Tomorrow we’re going to Williamstown to see the movie “Maestro”, about Leonard Bernstein.

I’m excited to see it. This morning, we went to breakfast at our local diner, the Cambridge Diner. I had a great omelet – American cheese and Broccoli, wheat toast, and a handful of home fries borrowed from Maria’s plate. For the third year in a row, our dinner has been voted the best breakfast in the county—high praise.

We often go to Jean’s in Hoosick Falls, but our local diner has gotten awfully good since we last went there a lot, and it is close. I love Jean’s but know I’ll never be connected to the community there. Our diner feels close to home and part of our community. And we both fell at home there—the idea of home changes often for us.

So now, we go to both. I’ll never abandon Ninah, the best waitress and friend one could have.

I have to say the food at the Cambridge diner is very good. It only took a couple of visits, and everybody there is calling me “hon” and wishing me (by name) a happy holiday. It feels like home. It feels like  community.

I am often reminded that life is about change. We will all change, we will all die, we will all be happy, and we will all be sad. I believe the quality of my life evolves around my willingness to change. I’m learning that death is as much a part of life as breathing. Accepting that is the key to reducing fear in many cases.

Maria and I discussed this at breakfast – we have come to accept change not as crisis or drama but as life itself. I am never stunned when a dog dies. That’s what they do, as do humans. Why are we often shocked? I’ve never run out of beautiful dogs to find.

I love them so much that I can’t wait to get another. A loved dead dog is never a reason not to get another one. It’s the best reason there is.

I can have as many lifetime dogs as I wish.

We’re going to be home for Christmas. Then, off to Vermont for two days with Maria. We need it. We ride all over the country on Christmas morning, delivering meals to people who need food support. There are a lot of them this year.

This struck me as a well-composed still life. Composition is my thing; I have a natural knack for it, but I can’t imagine where it came from. Maria says I’m an artist…Hmmm.. Life is beautiful; life is rich with good.

Animals have a peaceful and meditative quality that never fails to calm and ground me. They teach me how to do it.

The landscape is in black and white, my monochrome. The Iphone and the monochrome make excellent partners. They offer rich but distinctive perspectives.

With Christmas ahead, it seems only fitting to acknowledge St. Jo. I’ve taken to meditate alongside him; saints ought to know how it’s done. It’s about time we talked about piece and compassion.

Zinnia loves to walk with me around the farm. Labs know how to sit still and wait. She is woven into every part of my life.

I love capturing Fate at rest; it seems so iconic to me.

Whatever else can be said about climate change,  it brings some of the most beautiful skies I’ve ever seen. Thanks, climate change, for that, at least.