Today, February 28, 2025, is a planetary alignment, in which 7 planets—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—appear on the same side of the sun, allowing us to view them all (mostly) by eye (or telescope). Several people asked if I was going to take a picture, since I …
This post was supposed to go live on Mother’s Day, after my mom opened her gift. But one of my daughters (we are thinking the baby) gave me strep and a sinus infection, so we had to postpone a Mother’s Day celebration. It almost feels like the good old pandemic …
What a year this has been. As I wrap up the last full week of this school year, I finally have a second to breathe and to realize I haven’t found time to post many Fantastic Fridays this year. It’s not that I haven’t found things to feel fantastic about; …
This week was spring break, and while last week’s summer weather took a turn toward winter, I was still able to tackle the indoor elements of my to-do list. (The house now looks like it was hit by a normal storm rather than a metaphorical tornado, so—progress!) But after installing …
If you’ve been reading my blog, you may remember back in September when I blogged about the tree that almost hit me as I was driving (you can read the post here: https://valmuller.com/2020/09/04/fantastic-friday-i-get-to/ ) The event stayed with me for the rest of 2020, and it has made me a …
*I’m posting this Fantastic Friday post a day late, after having lost track of time while preparing for Christmas. I never knew how much “Christmas magic” was really just our parents being awesome 🙂 * For weeks, I had been reading about “the Christmas Star” that would be seen shortly …
It’s not Friday, but it is the last day in November. November is a time to be thankful. Lately, I’ve been reading about how being thankful can help any mindset. As the month draws to a close, I wanted to highlight some of the things I am thankful for—even with …
Earlier this fall, while teaching via distance learning, I was speaking to my students while staring out the window at the beautiful golden sunlight of morning illuminating a tree that finally turned yellow-umber during a year when foliage around here had not been very vivid. Amidst the golden glory, an …
A few weeks ago, I was excited that a WWII airplane flyover (the Arsenal of Democracy, celebrating the anniversary of the end of WWII) was schedule to occur right over my house on a Friday. I was all set to go out with my camera, get some great shots, and …
One of my favorite novels is Ray Bradybury’s Dandelion Wine. In the novel, the main character has an epiphany that he is alive. I have written about this in my blog several times over the years. I know it sounds simple: yes, if you are reading this, you are alive. …