Full Strawberry Moon, First Swallowtail, American Anxiety, and More Goldfinches on the Wing

Full Strawberry Moon and the Benefits of Outdoor Time

I got to watch the full Strawberry moon rise and then fifteen minutes later disappear behind clouds, so I was glad I was outside to catch it. I had another crown sans novocaine and this one was pretty painful AND was wrongly fitted so had to be reglued a day later. These dental work things knock me out, and left me unable to even get out of bed—but I still had work to do—a tutorial to be recorded on Zoom, e-mails to respond to, an essay to finish, and submissions to send. So when I was so achey and couldn’t focus, I went out on my back porch. And guess what? I had the happy luck to see our first neighborhood Swallowtail butterfly on a neighbor’s privet, rufous hummingbirds, and even found that the fresh air helped my aches and pains. A reminder that getting outside even when you feel you can’t drag yourself out of bed is usually beneficial. And picking up the camera always brings some joy, especially this time of year—and surprises, like the Swallowtail.

More Goldfinches, and American Anxiety

So, every night this week, there was a new horror to confront: a Democratic congresswoman and her husband murdered in Minnesota, Iran and Israel starting an escalating conflict, the military being turned against American citizens, another gigantic plane crash, Trump’s sad and expensive birthday, and the No Kings protests (better attended than Trump’s parade, by a lot). I am working on just surviving every day and not feeling overwhelmed with horror. Anxiety dreams all week. How are you coping with all this? I am going on evening walks, losing myself in film noirs, reading new books, and trying to keep my physical self working as well as possible. I know stress is bad for the immune system, but darn it if I can figure out a way to not feel stressed right now. Thank goodness our neighborhood lavender farm is opening in another week—at least the experience of walking through those gardens, it’s hard to not focus on the smell and beauty of the lavender, the mountain, the birds, and the friendly farmers. It does not bring world peace or a change of leadership in DC, sadly, but it’s something to look forward to.

So let me know about your stress-reducing secrets in the comments.

Record Heat, Goldfinches and Hummingbirds, Busy Bee (Me!) and Feeling Limitation

Record Heat, Goldfinches and Hummingbirds, Busy Bee (Me)

Today it got up to 90°F—record-breaking heat—and the last three days have been almost as hot. This means the hummingbirds and goldfinches have appeared, usually for water, and I have been hiding from the sun. My MS symptoms have been acting up (not unusual in the heat, but still aggravating—fatigue, headache foot drop, and trouble swallowing—have all been taxing). Another day for an MS patient in summer! I feel like that Frozen snowman during the other seasons—imagining summer but not realizing how dangerous it is. Then I’m like, “Oh right, this is why summer is so tough!”

But I can still enjoy the beautiful birds and I’ve been busy with work—working on an essay, sending out poems, and working on another tutorial for Writer’s Digest. Soon I’ll be doing a class on writing essays and judging a poetry contest. I also need to get back to writing new poems and working on my next book. I just wish my brain and energy levels would cooperate. Meanwhile, any glance at the news and social media (my heart is with you, LA) just produces stress and feelings of helplessness and worry about our democracy in a country that seems obsessed with AI and not at all concerned about our dwindling constitutional rights. Trying hard not to feel trapped inside and trying not to doomscroll. Am I succeeding? Sometimes…

I keep dreaming about being on a plane to Paris. Where I live is beautiful, but I do wish I had the power and health to travel when I wanted without worry, like many of my friends. I’d love to visit England, where I have a friend or two in London, Ireland, and France (again— it’s the only country in Europe I’ve spent any signifigant time in, but I loved it so much and am longing to go back).

It’s tough to acknowledge limitation of any kind—physical, mental, emotional. I’d like to be doing more, traveling more, having (or going to) parties, participating more in the world. I don’t want to let fear run my life, but I also want to be realistic. It’s a tough balance!

Wishing you a happy beginning to summer!

 

A Week of Ups and Downs, Birds and Blooms, and Building Poetry Community

A Week of Ups and Downs, Birds and Blooms

We had a weird week of weather, with a 85°F day coming right on the heels of high fifties and rain. I got an ear infection for the first time in twenty years. I saw the first swallowtail butterfly of the year (but no picture), and last night I was outside on the porch at dusk when a very big coyote galloped through the back yard (also not pictured).

