Roundup & Update

The planet that walks beside the moon tonight.

In This Issue

• What I mean by sabbatical and edits are done.

• A space opened in Saturday’s Being in Place workshop near Aiken.

• In the sky tonight.

• Farm Report. Natural Calendar.

• The Little Free Library books went out.

• What I’m reading is a surprise.

Photo by Shann @qflowphotos. I’ll be working with Shann to bring her amazing quantum-flow photos to you. Thanks to @crumbstarz for making the arrangements.

On Sabbatical

Of course I’m not really on sabbatical since I don’t have a university job. I’m self-employed, or independent, or what folks now call a creative entrepreneur. What it means is that I’m turning down lots of sweet opportunities in order to finish a book.

The book is Craft and Current. That’s the title. It’s a how-to for writers.

How to craft and how to magic, meaning access the mysteries.

I really like it. If it’s the kind of thing you’d be interested in, I hope you’ll like it too. Even more, I hope you find jewels in it—diamonds, rubies, garnets, emeralds—that help you in your life and work. You may like it even if you’re not a writer, or not yet one.

Last big edit

I have been editing for hours daily these past few weeks. I make the edits in pencil on real paper, and then I input them into a *live* document file. Yesterday, at last, I reached the final page of the manuscript.

Out the door

I made a bold move and sent the file to my hotshot book designer, Erin Kirk, from Athens, Georgia. I’ve worked with her before, and I really love her aesthetic. The move was bold because this last round of edits was heavy, a lot of spilled graphite, and that always means that more passes through the manuscript should be done. And I didn’t want to take the time to go through again. I was brave—and probably not very smart—to send it off.

It was the book Essentialism that caused me to do it. Author Greg McKeown talks about a maxim “Imperfect but Done.” So that’s the update on the book. It’s imperfect but done.

What I did next

I shouldn’t tell you this but when I finished I pulled out my yoga mat and started doing my daily 15-minute routine. If nobody’s in the room, I start chanting slow and easy, om shanti om, and sometimes I keep chanting, just saying shanti over and over as I move into the warrior poses. But right away something rose in my throat and I started weeping. This was not small crying. This was big crying. The book was done. I’m scared. I’ve worked so hard on it, years and years. I kept tinkering, revising, thinking, moving stuff around. In many ways I never wanted that book to end. And now it goes out—soon—and does its own magic. Or not. Maybe it does nothing. I’m scared of it doing big things and I’m scared of it doing nothing. I’m just scared.

One thing I know for sure, there’s no need to visualize bestseller lists or prizes, because when you independently publish, as I am going to do, you close the door on all those things. The only metrics I have are you—your purchases, your comments, your reviews, your posts.

I mean that. You. The people who understand what kind of power that writing can wield to make a better world. Because we’re all tired of living in a worse world.

But think about that a minute. I could have the chance at a bestseller list or a prize OR I could have you. Which would I choose? Over and over I would choose you.

Peace, peace, peace, peace, peace. You’ll see in the video that little Levon has found peace even if I haven’t.

I have a personal question about the subtitle, which I’d like to ask you, but I’m going to put it at the very bottom of this newsletter so that only select people will see it.

What’s Ahead

Honestly, I really do have to edit the manuscript one more time. Erin can start the design, and I’ll have one more chance to make corrections.

(I’ll have infinite chances actually, but the changes get more difficult and expensive to make.)

Saying no

A childhood friend started a book club when she became an empty-nester last year, and she chose Ecology of a Cracker Childhood for her club to read. Yesterday she sent me an email inviting me to Zoom into the club’s next meeting, and I would have loved doing that. I knew this person’s parents and even her grandparents, and she is doing wonderful things in the world. And it would have only taken an hour.

Saying no was hard, not gonna lie.

St. Simons Book Club

Weirdly, I actually visited a book club yesterday. It was a meeting of Wendy Baker’s book group on St. Simons Island. They’ve been going seven years. Their read was Ecology too, so I guess that book is enjoying a moment.

Wendy asked me months ago, before I announced a sabbatical, to visit her club. So I went.

The book clubbers invited friends, and 22 women were there, all of them dressed in linen and sparkles and looking divine. We met at Wendy’s house overlooking the glorious golden early-spring marsh. I parked under an enormous live oak.

When I get lucky enough to see inside someone’s house, I can’t stop myself from walking around admiring everything. A home is not a backdrop to me. It’s personality. It’s art and objets d’art. It’s a museum. It’s a backbone.

And this was a beautiful, artful home.

Wendy had ordered a longleaf pine seedling for all the women. Everybody got to take a tree home to plant. And please don’t miss the refreshments below.

I think book clubs are a very powerful force. I got to see one in action this week.

Look at the pine tree that Wendy made! With pretzel swallows! I am the luckiest person on the planet. And, yes, you are too. We all are lucky people.

