You with your brake and power steering lines LOL - love it! This is me with much of life.
Top Five Hotel Room Coffees:
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
And I just double checked to make sure I had those in the right order... Happy New Year, Chris. Thanks for these monthly emails, they truly make my day.
1. The despair at finding a yellow warbler window hit on the deck, scooping it into my palm wondering if it will die there to save it from my pretend-to-be-hunting-dogs (chi included) and stood still with the glorious color and design of that beautiful creature in my palm to memorize, as I watched them slowly recover, cocking their head slightly to look at me, only to fly off without any hint of movement into the birches unscathed, matching the color of the last August sunlight in the leaves.
2. Despair at a nuthatch wandering into my room in the summer warmth, hearing its familiar beep-beep call now indoors on my window sill, and resting in the disguise of dust and a drop cloth acting as a blind, and then the sweet bird waited for me to get a ladder to place next to them, and stood still enough for me to grab them gently and carry them outside, flying off in a whir of wings, whispering.
3. Despair at a chickadee flying into my room in the summer warmth, worried again about my avid crazed dogs, only to find the chickadee descending into my hands as it reached the high corner of the room, the weight of its body still in the feeling of my hands as it flew off, again in a whisper.
4. The magpies returning to the feeder and the nuthatches unbothered by their noise and mess.
5. The steller's jays returning to say hello in the quiet of a magpie respite.
The wolf! The brake fluid! a literary agent! BISON. the NINE flickers. Miss those birds, glad to read they're visiting you frequently my friend.
1. Back to camp to get another shovel, almost alone for a couple miles deep in the Bob Marshall, a friendly bluebird visiting for a time, fireweed flowering taller than me, chokecherries to pick, soaked through from the rain, hands numb, never happier.
2. To the part-frozen river in the pre-dawn, thermos and towel in hand, anticipating silent sunrise, a shivering self, and the first hot sip of coffee with ripples for company as sun clears the peaks.
3. Barefoot in the drizzle, soaked through by wet snowberry leaves and the scent of early chamomile.
4. Along the reclamation paths of Butte, eyeing an approaching thunderstorm and following bluebirds and trying not to think of the 10,000 miles of mining tunnels underfoot.
5. Hike into Glacier Slough, low firs and spruces sprouting unexpected mushrooms stored by squirrels, greeting a wild creek at the end bordered by masses of bear tracks among scattered white feathers.
Top Five Out of My Comfort Zone Experiences (in no particular order):
1. Driving a big loop through New Mexico alone.
2. Poetry workshops that required writing on demand and reading aloud (gulp).
3. Two open mics - reading with shaking hands and voice, but reading nonetheless.
4. Holding boundaries with a difficult family member.
5. Turning down a good job that would have eaten up time I want to devote to other things.
Bonus: The traverse of a fairly remote stretch of coastal mountains that my phone led me on to avoid an accident on the normal route--deserted, potholed, rutted, one lane in places, and me alone in my 19 years old creaky car with no cell phone signal and no idea where I was, chanting "this too shall pass" for an entire hour.
Savoring December's one sentence journals (and the last post about community). Happy New Year.
1. Spending most of 2023 writing about the birth family search I did 23 years ago—and finally coming to terms with the Secret.
2. Feeling more bothered about being kept secret from bio fam for the last 23 years (birth mother’s choice).
3. Preparing myself fully in 2023 to write a letter to my bio brother who didn’t know I existed, including daily meditation, therapy, and an astrology reading.
4. Writing the letter and mailing to bio bro the morning of Nov 29, not knowing my birth mother had died alone from a massive heart attack just a few hours earlier, also on Nov. 29.
5. Bio bro gets my reveal letter two days later, not understanding the ways of the universe, yet accepts and welcomes me to the family, and wishes Our mother had told him about me years ago.
“ . . . a large wedge of noisy Canada geese overhead reminds me that the better parts of the world continue . . . “ Thank you for that line; it touched so many memories. I hear geese often where I live, skimming along the river, winging through the night under the Moon, calling, calling. I still have to stop immediately and look up — run out of the house — pull over to the side of the road — whisper my gratitude.