The hot weather seemed to coax a lot of my garden to start to bloom—orange honeysuckle, reluctant peonies, and roses. Glenn and I spent time in the garden this week on the nicer days, cutting things back, weeding, fertilizing, spraying neem oil. Other days I had to just spend in bed, as I was so fatigued—plus fighting an ear infection at 52 just seems ridiculous, right? I tried the old fixes (heat packs, being cranky and rubbing my ear, sinus meds), but eventually had to go to urgent care who fixed it right up. I felt I didn’t get as much done on my writing projects as I should have. June is a busy month and I feel behind already!

Building a Poetry Community

How do you build a poetry community? Is it a bit like gardening, in that you have to work at it slowly over time and then all of the sudden, blooms everywhere, and hummingbirds? One thing I want to do is to prioritize time with poets online and in-person, catching up over coffee or the phone, or having people over. Sometimes, it takes a lot of energy, but I think it’s worth it. Even this blog, or social media, can be part of building community. I think we writers work better when we have community. We need to support each other and recognize each other and shout “good job” when someone gets good news and “so sorry” when they get bad news.

Despite setbacks, I did write a poem this week, and I started submitting again. I’m editing my book for sending out again. But there has been a tick-tock in my ear lately (and not just because of the ear infection). It’s how fast time passes these days, and losses that come with getting older, and the feeling that my time is limited.

I wish you all a good June, full of birds and blooms and maybe the lone coyote under the crescent moon. I know some of you are struggling with stress, with bad news, with loss, with health issues. I have no fixes, but I am here. Sometimes the best thing we can do is just be, and watch for friends in need, or swallowtail butterflies, and sometimes even just taking care of yourself can feel overwhelming. We do not need to be everywhere all at once, and that’ s an unreasonable expectation anyway (hi, my type A friends!) I was telling another writer that sometimes it’s enough just to create the art—we don’t need to sell a billion copies, we just need to let the art be enough (though I am terrible at taking my own advice). We are watching universities and the arts and sciences we hold dear be attacked and defunded by the government, and we’re still dealing with a pandemic that left many of us more isolated and let’s face it, more burned out. We need more kindness, more awareness, to others, and to ourselves.

 

Poetry Readings in Woodinville, Suddenly Summer Weather, Goslings and Goldfinch, Searching

Poetry Readings in Woodinville

This week we had a poetry reading at Woodinville’s J. Bookwalter Winery, where I got to see some old friends from the Seattle side I hadn’t seen much since the pandemic. Suzanne Edison, Heidi Seaborn, and Cindy Veach did a great reading, and there was a lively open mic after, as well as poet discussions (over wine) that lasted until closing time. I have to say it is awfully nice to have a burgeoning poetry scene in my own neighborhood, for so many years I was driving long distances to do these things—now they’re practically in my backyard.

This week has brought with it suddenly summer weather—bright sun, warmer temps, the arrival of our goldfinches and goslings. I have been working on more outside walks as I want to be ready for the Lavender Farm when it opens next month, as well as another trip to San Juan Island (full of difficult but rewarding walking areas). In preparation, Glenn and I have made trips to the Japanese Garden in Seattle and the Bellevue Botanical Garden, and we also walked around our local wineries. Today we took the trip East to Snoqualmie Falls and Olallie Falls on the Snoqualmie river. It was nice to sightsee in our area without too much traffic or hassle, since everyone who’s able is out at their summer homes or Europe or whatever (not jealous, not jealous, not jealous…)

Searching

I am still feeling a bit at odds and ends—am I doing the right things? Am I doing too much—or too little? What should my priorities be right now (health vs. fun vs. work, etc.) Is this normal at my age? I’ve signed up for way too many things next month (judging a poetry contest, taking a class, doing a tutorial, plus an essay or two will be due, plus all normal things including another dental crown.) Needless to say, I have anxiety about all of this. I have been trying to reconnect with some old friends—the loss of one friend makes you realize how important that is. Here’s another kind of frightening thought—do I even want to do poetry anymore, or should I be trying something else? I have a lot of friends (poets) who’ve moved into essays, memoirs, even standup comedy. It certainly would be nice to be paid one in a while and have people actually read what you write. I don’t know what’s next. I’m open and hoping for guidance.

While the world is burning, the poet acts a little lost. She goes to the forest, where several giant trees have toppled—the forest seems more bare, though the river runs even louder than ever. The gardens have fewer plants and fewer birds. Maybe she doesn’t recognize the places she thought she knew. She worries about losing people, not just places. She doesn’t see a clear path ahead the way she used to. That can be unsettling. She worries that she used to be the hero of the story, and now she’s just the one taking notes.

