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Goodbye, 2025. Hello, 2026.

December 28, 2025 By Talya Tate Boerner 7 Comments

Goodbye, 2025. Hello, 2026.

There’s something extra special about the final days of a year. Not loud. Not confetti-covered. Just a quiet pause—a moment to look back and consider what comes next.

Oh, 2025 has been a lot, hasn’t it? Wonderful in many ways (at the very top of that list: welcoming our first grandchild 💛). And heartbreaking + horrifying in others. (Turn on the BBC, and it doesn’t take long to see how fragile our world is.)

As this year tucks itself in, I keep thinking about what 2025 taught me—not through headlines or tidy resolutions, but in the slow, ordinary ways of living and noticing.

Do you do this too? Looking back can be a helpful thing.

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Sunday Letter: 11.23.25

November 23, 2025 By Talya Tate Boerner 6 Comments

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

This is a super short Sunday Letter. Various distractions, website issues, and general busyness sent me veering off track. You may even wonder why I interrupted your serene Sunday morning for so little content. To this I say—Happy Thanksgiving! The truth is I couldn’t let one of the best weeks of the year to pass without at least a nod and a wave. A reminder that sometimes less really is more. That even if your mashed potatoes are lumpy and you forget the cranberry sauce altogether, it will be okay.

Thanksgiving season reminds me to look around, take stock, and say thank you—for the people at my table, the memories tucked into old recipe cards, and the simple grace woven into ordinary days.

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Sunday Letter: November 9, 2025

November 9, 2025 By Talya Tate Boerner 17 Comments

Hello Sunday Letter friends!

Let me start with a confession: since my last letter, I’ve eaten way too much Halloween candy. It wasn’t my fault exactly—we ended up with an embarrassing surplus of candy (a story for another time). Now every downstairs room has a bowl of chocolate calling my name. It’s like walking past a “FREE SUCCULENTS” sign and not taking one… or ignoring a box of books labeled “TAKE ONE.”

Impossible.

I could, in theory, box up the candy, tie it with string, and hide it high on the pantry shelf—just like Frog and Toad did with their cookies.

But as Toad pointed out, I could still climb up, untie the string, and eat the candy anyway. So maybe, like Frog, I should just give it away and be done with it.

Now that I’ve confessed, I feel better. Let’s move on to the real content of today’s Sunday Letter, which—believe it or not—has nothing to do with sugar, chocolate, or food.

(this post contains affiliate links.)
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Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Our Garden Mission Statement
  • Goodbye, 2025. Hello, 2026.
  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25
  • Maggie and Miss Ladybug: My New Children’s Nature Book
  • Sunday Letter: November 9, 2025

Novels:

Coloring Books:

Fiction-Themed Coloring Books

Backyard Phenology:

Children’s Nature Book:

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