Signs of Spring, a Week of Illness – Covid or Flu?, Hummingbirds, Hawks, and Deer, and the NEA application

Early pink rhododendron bloom

Signs of Spring and a Week of Illness

This week has been rough. I’m sure like many of you, I came down with something (fever, stuffy head, cough, sore throat, headache) after a dental visit last week, and that meant: doctors telling me I probably had covid and giving me really depressing info about the lack of covid treatments available, then an instant covid test, and then more covid tests (the PCR test was really hard to find – I couldn’t get it until six days after I started feeling sick, and I had to drive 45 minutes each way, walk in the cold mud and rain to construction area tent, so that was fun).

The good news is the tests were negative – the bad news is I’m still pretty sick, which now my doctors have decided is probably flu. Anyway, I’ve been lying low, not a lot of mental energy, but managed to get a few shots on sunny days to show you spring may actually be happening, eventually, despite our cold, gray, relentlessly depressing January weather.

Red-Tailed Hawk looks directly at camera

Hummingbirds, Hawks, and Deer

The good news is, though it’s easy to forget, I actually live in a beautiful place – it’s just when it gets cold and wet or icy outside, I’m not able to get out enough to appreciate it. This red-tailed hawk was sitting low to the ground, and happened to look right at me as I took this shot, and we happened to have a clear blue sky that afternoon. Hawks showing white feathers are supposed to be a good omen, but a hawk low to the ground looking you in the eye is supposedly a portent of death. So, I hope it’s the first, not the second.

We also saw our first deer of the year, nibbling on our pink camellias – which like the rhody, look like they are very close to blooming, even though it’s only January. The hummingbirds are here all year, so we just have to keep up a feeder and a bird fountain. These are shots of the same male Anna’s hummingbird. He was showing off his crazy feathers.

My pink camellia this morning – looking like almost-spring!

Reading Report – All Sort-of Plague-Related – and NEA Application – Done!

The one good thing about being sick all week is I caught up on my reading! Pale Horse, Pale Rider is Katherine Anne Porter’s semi-autobiographical account of living through the 1918 flu as a single journalist in Denver, when the hospitals were overcrowded and they couldn’t just order an ambulance as they were too busy. Her vivid hallucinations while sick for a month with the flu are unforgettable (she sees the nurse’s hands as ‘white tarantulas’), as is the ending. I also read Katherine Mansfield’s short story “Garden Party,” about an upper-class family organizing a party as their poorer neighbor falls down dead in front of their house. Again, feels so relevant.

To add to the cheer, I’m also reading Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human with my little brother, and though it is bleak – written in 1948’s Japan, about an individual who suffers multiple childhood sex abuse traumas,  grows up to be a cartoonist, tries to commit suicide, is put in an insane asylum – my brother made the astute observation that it shares a lot with Kafka’s Metamorphosis. It’s been read historically as thinly-veiled autobiography, but I’d argue it’s more ambitious than that – it’s Dazai’s attempt to embody the suffering, corruption and dehumanization of Japan during the WW II years.  It’s the second-best selling book in Japan of all time, and you can see why – despite the bleak subject matter, Dazai’s writing is stunningly beautiful, even in translation (he writes with a different pronoun that the Japanese “Watashi” for “I,” except in the prologue and epilogue, but that can’t really be translated into English, which is a shame). If you want to discover Dazai but want something a little more upbeat, read his warm and funny collection of modernized fairy tales in Blue Bamboo. I’ve been teaching myself Japanese for almost a year now, and I’m sad that I’m still not fluent, but I am starting to pick up a little more on the slight variations of words – pronouns, seasons, puns. Some part of me wish I’d picked something easier, like Italian, but Japanese literature is kind of an obsession of mine, and I’d love to read these books in the original, eventually. Or at least be able to have a really simple conversation in Japanese.

