Nothing (because of everything)

and a video

Hello to you all,

I tried to write a newsletter for you today. I thought I would record snippets from our travels over the last couple of weeks to Chicago, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. I was going to call it “One Traveling Soul” (I really like that title). I made some notes on my phone that I thought would work. However, when I returned home and began editing, I found that I only liked one of them and pieces of a couple others. And then I remembered that I needed to call a moving company and get a quote. And then our realtor texted to say that he had made a mistake and that there actually were termites in the house we’re selling and that I would need to call the pest control company. He also told me that I should keep an eye on our new home next door because termites (like rats, in my unfortunate experience) don’t go far once evicted.

Then I decided that I would put together a collection of flash pieces I’d written while taking

Janisse Ray

‘s creative non-fiction class. Three or four have promise, but the fist that has taken up residence in my chest and stomach over the last month tightened defensively at the thought of revising these pieces over the next couple of days. I negotiated a truce between my body and mind by determining to type them into the computer and save them for when I could breathe again.

So, what I have for you today is unique. I have nothing, and I have a video. The video is me talking about Contemplative Reading, the new offering here at A Thin Space, beginning tomorrow from 10-11am Central U.S. time. If you’re a paid subscriber, you’ll see a Zoom link below to join us. If you aren’t a paid subscriber and would like to join, click the button below, which will take you to my website where you can sign up.

I lied. I am unable to leave out plants or poetry, and they are definitely something.

Here’s “The Trees” by Philip Larkin.

And here’s a Korean viburnum. The morning after we returned home, I went out into the backyard to fill the bird feeders and smelled something spicy and sweet on the wind. I followed the smell to side of the house and found these blooms.

---