Hope you all had a good 4th of July weekend.
On Saturday I got a chance to read with Kelli Russell Agodon in Poulsbo, Washington, at a little coffee shop called the Poulsbohemian. It was so hot – I think I read less than ten minutes because I literally thought I might pass out from the heat – but we had fun and a friendly crowd, so it was worth it!
Most of the holiday I spent resting, trying to get over bronchitis (I know, I know, who gets bronchitis in July?) I did get a chance to stop by Open Books, the local poetry bookstore, and acquired a big book of Gary Snyder’s poetry and prose, Kathleen Ossip’s Search Engine, and Kimiko Hahn’s Ant and Mosquito (which includes contemporary takes on Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book) which I loved. And went to the Kirkland fireworks, which involved sitting by Lake Washington, watching three sets of fireworks – Kirkland, Lake Union, and another display that appeared to come from Bill Gates’ compound – and their lights glowing in the water. We did have some thunderstorms right before the fireworks, but Glenn and I managed to grill out while it was still sunny – grilled corn on the cob, grilled asparagus, and this year, we tried a spice-rubbed whole turkey breast – which was pretty good, and even better later as sandwiches. So much fruit this time of year you can’t eat it all – cherries, plums, doughnut peaches, figs. We made a gallon of watermelon-limeade which is the perfect respite from hot, muggy weather.
Also, the space shuttle launched – despite the fact that protective foam had fallen off of crucial areas – the same problem that caused the explosion of the space shuttle on re-entry all those years ago. And, North Korea launched several missiles, near Japan, Russia, and a long-range missile (that some think is capable of reaching the Western US, including Washington state and California) that exploded after a few minutes. This seems very disturbing and a return of the threat of nuclear war that I think most of us had assumed had been overshadowed by other threats. The phrase “Sabre rattling” appeared in the news frequently in conjunction to these test missiles.
PS – Check out Rachel Zucker’s blog at the poetry foundation web site.