Low-Key Thanksgiving, a Mourning Moon, Closing Out the Year, and the Necessity of Early Holiday Cheer (Plus Cross-Genre Lists)

Thanksgiving wishes, from the new mantel

Low-Key Thanksgiving

Like most people this year, we had a very low-key Thanksgiving this year, and Facetimed and Google Meetinged with family, and made a dinner for two – no leftovers, no overeating – and the only drama that our four-year-old dishwasher sprung a leak today (major appliance fails usually happen on holidays, don’t they? We lost a fridge around this time four years ago, washer/dryer five years ago, I think).

Glenn did several home projects – like taking out the old, poorly fitting mantel and painting and mounting this new one, behind me in the picture – and we got out the Christmas lights and trees. It feels like we need the extra cheer this year. On Black Friday, the only shopping we did was buying prescription glasses from our local indie eyeglass place and optometrist, which we found out is closing for good in December. We’ve been going there for over ten years. Another business casualty of the coronavirus, I guess.

The Mourning Moon, or Frost Moon

A Mourning Moon

This full moon is called the Frost Moon or the Mourning Moon, which makes sense, as my family is still mourning the loss of my grandmother from coronavirus, and so many others are mourning loved ones lost this year. Wishing peace, love, and light to all of us who have lost love ones.

I haven’t been sleeping well since she died, and I haven’t been able to write or send out work at all, which I guess might be normal during a time of mourning. I was lucky, at my age, to still have grandparents left, I think. This year has been so, so hard for so many reasons. As a poet, I feel I should be coming up with better ways to say that. Will next year be any better? With the vaccine on the horizon, and a new President, maybe we have reason for hope.

November Typewriters

Closing Out the Year

It’s almost December, the last month of the year, and I’ve already started thinking about what this year could teach me, and how to start thinking about the future. The circle of life, as shown in typewriters, as my photo to the left shows.

This year has been a little exhausting. I’ve been sick (not with coronavirus, with other things) almost the entire year, on really strong antibiotics from February til now trying to deal with it. Glenn has applied and has been accepted to graduate school, starting classes in January. We’ve missed seeing friends and family, and our normal routines of wondering farmer’s markets in summer and bookstores in the rainy season. I didn’t start baking or doing puzzles – but I did read many books, upped my photography habit, got a guitar, started various writing projects, and got published for the first time in Salon – twice – (a dream of mine) and in Poetry Magazine (another dream). I haven’t yet found a home for either of the poetry book manuscripts I’ve been circulated, which is one of my goals for 2021. I started volunteering again, which felt right, with virtual meetings. I applied for jobs for the first time in years. Despite my health problems, I feel like, especially with flexible work conditions that have been boosted for disabled folks due to the necessity caused by covid-19, I still have enough time and energy to be able to contribute, hopefully to a good place. So I can see, vaguely, a reason for hope for next year.

Glenn and I with Santa cutout at Molbak’s

The Necessity of Early Holiday Cheer

We felt the need, especially this year, to drag up our Christmas lights and tree, to start trying to create a little holiday cheer where we can. This picture was taken outdoors at Molbak’s, where most years, I’d be wondering around looking at decorations and gardening stuff on many of these short, dark, rainy days. These days we only do a drive-by. I looked at the shops on Black Friday as we drove through Woodinville, and many parking lots were empty.

On ‘Shop Small’ Saturday I encouraged people to buy their books of poetry from small publishers and small bookstores (like our own Open Books), and I’ll probably do the same on Monday. I’m surrounded by stacks of unread books but I will probably buy some more myself.

However you can light up these dark days, bring cheer to a damp and weary world, do it. Whatever that means to you – putting up lights and a tree, dyeing your hair a festive red (see picture above,) calling old friends or printing out pictures to remind you of happier times – I encourage you to do it. Watch The Mandalorian or the Charlie Brown Christmas special, drink hot chocolate or spiked coffee, be kind to those around you. Wishing you a gentle December, and hopes for a better new year.

Field Guide to the End of the World On a Cross-Genre List

A late addendum to the post: Goodreads alerted me that Tor.com was kind enough to write an article about cross-genre reading, and including my book Field Guide to the End of the World on the list! https://www.tor.com/2020/11/24/combatting-book-shame-and-reading-outside-your-comfort-zone/