Rebecca Solnit and Journalism, Ducklings, Wisteria, and Struggling with Grief

Rebecca Solnit and Thoughts on Journalism

My brother and I went to see Rebecca Solnit at a very crowded Town Hall here in Seattle, and the talk was great (though she’s very smart, she had a very soporific voice—not how I thought she would sound)! It’s rare that Mike and I get to spend time together, much less with an author we both admire, so it was a good outing.

Since there were several thousand people there, few of them masked, I wore a KN95 all through so Mike and I snuck out a few minutes before the end of Q&A (those masks—urgh). We bought our books and had some good catch-up talk—and then I also had the good luck to see briefly former Utah Poet Laureate and author Paisley Rekdal, whose new book on teaching poetry is fantastic.

One thing that stayed with me from the talk was an answer Rebecca gave to a question from the audience about what media sources to trust. She mentioned several major papers that reported 122 times on negative stories about Biden during Trump’s first hundred days, during which he disregarded the rights of citizens, the Constitution, and accepted bribes. These places included The New Yorker, the Atlantic, the New York Times, the LA Times—not the usual suspects we think of as biased journalism. But after she said it, I couldn’t stop seeing it, especially after I saw four stories in one day (before Joe Biden’s cancer was disclosed) where the headline was “Biden was ALMOST in a wheelchair” which I found really offensive. because you know what? We are ALL almost in a wheelchair, as someone who was in one myself for close to six years straight. “Almost in a wheelchair” is NOT a story. Why not report on the current President and his ruining of the economy, or deporting infants with cancer without their medication (surely dangerous criminals in the making, right?) or any manner of terrible things from the current White House? The answer might be made clear in John Oliver’s discussing this evening of Trump’s very politicized FCC and his lawsuits against large media companies—two ways to silence journalism at its core. Very sobering for this former journalist. Anyway, once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it. (As a side note, Rebecca recommended Rolling Stone, Wired, and the Guardian.)

Duckling Season, and Dealing with Grief

Spring continues with its springing, and I saw my first duckling of the season (with wary mom nearby). I also saw my first black-headed grosbeak, who visits faithfully each May.

I have had a heavy heart this week with the loss of my friend Martha Silano (I found another picture of her from 2023, at my reading at Open Books—see how she radiates joy?) It is always hard to lose friends, peers, and members of our local community, but this has hit me harder than I expected. It comes on the heels of losing my college roommate, Tara, who was such an amazing force, scientist, and friend. So senseless.

It occurs to me I don’t really have enough coping mechanisms for grief. I did the things that usually cheer me up—thought the weather has been miserable, cold, and rainy for this time of year, spending time outdoors when I can, going to bookstores, watching lightweight subject matter. One day I spent the entire day in bed with the TV on one station, and again I noticed the repetitiveness and lack of clarity in the local news, and almost all the programming, actually. This is pretty unlike me unless I have the flu or my MS is acting up. I’ve been trying to write about Martha as well as reading through an early version of her last book, Terminal Surreal, due out in September. I was moved by how she wrote about her circumstances with precision and a lack of self-pity and a continued joy in the nature and the outdoors.

As seems appropriate, with its teardrop flowers, the wisteria is in bloom, so we went to the Seattle Japanese Garden (who doesn’t feel at least a little better there?) and smelled the wisteria and observed the koi and water lilies, turtles, and I also got to follow the end of a tea ceremony. The rituals of the season—the rain, the blooms, the ducklings—reminds me that the world continues turning when our loved ones die, and when we die, it will continue then, too. Our small contributions—planting a tree, feeding pollinators, or writing a poem—can seem small indeed, but maybe better than the alternative—causing great destruction, which is far too easy to do.

 

Remembering Poet Martha Silano, Spring Continues On Springing, Cats and Hummingbirds and Rebecca Solnit

Remembering Poet Martha Silano

On May 5, we lost my good friend and wonderful poet Martha (Marty) Silano to ALS. The photo to the left is the last time I saw her in person, on a sunny summer afternoon with wildfire haze. This is the way I’ll always remember her, wandering with the sun at her back in a field of flowers.

I met Marty when we both published books with Steel Toe Books, her Blue Positive and my own Becoming the Villainess in 2006. I remember us doing a reading together at the old Hugo House (housed in a retired funeral home—amazing and full of ghosts!) and thinking she was so cool. I did not know we were going to start a nearly-20 year friendship where we’d celebrate together—book launches, literary festivals, AWPs, birthdays, housewarmings, babies, and more.