The other accomplishment I’m proud of is that my NEA application is in and done. I mean, I did it with a fever and on a lot of cold medicine, so it may not be the best application I’ve ever done, but it is finished! I was in isolation while waiting for my PCR test (two of my doctors told me that I for sure had covid, based on my symptoms, so better safe than sorry) and the only thing that is good for is reading and getting grant applications done. Wishing you health and safety this week, but if you do get sick – either this nasty flu or covid – I hope you have a good window view, a stack of books, and someone to bring you unending soup and hot tea.

Oh, and on top of reading an account of inadequate medical care during the 1918 flu, you can read this account of a New York Times writer trying to get the Pfizer pill for her 73-year-old mother – it is harrowing to realize how hard it is to get adequate medical care for covid right now, the same as Katherine Anne Porter’s experiences in 1918 in a lot of key ways: When my mom got COVID, I went searching for Pfizer’s pills | The Seattle Times.

Dreary in Mid-January, Interview with Water~Stone Review, Distracting Myself with PR Research, Submissions, and Organizing Projects, Birdwatching w/Towhees and Wood Ducks

Sunset with Cormorants, Kirkland

Dreary in Mid-January

It’s been a cold, dreary January here in Seattle, and Omicron is peaking across the US. Our state’s National Guard has been called up to aid hospitals and testing sites. Schools in my neighborhoods are mostly going virtual. I have to say my anxiety is worse than it has been during most of the pandemic; it’s been hard to get out of the house to get fresh air or exercise, I’ve seen lots of vaccinated friends and some family get covid and even get hospitalized.  It’s not been fun.

So one day, when the rain and snow gave us a break, we went out in the fog to birdwatch, and got these shots of sunset with fog and cormorants, and a few Wood Ducks. It was good to get some exercise, even in the chilly gray day. Being immersed in nature is excellent for anxiety, even if I needed a lot of hot tea and a shower to get warm when I got home. I also taught an online speculative poetry class yesterday; it was a lot of fun – thanks to everyone who came out for that!

It’s been tough to keep my spirits up. I try to be optimistic; I try to be pro-active, I meditate and do breathing exercises, and I’m trying to distract myself with positive things (see my last section below) but I saw a quote: “You can’t self-care your way out of a pandemic.” You also can’t ignore the deaths of 850,000 in your own country. In February, it will be two years since the first US cases of covid appeared in Kirkland, a few miles from my house. So I’m submitting more, researching PR, reading, organizing. Waiting for spring…and hopefully more good news.

Interview in Water~Stone Review

Very thankful for this thoughtful interview with Water~Stone Review on their blog. Check it out below at this link:

https://waterstonereview.com/in-the-field-conversations-with-our-contributors-jeannine-hall-gailey/

A sneak peek below:

Screen shot from my interview

Male Spotted Towhee in the Snow, my porch

Winter Distractions – PR investigations, and more submissions

I’ve been trying to keep myself distracted/productive in multiple ways. I’ve been trying (with a group of friends) to submit poems every day in January. I’ve interviewed two PR professionals so far (for the next iteration of my PR for Poets book, and also maybe for me?)

It’s interesting to think about how promoting books has changed during the pandemic, more virtual, less in-person, and trying to be heard above the noise of the virtual crowd. Are people reading more, or less, do you think? Are they buying books online or in person, or not? I am also trying to learn how to use Instagram more, which has been dicey (but thanks to a class AND a personal training session with Kelli Agodon on stories, not hopeless.) (If you want to follow me, I’m @webbish6 on Instagram.) I’m also continuing to try to learn Japanese (still not fast) and I’m cleaning out my closets (needed) and bookshelves (even more needed.) I told you I was trying to distract myself! What rituals do you find yourself needing in the wintertime you don’t need in the spring or fall? I am hoping for an early spring, and a merciful 2022 in terms of this plague. Stay safe, warm, and as un-anxious as possible!

