I’d like to return to my Monday/Thursday blogging schedule sometime soon, but at the moment, there’s so much life going on, and a lot of good work too, and the time keeps eluding me. Truth is, I’m still recovering from Bitterblue. My house is recovering too; I’m in the midst of a deep clean my house hasn’t experienced in way too long. One of the things that got lost during the past year and a half or so when Bitterblue was consuming 12 or 14 hours every day is deep cleaning. Not just dusting the books, but moving them and dusting behind them — that sort of thing. I love a clean house. This weekend, it’s Me v. a Very Large Closet. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, I am slowly compiling my post with pictures from out west. They make me very happy. I hope to share them soon.

Fall also makes me very happy.

My friend JL recently linked me to this New York Times article, “To Feed the Hungry, Keep the Can, Open a Wallet.” Food banks and food pantries can buy food more cheaply and efficiently than we can; they know what food they need; and food drives often burden food banks/pantries with donations they can’t use. Of course, for many people, a can of food is all they can afford to give — and food banks/pantries are grateful for that, when it’s done thoughtfully. But if you possibly can, consider donating money or time to your local food bank this holiday season, rather than food. Many food banks accept online donations of any amount, and tiny amounts can be a big help. From the website of the Greater Boston Food Bank: “For every one dollar you donate to GBFB, we can provide 2.5 meals for those in need.” Poke around, ask people, I bet you can find a big or small organization around you that’s working hard to help the many, many hungry people in our communities.