Marty was diagnosed with ALS about eighteen months ago, and because she had the most severe kind, she tried to do as much as she could as long as she could—hiking and writing poems with a vengeance. She was still doing online readings while she was losing her ability to speak. I think she ended up with three books by the end of eighteen months (all of which are suberb, and probably her best work).

One of her publishers said she was still texting about marketing the week she died. I call that an incredible act of will. I will say I am so happy she took the time to come out to Woodinville to see me in the last few years, when we were still being cautious about seeing people. Spend time with your friends when you can, and celebrate them while they are still around. I have lost two friends in the space on a year, both of them “healthier” than I am, not friends I would have said I could possibly lose. It makes you realize how precious this “small” stuff is. Let light shine its way on your journey, Martha. Read her poems at the Poetry Foundation here.

Spring Goes on Springing, with Cats and Hummingbird, and Rebecca Solnit

I spent several days grieving, I have to admit, and the cats and my husband tried their best to cheer me up. As always seems to happen, the Seattle area brightened and shone with blooms in the days after Martha’s death, and I know she loved the outdoors, so I tried to appreciate the beauty around us.

I also wrote a poem about her, which I don’t know was any good, but if you can’t write an elegy for your friends, then what can you do when you’re a poet?

Here is Charlotte, a hummingbird, frilled iris, and blooming wisteria.

Seeing Rebecca Solnit tonight!

If you are a Rebecca Solnit fan (my brother introduced me to her work during the pandemic, recommending Paradise Built in Hell), she is appearing tonight in Seattle to talk about how to deal with uncertainty and despair during difficult times—feminism, democracy, climate change and power. Rebecca’s work is very accessible and hopeful, while also practical and solutions-oriented. This is my first time hearing her speak, and I’m looking forward to it. A good week to address how to deal with the stress of change and the unknown.

In the meantime, go read some of Martha’s work and maybe order one of her books—you won’t regret it.

 

 

Birthday Dinosaurs, Birthday Poems on Daily Kos, Hummingbirds, and More

Birthday Dinosaurs

My birthday has come and gone, and May has begun with moody weather (sunshine, rain, sunshine again, and that’s just the morning). We had a pretty small celebration, just went to Willows Fireside Lounge for dessert and cocktails and to the Woodland Park Zoo for the dinosaur adventure (plus snow leopard cubs!) I loved the educational interactive bits for kids—they could dig for fossils, or experiment with robot servos to see how the dinosaurs move. Robotics and paleontology – sounds like a great combination! Some of the dinosaurs move uncannily when you get close to them, letting out sounds that might conceivably be dinosaur like, and some had feathers and fur and color.

It also reminded me of one of SNL’s skits that I really liked—Jurassic Park’s Lawyer, with Donald Glover.

It did make me feel somewhat philosophical, turning 52. I’m still around, even after multiple doctors said I wouldn’t be. I’ve lost friends in the last few years, friends who seemed much healthier than I am. So much seems random, out of our control. This leads me to think that maybe we should let go of some of the things that keep us from living a full, joyful life, right now. Don’t put off fun, or things you love.

Despite my many and varied health problems, I have a lot to be grateful for. I’ve published books, I have wonderful friends all over the world, I have a husband who makes me a (gluten-free) birthday cake and gets me 52 tulips. I spent time in my garden this week and watched birds and got to play with dinosaurs. Do I have to play catch up with a bunch of doctor appointments I’ve been putting off to have fun? Yes. But sometimes, you have to prioritize fun, right?

Birthday Poets on Daily Kos

Imagine my surprise when I discovered my poem, “Lessons You Learn from Final Girls,” from Field Guide to the End of the World, was up on the Daily Kos this week (right after Yusef Komunyakaa, whose birthday is apparently a day before mine) as birthday poets. See the link here.  

Birthday Hummingbirds

I had the pleasure of observing many hummingbirds as flowers on my back porch bloomed, with coral bells, snapdragons and fuchsias. There were immature and mature Anna’s and Rufous hummingbirds. We also had the return of black-headed grosbeaks and finches and mornings and evenings, even during rain, have been full of birdsong. I hope these pictures bring you a little joy.

We also had a terrific view of Mt Rainier this week, and I captured one as we drove over the Floating Bridge to go to the Zoo.

