LIMINAL LIVING #111: 9 FEBRUARY TO 15 FEBRUARY 2026

Animals, Art, Artisans, & Architecture, Birds, Community, Food & Drink, In A Vase On Monday, Liminal Life, Slow Gardening & Living, Sound & Music, Wetlands

LIMINAL LIVING #111: 9 FEBRUARY TO 15 FEBRUARY 2026

February 15, 2026

Weekly recap of my ritual of existence in this liminal space called life. (See here for more info.)

Weather

Weather was warmish, especialy after our recent frigid temps, with highs ranging from 35.1°F to 22.8°F, averaging 30.9°F this week. Lows ranged from -1.7°F to 19.4°F, averaging 11.1°F. About 5 inches of snow fell overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.

The longer days are noticeable, including at the Birdfy feeder which is recording the early birds there a bit after 6 a.m. now (sunrise on Sunday was 6:45 a.m.). When we put the feeder out the first week in January, it was about 7 a.m. when the first birds showed up (sunrise on 4 Jan 2026 was 7:20 a.m.)

Beginnings/Firsts

Nothing comes to mind.

Wild Things (Flora, Fauna, Fungi) in addition to others elsewhere in this post

TOP Row: blue jay with nut; mourning dove & blue jay; tufted titmouse. SECOND row: black-capped chickadee; female purple finch; male purple finch. THIRD row: female purple finch and goldfinches; male purple finch and goldfinches; goldfinches and a pine siskin. BOTTOM row: Carolina wren; red-bellied woodpecker with either its eye partly closed or its nictitating membrane over its eye.

I watched a webinar on Saturday morning about amphibians found in Mass. (and especially on Cape Cod), given by the Chatham Conservation Foundation. Soon they’ll be out here!

Wandering

I walked on only four days this week, all around town. Spent a few hours on Friday at the regional hospital as the driver for my husband (eye checkup) — and walked a few miles in and near the hospital itself — and while we were up there I shopped at the regional co-op. A friend (RL) and I spent a few hours on Thursday at two small art galleries and having lunch at a café in nearby town.

in-town pics

hospital pics

Curiosity & Discoveries

This Audubon print at the hospital felt a little inappropriate? Hopeful looking squirrel mere feet from very interested predator owl?

I thought it interesting that the German Air Force was at Roswell this week.

An odd empty liminal space under some stairs at the hospital

Creating

Yes! Still writing a poem and not publishing each night. Big thanks to my husband and the cat (the latter only sometimes) for giving me the time and space.

Repairing and Maintaining the human(s), the cat, and the cars

Humans: I worked out four times this week (4 hours; weights, stretching, dancing) and walked a few miles on five days. I participated in Dharma Sunday, which was Dan Clurman taking us through a somatic meditation and doing a Feldenkrais movement lesson with us for 1.5 hours. I continued participating in the Sharon Salzberg Real Happiness Challenge with a meditation period each day. We played (ping ponged) for 2 hours 40 mins this week. I walked more than 7,000 steps on six days, more than 12,000 steps on four days and more than 14,000 steps on two days. I got my hair cut early on Tuesday morning. My husband got out snowshoeing and xc skiing a few times this week.

Nesting

Cleaning/maintenance: I did sheets laundry on Monday and clothes laundry on Sunday. I swept the laundry room/mud room and vacuumed the family room, kitchen, and hallways on Monday, after my husband fixed the vacuum which had eaten a fairly sizeable metal piece from the woodstove, and I did a bit of carpet spot cleaning. I watered the houseplants on Wednesday (a couple days late, oops). My husband made the dump/recycling run on Saturday.

Yard: My husband used the snowblower to clear the driveway snow on Wednesday.

Financial/Admin: I backed up my failing laptop most nights. I paid my dermatology bill by phone on Monday. On Saturday I updated LibreOffice as its been requesting me to do for a while. Sunday I printed and gathered all the 2025 tax info, organised it (with a printed summary), and got it ready to drop off with our tax guy on Monday.

Supplies: The re-ordered xc skis and ski boots (for my husband) arrived on Tuesday and they’re the right items! I rejiggered and reduced the Amazon S&S deliveries for Feb-May. I ordered 12 jars of whole artichokes in brine from Cucina & Amore on Wednesday.

