Every Bit of This Is Good News
Prepare yourself for a long one.
Unveiling the Concert Poster
Look what my friend Sam Balling painted for the Walter Parks concert coming up in December. If you want to find a piece of Balling for your walling, check out Griddlespits, his Etsy store, or connect with Sam on Insta.
13 Tickets Left for Rootsman Walter Parks In Concert Sat, Dec. 14
The great Walter Parks has agreed to a homegrown concert at the historic country school and church that I am restoring, Cedar Grove.
Walter is a tall glass of tannic water with an iconic beard and a bent toward turning the historic music of this place into haunting compositions. He uses spirituals, sacred-note songs, and even swamp hollers, which were calls used to communicate across great watery distances in Okefenokee Swamp.
If you want a sweet taste of Walter’s soul-soaring range, let me suggest the video “Walter Parks: Haunting Swamp Hollers from Georgia,” produced by the Library of Congress. At 4:40 minutes you can hear what he has done with one of the hollers. At 11:45 he plays the “coming home” song. After the goosebumps recede, I begin weeping when I hear this song. Place is stamped deep in my bones, as you know, and this is the music written in my ossein.
On Saturday, Dec. 14 at 2 pm Walter will perform with his band Swamp Cabbage in the unplugged, lamplit, heartpine-and-cypress Cedar Grove Church. This will be an experience for the ages, a story to tell your friends about, how you heard Walter Parks holler under the old pines in an old church without an address in Tattnall County, Georgia.
Alec Bruns, the Golden Shadow Ensemble, and I will call in the spirits of place before Walter takes the stage.
Please join us. If you’re considering making the drive and need to check distances, use the address Cedar Haw Road, Reidsville, GA 30453.
Folks have claimed 37 tickets so far. Three of the 10 front-row seats ($100 each) are taken. Ten of you are having lunch at my farm.
We can only fit about 50 people into the church, so 13 tickets are left although when we get to 50, we may open a second show, thanks to Walter.
Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
Where He’ll Also Be—You may live too far away from me to think realistically about attending this concert. I hope you catch Walter somewhere. Please bookmark his Appearances, because I want you to experience this man. The Cedar Grove show is part of an East Coast tour in which Walter plays at the Swamp Heritage Festival at Big Cypress National Preserve, as well as Luna Star Cafe in North Miami, Beaches Chapel in Jacksonville, Heartwood Soundstage in Gainesville, Blue Tavern in Tallahassee, and more. You can often catch him in St. Louis, where he lives.
A Giveaway—My longtime friend and subscriber Margo Solod lives too far away to attend but has generously purchased a ticket for someone to represent her at the concert. Margo is the author of Coyote Summer, Cuttyhunk (a memoir with recipes), and other books. She writes poetry as well as nonfiction. If you would like to attend the concert in Margo’s place, let me know.
Thank You—One ticket category on Eventbrite is for people who want to make a donation but can’t attend. Thank you for the generous donations there and thanks to the 37 folks who have purchased tickets already.
Repairs & Sawmilling Underway at Cedar Grove
I made a plea for assistance with hurricane repairs at Cedar Grove. Our carpenter Mr. Ramos had quoted a figure of $1250 for repairs—multiple holes in the roof where tree limbs pierced the tin, a destroyed window, and ripped-off siding.
People have been sending generous donations to the cause. As soon as we had $1250 I texted Mr. Ramos and he got to work. That is happening thanks to you. Many thanks.
Raven Waters cleared the fallen pine away from the church for us. Then with your funds I was able to hire Michael Williams to cut the pine trunks into 14-feet logs. He now has dragged limbs to the ditch, where our county is using FEMA funds to pick up roadside debris.
On Monday Paul and Jennifer Martinez arrived with their portable sawmill to salvage the fallen old-growth pines around Cedar Grove. Here’s what that operation looks like.
Phenology of Place
Killdeer arrived back to my home in the coastal plains of Georgia, a flock of about 30 landing in the north pasture. They join the newly arrived phoebes, whose tail-dipping and soft calling is very pleasant.
