How about that arm

I'm not talking about a pitching arm today, though everybody in Hugs territory here is all about baseball. Even the local skeletons crawling all over people's lawns and trees and houses are now sporting Blue Jays merch! and some witches, too. Sadly I am talking about my writing and knitting arm, which explains why I have no new textiles to share. Only stunning colourwork by Ma Nature, and more on her speediness in a moment.

I just loved taking that picture. It was last Sunday afternoon and I had been walking about an hour before I found it, under clear blue skies surrounded by some of the happiest people I'd seen in a while. In fact at the start of the foresty part of my walk I passed a woman who was just staring into the top of a tree. As I got close, she saw me and looked embarrassed, but I was smiling, so she smiled too and we couldn't help telling each other what a gorgeous day it was, and how thrilled we were to be outside in this beautiful place. 

In fact I've noticed a lot of public displays of joy the last few weeks, as unexpected as that might be these days. Just sheer delight in community and shared spaces. Last night Pete and I walked through peak Trick or Treat territory and found hundreds of people swarming a few square blocks were fully enjoying the night. Even last year when we did that walk, it was quiet. This round? The joy was infectious. I mean who isn't going to smile at a kid mincing along the sidewalk in an inflatable short-legged dinosaur suit, followed by a skeleton and a dad-sized raccoon?

If only my arm could get in on the act, instead of complaining about my putting up another NINETEEN THOUSAND WORDS in my current manuscript this week, over just three days, even though that really was a lot to ask. 

So I'm gonna take a break and show you a before and after pairing. Here is my favourite secret pathway last Sunday...

and here it is from two Sundays earlier...

Wow, right? 

Okay, I am packin' it in for this week. Lots more to do today and then a baseball game to cap it off. Hope your weekend is marvellous! and I'll see you next Saturday when I will, with luck, be revising a completed novel instead of putting new scenes into an unfinished one. In the meantime, I wish you joy and a really good arm.