The Sealey Challenge, the First Sunflowers, and Fall is Coming Up!

Me with sunflowers and dahlias

The Sealey Challenge, The First Sunflowers, and Signs that Fall is Coming!

The first sunflowers have popped up at our local gardens, and with them the notion that fall is around the corner. I have been ill for so much of the summer that I barely noticed it passing so fast. I have been beating myself up for not getting much done the last two months, not much writing or submitting of poetry. I haven’t even been well enough to go get blood work done that I need to have done (they won’t let me get it while I’m sick.) I don’t always have control of my physical self, and that can be frustrating for a type-A control freak like myself.

But I did finally accomplish some of my Sealey Challenge (where you’re supposed to read a book of poetry a day in August.) Here are three: an anthology of mermaid poetry published a few years ago called Till the Tide, and brand new books Horns by Tiffany Midge (funny, biting wit!) and Autobiography of Rain by Lana Ayers (solemn, subtle, always worth reading.) I also pulled out Matthea Harvey’s If the Tabloids are True What Are You and Diwata by Barbara Jane Reyes for inspiration.

Glenn and I with wildflowers and sunflowers

Signs of Fall

I love thinking about blessedly cooler weather, pumpkins and sweaters. I’m emphatically not a summer girl. In the Pacific Northwest, the fact that rain is in the forecast – or there’s an unexpected drizzle in the morning – is a sign the season of sunshine (and fire, and smoke) is coming to a close. In case you ever come out here, September is the perfect time to visit – still have some sunlight, flowers are still blooming, and the crowds are gone. Also, apple and pumpkin everything!

I’m hoping that September also brings some more stable health for me as well as more pleasant weather. Here’s wishing you a wonderful end of August.

Welcome to August, on The Slowdown, Hot Air Balloons

Juvenile goldfinch with sunflowers

Welcome to August: On the Slowdown and Hot Air Balloons

As my insomnia continues and my nervous system seems to be on the fritz, it seems my site has had problems too! If you missed last week’s post, that’s probably because the site was down. Hope it stays up this time (WordPress really needs some tweaking).

A little glimpse of my back garden with a juvenile goldfinch moments before it landed on my sunflowers (which I’m so proud of—both the snapdragons and sunflowers were unusual colors grown from seed from local farms!) August is great for gardens—lots of sunshine—but the heat and haze have taken a toll on my body, already run down from a couple of weeks of poor sleep. On the plus side, have watched so much Olympics coverage. LOL.

On the poetry side, I was briefly interviewed on the Slowdown this week as they chose my poetry pick, Kelli Russell Agodon’s “Hunger,” for their audience choice show. Here’s the link—you can hear me say a couple of things about the poem before Major Jackson reads the poem (what a great voice for radio, am I right?) 1175: Hunger by Kelli Russell Agodon | The Slowdown (slowdownshow.org)

Another thing our area has during August is amazing views around our home—this week, we followed a hot air balloon sinking from our house to the lavender farm, and we caught a particularly lucky shot of the balloon along with Mt Rainier at sunset, the lavender garden, and a V of geese! Woodinville just has some above average chances to catch beautiful things. So even if I’m not at my peak right now (and rarely am in August), the world is still beautiful. Just got to get through a couple of weeks of heat waves and smoke and make it to September!

A Week of Insomnia, Visiting with My Brother and Lavender Festival, and the Olympics

Me in wildflowers

A Week of Insomnia, Visiting with my Brother and a Local Lavender Festival

I’m a bit foggy from lack of sleep (I haven’t been able to sleep at all at night for the last week—or more?) but wanted to report in. This weekend our local lavender farm had its second weekend of its inaugural Lavender Festival, which featured a ton of vendors from ice cream and coffee to art and plants. We went both days this weekend and took my little brother and sister-in-law on Sunday. (It seems ironic that walking through a field of lavender at night didn’t help my insomnia!) But the light was so pretty that most of the shots Glenn took of me don’t even look like I haven’t slept much. (Maybe there’s a potential author photo in here?) Everyone should do their author photo shoots in a field of flowers in late evening light!

Glenn, little brother Mike, sister-in-law Loree, and me at sunset

Family Visits and the Olympics

It had been a while since we’d gotten to visit with my little brother and sister-in-law, so we were happy to have dinner and walk around the festival with them. Besides the amazing field of flowers, the farm’s employees are terrific, friendly folks—a pleasure to be around. If you get a chance and you live in easy distance of Woodinville, you should definitely check it out.

With all my insomnia, I got to watch (live) all the Olympic opening ceremonies, plus some swimming and gymnastics. I thought the ceremonies were strange, French, and beautiful, and the sports part has been exciting too. Of course, I can’t help but worry every time a gymnast takes a fall or hurts their ankle—my empathy (and remembrance of my own sports injuries in high school) kicks in.

My own garden is in bloom, and many baby birds are cheeping around our feeders. We’re supposed to get some much-needed rain tomorrow, and hopefully that will help the surrounding air quality (we’re sort of surrounded by wildfires) and people suffering from fires. Remember to keep your ears open for the podcast The Slowdown, especially on August 2nd. Wishing you a happy (and for me sleep-full) summer week. I’ll be here, thinking about fall…

My Poem “On Being Told You’re Dying” is Up on Poetry Daily Today!

I couldn’t be happier to say that Poetry Daily has my poem “On Being Told You’re Dying, but Not Quite Believing It” from Flare, Corona up today! I am so thankful as this is the first time ever one of my poems has been run there.

Here is a link and a sneak peek:

On Being Told You’re Dying, but Not Quite Believing It – Poetry Daily (poems.com)

Poem from Flare, Corona on Poetry Daily this Thursday, Full Moons and Sunsets, Lavender Festivals and Heat Waves

Me in lavender field, during their first festival, evening

EEK! A Poem from Flare, Corona on Poetry Daily this Thursday the 25th! Aah!

Yes, the day has been full of news, but I couldn’t help being super excited—after writing six books of poetry over almost 20 years—one of my poems is finally going to appear on Poetry Daily, this Thursday the 25th! I will of course put up a link here when it is up. I am so thankful for this little break and hope it leads to more people discovering Flare, Corona and reading it!

Here is the link live on the site today: On Being Told You’re Dying, but Not Quite Believing It – Poetry Daily (poems.com)

I also recommend listening to the Slowdown podcast this week and you might hear one of Kelli Russell Agodon’s poems there.

We had a crazy heat wave this week which made my MS symptoms worse, which meant a week of me out of commission. (Wake up! Your legs won’t work! Also, you can’t sleep but you’re so tired all the time! Also, dizzy and nauseous!) But I got one night cool enough to get to the lavender garden at sunset, enjoyed some daisies, and got to see this hot air balloon from my bedroom window one morning.

Full Moons and Sunsets, plus a New Democratic Candidate

A lot of stuff in the news today, but also an amazing sky. A very orange sun at sunset, and a very orange full Buck moon. Can’t tell whether it’s the late July bend of light or air pollution from fires, but it was really beautiful.

Politics has been moving at a head-spinning rate, but I was a supporter of Kamala Harris when she first ran for President, so I’m definitely a supporter now. I hope we can get our first woman President. I worry about America’s sexism and racism, I do, but I’m hoping that Americans do the right thing this time. In the meantime, I’m trying to fight off politics-laden anxiety attacks. Watching the moon rise can help.