5 memorable moments from my constant deck occupation:
1. Migizi being eternally harassed by gaagaagiwag
2. Nenookaasi yelling at me because they want to drink from their feeder without my presence
3. Osprey carrying its bounty from some nearby waters
4. Jumping spider making a home in a curl of fallen madrone bark
5. Stellar Jay family raising their young in a nest they’ve made in the neighbors tree, forcing me to be social to tell her as I knew she planned to cut said tree down
This was my top 1 of your sentence posts! Congrats on a new Agent. I’m preparing for 2024 to be the year I seriously write my river memoir - hopefully joining another Freeflow trip too!
You with your brake and power steering lines LOL - love it! This is me with much of life.
Top Five Hotel Room Coffees:
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
And I just double checked to make sure I had those in the right order... Happy New Year, Chris. Thanks for these monthly emails, they truly make my day.
Top five bird experiences:
1. The despair at finding a yellow warbler window hit on the deck, scooping it into my palm wondering if it will die there to save it from my pretend-to-be-hunting-dogs (chi included) and stood still with the glorious color and design of that beautiful creature in my palm to memorize, as I watched them slowly recover, cocking their head slightly to look at me, only to fly off without any hint of movement into the birches unscathed, matching the color of the last August sunlight in the leaves.
2. Despair at a nuthatch wandering into my room in the summer warmth, hearing its familiar beep-beep call now indoors on my window sill, and resting in the disguise of dust and a drop cloth acting as a blind, and then the sweet bird waited for me to get a ladder to place next to them, and stood still enough for me to grab them gently and carry them outside, flying off in a whir of wings, whispering.
3. Despair at a chickadee flying into my room in the summer warmth, worried again about my avid crazed dogs, only to find the chickadee descending into my hands as it reached the high corner of the room, the weight of its body still in the feeling of my hands as it flew off, again in a whisper.
4. The magpies returning to the feeder and the nuthatches unbothered by their noise and mess.
5. The steller's jays returning to say hello in the quiet of a magpie respite.
The wolf! The brake fluid! a literary agent! BISON. the NINE flickers. Miss those birds, glad to read they're visiting you frequently my friend.
Top 5 walks:
1. Back to camp to get another shovel, almost alone for a couple miles deep in the Bob Marshall, a friendly bluebird visiting for a time, fireweed flowering taller than me, chokecherries to pick, soaked through from the rain, hands numb, never happier.
2. To the part-frozen river in the pre-dawn, thermos and towel in hand, anticipating silent sunrise, a shivering self, and the first hot sip of coffee with ripples for company as sun clears the peaks.
3. Barefoot in the drizzle, soaked through by wet snowberry leaves and the scent of early chamomile.
4. Along the reclamation paths of Butte, eyeing an approaching thunderstorm and following bluebirds and trying not to think of the 10,000 miles of mining tunnels underfoot.
5. Hike into Glacier Slough, low firs and spruces sprouting unexpected mushrooms stored by squirrels, greeting a wild creek at the end bordered by masses of bear tracks among scattered white feathers.
Top five dishes that I got really good at cooking this year...
1) pizza al taglio (typically with pepperoni and hatch chilies)
2) pork short ribs braised in adobo and peppers and onions and beer and things
3) soft scrambled eggs
4) homemade club sandwiches (smoking your own bacon unlocks a lot of dishes, tbh. store bacon is relative ass.)
5) Austin-style queso blanco
Top Five Out of My Comfort Zone Experiences (in no particular order):
1. Driving a big loop through New Mexico alone.
2. Poetry workshops that required writing on demand and reading aloud (gulp).
3. Two open mics - reading with shaking hands and voice, but reading nonetheless.
4. Holding boundaries with a difficult family member.
5. Turning down a good job that would have eaten up time I want to devote to other things.
Bonus: The traverse of a fairly remote stretch of coastal mountains that my phone led me on to avoid an accident on the normal route--deserted, potholed, rutted, one lane in places, and me alone in my 19 years old creaky car with no cell phone signal and no idea where I was, chanting "this too shall pass" for an entire hour.
