I moved to this part of Montana in February 1994 … nearly 30 years ago … HOLY COW!

I grew up in Northwest Ohio, moved to California in 1979 … first years in East Bay/San Francisco area and then in Los Angeles area until leaving California in late 1993 to find a spot to call home … small town in the west. The criteria were skiing, sailing and mountains.

And here I am!

The first Winters in Montana always had two weeks: one early December and one in January of super cold. Super cold being -teens/20’s (F) overnight and below 10F daytime. Then things moderated to not have those weeks of super cold, less snow and some hotter summer weeks. THEN, the last 2 years … all “normal/semi-normal” kind of out the window.

Enter this year’s Polar Vortex with record setting lows and wind chills. At my house, the lowest low was -27F and no wind although when the front whooshed through on Thursday afternoon, there was a LOT of wind as well as white out … at my home! Kind of funny as in an earlier work Zoom when discussing weather with the gang, I said: “there is a wind chill warning but I don’t usually get much wind at my house because of the trees.” The lesson: never taunt Mother Nature!

As of this writing, Monday (1/15/2024) afternoon, power has not been out. The internet was sporadic in and out on Friday and Saturday … I am guessing some towers were down and up and repeat. So, it is mostly business as usual except that Emmett and my outings have been very short. He has done very well with that.

From our super cold days:

On Saturday, the morning that started at -27F … when the forecast said the high would be -9F, I said on my Instagram, that if it did get to -9, I would snowshoe to my east property boundary to see the mountains … it was so pretty that it was agonizing not to be able to go outside very much. It was -11F at 3:45 and I knew it would not get warmer AND would soon start getting colder again.

I bundled up, put wax on Emmett’s feet and out we went!

The actual distance was maybe 1000 feet round trip. The above photo is from the video I shot and I did not get the camera out until the last 100 feet. I wasn’t sure how long the camera would operate as it was below “operating temperature”!

But I got a bit of video with my Insta360 OneRS One Inch … I am very huffy and puffy: 68 years old, first snowshoe, 2.5 weeks post some sort of respiratory thing that prohibited much cardio and -11F!!! Anyway, here it is:

Today, Monday … after looking at the weather forecast … wind and snow (4-11 inches) due Wednesday … I made a quick trip to the grocery store … mainly for Vaseline for Emmett’s feet. The wax I have is years old and has not seemed very effective. The internet has some votes for Vaseline (petroleum jelly) so we’ll give that a try. Also got a few fresh fruits and veg, chocolate milk for my mochas (!!!). Pantry, frig and freezer are full of food for all of us.

In addition to keeping the firewood stocked up close to and in the house, the pets entertained, the last bits of my programming, baking bread and rolls, making soups and stews … I am LOVING my daily art sessions: watercolor painting, sketching, line and wash, colored pencil … so much fun and I see bits of improvement and then oops, but it is all enjoyable to me. This past week, I started an illustrated journal: think blog on paper with ordinary drawings, paintings of ordinary things.

Below is my Instagram post with how and why I was motivated to start an illustrated journal.

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A post shared by Liz Summers (@easummers)

To my fellow U.S. followers …. stay warm and safe! I don’t think there is much of the U.S. that will be spared unusual cold and conditions.

Somewhere/somewhen I saw “when you chop wood, chop wood” as a “Zen” saying. It really hit home for me as in “stay in the moment”, “be present”, “keep your mind on your current task”.

About the same time, I read Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now”.

A favorite YouTuber, @BrennaLivingJoyfully ( Everything you wanted to know about my life | Solo Female Van Life – YouTube) who does vanlife in Australia, recently posted a link to an Eckhart Tolle video that had a huge impact on me. I had read the one book (The Power of Now) but had never listened to Eckhart Tolle speak.

This is not the video that Brenna linked to, but it is a video that set up a resolution for me … hopefully not just for 2024, but for my life … the takeaway for me is not to engage in “everyone else is wrong and I am right” … and a rehashing of incidents that make me feel like a kind of victim … and/or that I didn’t think up a zippy comeback to whatever happened.

*** The YouTube Share Embed link is not working for this video, but if you’d like to watch (listen … which I HIGHLY recommend )… on YouTube search “Eckhart Tolle Can We Trust Our Feelings and Intuition”

Can We Trust Our Feelings and Intuition? (youtube.com)

In the video, Eckhart illustrates the power of just being and not “fighting back” as well as not calling a friend to rehash and get some sort of validation for our part in whatever incident.