I saw my first kestrel in mid-September. A day later it was gone, but the residents showed up a couple of weeks ago. Kestrel is my spirit bird, and I always feel more at ease when they are nearby. Harriers are flying low over the fields again as well.
Goldenrod, asters, and silk grass are coming to an end. The Sandhills were especially vibrant this year. To that end, I refer you to Sarah Kelsey’s Substack Falling in a Bog and her report on the superbloom of liatris, “Return to the Sandhills.” Sarah has taken a couple of my courses, and I’ve loved working with her. I had not thought of using the word “superbloom” to refer to what happens in the Sandhills of Georgia.
On the Farm
We’ve had an interesting few weeks with the mule, Tecumseh. Trees that came down in the hurricane bent fences in a few places, and the mule learned to get into the pen of Mama Cass, the hog, right at feed-up. The old sow was terrified of the mule, so he snarfed up her corn every time. Raven rode the fence line and repaired every dip he saw, but Tecumseh was so in love with corn by this time that he began to leap the fence, tail and hooves sailing. It got to be a real headache. We couldn’t feed the hog. Finally Raven raised the fence on the hog’s pen, and Tecumseh has not figured out how to fly.
My grown son Silas is here from Northampton, Mass. with his girlfriend, Linnea. Yesterday afternoon I looked out the window. Linnea was in the pasture with the mule, and he was being as sweet a gentleman as I’ve seen. Linnea had him walking beside and a half-step behind. When she turned, he turned. If she stopped, he stopped. She reached up and rubbed his long ears vigorously, inside and out—usually he won’t stand for anybody touching his perfect ears. I’ve never seen a mule fall in love faster with a human than he did with Linnea.
Meanwhile, Silas was wandering aimlessly back and forth on the far side of the pasture. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Later he came in with a big pile of cow-patty mushrooms that, yes, turn blue to the touch. I’m not sure what happened with those.
We’ve cleaned up most of the downed trees from Hurricane Helene. The barn still has a gaping hole, and that’s next on the list.
The loquat is blooming, the kumquat is loaded, and the Satsumas—far fewer this year due to a late freeze in the spring—are ripening. Despite heat lingering into mid-November, bok choy, cilantro, parsley, and lettuce are ready in the garden. I should’ve dug sweet potatoes (mixed varieties, ordered from Sow True Seed) before the rain event last week that raised the river as high as I’ve seen it in the 15 years I’ve lived here (flooding houses). I’ll hope to get them dug next week, in time for Sweet Potato Soufflé for Thanksgiving.
Traveler showed up this morning just before dawn. He’s still making the 5-mile trek through the woods and fields, crossing Slaughter Creek, to come visit every couple of weeks. He stays a day or two until his main man Robert comes to pick him up. The story started when Raven Manifested a Dog.
In another newsletter I relayed The Saga of the White Dog.
When I found Traveler’s people, who are my people now, I wrote The White Dog’s Story is a Circle Now.
What I’m Reading
My friend Joe Grady’s favorite book is The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy, and he recently talked me into reading it. I sped through. I have always known Conroy to be a wordsmith, although I have avoided reading his novels, popular as they are, because I have no interest in the military or in violent societies of any kind. I was brought to my knees, however, by the first paragraphs of The Lords of Discipline, which contain metaphors within metaphors, conceits, and adjectives that serve as metaphors. As I’ve read the story I’ve paid close attention to Conroy’s writing. He was a master craftsman, able to do something really special and unusual with words. Now I look forward to genuflecting at his grave.
You Are Invited to an Online Open Mic—Please Mark the Date
Writers from my Magical Craft course invite you to attend an online Open Mic that will showcase short pieces of their powerful writing. These are always uplifting, inspiring events, and we hope you tune in to listen, hear what others are thinking about, and return to your own work more inspired.
The Open Mic will be held Tuesday, Nov. 19 beginning at 7 pm Eastern, live via Zoom. The link is below, and I’ll post it again next week in Rhizosphere.
