Kim's dad, William Stafford is one of my favorite poets.  I have two of his volumes, the most important one of which (to me) is "Every War Has Two Losers" with a powerful introduction by Kim.  That book - and her introduction - as much as anything, cemented my already strong commitment to pacifism.  So my first learning this week - nine to go - is how wonderful it is to be reminded of important people and things that had slipped to the back of my consciousness.  Thanks much for this.

At your kind invitation, Ten things I have learned in the first week of Nevember.

1. It’s easier for me to do think work in the winter when the sun goes down so soon.

2. Shutting up and listening is not only often the easiest option, but gains the most

connection.

3. It’s not possible to put too much caramel on a cake.

4. I really appreciate frankness.

5. If someone tells you that they like what you’re doing, and you downplay what you just did as not having come off well, you are insulting the taste of the one giving the compliment.

6. I am more frightened than I thought I would be at volunteering to once or twice a month help run a weather amnesty shelter overnight for homeless men. But I’m still glad I was asked to help.

7. Cats don’t like technology.

8. I seem to have been born without much of a vanity button. But I do have quite a trigger indulgence button.

9. If you’re sitting around waiting for an invitation, it’s time to pick up the phone and start inviting.

10. All sorts of people read what you write on Facebook, and they use it as a conversation starter much more often than I would have imagined.

Ten things I learned this week:

1)  Once the right book title and its metaphors come clear, the whole revision falls into place.

2)  I'm too old to pull all-nighters.

3)  All-nighter work is never as wonderful and complete as it appears to be just before dawn.

4)  The Center for Disease Control does not employ many mothers. In case of flu, they advised mothers to wear a mask and remain at least six feet away from our sick children.

5)  My illnesses follow an average of two days behind my sick child's.

6)  A sick child can be trained to entertain himself beside me while I work.

7)  Invitations to play social media games tell me which people have too much time on their hands. Maybe they're ill.

8)  Reading Beth's blog and responding is completely different. This is a healthy lunch break.

9)  From my missionary son, I learned again that one can trust God through uncertainty, not even knowing in advance where you'll be living next week.

10) I love second springtime in Arizona.

And P.S. for Beth: the book I'm editing solves your #4.

Ten things I learned this week:

1) Old dogs die but they don't have to suffer

2) This life isn't always worth living

3) I have some very dear friends who I don't let very far in

4) When your souls are connected, there truly are no goodbyes

5) When you've done your best, there are no need for apologies

6) I have a faith I can count on

7) The omens are always right, if one reads them correctly

8) It's okay not to know and to doubt your decisions

9) It's okay to simultaneously be mad at God and cry-out for favors.

10) Death is a lot easier when its' not your best-friend who is dying.

Second in this series --I am beginning to feel the practice of it. When I'm walking the dog, cooking

Haven't come up with ten things yet, but my second thing is that I just learned a day ago, quite by accident, that Kim Stafford is a guy!!!  I never knew that.  I never saw a picture of him, and he doesn't reveal his sex in the intro to "Every War Has Two Losers."  So thanks to this post I now have two things I know that are really good to know.