*View of the mountains

Thank you for sharing. Self care is very important. With traveling to Idaho from Florida I knew I had to take care of my self so I could take care of my parents. That means doing the food, exercising and sleep.

Kinda like on the airplane, put oxygen on yourself first!
Chloe
Healing is grand

*a red-winged blackbird flying across
: the road with nesting material in
: its feet
: *a soaring Swainson's Hawk turning
: just enough to show the pattern on
: its underside
: *blooming day lilies and hollyhocks
: in my garden

: The last month or so has been really
: hard. Lots of stress at work, and
: I have been feeling uninspired.
: This is my hawk nest monitoring
: season, which usually brings me
: joy, but this year a lot of the
: nests have failed. So I've just
: been plugging along, doing my
: food, because I know that if I do
: that, things will eventually get
: better. I've also been working on
: going to the gym regularly.

: The other day when I was listening to
: satellite radio in my car, the DJ
: happened to announce that they had
: a temporary special channel for my
: favorite band, The Dave Matthews
: Band. When I lived in the Boston
: area, I used to go see them in
: concert every summer and every
: winter when they would tour. The
: last couple of years, I went to
: see both shows in the summer and
: winter, because they do different
: sets each night. Then I moved to
: New Mexico, and they have only
: come here once in the past 13
: years. Anyway, I switched to that
: channel, and they announced that
: they would be broadcasting a live
: concert every Friday night, and
: the one that Friday would be from
: the venue where I used to go see
: them in the Boston area. So last
: Friday, I went straight home from
: work, and turned on the satellite
: radio unit we have attached to our
: stereo. When the concert came on,
: I cranked up the volume, stood
: between the speakers, and closed
: my eyes and went to the concert. I
: could feel the music in my body. I
: danced and sang just the way I
: would have if I'd been there. It
: was wonderful. Next year I have to
: go to a concert, either in
: Colorado, or maybe I will go visit
: my family and see one in Boston.

: Interestingly, I had been wanting to
: get back to my writing (a Buffy
: the Vampire spin-off that my
: friend, her husband and I started
: back in the late 90's and which I
: picked up again after years of
: inactivity) but wasn't getting
: anywhere, and since listening to
: the concert I have been writing. I
: always associate Dave Matthews
: Band with the stories because I
: was listening a lot when I wrote
: my first stories.

: We also just recently bought a little
: Bose speaker that sounds
: incredible, and I had been doing
: something else I hadn't done in a
: while, just listening to favorite
: songs. I have some that I used to
: listen to with the stereo turned
: up. With this little speaker, I
: can make a playlist on my iPod. (I
: used to have to pull out a pile of
: cds or LPs to do this.) I will be
: working on that in the near
: future. I usually have music in
: the background, but this is
: different - totally listening and
: getting into the music.

: I need to remember that music is a
: big part of self care for me, and
: also very important for my
: creativity. Unlocking my
: creativity is really important for
: my well-being.
: Allison