Category: musings

blog update

Back when I was first blogging here at WordPress, they would prepare a year-end summary. As someone who is (in)famously sloppy at checking stats, I appreciated this snapshot of the year.

Unfortunately, without the handy-dandy report, my own post will be more haphazard and less prettily formatted, but I’ll give it a try.

I put out 135 posts in 2025, fewer than average for me, but more than I thought I had, given that my health situation was limiting my brainpower and energy. The average word count was 248, which is lower than usual, too.

My WordPress stats page lists 1,797 subscribers but my total on my site is 2,180, which includes people who follow me on other platforms, such as my Facebook page. Over 1,100 subscribers receive my posts via email, although 80-90% are not opened. Still, I often forget that what shows up as views for each post is only people who visit my site directly, not those who read posts by email. I often am surprised when in-person friends know a bit of news before I see them because I forget that I mentioned it in a post!

One thing that really surprised me was the “Number of Shares” box on my status page. It says that there have been 36,000 shares on Bluesky, which does not seem even vaguely possible! Maybe some bot got ahold of some posts and spread them around?

I am, as always, grateful for all my readers, visitors, and commenters. I’m also mindful of the privilege of being able to continue blogging, however imperfectly, given my health challenges. There has been some news on that front that I may be able to share later this week or next.

It will probably be more than jot…

Speaking of which, please join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/13/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-13th-2026/

#JusJoJan26

Well, now that we are a third of the way through January, I’m finally getting around to thanking Linda for, once again, offering Just Jot It January.

The basic framework is to start the new year off by posting every day in January. There are daily prompts to assist people, although I most often do my own thing.

One of the things that I particularly enjoy about Just Jot It January is its flexible design. You can join at any time with a post of any length or even just a captioned photo. All you need to do is put in a pingback to that day’s prompt post on Linda’s blog if you blog on WordPress or put the link to your post in the comment section if you blog on a different platform.

The idea is that other participating bloggers will see your link and have the opportunity to visit your blog. I’ve found many blogs to follow through Just Jot It January and it’s great to reinforce my sense of belonging to a blogging community as the new year begins.

While the goal is to participate every day in January, it is not a requirement to participate. Even if you only do one January post, you can join in the fun!

Just visit Linda’s blog to get started: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/11/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-11th-2026/

SoCS: Onward!

Don’t get me started writing about the horrors of the Trump administration, especially in stream of consciousness, because it would go on for pages and pages and be incredibly painful to read.

Nobody needs that, especially because it wouldn’t be helpful in making changes that are needed to protect lives.

I’m sending prayers and well wishes to all those protesting and speaking out against the autocracy and evil that has befallen the US and afflicted so many here and across the world. While very few of us have any real power in the government, I believe our numbers will eventually prevail to get us back on a path that honors our Constitution and laws and our highest ideals for equality, compassion, and care for all people and our common home, the earth.

Stay strong but remember that, when you need to rest, others are there to carry on until you can rejoin the effort. Although I wish we could get to a better state of affairs quickly, this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint.

Onward!
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday/Just Jot It January today is “don’t get me started.” If you would like to join in with either effort, you can find details here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/09/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2026-daily-prompt-for-jan-10th/

Epiphany

[Note: I wish I were writing a post addressing the murder of Renée Good and the horrible actions of the Trump administration both in the United States and throughout the world but I don’t have enough brainpower to do so between the brain fog and jet lag, so something lighter today. I drafted this and had intended to post it for January 6th – itself a fraught date for those of us in the US – but our travel complications derailed my intent to do so.]

On January 6th, Catholics in the UK celebrate Epiphany, observing the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus. This ends the twelve days of Christmas, although the Christmas season continues liturgically through the celebration of Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan River by John.

Interestingly, in the United States, the observance of Epiphany is moved to Sunday rather than celebrated on January 6.

One of the most meaningful parts of our trip to London has been attending Mass with daughter E, son-in-law L, and granddaughters ABC and JG. I especially have enjoyed the Saturday vigil Masses because L has served as organist with E as songleader.