Late Holiday Celebrations, 10 Questions with Massachusetts Review, After the Snow, Floods, and Next Week, a Speculative Poetry Class

Pink Flowers and Flooding Creeks, Woodinville, January 2022

Happy Post New Year! Floods, Variants, and Small Celebrations

Hope your New Year has gone well so far. After our week of being snowed in, the whole state dealt with snowmelt and constant rain, resulting in a ton of flooding. We were very thankful to have our trash picked up after two weeks of being skipped for bad weather.

This picture on the left is usually a tiny trickling creek in our Woodinville neighborhood, and the flowers blooming in January are, I think, viburnum. The water was so high and moving so fast it actually blurred in the picture! We live on a hill, bad for snow and ice, but good for floods, so we were okay, but all the stores are still dealing with shortages from the snow last week, employees being out sick (really high Omicron levels here) and trucks not being able to cross the mountains for days to get from one side of the state to the other.

me, Glenn, little brother Mike, and sister-in-law Loree at our after-New Year’s party

Despite all the weather crises and Omicron crises, we had our first holiday celebrations – first, with my little brother Mike and sister-in-law Loree, where we celebrated Christmas, New Year’s, and both their January birthdays with a celebratory brunch – and later in the week, with my poet friend Kelli Russell Agodon and her husband Rose, celebrating Christmas, New Year’s, and Kelli’s birthday, also in January with champagne and cupcakes! We also did a little toast to my new book contract with BOA!

Is it nerve-wracking meeting with other humans during Omicron’s numbers, overrun hospitals, and daily news? It was! Was it worth it? Well, neither Glenn and I (who tested before and after) got sick, our guests didn’t get sick, and everyone was vaccinated (most triple-vaccinated, except me) and we were running four air purifiers and kept windows open (circulation still important!) so definitely yes. I have missed other humans! It’s just not the same over the phone or over Zoom. And Glenn really enjoys cooking for humans who aren’t quite as jaded to his excellent food as me and the cats have become.

While Rose and Glenn bonded over Seahawks and cooking, Kelli showed me how to share an Instagram story (Instagram is still a new skill set for me) and we talked poetry, PR, the problems of launching books during a pandemic…you know, typical girl stuff! Seriously, family bonding and writer-friend bonding felt really life-affirming. It also felt unfamiliar – seeing people in person. When this pandemic is over (someday soon, hopefully,) I’m going to have to re-learn my socializing skills. What is it going to be like to do a poetry reading in public again?

An Interview with me: 10 Questions with The Massachusetts Review

I was lucky enough to have a new interview up with The Massachusetts Review. You can read it at this link, and a sneak peek below. 

Screencap from my interview

A Speculative Poetry Class Next Saturday

Have you ever wanted to write poetry that was…a little outside of normal? Did you write about fairy tales, comic book characters, space travel? Did you know that you were writing speculative poetry? In this master class, we’ll talk about what speculative poetry is, read a few example poems by writers like Tracy K Smith and Lucille Clifton, talk about markets that publish speculative poetry, and do a poetry exercise or two.

It’s next Saturday the 15th starting at noon Pacific time. You can sign up for the class for $5 here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/writing-outside-the-norm-speculative-poetry-with-jeannine-hall-gailey-tickets-241535899377

Happy New Year! Snowed-In Seattle, Inspiration Board for 2022, Variant Problems, and Late Celebrations

Me, with a toast and pomegranate seeds

Have a Safe, Happy, Healthy New Year!

Well, our new year rose sunny and cold (28 when I woke up – brrr) and I’ve been struggling with keeping my asthma in check – hey, I didn’t move to the Northwest for the record cold OR record heat! (We had both this year – 16 degrees this week and 115 this summer. Why is mother nature trying to kill us? )

Glenn and I dressed up and stayed in, popped champagne for the ball drop, ate frozen grapes (supposed to be good luck, but how many grapes to have to eat to keep covid away?) and had mini beef tenderloin and avocado sliders for dinner. (Fancy, but easy – recommend!) Doesn’t Glenn look cute in his tie?

