A Blog for 2025

March  31, 2026 The rookery was 73 degrees today and partly sunny and incredibly beautiful.  Got my submission into Plum today.  Realized there are a couple of narratives in the blog that stand out alone as a kind of memoir.  I'm going to try and pull a few out and see if they are submittable as stand alone pieces.  If you have any favorite spaces, let me know.  I want to try to turn some of my attention to submitting again. Migration is in full swing. I saw  a pair of kingfisher at the rookery today marking the new year for me.   Not seeing a heron there before April is a first in 7 years.  So seeing the kingfisher was extra special.  The cycle continues. There were at least 8 kinds of ducks up there today.  The only bird making noise was the geese, but the ducks were visible. There was also a beaver.  That's the first one I have seen in the rookery since before the dam broke through last year.  He looked young, rode...

March 30, 2026 I didn't hear back from the doctor today about the ultrasound results. I went to the Y, got some lunch and met Denise at the house and her coming to help me resulted in my actually getting some stuff done.  I realize I'm incapable of doing this life alone any more, but am unable to actually ask for too much help.  Such an odd predicament to be in.  What I'm hoping is that my mobility will improve. Meanwhile, I am grateful for Denise to tell me to stop being silly.     I don't think we'll be able to shoot the  full  moon this week, it's supposed to cloud over and rain for the next few days. Full moon is Wednesday.  I'm going to a Smith College Senior art show that night so maybe it will poke it's beautiful face out on our drive home.  I re experienced an old angst last night while talking to an old professor of mine about a project we are doing to honor our friend and colleague, Tom Toleno.  I feel as though there are ...

photo by E.J. March 29, 2026 Willow is the elder animal in this home.  She is getting ready to enter a new realm   I went up to visit EJ and Diane today and hang out with the animals.  I really miss having them around.  I had two ideas for story collections today, the first one was your most favorite blanket and the other was your favorite pet.     In some ways I think my favorite pet was Goldie Whiton.  I was given 4 goldfish at some point around the age of 7.  Goldie was one of those 4.  He survived a tremendous amount of change and movement for a goldfish.  And I think he was a single fish in his bowl, which I still have, for years. But he was entirely interactive with the humans in the house and everyone said hi and tapped the glass and talked to him.  He followed us all around whatever room he was placed in.   Every once in a while a cat would sweep him out of his bowl.  Once Mike took an eye dropper and gav...

March 28, 2026 I was totally incapable of joining my community in protest today.   They came out in great force.   I'm not moving well and my diaphragm is doing something strange.  I seem ok if I am just sitting and paying attention, but moving is very difficult. I did go to the Coop and sit in a corner and got to see people as the demonstration began to break up.  Friends came in with their signs. And we sang a little.  I got a small injection of we are all in this together.  This is Charmae's egg.  I love it. A few people at the coop are making eggs and leaving them places.  If people find them there will be instructions on how to notify a website that it was found and they may keep it.  I'm supposed to make one, too.   It was sparkly at the rookery today, about 35 degrees and the duck conference was continuing.  I sat up there for a little bit, but was not inspired to write that much.  Gorgeous, thou...

March 26 and 27, 2026 I'm sorry I missed last night.  I went to a reading with Jo and Amie in Amherst and got home exhausted. Candace and Lauren read last night at Amherst Books.  It was a really good reading.  I had an ultrasound in the morning and was exhausted, but I put one foot in front of the other and was glad I did, not only did I get to be with friends but I heard good words which is nourishing for me.  But I was too tired for this.   I think that the duck communities sent out scouts today to check out places to nest.  I actually think the rookery is an excellent place for them to make their homes this year.  There were at least six different duck pairs and Canada geese.  The Common Mergansers were home.  At least 3 males were having a good time and I saw two pairs of Black ducks and two pairs of wood ducks.  There were several with a wide flat beak.  It just seems to be pretty healthy in there this spring.  But still ...

March 25, 2026 I'm burning frankincence in your honor.   And I meditated on crow for a time. We embrace our time with you in person and are grateful for an awful lot of great memories. For the most part today was a simple day.  It was great to be in the pool.  OMG, it is so important to be out of gravity's power, well, not really, but it feels that way.  Hanging straight up and down in the water, let all those joints lengthen, paradise.   And then I had therapy where I can say aloud what I'm thinking and get reasonable feed back.  I can say things in a way that organizes my own head and allows me to take in more.  And it accepts the fact that creating is a strategy for dealing with stress and depression.   Went to the Coop, did the puzzle, hung out with friends and was very pleasantly surprised by Gerard coming down and visiting for awhile. Made me so pleased.  I really have been missing him.  I was given three new meds th...