Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

1. Another day. I hope there are many, many more, but each one that comes is particular and precious and will never come again in the exact same way. Each one a chance to start over, to begin and try again. Each sunrise proof of life and how lucky we are to have it.

2. Morning walks. Eric was away at a conference for a few days, so for a bit, I got to take all of the walks with Ringo. The moon was still out for the first few, before it started to fade again, hanging fat and bright in the sky. With the time change, it was darker to start but so quiet. One of the things I love about being out so early is it can feel like you have the whole world to yourself. It’s so quiet, except for the water moving in the river, the wind, and the animals, especially the owls.

We also saw a coyote. When I first saw it, I thought it was an off lead dog. It looked like a red heeler or german shepherd mix, but as we waited for it to go past us and its human to catch up, it turned and I realized it was alone and wild. It was headed the other way by the time I got my camera out, so the pictures aren’t great. Ringo was VERY excited about it.

The owls we saw one morning were too high up and it was too dark to get a very good picture, but I tried anyway. It’s one of the best things about going out when it’s still dark — the owls are out and calling to each other so it’s easier to locate them.

3. Spring is coming. There are robins everywhere and more bird song. It’s been cool but sunny, Ringo’s favorite weather for lounging in the backyard.

4. Being able to keep in touch, no matter how far apart we are. Sending pictures and emails and texts, doing video calls or Zoom hangouts, sending snail mail.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. I’d rather have Eric home with us, but the bonus of having him gone is I get to be Ringo’s favorite. I scheduled my surgery for April 5th and Eric is already taking such good care of me, has been ever since I was in the hospital, and really for the last 30 years. Being loved like this is everything I ever wanted.

Bonus joy: getting a tax refund from both Federal and State and the accountant who makes that magic happen, spending St. Patrick’s Day sharing a meal and lots of laughs with friends, the pictures I took of Chloe’ and Hendrix with the horse, the pictures and videos Mikalina sends from Hawaii, Mikalina and Marshall’s smiles, the robins, lunch with Carrie who I hadn’t seen in SO long — too long, the kindness and skill of my surgeon, all the people who have shared their experience in places online so I can find them and make a decision for myself with confidence even knowing I have no idea how things will turn out, so many good books in so many forms, listening to podcasts, comedy shows, new music from one of my favorite groups and the way after I play the album Spotify keeps going playing things that are similar like my own personalized playlist, all the people who love me, training with Shelby and the gang, stretching, Squeezed Vitamin Water, a big glass of clean cold water, a warm shower, sitting in the sun, good TV, a soft tshirt, my flannel sheets, down pillows and blankets, other people’s dogs and kids, purple highlighters, a massage with Dana, raspberries, the way the top of Ringo’s head smells when he comes in from lying in the sun, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.

1. How to Grow Re-enchanted with the World: A Salve for the Sense of Existential Meaninglessness and Burnout. “Katherine May explores what it takes to shed the cloak of meaninglessness and recover the sparkle of vitality in Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age — a shimmering chronicle of her own quest for ‘a better way to walk through this life,’ a way that grants us ‘the ability to sense magic in the everyday, to channel it through our minds and bodies, to be sustained by it.'” I really enjoyed May’s book Wintering and am excited for this new one.

2. The Courtyard.

3. The Furniture Hustlers of Silicon Valley on The New York Times. “As tech companies cut costs and move to remote work, their left-behind office furniture has become part of a booming trade.”

4. Wisdom from Omkari Williams: “To change things we need to understand them. Let’s deepen our understanding of these deeply inequitable and immoral systems and then let’s do what we can to shift to systems of collective concern, collective care, and collective support.”

5. Could We End Wealth? “In 2019, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made headlines at the MLK Now conference. When Ta-Nehisi Coates asked whether the world is moral when it allows billionaires to exist, she answered, ‘No. It’s not.'”

