Brush resizes with each stroke [M1 iMac Sonoma]

iMac 24"  M1 chip with Sonoma 14.5.  PS 25.9.  This problem occured before the last release also.

I use a mouse for everything (never could get the hang of a pen),  For some reason, everytime I make a brush stroke with the mouse, the size of the brush increases or decreases.  It is driving me crazy as I have to use the bracket keys to resize after every single stroke.  I have checked all my mouse settings on the computer and in preferences but can find nothing that changes the behavior.  I disabled the graphic processor and rebooted to no avail.  The hardness of the brush does not seem to be affected.  I have used PS brushes the same way for years and can't for the life of me figure out what has changed or what I may have changed to cause this new behavior.  

Any tips, suggestions or clues as to what may be going on are most welcome.