Springing into Summer, Open Books, Japanese Garden, Spending $11,000 on Book PR, and Birthdays Coming Up

Springing into Early Summer, Open Books, and Japanese Garden

It seems we’ve moved from spring directly into summer, rain evaporating, temperatures rising. The tulip fields have bloomed and ended in what seemed like two weeks—cherry petals litter my lawn as lilacs bloom. It’s a topsy turvy gardener’s problem, because two weeks ago it was too cold to plant seeds and now we have to wear sunscreen when we go out to water.

This last week marked the 30th anniversary of Open Books, Seattle’s poetry-only bookstore, so we visited, picked up a few books, got to talk to Billie and Gabrielle and John (if you know, you know!) and after they closed, went to Seattle’s Japanese Garden to watch birds sing on top of flowers and observe summer flowers—azaleas, rhodoendrons and wisteria—taking over.

Spending $11,000 on Book PR – A Shock? Or Reality Bites?

Somehow, I happened upon a Substack post from an experienced PR/marketer who wrote her first novel and spent $11,000 promoting it. Is this number shocking to you? It probably shouldn’t be. The average book doesn’t sell that many copies, publishers aren’t picking up the bill for marketing the way they used to, and even people who do PR for a living are confused and troubled about what pays off and what doesn’t. (Online ads? Travel for readings? Swag?)

The reality of promoting a book—especially for a poet—is that often you spend much more than you’ll make back in sales and royalties, even if you’re smart about where to spend and where to save. I’m interested to see the results of her efforts—and she acknowledges, it’s often more the energy the author spends that makes a difference even more than the money she spends.

Also, side question—should I switch from my blog to Substack? I like the independence a blog gives me, but maybe Substacks are more modern.

Another Birthday and Making Changes

You may have noticed, with the return of nice weather, came the return of bird pictures to the blog. And the time has rolled around to my birthday once again. It always makes me introspective, and though I’m happy I’m getting another year on this earth (never guaranteed), the first four months of 2025 have been awfully challening, personally, financially, health-wise, and even poetry-wise. And that’s not mentioning politics or world news. It’s tough to feel like celebrating.

I did sign up for a class on essay writing and got some tickets to see Rebecca Solnit when she comes to Seattle. I’m also starting to meet with other writers again to talk about work. I’m trying to be pro-active, doing positive things with my money—choosing new charities, looking at (gulp) retirement accounts, and trying to bring in more with my writing—and trying to make new friends and build more community around me. I don’t want to ignore that I’m getting older and be too resistant to change to miss the signs that I should be doing something different.

In the meantime, I will try to pay attention to the singing bird next to me, the timing of the stars and flowers, and some of the gifts that aging brings.

 

Happy (and Hoppy) Easter, New Poems Up at The Normal School, and a Week of Being Sick (During Beautiful Weather)

Happy (and Hoppy) Easter

Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates. I was too sick to do much this year, but I did revisit some classics, including the children’s book (written in 1939, and re-released in 1967) The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes, which besides having adorable illustrations, contains surprisingly subversive morals on racism, classism, and feminism—I mean, it would be fair to say it’s an anti-Nazi Easter Bunny book. It surprises me what I look back on in children’s lit and see what affected my own values—in this case, learning that being a poor, brown female bunny from the country (being told to “look after her children” and “leave Easter business to the men” by the tall wealthy white male bunnies—sound familiar?) can achieve her dreams no matter what the obstacles.

Anyway, I strongly recommend you buy it for all your children. Meanwhile, I read the account of the Easter story in all four gospels and again noted that the first people to discover Jesus had risen were women, the first person to speak to the risen Jesus was Mary Magdalene, and the male disciples were too scared to check on his grave and refused to believe the women who saw the angels and even saw Jesus himself. So, ha ha ha, not much has changed, right? The church fails to point this out too often I notice. Ah well. You’ll have to excuse this country bunny.

New Poems up at the Normal School

I am very happy to share that I had two poems up at The Normal School this week, “Aurora, or When Firefoxes Spark the Sky” and “Pyrokinetic.” Below is a sneak peek at one of them. If you go to the link, like and share as The Normal School and I could use the online attention.

A Week of Being Sick During Beautiful Weather

This week I was supposed to run a book club for poetry month, record a poetry tutorial for Writer’s Digest, and a bunch of other things, but instead, I was sick in bed with a combination sinus/stomach flu bug, which I strongly do not recommend (if I look like I lost weight in the pic above, I did—from three solid days of being constantly sick and another day of liquid diet. Super fun! Like Ozempic without the cost Lol!) And every day I was in bed, outside the sky was blue, the flowers all jumped into bloom at once (cherry blossoms, apple blossoms, and lilacs generally do NOT bloom at the same time in our area, but the late spring really messed up the bloom cycle). So that was a bummer. It was not covid or the official flu (according to tests) but there are a lot of bugs going around, the doctor said, so just be aware.