Topic: STORY ONLINE OPEN MIC
Time: Nov 19, 2024 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84693436738?pwd=5rcvj42cRAHPOeEhfJgSs911HwTdOQ.1
Meeting ID: 846 9343 6738
Passcode: 759375
Little Fawn Is Growing
Our grandgirl who lives with us is now 15 weeks old. She weighs over 10 pounds, which means that she has DOUBLED in size. For such a young infant she is unbelievably alert.
The best news is that she is bonding, like cement. She recognizes and wants Raven, my partner, and me. She follows us with her face and her eyes. She lights up with joyful smiles and coos when one of us approaches her. We have worked with attachment issues in the past, and bonding is a miraculous thing.
She understands many words, including “tongue.” If I say “Show me your tongue,” she sticks it out! She knows many parts of the body as well because I kiss them so much. “I’m going to kiss your cheek,” I say. “Now the other cheek. Now your nose. Now your fingers. Now your ear.”
I will say, “Do you want your bottle? Open your mouth.” And if she’s hungry she opens her little mouth. Communicating with a baby this tiny is about the coolest thing in the world.
Raven and I divide parental responsibilities. We are on duty every three hours during the day plus every other night.
Little Fawn is not sleeping through the night. The longest she has slept at one time is 6 hours. If we’re lucky she wakes once during the night but usually it’s two or three times.
We’ve been able to hire two nannies to help us. One is a capable and loving grandmother who lives in a tiny house and cares for the baby a couple afternoons a week. The other is a young woman who is still learning to care for an infant, and one of us needs to be present when she’s here. Having another pair of arms to hold a baby is a huge gift.
We have purchased a second carrier to try carrying the baby with our arms and hands free. I hate to report that Little Fawn does not like being confined, not in a car seat and not in a carrier. We keep attempting.
We now have what’s called “temporary guardianship,” although it’s actually permanent. I can’t say too much about the future, because it’s all vague and fraught with emotion. For now I have been given the extraordinary gift of caring for a mystical being and I am wholly in love with her.
I know she has reached out and touched many of you. Last night I gave a short talk at a funders’ cocktail hour at the botanic garden at Georgia Southern University. A subscriber approached me with a gift bag. In it were two tiny fawns carved of wood, complete with spots.
“For Little Fawn!” I said. Tears came to my eyes.
Thank you for the love you send our way.
Five Items of Business
1.
Want to Try Your Hand at the Flash Essay? You Have Two Days for Sunday’s Workshop
Want to try the micro | flash | short | tiny | brief? You have 2 days to register for the flash nonfiction workshop “Master the Flash” that’s set for Sunday, Nov. 17 from 12-3 pm Eastern US/Canada Time. The genre includes memoir and essay. Flash is a potent and highly publishable form that you’ll fall in love with, if you haven’t already. I highly recommend getting good at this form. Registration is at my website, here. Tuition is $55. Join a dozen people already registered and sign off with handouts (including a list of revisions), the inspiration of writing colleagues, and at least two flash essays. Workshops like these are tax-deductible if you are receive writing income and count writing as a business.
2.
My Popular Magical Craft Course Starts Jan. 2025
I’ve set dates for my course called Magical Craft of Creative Nonfiction to start Jan. 14, 2025 and run every Tuesday evening 7-9 Eastern US/Canada Time for 8 weeks. If you want to commit to a longer container for practicing your craft, you can register here. There is no application process, only your desire to move forward. Courses like this are tax-deductible if you are receive writing income and count writing as a business.
3.
I’m Offering Free Speaking Engagements Within 4 Hours of Beloit, Wisconsin Jan. 20 to March 10, 2025
I’m proud to be the Mackey Chair at Beloit College in early winter, from Jan. 20-March 10, 2025. During that time I would be honored to do readings or workshops in the region. For example, Cyn Kitchen has set one up at Knox College in Galesburg for Feb. 21. If you are in a 4-hour radius of Beloit, Wisconsin and you’d like to have me read in your series or even at a house party, hit me up. There’s a big chance I’ll do it! Or suggest a venue and I’ll propose a reading.
4.