Food: I’m really into the penne-asparagus-pine nut dish! I had that most nights for dinner (except Tues., when we went out) and my husband had it on Mon., Thurs., Sat. & Sun, usually with chicken in it. We also had roasted root veggies/rice and raw veg (carrots, radishes, red peppers) and dolmades with dip/humus some nights. I added peas and artichoke hearts to the penne dish sometimes. As mentioned, we went out to eat on Tues., using another birthday coupon to another local restaurant; I got the Brussels sprouts, baby kale, and Old Bay shrimp dish, he got the pan-seared halibut with shredded sprouts and a bacony sauce (and he had his leftovers the next night), and to drink I had a Boulevardier and he had a cab sav. My husband made chicken soup from the rotisserie chicken’s bones and lots of veggies and herbs on Saturday.

Sleeping & Dreaming

Sleeping pretty well, though I averaged only 7 hours 15 mins per night this week (vs. my usual 8 hours) and my Samsung Fit 3 scores ranged from 81, when I had to get up 2 hours early for my early morning hair appt, to 94, averaging 89.3 this week. REM sleep accounted for 14-1/2 hours and deep sleep for 7 hours 39 mins. I recorded a few dreams of the many (on Tues. night into Wed. I recorded almost 3 hours of REM sleep).

Reading / Words & Ideas / Listening / Watching

Reading

BOOKS: Almost finished with Evil Bones, the 24th in Kathy Reichs’ Tempe Brennan series.

OTHER

I appreciate this 😉

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From the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: CRREL researchers discover new species frozen in Alaskan permafrost, by Justin Campfield, 11 Feb 2026.

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A humourous piece: An Exclusive Look Inside My Writing Routine by Tom Cox (29 Jan 2026).

“If you are like me you will discover that there’s a particular fizzing inspiration that needs to be bottled at this time of the day, lest it leak away. My own method is to squeeze it straight out of my pores into the [labelled] jars from my fridge I save after I have scraped them clean of the chutneys and pestos they were made for. … I always give the inspiration a star rating out of five. More recently I have started to permit half and quarter stars, which gives room for the greater nuance and self-criticism that I increasingly pride myself on. I have also taken the precaution of making the lettering bigger since the night in 1997 that Barbara Kingsolver stayed here, got up even earlier than me and, having mistaken the contents of one of the jars for homemade lemon curd, spread it liberally on three slices of sourdough then immediately went home and wrote The Poisonwood Bible.”

Listening

Songs Shazam’d this week, which just means they went in and out of my ears.

Watching

We watched a few (David Suchet) Poirots this week, including a 2-hour one and some shorter episodes. Also one Death in Paradise and probably a House Hunters or two.

Connections & Community

Local Support: I ordered a gift card on Monday for my nephew and his wife (a belated Xmas gift) from a local restaurant they like where they live. Picked up an item from the small local pharmacy on Wed. Had lunch with a friend at a fairly local café on Thursday and we patronised — in a good way! — two local art galleries (a piece of art from one showing, by a Robin Williams, is the top photo of this post) Shopped the regional co-op on Friday, the local one on Tuesday (penne restock), the local farmstand on Sat. (their spinach), and the localish (local chain) hardware store for birdseed on Thursday. We had dinner out as mentioned above at a local restaurant on Tues. and lunch at a local bakery/café on Saturday.

Relationships: My sister and I talked on the phone briefly on Monday morning. A friend (RVN) sent a catch-up email on Monday. Caught up with my hair stylist (GV) on Tuesday morning. As mentioned, spent a few hours on Thursday with a friend (RL) at two art galleries, having lunch, and walking through a nursery greenhouse. Walked to Salon on Friday with a friend (ED). I attended Salon (six of us) for an hour on Friday, before I needed to drive my husband for his eye appt. On Sat., I chatted for a few mins with a friend (LL) at the farmstand on Sat. and we chatted with other friends (P&KV) at the bakery/café for 5-10 mins.

Donations: I renewed our membership in Massachusetts Horticultural Society on Monday.