Savoring December's one sentence journals (and the last post about community). Happy New Year.
Top Headline of 2023:
He Just Loves Beards (So Much)
Top 5 Steps on an Adoptee’s Journey
1. Spending most of 2023 writing about the birth family search I did 23 years ago—and finally coming to terms with the Secret.
2. Feeling more bothered about being kept secret from bio fam for the last 23 years (birth mother’s choice).
3. Preparing myself fully in 2023 to write a letter to my bio brother who didn’t know I existed, including daily meditation, therapy, and an astrology reading.
4. Writing the letter and mailing to bio bro the morning of Nov 29, not knowing my birth mother had died alone from a massive heart attack just a few hours earlier, also on Nov. 29.
5. Bio bro gets my reveal letter two days later, not understanding the ways of the universe, yet accepts and welcomes me to the family, and wishes Our mother had told him about me years ago.
“ . . . a large wedge of noisy Canada geese overhead reminds me that the better parts of the world continue . . . “ Thank you for that line; it touched so many memories. I hear geese often where I live, skimming along the river, winging through the night under the Moon, calling, calling. I still have to stop immediately and look up — run out of the house — pull over to the side of the road — whisper my gratitude.
Top 5 birds we hear in our yard in downtown Stuttgart:
1. Blackbird (Turdus merula)
2. Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
3. Tawny owl (Strix aluco)
4. Feral pigeon
5. Amazona oratrix -- no joke!!
Top 5 Books & Authors read in 2023 who pressed my face into the visceral intensity of damage done by pale faces like mine:
1. The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson
2. To Shape A Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
3. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
4. The Doctor's Blackwell by Janice P. Mimura
5. Calling For A Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah
Top five nonfiction books I read:
1. Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day by Kaitlin Curtice
2. The Electricity of Every Living Thing by Katherine May
3. Touched Out: Motherhood, Misogyny, Consent, and Control by Amanda Montei
4. Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
5. Feel Something, Make Something: A Guide to Collaborating with Your Emotions by Caitlin Metz
5 memorable moments from my constant deck occupation:
1. Migizi being eternally harassed by gaagaagiwag
2. Nenookaasi yelling at me because they want to drink from their feeder without my presence
3. Osprey carrying its bounty from some nearby waters
4. Jumping spider making a home in a curl of fallen madrone bark
5. Stellar Jay family raising their young in a nest they’ve made in the neighbors tree, forcing me to be social to tell her as I knew she planned to cut said tree down
Miigwech as always
Top five deaths, yes it's been that kind of year...
1) My mother
2) My best friend's son
3) A dear friend's husband who called me daughter
4) Our old dog Red
5) My dad's dog Rita
Congrats on the new literary agent!
So many wonderful sentences in this month. My faves are, well All of them but these stuck out for me:
1216 - pure poetry, 1219 -- bison always a joy and great teachers, 1222 - bison again, yes That wait is worth it, human traffic just sucks
And 1213 - how many of us have done something similar?
Wishing 2024 treats you well.
Wrote these a while ago & forgot to post! Thanks for the prompt. :)
Top 5 outdoors moments of 2023 --
-- Woke up pre-dawn to drop my bf off at work. Swung by a wetland on the way home and saw a beaver, beavering away. Magic!
-- Got caught in a downpour while kayaking with a friend and was "rescued" by an affable teen. "I never get to take the powerboat out," he said.
-- Smelling the desert rain-scented creosote bushes to start & end the year.
-- Watching eagles & eating crab fries with @thomaspluck.
-- The morning light staining the Montana cliffs pink -- and knowing I had canoed there, of all things.
This was my top 1 of your sentence posts! Congrats on a new Agent. I’m preparing for 2024 to be the year I seriously write my river memoir - hopefully joining another Freeflow trip too!