Since we stayed in, I got to watch The Thin Man marathon on TCM, midnight celebrations in Paris, London, New Zealand, NYC, and Seattle, and got two poetry submissions out before midnight. Plus we had fancy cocktails with pomegranate seeds floating in them and when Glenn got tipsy he didn’t have to drive!

Omicron and Delta are still topping the news as half (!) of tests in King County, where I live, are coming back positive, and hospitals like UW have postponed unnecessary procedures as they are dealing with staff shortages and bed overwhelm. Christmas Eve had our highest covid levels ever during the pandemic.

Our children’s hospital is reporting it is full, with kids with flu, RSV, and covid (often with two of the three), which is the first time since covid began we’re really hearing about a lot of hospitalized children. So if you have unvaccinated kiddies, take extra steps to be safe.

We have extra instant tests at the house, thanks to Microsoft, that has been giving them out to employees for the last two weeks, which is good, because both Glenn and I tested when we had low oxygen ourselves (turned out to be cold-related asthma, not covid, but better safe than sorry.)

So happy New Year’s to you, happy unrealistic resolutions (watch Pete Davidson and Miley Cyrus sing about this is a funny short video here, like “reading three whole books” and “learning Bosnian.”

Sylvia with snow, pre-dawn

Snowed-In Seattle

We had a surprise the day after Christmas – about four inches of snow, and record cold temperatures, and then a few days later, another three inches of snow. Needless to say this causes snags – like not getting trash pickup, or not getting to the store, and if you do get to the store, milk, water, and eggs are all gone. It’s a weird way to end the year. But my cat still loves the snow, as always!

We had record numbers of cancellations at SeaTac. Meanwhile Boulder just had a devastating wildfire on New Year’s Eve. It can’t just be a pandemic – it has to be all this other stuff, too? I had five friends diagnosed with cancer just this year. I can’t imagine going in for imaging and chemo – things I’ve had to do myself, though not during a pandemic, and know they are incredibly stressful. A reminder than minor things feel like major things, and major things just feel even more major, more life-shattering. I want to be closer to my friends and family than I feel like I can be – and being snowed in can feel like a very apt metaphor – we are all trapped at home and unable to travel, to see people, to do regular things like shopping. Or maybe that’s nonsense.

Inspiration Board for 2022

I know it’s a little cheesy, and harder during a pandemic year, but I still went through the steps of doing my yearly inspiration board, and using my hands to cut and glue things makes me feel like a kid again, and there’s something innately…optimistic about putting up words and pictures that make you feel happy and hopeful. This year, words like “friends,” “inspiration,” “magic,” and “happiness” made appearances, along with images of foxes, pink typewriters, blooms and butterflies.

Anyway, I encourage you to try it yourself, even if it’s just a temporary one on a corkboard, or posting inspiring things on your fridge. What could we look forward to? What are the best possibilities? I’m far too good at looking at the dark side.

Celebrations after the New Year

We hope to see my brother and sister-in-law today for a Christmas/New Year’s/birthday get together, and later on this week, a good poet friend and her husband, and I’m hoping we didn’t pick the worst possible time for visits given the rising covid levels and weird weather. It’s hard not to feel like a prisoner after two years in virtual lockdown because of my immune system problems, even after vaccination, and I just want to be in human presence of someone besides my husband and cats (God bless them) and not just on a Zoom screen. It doesn’t really feel like we’ve had the holidays until we give presents and Glenn cooks for someone.

Happy Solstice/Christmas/Holidays, A Poem in the Climate Issue of Massachusetts Review, Poetry Book Recommendations from 2021, and Things to Remember About the Last Year

Happy holidays from Glenn, me, and this polar bear

Happy Solstice/Christmas/Holidays!

