Joyful bravery

Writing, sewing, um, life.

A new day, another chapter in On Being Brave, and the proper photos taken of a brand new quilt! It's a Monday kinda like no other, other than it's simply another Monday afternoon. But joyful bravery adds a new dimension to my life as though I'm the alien, newly arrived on Earth, wondering how cool is this rather gray-skied planet in this little corner of a tremendous world.

Washed and decently crinkled; I'll take it!

Once again the North Coast is smothered by clouds, but it's good for the Mile Post 18 fire, the inversion layer lessening the oxygen, trapping the smoke, keeping the blaze slightly under wraps. If I was newly landed on this planet, I'd be shocked at how many fires burn, but compared to the enormous fires from years past, California is getting off easy. Canada and the rest of the Pacific Northwest not so much, but as an interloper from outer space, I wouldn't realize that, nor would I actually be aware of how blessed California is when compared to those years past.

Close up of the back, showing off the heart-shaped hand quilting in the blue squares; so glad it's somewhat visible!

That's merely an aside, in part that I have a sore throat and slight sniffles and feel a little out of it with this cold. Which thankfully didn't impede last night while finishing the Warm Hearted quilt, woo hoo! However, that not wholly focused state did alter my photography skills, or rather my acumen with hanging said quilt on the laundry line the right way up. It doesn't matter so much for the front, but the back is upside down, please forgive my lack of correct direction.

The back. Pretty. I'm sure aliens would agree.

Mostly I wanted these pictures so in future days I'll have them to admire; this quilt will be posted as soon as I have the energy to package it up, lol. Some of that energy was expended in this morning's chapter, number twenty, of a story that keeps on rambling. Yet I'm happy to write, even when kind of not as sharp as usual, hence this post, hah! I just keep on keeping on, one foot in front of the other when as an alien I should be watching my steps far more carefully.

But if I left home and traveled who knows how far away, courage is a must! Happiness too, not the sort that's tethered to all the familiar comforts of whatever world I abandoned. Contentment in the here and now, wherever I've landed, is paramount. Blue skies are peeking through the high cloud, the AQI is more than fair for fires close and far away, and these small creatures that purr and cluck, what are they all about? Both Nadia and Owl flew out of the run this morning, and both were easily coerced into reentering that enclosure, though Owl's return was brief as my husband was actually letting out the rest of the flock. If I was an alien, what would I make of chickens?

Nadia from a few days ago, having flown the coop, what she does just about every day.

If I was an alien, what would I think of this planet, caught up in a maelstrom of selfish desires and altruistic endeavors? Good and evil have been in battle since early days, and here we are, 2026, still sniping at one another. But who is righteous and who is nefarious? An alien wouldn't know the difference, like if you told it, "This is a hen and that is a fox." You would have to go into the backstory, and maybe the alien would tune out, perhaps having fled from similar upheaval. It's all gray, like the marine layer, the alien would say. And maybe that alien would be right.

One more close-up of the back; I had these fabrics in mind for ages for this quilt. Alison Glass maybe? I'll have to look it up for confirmation. Yes, from her Sun Print 2025 collection.

Anyway, the need for joyful bravery continues, if only to get through the rest of this post, LOL. I'm still over the moon about finishing that quilt, pretty chuffed having written another chapter, and mildly curious how my throat will feel in about thirty minutes when the acetaminophen taken at eight a.m. wears off. Currently my throat feels a tiny bit irritated, huh. The rest of me is tired, but in a manner that says: Yes you probably can iron the rest of the fabrics for the back of the Crazy Miracle Quilt, but don't worry about packing up the Warm Hearted Quilt yet. Leave it draped over the rocker, upside down primary patchwork side up but facing the correct direction. And if aliens do arrive, greet them warmly and hope they're happy to be here.

Blissful courage; it's all any of us can do.