Happy Friday — we’re back with more Hot Bones.

Quick programming note that next week we’ll be off for Thanksgiving stuff. I’ll be consumed with eating just the marshmallow layer of the sweet potato casserole, and G will be busy trying to remain cool around her siblings’ new significant others.

Here’s to hoping you’re either preparing a feast to remember, yelling at football on the tv, hanging out with friends and family, or finally getting a chance to watch Death by Lightning.

Have a great holiday week 🦃

Do one long thumb scroll for more Cville-specific updates like local events, cool houses, and pets to adopt.

🐶 Speaking of: Chupacabra! Looking to make your family Thanksgiving more exciting this year? Bring home a puppy. Hound mix, 6 months old and 12 pounds.

A few months ago, one of our best couple friends came to visit for the weekend. They were in town for some UVA reunion festivities, which meant we got to spend the days together and then they would get dressed up for fancy parties while G and I got to order takeout and hang out at home. My perfect schedule.

I guess it was Saturday afternoon, after we’d done the Cville Circuit (morning walk, farmer’s market, light lunch at a brewery), and we had all claimed a piece of furniture in the living room to collapse into.

Everyone except Ellie actually. She started walking up the stairs, whispering over her shoulder, “It’s CEQMT for me.”

G and I looked at Dan, her significant other and, in this case, translator.

“Closed Eyes Quiet Mind Time,” he explained. “It’s when she needs to be alone but doesn’t want to admit she’s taking a nap.”

“I’m not napping!” we heard from somewhere above us. “I’m just closing my eyes.”

I love Ellie and Dan for many reasons — they’re loyal, smart, funny friends. And I love them because they’ve brought CEQMT into our lives. In a hustle society that rewards industriousness and frowns upon rest, we need this.

This week and next are ripe for CEQMT in particular. It’s dark all the time, it’s cold, it’s rainy, and everyone is either at the grocery store or in a car to the airport. We need some rest.

However.

Every time I even think about resting this November, my inbox dings, my phone pings, or a programmatic ad jump scares me with some version of:

I am not up. I’m trying to get some Closed Eyes Quiet Mind Time. If they promised to stop emailing me if I bought another pair of jeans or that cosy fleece, I’d certainly do that. But I know a purchase will only create more email hydra heads.

And ultimately what I really want is not available at Gap, Zara, Uniqlo, Allbirds, or Fishwife. What I want this interminable Black Friday season is a crosswalk with lights down the road from us. And protected biking infrastructure near the highway overpass. And clean water in our National Parks and Forests. Also affordable, healthy food for all members of our community. And for Cville kids to live in a safe, pedestrian-oriented, LGBTQ-friendly city. Stuff like that.

The good news is there are many incredible organizations in the area that are working to make this future possible.

But at the most critical fundraising time of the year, these month-long Black Friday deals are really crushing the vibe. It’s hard to see the Free Little Libraries when there’s an inflatable neon tube man brandishing used car discounts in the foreground.

So I’m here to give you early access to Giving Tuesday, with the unabashed persistence of the Plow & Hearth marketing team.

In no particular order, here are 5 amazing organizations in our community to keep on your radar.

What they do: SELC helps protect the people, wild places, and wildlife (like adorable salamanders) of the South through in-depth lawsuits, community activism, and some really great podcasts. They are headquartered in Charlottesville.

Recent wins: SELC has been around for four decades and has stopped offshore drilling, halted massive pipelines, and cleaned up millions of tons of toxic coal ash.

What a donation makes possible: 6 out of every 7 dollars SELC raises come from individual donors. And donations help fund key priorities including responding to the Trump administration, pushing back against toxic chemicals in our drinking water, and fighting the data center gold rush.

What they do: Community Bikes refurbishes donated bicycles, provides free bikes to children and adults with transportation barriers, sells refurbished bicycles to the Cville community (which helps fund their programs), and offers a low-cost DIY repair space so people can keep their bikes up and running.

Recent wins: They’ve distributed more than 1,000 free bikes in 2025 alone. They also dress up on Halloween in iconic costumes.

What a donation makes possible: $20 provides a lock and lights for a free bike recipient.

And $500 sponsors a Mobile Repair Clinic, bringing free repairs into the community.

What they do: Care for dogs and cats in Fluvanna County and the surrounding Cville area, helping them find permanent, loving homes. This is a small, rural shelter that has significantly less resources than the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA (another great org by the way). It’s also where we adopted Frannie ♥️

Recent wins: Helping us find Frannie ^ duh

What a donation makes possible: More dogs and cats finding good homes this holiday season. And keeping them warm, comfortable, and healthy in the meantime.

What they do: Loaves & Fishes gives food to people when they don’t have the money to buy it themselves. They distribute a week’s worth of food to around 190 households per day, four days a week.

Recent wins: Loaves & Fishes provides food for an average of 12,000 people each month, which is 20% more people in 2025 than in 2024 (without decreasing the quality or quantity of food).

What a donation makes possible: It costs Loaves & Fishes just under $7 to provide a week’s worth of food to one person. By that math, a donation of $175 could help Loaves provide a week’s worth of food to 25 people or purchase a dozen eggs for 70 households.

What they do: PEC helps protect and restore the lands and waters of the Virginia Piedmont, while building stronger, more sustainable communities. They’ve helped permanently protect more than 430,000 acres in the region from development.

Recent wins: They just installed the first crop-based “agrivoltaics” project in Virginia, which combines farming and solar energy on the same piece of land (solar above, plants below).

What a donation makes possible: Simply put, strengthening conservation efforts across the region, which is especially salient now with the rise of resource-hogging data centers.

These are five fantastic nonprofits. And there are so many more incredible organizations in our community.

What would you add? Let me know by replying to this email.

This is what peak Closed Eyes Quiet Mind Time looks like.

Of course, I’d be tired too if I spent the day running around in the woods, at one point coming back to show everyone the severed, rotting head of a deer I’d found.

Frannie was delighted. We were not.

🐯 Gov shutdown won’t stop a cheetah mom: Amabala, a 5-year-old cheetah, gave birth to 4 cubs this October at the Smithsonian facility in Front Royal. There is a cheetah cub cam.

✂️ Garden basics: The Piedmont Master Gardeners are ready to show you how proper pruning can improve the health and structure of your trees and shrubs (Saturday, 2-4pm). Register for the free class here.

🏠 Charming colonial of the week: Don’t let anyone tell you updated infrastructure isn’t sexy. This one has new HVAC, water heater, washer/dryer, and refurnished floors. Also shutters inside the living room? Unclear on this. (4 beds, 2 baths, $399k in Lexington)

🏡 Cool rental of the week: Brick bungalow with mullioned sunroom windows and a cast-iron kitchen sink my mother-in-law might just sell her soul for (2 beds, 1 bath, $1,350/month in Waynesboro).

🏃 If you love running and/or torturing your family: Lots of opportunities this week.

💼 Job of the week: Senior Director of Marketing and Engagement for the Ranger Rick brands at the National Wildlife Federation (hybrid in Reston, $100k - $120k)

Have an event or rec you’d like to share? Hiring? Interested in advertising?

Share any and all info here.