My Sunday list

November 9, 2025 || 41 degrees and cloudy in Nashville || Willie snores behind a pillow || The cats are wrapped around themselves || My father’s eighty-fourth birthday

A collection of random things based on what’s in my camera roll.

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Another slow weekend

This is Sam’s spot. It’s a big basket (one I happened to receive filled with gifts at the Academy Awards in 1999), now it’s full of blankets and it sets on top of an armoire in my bedroom. Watching him jump from a lower surface and land on the armoire is one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

I’m so grateful for a cozy house with contended creatures around me, a fire in the fireplace, and a pot of beans on the stove. 2025 has turned out to be a good year. We’ve had some rough patches for sure, but they’re worth the grief when they’re followed by growth. That’s personally speaking, of course. So many out there are struggling harder than ever.

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Creativity

Juanita and Sofia

Keep in mind I’m not showing you the awful work I throw away. I like these two ladies pretty well. As with all disciplines, knowing when to stop is key. It’s so easy to be heavy-handed, and that hardly ever brings the desired result. These two have movement I can feel. I got some new illustration markers too and that helped up my game.

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I’m obsessed with this floor. A great example of making the best of what you have.

When the kitchen renovation in my house was underway, the question of flooring came up, of course. What was there was the original hardwood, just like in the rest of the house. Well, I’d chosen a particularly expensive wallpaper for the breakfast room which I simply loved and as a result didn’t have room in the budget for a new floor in the kitchen. So, we painted it black and white. I have never been sorry we did, and am now thinking about painting the front room floor room like this. Variations on a theme—my favorite.

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This movie

The Mastermind is a heist film written and directed by Kelly Reichardt. I haven’t been to many movies in the past few years but I’m glad I went to see this one. It’s funny and weird and also painfully real in that the main character takes zero accountability for anything he does.

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Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley

Still enthralled. Still reading.

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Thinking about how not to waste my life

Keep chasing the romantic things—music, painting, yoga, travel, reading, writing, making pilgrimages to the sites that move me, learning about what interests me, shedding shame, refusing guilt, celebrating everything, getting cakes for no reason, stealing one extra kiss, showing up because it’s the right thing to do, staying when it’s everything but easy, realizing the moment I’m in when I’m in it, buying flowers, saving for a rainy day, being willing to be moved.

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Thinking about what fortifies my spirit

Beauty. Grace. Depth.

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Growing a garden while the world burns down

This is a good subject. I thought the new titles might’ve been for last week only, but there’s something sweet about thinking about the things we do in the face of mortality.

We make plans. We save for retirement (if we’re lucky enough to have something to save). We make friends. We fall in love. We accumulate. We have children knowing they too will one day die. We get puppies and kitties.

We hope.

We hope.

We hope.

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I hope your days are bright and your nights are peaceful.

Love

Allison

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