April 9, 2022, And another spectacular array of colors at sunrise

photos by the author

There is no glory in star or blossom till looked upon by a loving eye; There is no fragrance in April breezes till breathed with joy as they wander by.

William Cullen Bryant

The first week of April has presented us with a mix of warm sun, balmy temperatures, rain, and ice pellets. But the coming of spring is unmistakable. The birds are proof, as are the ever-rising daffodil and tulip leaves, the huge growth spurt in the greenhouse- where temps have been into the 90s sometimes, and the buds on my Christmas Cactus (which is really a Thanksgiving and Easter-blooming cactus). All of this gives me a whiff of hopefulness. I hope you are all witnessing and “looking upon with a loving eye” some springtime renewal in whatever way it happens where you live. (I’d enjoy hearing about it)

This week in cooking

Indian Fried Cauliflower and Potatoes with Rice and Swiss Chard

This was an easy to put together weeknight vegetarian dinner with Indian spices. It made a mess of my new stove but the Indian Fried Cauliflower and Potatoes with Rice and Swiss Chardtaste of potatoes fried in coconut oil was great, and the oil is one of the safest to use at high temperatures.

In Writing This Week

In My Seventies, My Brain Refuses the Boring Stress I Don’t Need and Gets Excited About Things That Used to Seem Stressful

Crow’s Feet Prompt

Don’t get me wrong. I have my days. There have been times in the past few years when I have been plenty stressed and I know there will be more coming up. It’s sort of guaranteed by the fact that I am living this long. The body parts wear out, people and pets get sick or die, suffering continues as countries make war, and then there’s the warming planet. Don’t get me started on that.

Photo by

This Social Worker Had to Lie to Her Own Therapist to Understand That She Had a Drinking Problem

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I want to say at the outset that I am a drinker. I tell the doctor that I have a glass of wine with dinner most nights. I allow myself six ounces. It has not always been that little. For many years I allowed myself two. But as I get older, that has begun to feel excessive. So I’m down to two three-ounce half-glasses of wine. It has been twenty-five years or so since anyone, including my own conscience, suggested I might have a drinking problem. In my mind, the problem part of drinking is gone for good. But who knows.

Photo by Sean Bernstein on Unsplash

The Beginning of April is a Time to Get Outside Every Day to Jump for Joy

If only this seventy-ish woman could jump.

Published by Jean Anne Feldeisen

I was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey to Mildred Shropshire and Theodore Felsberg Jr. I was raised in Galloway Township and graduated from Oakcrest High School in southern New Jersey in the Sigma 67 Class in 1967. I attended Cedar Crest College in Allentown, PA, and graduated from Stockton University in Galloway, NJ, in 1974 with degrees in Philosophy, English Literature, and (almost) music. After that, I taught piano to local children and adults in the 70s and 80s, had a catering business, "Jean's in the Kitchen," from 1980 to 1992, then went to graduate school at Rutgers Camden to obtain my Masters's Degree in Social Work. Since 1996 I have worked as a therapist and counselor, first in New Jersey for five years and then, when our family moved to Maine, in Augusta, Maine, for five years. For the past 17 years, I have had a private psychotherapy practice in Gardiner, Maine, During the pandemic, I packed up and moved my office home to Washington, Maine. On the year of my seventieth birthday, I decided to write and self-publish a memoir about our parents' World War II romance, Dear Milly. I began blogging on Medium in earnest in 2020 and have posted more than 265 stories, including a block of stories about my catering career which I hope to turn into a book in the next year. I have been writing and collecting poetry since childhood but never showed it to anyone. Recently, I learned how valuable it could be to join a group for feedback and support for my writing. I have taken several courses and written many poems, and recently had several poems accepted for publication. Off in a new direction, again.

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