In the romance novel genre, there are two types of endings: HEA (Happy Ever After) and HFN (Happy For Now). HFN means the lead couple are together at the end, but there may be trouble ahead and an HEA is not guaranteed. I think aiming for HFN is a good life philosophy in general. I spent a lot of years looking for Happy Ever After, thinking I couldn’t really start to live until I found that in a relationship or a job. I’ve learned a lot of things from the Covid scourge, from the best masks to why an oximeter is a must-have gadget to the least crowded times at Trader Joe’s. The biggest lesson, though, is that despite not being able to count on tomorrow, today is enough. I’m trying to be HFN every day – happy for the last flash of color of late-bloomer California sunflowers in my yard, happy for the arrival of a pair of pink socks I forgot I ordered, happy for a ripe, ready-to-eat avocado in the store just when I need it. Happy for right this minute.

After a year of drab pajama-like clothes and yoga pants, I yearned for something completely useless and frivolous. The copper velvet Mary Janes by Sam Edelman seemed to spring right out of my imagination into being. I have nowhere to wear them, but I love that they exist and suggest adventure, possibility, and better days ahead. 

I stayed up till 2am last weekend binge-watching Wild Crime on Hulu. The 4-part docu-drama covers a murder committed in Rocky Mountain National Park and the amazing work of National Park Service Special Agent and all-around badass Beth Shott and her small group of colleagues in the Investigative Services Branch (the “FBI” of national park land) in solving it. It had a special interest to me as Ms. Shott is married to my daughter’s boss, but it’s so well done a who-done-it that I’d have been sucked in anyway. I never realized before that the Park Service investigates crimes committed on Federal lands, but what a cool job! Shott deserves her own show.

Since 2017, Anna Brones, an artist and writer, has been publishing a digital Advent Calendar called 24 Days of Making, Doing, and Being to help people slow down and savor the magic of the season. The digital version costs $5.00 and means you’ll get an email with a new prompt every day in December through the 24th. She also publishes a print calendar in the form of a deck of cards stored in a box that you can use year after year, but I prefer the surprise of the daily email.

Don’t judge me, but I’m a fool for books that feature dragons. Not all dragons, but specifically a charming, intelligent, talking creature like Temeraire, who joins with Capt. Will Lawrence of His Majesty’s Aerial Corps in England’s battle to defeat Napoleon’s dragons over the course of nine (yes, nine!) books. The rave reviews of this alternate history of the Napoleonic Wars got me started on His Majesty’s Dragon, and the story kept me enthralled for the rest of the series. It’s loaded with action, but it’s the bond that develops between Lawrence and Temeraire that gives this series its heart.