It’s chilly outside — down 49 degrees tonight! And life is chaotic, as we adapt to a downstairs bed for my beloved, a dining table ‘office,’ and all the other accoutrements of a busted ankle.

So here’s what you do when life sends you mail you’d like to return to sender: make a cup of tea. Something strong, something fragrant. Add milk & Demerara sugar.

Then? Take a break from that mail. Listen to the rain falling outside the window. Watch the sparrows lining up on tree branches, the deck railing, the iron hook holding hungrily sought-after seed.

And remember: big sky mind. It all passes. Even if sometimes it takes a nice hot cup of tea to remind me.