Writers: I Still Welcome Your DNA Story
I have received 20 submissions for an anthology about shocking DNA results and how people and families dealt with them. I have not had a chance to read or begin editing any of these 20 essays, but I have scanned enough to know that these are powerful stories. However, I don’t know if I even have enough pieces for an entire volume. As soon as I get to reading and editing, I will know more. If you have a great DNA story and need more time to finish writing it, please let me know. Or email your story to wildfire1491@yahoo.com.
5.
This Writing Manual Will Change Your Life
You can still get the electronic edition of Craft & Current: A Manual for Magical Writing for $4.99, half the regular price. To get it, order direct from me.
6.
“Journey in Place” Now Available in Book Form
Paid subscribers have been receiving weekly posts, in the style of a correspondence course, on the subject of place-keeping. Each of these folks will receive a copy of the book Journey in Place: Explorations for a Year of Place-Keeping. That book should be out by late February 2025. If you weren’t able to enroll in the course but would love a copy of the book, Journey in Place is available in preorder on my website. I think you’ll find it a very useful, hands-on, deeply instructive volume about the importance of place and how to be the keepers our places need. From now until the end of November the price of the book is $19.99, which includes shipping. On Dec. 1 the book goes back up to $29.99, including shipping. That is a savings of $10 per book. Journey in place here.
7.
Ecology of a Cracker Childhood To Be Updated
This fall is the 25th anniversary of the publication of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. I am releasing an updated and expanded e-version that will include two new chapters, a study guide for book clubs and teachers, and a retrospective. This will be out soon. I’ll keep you posted.
One Final Note
I have not been able to speak about the election. So much about it has not made sense. I’m willing to sit with mystery but not when so much is in danger. All my life I have cared for—in every way I know how—the wildness of the world, and I will continue to do so. Please know that I am processing what happened and planning a way forward. Meanwhile, to all who are heartbroken and suffering I send my love and best wishes.
Thank you for your timely mention of "Return to the Sandhills" I was in the NC Sandhills, just yesterday and was fortunate to see one, just one blooming Pine Barrens Gentian in bloom with its deep cobalt blue petals. It was quite a day trip with a collection of Piedmont Azalea seeds from a location south of the Sandhills. Contrary to their name, Piedmont Azaleas aren't native to the NC Piedmont, although they thrive here in cultivation.
I wanted to complement Janisse on her fine poem about the Spanish poet who was murdered for his sexuality. I have both of her poetry books and this most recent poem, may be her best in my humble opinion. I'm wanting to write at the present time about the recent election and finding it difficult. My psyche is a whirlwind of emotions.
Thank you also for mentioning the gentleman with "hollering" skills. Yesterday, on my way to Bladen County, I passed right through Spivey's Corner where the annual "Hollering Contest" is or was held. I attended just once, more than 40 years ago. Even that long ago, there were few authentic hollerers from the old school still around. One of them demonstrated what an emergency holler and come to dinner holler sounded like. It was a fun experience.
Well shit, Janisse. I'm bawling over here in Swannanoa, NC at the image of a friend giving you the gift of carved fawns in a small bag. I just let the tears rip. I cry easily these days: Hurricane Helene, which destroyed much of my hometown, including an 850-sq foot home I own; a horrific death in our family of a young person who took their life, even though they had no history of mental health challenges, save the past six months; the election; my role as a teacher, supporting students struggling with a mish-mash of a semester due to the storm. But then again, I always cried easily, a gift from my mom. "I cry when I'm happy. I cry when I'm sad," she said. What a legacy.
So I actually came to send a note to you about Sow True Seed, another reference in your good news. My wonderful former student Hannah Gibbons is the marketing coordinator for STS! So gosh darnit, but I was just beaming as I thought about the intersection of her work with your farm, and those connections we must hold onto with our bare frickin' hands, because no one dictator can take that from us, even though we know so much is at stake. I'm just so grateful for your writing, for Raven, for fawn, for crops and mules that fall in love in a heartbeat. Thank you Janisse for being YOU and for building this community for us all.