Meanwhile, I slept a lot, drank a lot of Pedialyte™ and caught up on a lot of good and bad television. I am hoping to get through my birthday (around the corner) with better health so I can get out and around Seattle to enjoy some blue skies and flowers.

It is almost the end of National Poetry Month, so I hope you have been reading and writing and enjoying poetry this month, too. If you want to cheer up a poet, just buy one of their books or write them a note about how much you enjoyed their work or share their work on social media or leave them an Amazon review or something. You never know when someone needs a little boost to keep them going.

Spring is Here with Cherry Blossoms and Art Shows, Tulip Fields, Pink Moons, and Visits with Family

Spring is Here—Cherry Blossoms and Art Galleries

In the days after AWP in LA, spring began springing in Seattle, although a bit colder than usual. The first sign here of spring is daffodils and cherry blossoms. We have several trees that I planted in our yard, and down the street, even more, so although it is a custom to go downtown to the UW quad to visit the almost-100-year-old cherry blossom grove, we usually get our cherry blossom fix closer to home.

Being outside is really good for me, even when I’m tired and feeling a bit sneezy (we’ve had a heck of an allergy season, despite or maybe because of the cold?), so I’m happy to have a bit less cold wind and a rain and at least a couple of partially sunny days.

Visiting Art Galleries

Another soul-restoring practice of mine, besides spending time with flowers, is spending time with art. So, we went downtown to the new location (hard to find and in a bit of a dodgy area of town, but huge and well-lit) of Roq La Rue, my favorite art gallery in Seattle. They had a beautiful collection of smaller pieces called “Spectacle du Petite,” one of which I was able to take home (happy birthday to me!) Besides this, they had spectacular sculptures and new work by another favorite artist, Josie Moran. They just opened a new show this last Friday, so take a peek at their web site to see what’s going to be there. Worth the trip (and some level of confusion) finding it!

The day we went down we also went by a very friendly-seeming anti-Trump protest and a group of trans folks raising money for ACLU. It was sunny and everyone was in good spirits, even the gathered police, and despite what people on the right say about Seattle, I was happy and proud to be part of such a vibrant and inclusive community.

Annual Trip to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Which, because spring is late this year, meant we saw not only fields of tulips, but fields of daffodils, still-blooming cherry trees, and early/late camellias and rhododendrons. I always wish I could stay longer and do more exploring up in the area, but this was a quick day trip (to avoid the work being done on the house—this time, noisy electrical work)—and I wore out after about nine hours out and about in the fields anyway. In the meantime, enjoy these pics—when I posted some of these on Instagram with a guess-where-I-am caption, several people guessed Holland! But you can totally imagine Holland looking at these pictures.

Pink Moon and Visiting Family

The full Pink Moon was actually pink this weekend, so I tried to get a picture of it in its true color which is always challenging but this one got pretty close.

My birthday is coming up soon which is always a time of introspection, as is tax time (how is it possible I did so much freelance work for so little money? I ask every year.) I am hoping to find a new home for my next book, maybe a chance to do more lucrative work teaching or publishing, and of course, balancing the joys of life and the stress plus health stuff. I am trying to find more disabled and chronically ill women’s books to review (so definitely comment if you have a new book coming out), and besides the book club and open mic, trying to get together more regularly with other writers. AWP (and maybe the art gallery and protest, too) reminded me of the strengths of feeling like part of a community, rather than just a lone eccentric trying to live your lone eccentric writer life. Helping others, speaking up, these things are also part of feeding the soul, not to get too cheesy.

I also got to visit my little brother’s newly renovated home (beautiful!) in a lovely neighborhood and got to see the way he and my sister-in-law have already started making it their own—hanging art, arranging furniture, trying to beautify the yard (which the previous owner had left a lot of gravel). I am reminded that someday soon our own home renovations will be done, and we can concentrate on something else, but also, in this area, buying and maintaining a home is no joke, financially, but somewhat more stable than the veering stock market this week, for instance. I always like to touch base with my family, and it felt nice to actually spend an hour or two just talking and catching up.

Wishing you some time with flowers, art, full moons, and family and friends this month.