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fat lightning slices the night
explores the forest
the shadows where
i drink strange water
from a cask
in the wild earth
it tastes of dark champagne
the only thing that
stills the monster
sleeping beneath my breast

I forgot this place existed for a moment. 

For all of my trying to slow down, once Halloween hit, I spent two weeks in a mental flurry. I'm not sure why. But between the election, my day in-office and trying to corral course updates, the days slipped by in a flash. And now it's about to be mid-November... This is my problem with being frenetically busy. I lose all track of the moment. 

I spent the last week trying to recapture it. I've been slowly putting up winter/solstice/Christmas decorations since last weekend. My little white tree went up in its place on the bookcase (though it's currently naked). I have garlands and lights strung on multiple surfaces. I found a few new decorations from creators on Etsy that I'm excited about. Over the years I've been slowly adjusting my decor to be more nature oriented - foliage and wreathes and snowflakes and stars; of course, I'm keeping the hand me down decor from my mom, it just may not go up every year. 

Tomorrow (or maybe later tonight - it's 4:30 in the afternoon, but thanks to the time change it already feels so late), I'll start decorating the tree. As soon as I can pinpoint where my lights got off to. 

I decided to save this weekend for food prep, though I only got done not even half of what I had in mind. Saucy black beans for tacos (today) and to freeze for later use and chocolate granola. I left the hazelnuts in an obvious place to remind myself to make nutella. And when I get to the grocery store on Friday, I'll be focusing on meat and produce for present and future meals. Chuck roast for shredded green chile beef (date TBD), adobo shredded chicken to keep in batches in the freezer for ease of use (I may be trying out the crockpot for this one). 

Meals and the ideas of meals take up so much of my mental space these days, between trying to eat well and keep up with my protein, I'm hoping if I start planning a little further ahead, I'll have less nights where I'm cranky and hating even the idea of thinking of what the prepare, let alone eat.  

And speaking of meals, Thanksgiving is Friendsgiving, so I'm not thinking about what to cook. (Though I may make a dessert to take along. Yam Delight, perhaps.) 

And I've already penciled in Dec 1st for PTO, so I'll have a nice five day break and I've planned off two weeks around Christmas. So I can actually get my staycation in this year and maybe invest in a little slow time to get my brain to come down from the stratosphere.