYWHERE. This one (below) just bloomed in a...

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  @violenteastcoastcity@mastodon.social Boomers were the solution, not the problem. Blame Boomers’ parents & grandparents. Boomers were very young adults in the early 60’s.

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  @violenteastcoastcity@mastodon.social Can’t you just speak into your cuff like they do in movies? 😆 (Boosted your toot for more serious replies)

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings #poetry Saturday, July 25🌺 1. Another breezy, sunny, peaceful patio morning with tea and a good book. 2. Brunch was leftover sourdough flatbread vegetarian pizza AND popcorn with Cajun seasoning. 😬 3. No chores & no interruptions gave me time & space for a summer poem (below).

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Thursday, July 23🌺 1. Had a lot on my “to do list before the housecleaner comes” so I drank real coffee and OMG I FELT GOOD TODAY! Got everything done, including spraying floor tile grout with bleach, which both asphyxiated me & wrecked my unused muscles — but the floor is sparkle clean! 2. Filling the hummingbird feeder yesterday when a glorious ruby-red dragonfly sat on a nearby leaf. As serial killers go, they’re stunning. (95% kill rate, more than most e...

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings #birds #eagles Tuesday, July 21🌺 1. Unstable weather over the Sierra means gloriously hypnotic cumulus clouds over my backyard, perfect for patio sitting. 2. Couldn’t think of one reason to get out of bed today but did it anyway & now I’m glad…see Number 1. 😬 3. “Jackie,” the female eagle from Big Bear live cam fame, was found this weekend sick & unable to fly, but she was rescued and is being well cared for. “Shadow,” her mate, continues to feed & p...

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  The list of “undesirables” and implied “expendables” keeps growing, and with it the change in policies & enforcement: Immigrants (documented & undocumented). Detained immigrant children. Asylum seekers. Disabled/Seniors/others on Medicaid. Trans folks. Unhoused. Veterans. Families using SNAP benefits. “Antifa terrorists” & protesters. Haitians & Somalis on TPS. (Plus, non-whites, non-Christians…and others I can’t recall right now.) With its recent rulings SCOTUS has...

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  #SilentSunday #Photography #NaturePhotography Lake Louise (July, 2026, taken by a traveling friend.)

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Thursday, July 16🌺 1. Our blessed delta breeze spun up last evening & cooled things off — expecting low 90’s for the next week. Patio sitting was A+++ this morning. 2. Long conversations with AZ son & NC son (who almost always call on the same day — it’s that twin ESPN thing). 3. I found joy in this beautiful short clip from YouTube Chamberlin Nature — sharing with you. 😊 https://youtu.be/2iRvF3uzbrY?si=kzE2XkvDixJIjvks

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings #cooking Wednesday, July 15🌺 1. Waking up to early sunshine on a day when all I have to do is shower and put away one basket of folded laundry. No cooking! 2. Nectarines, red grapes, Envy apples & honeydew melon — summer on a plate. 3. Learned & tried a nifty hack for times you need cooked chicken breast quickly: boil water (with celery, onions, carrots & seasoning if you feel like it), add a bit of chicken broth if you have it. Add chicken (breast...

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Tuesday, July 14🌺🇫🇷 1. Our muggy monsoon clouds are gone and we have a couple of sunny 100°+ days to enjoy. 2. Southwestern salad for dinner last night with chicken, black beans, Mexicorn, & leftover jalapeño dressing. Yum! Redux tonight. 3. Found a beautiful reference photo for a new digital painting. I’ve been on an art break but this pic is inspirational & I’m anxious to get started.

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Sunday, July 12🌺 1. BFF just left after a great visit — on his way to NYC. Almost everyone I know is traveling or just returned and I’m SO DARN GRATEFUL to just remain home, home, home! 2. The strawberry (colored) crape Myrtle tree has finally bloomed, just as the pink double-oleander begins to fade. 3. Hosting two visitors within a few days is hard for old hags, and a nap looms in my immediate future!

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Friday, July 3🌺 1. “My” two hummingbirds put on quite the air show this morning; they were apparently not in the mood to share the feeder and their display rivaled anything I’ve seen from show-off jets. 2. Vagabond son & DIL made it safely to Berlin, 4 hours by train from Munich. 3. I bought a microwave popcorn popper that looks like a little coffee pot & I’m going to try it out in 3-2-1…🍿

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Tuesday, July 8🌺 1. Delightful, conversation-filled overnight visit from my inimitable youngest granddaughter (beautiful, funny, brilliant, charming, industrious, & wise beyond her 20 years). 2. Vagabond son & DIL arrived home safely after a 19-hour journey from Germany. I’m not even gonna ask. 3. Sweatshirt weather until noon today. I don’t understand it, but I approve of this summer’s NorCal weather.

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Monday, July 6🌺 1. Good karma knocked on my door as a sweet Filipino lady brought me Communion — which I used to do 30 years ago for “elderly shut-ins.” It only took me six years to work up the courage to ask. 🙄 2. It’s a sunny, breezy, no-A/C day again, the perfect atmosphere for a patio nap, and which I did. 3. If you have a “West Coast Sourdough” restaurant nearby, get their Southwest chicken salad. OMG-Good!

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  #3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings Sunday, July 5🌺 1. Unusually subdued 🇺🇸evening in our neighborhood last night — one hour of kabooms from 9-10 and that was it. 2. Chatty grandson expected this afternoon to help me get ready for his NC cousin’s visit this week. (Hosting is hard when one’s knees are on strike.) 3. Long phone call from my BFF, who will also be here in a few weeks, after Vagabond son & DIL. >