Hope you all are having a safe, healthy, and as happy as possible Solstice/Christmas/Holiday! I know it’s hard for many of us, with flights cancelled, Omicron in the news, to feel any kind of holiday cheer, especially if you, like me, are far away from family this year.

But I’ve been running a steady stream of Christmas movies and music – except for that one panic-inducing day I watched Station Eleven’s pilot – and trying my best to feel as cheerful as I can. Glenn made a gluten-free chocolate “Buche de Noel” with fresh cherries which was amazing.

We are expecting 2-5 inches of snow, over the Christmas weekend, then several days below freezing, so we might be stuck on our hill, which would make getting supplies tougher, so we are prepared to eat leftovers and after that, our supply of potatoes and pumpkin seeds. But I love seeing some snow.

December cherry blossoms

But we did have a cherry tree with one branch blossoming, right on Christmas Eve; seems symbolic, like beauty’s triumph over death, life over winter, or something like that. We need anything that gives us hope these days.

The generosity and apparent ferocity of nature is always surprising. We should pay closer attention.

New Poem in the Climate Issue of Massachusetts Review

Thank you to the Massachusetts Review who included my poem “Things I Forgot to Tell You About the End of the World” in their end-of-the-year Climate Issue. I feel lucky to be in such a great issue, and the fact that it’s the closing poem of the issue.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Things to Remember, 2021 Edition

2021 was not just about the pandemic, about loss, isolation, and anxiety. Other things happened, too, remember? I went through my photos and it helped me remember some of the good of 2021. I recommend it! I also went back and re-read some of my blog posts to remind myself of happy times.

• I got into some dream journals for the first time: including but not limited to: Fairy Tale Review, Bellevue Literary Journal, Image, and Water~Stone Review
• I went to Breadloaf for the first time. Virtually, but still, pretty cool. (I was accepted on scholarship the first time I applied, but could not afford the airfare to get out there. That was many years and books ago.)
• Spent a whole week in September (was there a covid lull?) at a writing residency on San Juan Island, where I encountered many foxes and several seals.
• Discovered a new Japanese botanical garden, the Kubota Gardens, on the other side of town (wandering is a symptom of the pandemic, right?)
• Had a rare visit with my nephew Dustin from Georgia who might move up here.
• I managed one weekend during the summer’s covid lull up to Port Townsend to see eagles, deer, and my friend Kelli Agodon
• I also did two things I couldn’t in 2020 because they were cancelled: visited the Skagit Tulip Festival and the Bellevue Botanical Garden Holiday Lights.
• Had both my circulating poetry manuscripts accepted for publication: Fireproof from Alternating Current Press in California, and Flare, Corona from BOA Editions in New York. In some blog posts in the past two years, you can read me despairing of ever finding the right homes for these books, but now that they have found the right homes, I’m overjoyed (and relieved!) and looking forward to launching each book. Hopefully in a post-pandemic world.

Poetry Book Recommendations from 2021:

All of these books make great gifts, and also great end-of-the-year reading, with just the right balance of melancholy and hope. I’m probably missing more than a few good ones, but these were my top picks.

Rosebud Ben Oni’s If This is the Age We End Discovery Alice James Books – Multiple timelines, string theory, Bunnicula and Rick and Morty? Yes please
Louise Gluck’s Winter Recipes from the Collective – Meandering, warm, imaginative – maybe my favorite Gluck book in years
Kelli Russell Agodon’s Dialogues with Rising Tides – Kelli’s most vulnerable, surprising book, looking at personal tragedy, ecological and political anxieties,
Katie Farris’s A Net to Catch my Body In Its Weaving – Heart-wrenching poems that look at mortality and the body
Sandra Beasley’s Made to Explode – once again, the political meets the personal in Beasley’s latest book
Sally Rosen Kindred’s Where the Wolf – Fairy tale poems with an edge
Shade of Blue Trees by Kelly Cressio-Moeller – a melancholy, beautiful book with an elegiac mood