I have wasted many hours in rehashing … in having the rebuttal arguments in my head … over and over and over again.

Holy Cow.

I hope that I am now a little bit enlightened and at least aware so that I stop myself from this behavior. And also, from feeling “superior” for my supposed “rightness”. GAH!

I have caught myself a few times since watching the video and while I hardly think I will be instantly perfect at letting go and staying present … I have seen glimpses of the peace that can come from not participating in rehashing/replaying, etc.

So.

When I catch myself going down a path of spoiling the current moment: the lovely walk with Emmett in the woods, play with Oscar, sitting quietly and watching it snow, enjoying my cup of coffee … I tell myself:

“when you chop wood, chop wood” i.e. enjoy the beauty of now.

We have had a lot of low cloud deck, stagnant air, fog and now freezing fog.

All of the above are what I call “cold to the bone” weather … it is a damp-ish cold that feels colder than it does when it is in the teens (Fahrenheit) and a “dry cold”.

BUT.

Freezing fog … it can be beautiful if not entirely comfortable.

All of the above images were taken this morning when Emmett and I walked our long walk on the state land.

Below … not freezing fog, but …

… an interesting and colorful tree trunk remnant. I took the photo thinking about it being a reference for a future watercolor painting.

2023 is winding down. Emmett, Oscar and I are enjoying.

Freezing Fog … lovely.

Happy Christmas to all!

Emmett, Oscar and I had a lovely Christmas … all weekend plus THE day!

The weather has been sunny, clear and cold so we kept our wee bit of snow … beautiful on trees and bushes but no need for shoveling and the walking is good.

Nights have been clear so moon viewing is excellent also.

If you followed my Instagram story, you know I made a number of appetizer treats vs cooking a Christmas dinner … here in the U.S. we just had Thanksgiving so I didn’t feel I needed another large dinner. The snacks were good and fun and I think I will do the same for New Year’s weekend.

I have been rereading Kindle books in my library that are Christmas books … I have a large selection and have enjoyed all of my picks so far – Fun!

I am spending time every day with watercolor: practice, practice, practice … small bits of improvement but the main thing is that I am having fun!

I tried to get a Christmas family photo but some of us were uncooperative … I had both 360 cameras set up and have some footage to go through … hopefully I can get some video up this week.

Bottom line, we had a wonderful Christmas weekend … a low key short week ahead and then we repeat for New Years’.

Cheers!

I love this time of year! Kind of funny as I have had quiet days at home with pets for many years … no presents but lovely music, good food and hopefully enough snow to snowshoe!

Enough snow is doubtful this year but you never know!!

Friday, December 15, 2023 … my last coding day of 2023.

I started the day with a delicious mocha latte … That was followed by Emmett throwing up and then…

Oscar pushed the little Christmas tree onto the floor.

All was cleaned up and no damage to the tree or any creatures, but Oscar and I did have words!!

Onward.

Emmett and my first daylight walk …

So pretty that it made me forget the morning messes :)

I finished my coding tasks including uploading the project, documentation and my final 2023 timesheet … at 1:20 p.m.

I have 13 hours left to work off my final contract and those will be spent in January when the code completed today will be deployed to production. I will likely have a few meetings, some code adjustments and ?? before I run out of hours. I am ok with this … the stakeholders for this code were caught in the same snafu that the rest of the tech team was. I am happy to be able to deliver a good solution and then be done on a positive note.

Current snow … enough to look a bit Christmas-y but not enough for snowshoes.

Yes, that is my glove or a glove. The routine is as we get close to home, Emmett gets a glove to carry home. I finally smartened up and carry a spare to throw … took me a while :( . At any rate, he considers it big fun and brings the glove inside very proud of himself!

My watercolor journey so far has been wonderful! It did not really take off until I bought the little art table. I had a number of supplies for I think 6 weeks and used them once or twice. Once I had the art table and sitting down to paint or draw involves only filling some water jars …

I have been spending 20-30-60 minutes early evenings learning and experimenting. I am finding it incredibly relaxing. When I stop, I walk around with a big grin on my face as I reflect.

