Watching AT 2026

I am very interested in AT hiking and the trail

I am following these folks..

Kristen

Nancy

Laura

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

 Read this from Munich to Denver.

Geraldine Brooks tribute to her husband. It is easy to read and enjoyable.

Book Review

From the Publisher - 

Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER · A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist

A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 · A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2025 · A Time Best Memoir of 2025 · Named a Best Book of 2025 by NPR, People, Air Mail, Bookreporter, and Publishers Weekly

“Brooks tracks the geography of grief with patience and grace as she comes to terms with the ongoing nature of outliving the ones you love most. … Her memoir is certainly a testament to her own unique loss, but it’s moreover a lifeline to others who will find themselves in this familiar, shattered landscape of grief.” —Los Angeles Times

“A rich account of marriage and mourning.” —Washington Post

A heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey towards peace, from the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Horse

Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz – just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy – collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.

After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine and Tony settled down to raise two boys on Martha’s Vineyard. The life they built was one of meaningful work, good humor, and tenderness, as they spent their days writing and their evenings cooking family dinners or watching the sun set with friends at the beach. But all of this ended abruptly when, on Memorial Day 2019, Geraldine received the phone call we all dread. The demands were immediate and many. Without space to grieve, the sudden loss became a yawning gulf.

Three years later, she booked a flight to a remote island off the coast of Australia with the intention of finally giving herself the time to mourn. In a shack on a pristine, rugged coast she often went days without seeing another person. There, she pondered the various ways in which cultures grieve and what rituals of her own might help to rebuild a life around the void of Tony’s death.

A spare and profoundly moving memoir that joins the classics of the genre, Memorial Days is a portrait of a larger-than-life man and a timeless love between souls that exquisitely captures the joy, agony, and mystery of life.

 Sunlight Devney Perry author

I found this on Kindle and it caught my eye as it is based in Montana. Fiction.

From the site: My first day in Montana, I got into a tug-of-war over a grocery store shopping cart. The most handsome man I’d ever seen broke up the scuffle before he asked me on a date. I was seconds away from accepting but then he told me his name.

As an owner of the Haven River Ranch, Jax Haven wasn’t my boss. But he wasn’t not my boss either.

Obviously, my only option was to turn him down, scurry away, then pretend like he was a stranger on my first day of work. And obviously, I could never, ever admit that he was my secret crush.

For as hard as I work at my job, I work twice as hard to pretend Jax doesn’t exist. I don’t let myself think about his dazzling eyes or charming smile. I refuse to acknowledge how good he looks in a pair of faded Wrangler jeans. And as tempting as he is in a cowboy hat, Jax is a distraction I cannot afford.

Everything was going according to plan until the annual holiday party. Until I drank one too many flutes of champagne and let him sweep me off my feet. After a night in his bed, there was no more ignoring Jax Haven. Not when I’m pregnant with his baby.

Poem - Belonging - by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

 And if it’s true we are alone,

we are alone together,

the way blades of grass

are alone, but exist as a field.

Sometimes I feel it,

the green fuse that ignites us,

the wild thrum that unites us,

an inner hum that reminds us

of our shared humanity.

Just as thirty-five trillion

red blood cells join in one body

to become one blood.

Just as one hundred thirty-six thousand

notes make up one symphony.

Alone as we are, our small voices

weave into the one big conversation.

Our actions are essential

to the one infinite story of what it is

to be alive. When we feel alone,

we belong to the grand communion

of those who sometimes feel alone—

we are the dust, the dust that hopes,

a rising of dust, a thrill of dust,

the dust that dances in the light

with all other dust, the dust

that makes the world.

by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

simple recipe

 Making this variation

1 ripe banana

1 egg

1 cup of peanut butter or almond butter

handful of berries

dash of cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg

handful of nuts

Mix  - put in muffin tins

bake for 18-25 minutes

dairy free, gluten free

Want to try adding oats or granola.

audiobook

Part of A StoryCorps Book

Callings - The Purpose and Passion of Work

By Dave Isay

Penguin link

Stories of passion, courage, and commitment, following individuals as they pursue the work they were born to do, from StoryCorps founder Dave Isay

Told through touching conversations between friends, coworkers, and family members, in Callings, StoryCorps founder Dave Isay presents unforgettable stories from people doing work they love. From a mom telling her daughter about her bricklaying career to a father sharing his contributions to the space race as an aeromedical field tester, these stories are poignant and heartfelt intergenerational explorations into the journeys people take to find the jobs they are meant to do. Some found their paths at a very young age, others upturned their lives to change careers later in life. All discovered meaningful jobs where they could use their passions to find purpose in every day.

We meet a man from the barrios of Texas whose harrowing experiences in a family of migrant farmers inspired him to become a public defender. We meet a longtime waitress who takes pride in making regulars and newcomers alike feel at home in her Nashville diner. We meet a young man on the South Side of Chicago who became a teacher in order to help at-risk teenagers like the ones who killed his father get on the right track. We meet a woman from Little Rock who helps former inmates gain the skills and confidence they need to rejoin the workforce. Together they demonstrate how work can be about much more than just making a living, how we may find our callings in unusual places, and how chasing dreams can transform our lives.

An essential contribution to the beloved StoryCorps collection filled with many stories that have never been broadcast or published before, Callings is a tribute to rewarding work that continues to inspire everyone from students about to start their first jobs to retirees seeking their next chapter.

March 12

 

May your day be filled with blessings and remember those that are suffering.

facts

In the 1980s, 18% of the country were veterans. That number is now down to around 6%. Less and less Americans know someone who has served.

These figures come from U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center.

Lent - March 10th 2026

 

 

Pray for peace, protect those in harms way, protect the all stuck in the middle, heal those that need healing, renew sight, heal legs, heal hearts, heal minds.

thought.

 always remember that are absolutely unique. just like everyone else - 

Margaret Mead

Sonia-Rose, CAPM

@BelovedSoniaPM

Heavenly Father, as I begin my tasks and responsibilities, let my work be an act of worship. May my patience with colleagues and my integrity in small things reflect the transformation You are working in me this season. In Jesus name, Amen.

war

 We move to week 2.

Prayers for families and military everywhere.

Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

reading

last few weeks ....

Memoir Audiobook - Loveable  - by Amber Rae  Author page  - very enjoyable  - a memoir, easy to listen.

Fiction 

Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

by Beth Brower

Book review

This has been my indulgent fun fiction getaway. 

I am working on finishing Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart.