Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights of your life to choose love and light.
I am by
nature a basically optimistic positive thinking person and while that is
normally true, I do have those times when the spectra of negativity is hard for
me to dismiss. It is during those times, when the darkness of the world around
me wants to wrap me in its tentacles and never let go, that I look for anything around me that will
cheer me up.
Here are
two of them! I wrote this post on Monday,
February 10, 2025
What did I
do yesterday that cheered me up? While much of the country watched the 59th
Super Bowl, I watched the 21st Puppy Bowl.
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| Deposit Photo - Miraswonderland |
While I no
longer have my Very Own Dog or VOD, I do have family, friends and neighbors who
have one or two and they will share doggie
time with me if I’m running low on my doggie
love quotient.
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| Deposit Photo - LifeOnWhite |
And since I
live in a high traffic dog walking area should I feel really deprived and family,
friends, neighbor dogs aren’t available, I only have to walk out my front door
and within a very short time (less than an hour) at least one dog will be
taking his or her human for a stroll past my house.
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| Deposit Photo - AVK78 |
I’m sure
the joy I feel whenever I see a baby or small human is a major reason for my
work in domestic and international adoption for almost thirty years. And what
really was special was seeing an infant who was malnourished and
developmentally delayed grow and change and make up those developmental
deficits when enveloped in love and regularly fed nourishing sustenance. 
Deposit Photo - Serrnovik
While I
delighted in spending time with them when they first came to their forever
home, another level of joy spread through me when I learned of their
accomplishments as they grew, changed, graduated from high school and went
forth into the world as happy young adults.
I encourage
everyone who reads this post to stop for a moment and figure out, identify what
will right your emotional ship so that you see beauty, kindness, caring,
compassion and hear the laughter of joy in the world around you.
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| Deposit Photo - Rawpixel |
In The Sacred Women’s Circle series,
you’ll meet seven women from varying walks of life who each experience significant
everyday issues (single parenting, domestic violence, cancer) in their lives.
With the support of each other and the claiming of a personal spiritual
practice, they find their way through to their happily-ever-after.
You can find my books at your favorite e-book
vendor as well as through my website www.JudithAshley.net and Windtree Press. Print books are
available at Jan’s Paperbacks in Hillsboro, OR and
Arte Soleil in Portland, OR. Their
addresses are on my website. And be sure to ask your library if you’d prefer to
read my books through that resource.
Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s
Circle series at JudithAshley.net
Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.
You can also find Judith
on FB!
© 2025 Judith Ashley
8 comments:
The deer that wander through our backyard and stop to graze and don't care if we stand at the window to watch them. A family of four is making themselves right at home in our yard this year. A rabbit has been showing up lately. I hope it's a doe who will be bringing little bunnies into the yard soon. Quail come occasionally too.
Like Barb, I love all the wild life that passes through our yard, deer, turkeys, quail, crows and now and then a fox.
If i'm having an extremely sad, conflicted or discouraging day I go and sit on the deck in my winter coat (cold this time of year) and listen to the birds and the wind in the trees. I just sit there eyes closed and listen. I suppose that is my type of meditation.
I live on a corner, and the one block that dead-ends into the elementary school parking lot. There is only my house and the house across the street on this block. When I first moved in, the dead-end was a true dead-end with the Armory (used monthly by the National Guard) at the back end of my yard. At one point, there were also several skate-board ramps, so all day I would hear the sound of wheels rolling down wooden ramps (a bit annoying when trying to write.) When they tore down the old building, they built a new elementary school. Now my kitchen window and back deck face the playground. So, I get a steady parade of both dog-walkers and children skipping or riding tricycles or bikes down the street to the playground. And many times, mom or dad with a baby sling following along. On nice days with the window or door open, I hear the laughter of kids on the playground. Always makes me smile. I even wrote a short story about a mom and her son (probably 5 or 6) tossing a ball back and forth - based on a true scene I witnessed from my back deck. So cute! He missed catching more than he caught. But he kept right on trying with his mom encouraging him - adorable scene. And...yes, I smiled...A LOT! P.S. I did look out the window one night around 2 or 3 a.m. Right in front of my kitchen window stood a skunk and about 20 feet away on the trunk of my oak tree was a racoon climbing down the tree - face-first toward the ground. WOW - all at the same time. Fascinating, but I didn't smile. Kind of spooked me out. I have also seen deer in my yard, as there is a large green space that runs through town, along a creek, only 2 blocks from my house, on the other side of the school. I've also seen a fox in my yard. Oh, and chickens and a rooster - when my neighbor lets them loose to peck for bugs in our backyards. I do go out on my deck and sit in the sun on a wintry day - just to get some Vit D and a bit of warmth on my face. that makes me smile, too.
Dogs make me smile too. Judith! Disney World claims to be the happiest place on earth, but it's not. The happiest place on earth is the dog park!!! Visiting one always lifts my spirits, as does playing with my two dogs and cat.
We're lucky to have a yard that backs on to woods and a creek. I love taking the dogs for a walk outside to see what we can see (turkeys? deer? birds?) or just enjoy nature in genreal.
Barb, I don't have deer or rabbits in my yard but I've lived places where I have. Very magical and certainly uplifting. I'm going in a different direction with my yard this year, I will still have geraniums in my pots around my deck but the rest of it will be planted in native species that are also attractive to pollinators.
Diana, we have coyotes in the neighborhood and I've seen them a few times when I've been up at night. When we lived in the country in Cottage Grove, we did have more wildlife come into our yard...but then not when my husband's German Shepherd came to live with us. He'd left Shep in Cleveland when he moved to Oregon. Dogs, especially big dogs and cats are not a good mix with wildlife.
What a great location, Deb. I'm 2 blocks from a large gold course which is why I do see some wildlife but they seldom come into my yard. And getting that VItD/daylight fix in the a.m. is important. I was reading an article in the AARP magazine about how important it is for good sleep, etc. to start the day with 20 - 30 minutes of bright sunlight or at least bright light.
Sarah, I would not find Disney World or Disneyland to be the happiest place on earth. Too many people and too expensive. I've not been to a dog park but I have been to a woods with a creek. That would be much more to my liking than Disney anything.
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