One of my favorite YouTube watercolor persons is Harriet de Winton:

This skill level is far beyond mine but on day 11 I decided to try the candies:

I tried them multiple times and practiced brush strokes and tried again. No masterpiece but I learned a lot and I think it is good to keep trying to gain some experience or ??

The snowman is out of my own head and uses some techniques that Harriet demonstrated on the candies which is what gave me the idea.

I am dating all of my stuff so that hopefully … next year, when I hope to be able to do the Advent Watercolor Calendar … I will see progress.

Meanwhile, I am actually very pleased that some of the items look a bit like what they are supposed to be :) !!!

I might try some of the others from the calendar: the gnome, the stocking, Santa stuck in the chimney … And I will have another go at my snowman!

Nine days until Christmas!

Here we go … headed toward Christmas and the end of 2023.

Some catching up from late September …

My work hiatus/retirement that occurred 7/6 … kind of came to an end in early October. I was not actually thrilled … I had a LOT of time to think about things.

Short story is that I realized how much anger/angst/annoyance had been involved in the work environment. And at 68 with hopefully 20-25 ish years left on this earth … I re-evaluated and decided that my mental health and happiness did NOT lie in that situation.

The work hiatus started/stopped and holy cow … what a mess. I could not just walk away as I had been paid and owed some hours. But I did make clear that I would work those hours and then I was done … time for me to move on.

It was not what I planned. I hoped to work into my 70th year (end of 2025). We (tech team) had a great plan and I anticipated that we would complete deployment of that plan in 2025 and it would be a timely time for me to be done: 2 more years of income at a level that would allow me to get the house in shape to be most easily maintained as I aged as well as a good reserve.

I saw two quotes that resonated with me.

“Sometimes, no matter how much you love what you’re doing, it’s not worth becoming the person it’s turning you into.”

— Whale Harbor Dreams (Saltwater Sunsets Book 1) by Fiona Baker https://a.co/gvTwCEs ***

And …

“What you tolerate is what you validate” … Instagram anonymous.

Those words helped me understand my need to step away from my plan, from a long-time team and client and from sure-ish income.

I should be done, i.e. fulfilled my hours owed commitment by 12/20 latest: Merry Christmas to me!!

Meanwhile …

I need to fill in some income in order to stay in this house. Or I could sell and be able to buy a little house in a different area for cash and … well be darn comfortable. I want to try to keep this house … I think.

So, I have some “irons in the fire” !!

Social media content producing: I enjoy the videography and photography AND writing so I am pursuing that.

Business consulting: Not my first choice but maybe some opportunities to leverage my own experience.

My own social media: I’ve had limited success with blog and YouTube, but I haven’t been giving it my all, so maybe a possibility

Various online work from home gigs: bookkeeping, virtual assistant, database entry/programming ???

At any rate, some options and I am excited to see what happens.

I did an experimental walk through of Wild Thing (RV) using my 360 camera. This was to give info to a consignment dealer as well as gain experience with doing interior 360 video:

Thanksgiving 2023 … I had a lovely day … cooking, walking and being outside with Oscar and Emmett, a delicious meal … it was one of those days where I just relaxed and did all that I wanted to do. As I was doing all, I was posting photos and short video to Instagram stories. Finally, I made a mini-movie from all of the IG story posts:

One of my “for fun” things … I decided to learn watercolor painting and colored pencil drawing. I am very much enjoying both! It is relaxing to spend some time in the evening messing with one or the other.

I did realize that I needed a spot somewhat dedicated to painting and drawing. I ended up getting a small art/drafting table. The bookcase in my office was really just a place holder piece of furniture so it went away and the art table is in its place.

The table fits perfectly in place of the bookcase. It has a pull-out shelf which holds my iPad so I can follow along with tutorials. Two small drawers to hold supplies or at least supplies for current projects. To the right is a ring light. I bought that for multiple purposes: light on me for Zoom meetings, light on objects and/or food for photography and videography and light on that table for evening painting. The ring light is shown fully shortened but it extends to nearly the ceiling. It has a built in battery so can be run cordless, thus easy to move around … AND it has a phone holder so I can set up my phone to record video. There is an adjustment that allows the ring light to bend to 90 degrees and all in between. I have used it with much success.

Ultimately I am thrilled to be semi-retired and exploring other projects and light work opportunities.

AND!!! It is December 1 and we woke to an inch of snow and 2 Winter Storm warnings … YEA!!

Here we go Winter!