This Weekend

On Saturday I’ll be teaching a Being in Place workshop at Funky Little Flower Farm near Beech Island, South Carolina, which is where

Plant People

grows their world-famous crinums. Jenks let me know yesterday that there has been a cancellation, so if this is something you’d like to do, we can arrange to register you. I forget the price—it’s somewhere around $190. You get a full day’s 9-5 workshop, at least 8 pieces of flash-writing done, a plant, a book of mine, lunch, a farm tour, and a mid-afternoon happy hour.

What’s not to love about that?

Missouri

I’ll be giving the Conservation Heritage Lecture at the Missouri University of Science and Tech in Rolla, Missouri in April. I’d love to do a writing workshop for a local community while I’m there. Do you live in or near Rolla or have any connections?

The Evening Sky

According to EarthSky, the planet sidling up next to the moon tonight is Jupiter. The moon is a waxing crescent.

Thanks to EarthSky.org for the graphic.

Farm Report

A lot of the winter vegetables are flowering, in order to make their crop of seeds. The arugula is in flower, as are the collards, and the last of the cabbages are bursting out of their heads and bolting into bloom.

Bolting into bloom. Say it out loud. Hear that? Where do you feel it in your body?

I feel it in my neck. Those words vibrate there.

Calendula is flowering.

Skin care

I never use soap on my face. I wash my face with oil. I fold a washcloth into quarters and pour hot water on it (from a teakettle, after making a cup of tea.) Then I add a few drops of face oil. I first learned this from Nadine Artemis’s book Renegade Beauty: Reveal and Revive Your Natural Radiance—Beauty Secrets, Solutions, and Preparations. Nadine runs Living Libations, and she makes a face oil called Best Skin Ever. For a while I purchased this product, but now I make my own. I use calendula flowers, organic argan oil, and organic olive oil. A jar is brewing on the counter.

Calendula petals, before the oil goes in.

Natural Calendar

The daffodils, paperwhites, and Van Sions are almost done. Carolina jessamine is winding down. Dewberry blooms look like snow in some places, especially along the ditches. The first buckeye flowers are opening. Figs are leafing out—most things are, honestly. Only the pecans, which are always last, hold tight to their bare limbs. I finally spotted a purple martin. They aren’t liking the poor shape our gourds are in, and we have to do something about that. I saw an otter on the dirt road this week, down at the prison pond. The deer are cavorting around the pastures, relaxing now that deer season is over. Wrens are building nests. I still haven’t seen my first snake. Pine pollen is everywhere—I dust-mop the porch and an hour later it’s chartreuse again.

Milton’s Edition

A ton of sweetness came showering down in response to the piece I wrote last week in memory of dear Milton. Thank you all. I’m including one love note for you to see.

Little Free Library Mailout

In the Jan. 31 issue of Trackless Wild I offered a free hardback of Wild Card Quilt to any Little Free Librarian. A month later I finally got the books packaged up and out the door. Shoot me a photo of the book in the LFL if you get a chance.

I sent the books to the folks listed below. I was getting mailing addresses via email, Messenger, and text, and I’m afraid that I misplaced some of the messages. If you sent me your address but you don’t see your name on the list, please let me know. We’ll get a copy on its way to you.

Angela Gaskell

Barbara Earle

Brent & Angela Martin | Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center

Bubba & Laura Johnson

Carissa Savage

Carrie Hall Chute

Christine Tibbetts

Christy Fricks

Deborah Kramb

Deedee Murphy

Heidi Davison

Jana Miles

Jenica Donahue

Julia Zalenski

Julie Friar

Karen Chason

Kathy Costley

Laura L. Dennis

Lynn Willoughby

Marci de Sart

Michelle Vanstrom

Rebecca Wisent

Tawny Kern

Journey in Place

The course is going great. Lots of people are out in their landscapes, ears to the ground and eyes in the branches. I’m proud. That course goes out to members on Thursdays. I will share more pieces with the entire community soon. For now, know that things are frothing and foaming over there.

What I’m Reading

Substack is warning me that I’m at my writing limit, so I’ll be brief. My friend Jessica Prince heard me say that I loved Cold Mountain. She did too and she recommended a book I’d never heard of, a romance with an unfortunate title, A Southern Woman by Elena Yates Eulo. Oh my word. This book has taken me hostage. The genius is not in the sentences. It’s in what happens. I’m losing sleep.

A Poll

Please help me choose a subtitle for the book Craft and Current. Remember, it’s a how-to on writing. It covers two necessities.

1) How to craft.

2) How to find magic as a writer.

Right now the title is Craft and Current: Write to Change Your World. But I think the word “magic” should be in the title, and I can’t think of a good way to do it.

1. Craft and Current: The Magic of Writing to Change Your World

2. Craft and Current: The Writing Magic to Change Your World

3. Craft and Current: Write to Change Your World

4. Craft and Current: Write to Change Your Life and the World

5. Do you have another idea?

A Favor

Who in your life would enjoy this newsletter? Would you tell them about it? It would be good if they love nature, wouldn’t be offended by my wild thinking, like books, and are kind and loving. You know at least a dozen people off the top of your head. Thank you for letting them know. I would love to expand our borders.