I hope this finds you well. We’re looking towards spring and just got the second decent dump of snow this year. My bees were out the day before, scrounging among the few snowdrops that have blossomed. They take a “cleansing flight” on days when it gets warm enough to venture out of the hive, and it’s nice to see them looking towards spring themselves.
They say in storytelling you don’t tell about the journey until you’re back home – because then you know what it means. So, I’ll tell you now that last month, I had a “procedure” for atrial fibrillation (love euphemisms). All went well. I mean really well. I feel great – better than I’ve felt for years. I thought I was just old and tired. Well – still old, but not tired and feel deep gratitude for everything right now. Here’s a thought – it’s easier to be happy and kind when you’re not tired. Let’s see if I can keep that in front of me.
Without really trying to make it happen, it’s getting busier this spring. I’m taking several trips out – to places I’ve visited many times over the years – actually, this newsletter is to let you know just that. Here’s a short rundown:
At the end of this month, I’ll be up in Jackson, New Hampshire to see one of my oldest friends and perform John Muir’s Stickeen, one of my favorite stories, I’ll also work in the elementary school and do a family concert. Northern New Englanders, come on over!
In April I’ll be returning to Indianapolis to tell stories of my childhood there – “Indy Raised” – for Storytelling Arts. Ellen Munds, a good friend who has been the director of that organization is retiring after all these years, and I’m happy to be there to honor her.
In May, I’ll be doing a whirlwind tour of Montana to help celebrate Montana Public Radio’s 50th Anniversary of Children’s programming with shows in Helena, Kalispell, Hamilton and Missoula. I can’t wait to get back to that beautiful state.
From there, I’ll go to Utah to tape a couple of shows for “The Apple Seed” show on BYU radio and also celebrate the release of my comedic radio drama series “Quentin Manning: Detective for Justice”. “Quentin” has been a long time in the making and I’m so happy with what’s happened. We’ll let you know how to listen when it’s available.
Pshew. Then I’m home. For a long while.
Reading? Yeah.
I’m a longtime fan of David Jame Duncan – two of my favorite book are The River Why and The Brothers K – so I was happy to read his latest, long-awaited work, Sun House. It is an imagining of how we might begin to live with everything else on the planet – both spiritual and political, and he’s put everything in it he wants to say.
For a book I’m thinking about writing, I’ve been reading a lot about trees and have really enjoyed Elderflora – A Modern History of Ancient Trees by Jared Farmer and Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard.
I just read a strange and beautiful book, Arabesques by Anton Shammas – a Palestinian Christian Israeli (that’s right) – memoir and fiction, that came out in the 1980’s wrestling with identity and the confused state of that troubled part of the world. Its structure is challenging, and it has the feel of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Did I like it? I don’t know. I haven’t been able to forget it.
That’s what I’ve got for you. Come see me if I”m near. Stay in touch. Be kind. Thanks.