6. This Is a Better Term for ‘Highly Sensitive Person’.

7. Maga Hat in the Chemo Room, (video) a new poem from Andrea Gibson.

8. 36 questions to stay in love.

9. How radical gardeners took back New York City. (video) “Seed bombs, the ‘tree lady of Brooklyn,’ and the roots of urban gardening… New York City looked a lot different in the 1960s and 1970s. A sharp economic decline and white flight meant there was mass disinvestment and urban decay, particularly in the city’s lower-income neighborhoods. It’s what Hattie Carthan and Liz Christy noticed in their communities when they each set out to revive their neighborhoods by making them greener. Ultimately, their radical acts of gardening would transform the landscape across New York City.”

10. #44 Transitions, part 1: The fundamental ambiguity of being human. “A three part series on what to do when you don’t know what to do.”

11. Ezra Klein Interviews Jane Hirshfield. “She’s a poet. She’s the author of many collections of poetry, including her most recent ‘Ledger,’ which is probably the book of poetry I’ve gifted to others most often. She’s also the author of two very beautiful books of essays on poetry and how it works and the poetic mind.”

12. Bernadette Mayer will give you ideas. “On the late American poet’s irrepressible confident weirdness.” If you like writing prompts, read this.

13. Dandelions and orchids from Austin Kleon.

14. UnPrisoned | Official Trailer | Hulu. I just finished watching this and while the season ender was a bit of a bummer, the show is really good — the acting, the writing, the music. “Inspired by Tracy McMillan’s life, ‘UnPrisoned’ is a half-hour comedy about a messy but perfectionist relationship therapist and single mom whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son.”

15. 99 Things To Do Instead Of Reaching For Your Phone.

16. How to Find ‘Microjoys’ When Everything Is Bad and You’re Not OK.

17. On 3/11/20, WHO declared a pandemic. These quotes and photos recall that historic time.

18. Chris Rock Looks Very Small Right Now, an opinion piece on The New York Times by Roxane Gay.

19. Author Alice Walker Defends J.K. Rowling’s Transphobia. *sigh*

20. The Whale is not a masterpiece – it’s a joyless, harmful fantasy of fat squalor by Lindy West. “The Oscar nomination for The Whale must mean it’s great, right? Wrong! It is a shallow and stigmatising reflection of thin people’s assumptions about fat bodies.”

21. Are Some of Your Well-Intended Eating Habits a Problem? “Unhealthy eating patterns are pervasive in fitness culture. Whether it’s the latest ‘wellness’ trend on TikTok, advice from elite athletes, or general messaging from an industry that thrives on athletes’ desire to perform optimally or meet an unattainable aesthetic standard, this messaging can lead to patterns of consumption or restriction that are disordered, and eventually, meet a diagnostic standard for an eating disorder.”

22. Wild Bird Brings Someone Special To Meet His Human Mom. (video)

23. ‘The God of Endings’ is a heartbreaking exploration of the human condition, a book review.

24. Trying to finish the chapter before bed. (Instagram reel) This is me, every night.

25. Rogan Brown, Paper Sculptures Portfolio.

26. Meleana Sessions x Mana Wahine “Rise Up.” (video) Gorgeous.

27. The 41 Best Oregon Mom & Pop Restaurants to Eat At in 2023.

28. A Geese Love Story on CBS Sunday Morning. (video) “Last August, Blossom the goose lost her mate, Bud. They’d lived on a pond at Riverside Cemetery in Marshalltown, Iowa. Blossom’s grief was evident to the cemetery’s staff, and so general manager Dorie Tammen decided to post a personal ad for Blossom. Correspondent Steve Hartman reports on the results of an avian blind date.”

29. Comedian Sarah Millican’s YouTube channel. She is hilarious, slightly naughty but so sweet at the same time.

30. Abstract and organic textile sculptures with vibrant colors by Serena Garcia Dalla Venezia.

31. “Incomplete” Sculptures Capture the Playful and Timid Personalities of Children.