I’ve always loved listening to E sing. She was very musical from the time she was young and always sang in choirs at church and school. She majored in music in college and studied voice there. Because we live so far away from each other, I don’t get to hear her sing often, so it was a treat to hear her – and sing along – at Masses during our trip.

This post is part of Linda’s Just Jot It January. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/09/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-9th-2026/

explaining the travel Jot

On Tuesday, I jotted that it was a long travel day.

Except with a lot more Os in “long.”

We were heading back from London to Newark and hit a few snags.

First, the simple route from our hotel to Heathrow on the Elizabeth line was shut down and the diversion took way longer than we expected. Still, we arrived at Heathrow in plenty of time. Unfortunately, the wheelchair assistance that had worked so well on our flight out was not very efficient with our departure. T and I were literally the last people onto the plane before they closed the doors. Then, our departure was delayed because there was a rare snow shower and the plane needed de-icing.

Still, we made up time, albeit with some turbulance, and arrived just about on time in Newark. The wheelchair assistance there was very good but we ran into trouble getting the van to take us back to where our car was parked, which meant that we started to head for home in the dark during rush hour. While we had hoped to make the 180 mile (290 kilometers) trip home that night, we were too tired and jetlagged to do it, so we crashed at a hotel along the interstate and finally made it home around noon on Wednesday.

Now, we are all trying to get back to Eastern Time. I’m notoriously bad at adjusting to time changes, so it will probably take a while.

This (longer) jot is part of Linda’s Just Jot It January. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/08/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-8th-2026/

One-Liner Wednesday: the root of war

“The root of war is fear.”
~~~ Thomas Merton

Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January and/or One-Liner Wednesday! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/07/one-liner-wednesday-jusjojan26-the-7th-i-hate-when-that-happens/

an unexpected association

While visiting the London contingent of our family, we often rode by a JFK Special School. For people from the United States, JFK commonly refers to President John Fitzgerald Kennedy but we assumed that these schools must refer to a different JFK.

Our daughter and son-in-law, though, told us that the school program is named after President Kennedy. The schools are for students with special needs and recognize the Kennedy family’s involvement in the development of education for those with special needs. While there are some stand-alone schools for those with the most complex needs, many of the JFK programs are now within schools where students are mainstreamed.

President Kennedy signed some of the first legislation to assist people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities. Many members of the Kennedy family across several generations have been involved in helping those with these conditions, most notably JFK’s sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who worked through the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation for many years and founded the Special Olympics. Rosemary Kennedy, another sister in their large family, had been born with an intellectual disability and is thought to have inspired Eunice in her work.

It’s great to know that so much good has come from the work of the Kennedy family, not just in the US but across the world.

This post is part of Linda’s Just Jot It January. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/05/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-5th-2026/

SoCS: slowing down

I used to walk fast, partially due to having much shorter legs than spouse B so that even when he would slow down to walk with me, I’d still need to speed up.

Now, I am having a number of issues with my balance and need to slow down so I can concentrate on staying upright and walking relatively straight. Sometimes, I need B’s – or someone else’s – arm to help me stabilize. This is especially likely later in the day as fatigue also becomes a factor.

So, I’m slower these days but grateful to be able to be up and about, at least, on most days.

Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “fast/slow.” For more information on how to join SoCS and/or Just Jot It January, please visit here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/02/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2026-daily-prompt-for-jan-3rd/

Welcome, 2026!

After a rough 2025 for many of us, I hope that the new year will bring an increase in peace, security, freedom, and safety for each person.

We began our new year’s celebration yesterday with a midday dinner with son-in-law L’s parents. So much delicious food!

We opted to return to our hotel early in the evening before things got rowdy. We figured we could watch the festivities in Central London on the television if we managed to stay awake. I’m sure at E and L’s new home in East London there will be a lot of banging on pots and pans at midnight, along with personal fireworks. Granddaughters ABC and JG napped in the afternoon so they could be awake for the arrival of 2026.

They followed the Filipino tradition of having a bowl of 12 different, round fruits to welcome the new year.


This marks the first post for Just Jot It January 2026, an initiative organized by Linda Hill of the “Life in progress” blog. You are welcome to join in the fun at any point and can find details on her blog. I’ll write a bit more about it as the month goes on.

Happy New Year, Everyone!