Beloved friends,
Ah, it is good to be here to connect with you once again! I wish you could see my smile. Here we are , in early August; such a lush moment, like my hoya carnosa in the image above: dripping with nectar.
My July holiday was full of many things, with both delight and struggle. One whole side of our family came to visit, which was amazing. My 6 year old niece said, "I wish we lived next door so we could do this every day!" The second part of our holiday was an annual roadtrip to California, where we've spent 16 summers camping amongst the old growth redwoods in Mendocino County with dear friends, and it was also wonderful – but abbreviated because we got covid. Thank the stars it happened when we were home between adventures and did not pass it on to anyone else. It was our first covid infection since 2022, and oof: that is still a doozy of an illness! I'm three weeks out from the fever now and still on the mend.
I'm amazed by how many people said to me, "Covid? Is that still a thing?" Oh my gosh, yes, covid: still a thing! It is an ongoing part of our viral ecosystem now, like the flu and colds and norovirus. Our current covid vaccinations last about 4-6 months, which is why people over 75 are advised to get them twice a year. Most folks are advised to get shots in the autumn for the winter spike, which leaves us more vulnerable to summer spikes. The west coast is seeing a spike now in peak tourist/travel season (CA news, WA news); it simply isn't making the news heavily anymore because of the tragic politicization of science and healthcare. Also, because vaccination makes it less life-threatening for most folks now, but it is still highly unpleasant and a serious illness.
I'm generally well, but still feeling the laggy long tail of the virus. My body needs a lot of napping and careful tending right now, so today will be a gentle return to my weekly posting. I'd love to share some of the delights of my summer with you! I wanted to be sure to pop by to let you know that I'll be leading a meditation gathering this Saturday August 8th, from 8-9am Pacific via Zoom, right here. Registration will be open soon for my autumn Workshop for Living, whose theme will be The Story of Belonging. This work is getting more lush, sweet, and rewarding with every workshop. I hope you'll consider joining us, and Saturday is a great way to put a toe in the water.
Summer highlights: fawn season here in the forest, the first time a deer lay down to rest near our house, and a photoshoot my sister-in-love and her daughter had with the fox Lego set that everyone helped put together during our family visit. My toes on the road (we drove 2 days down and 2 days back to spend 3 days in California; it was a lot, and worth it!), a low cloud rolling over the mountains in Oregon as we left the Umpquah National Forest where we spent a night mid-drive, and a gorgeous domed spiderweb beneath the redwoods.
I look forward to diving deeper next week into musings about living, darlings! I hope to see you Saturday morning for meditation. All are welcome
Resources
Be Here Now
SV Adventuress is "a 1913 gaff-rigged schooner, a National Historic Landmark, and Puget Sound's environmental tall ship". She's a well-known figure here in Port Townsend. Salish Voyage '26 will be a four day journey in which those present create a time capsule of the Salish Sea, our local waters, in this moment. There are paying openings for both crew and, at a reduced rate for scholarship, artists and young people to join this venture. Sounds like a lifetime peak experience! Thanks to Ash
Mary Oliver: Gone and With us Always
The new Mary Oliver documentary will be airing on PBS August 25!
Resistance
Vote Forward is experimenting with new techniques. You can adopt newly registered voters to send letters of support with resources to help them prepare to vote – I did this in the spring and it felt great! You can write letters to help boost turnout in important elections in Nevada or North Carolina. And in an exciting new program, you can become a trained volunteer who helps families with SNAP enrollment and retention support via text message.
Here's my doc with many more ways you can step up to resist. If you have suggestions to add I'd be delighted to receive them.
Supporting me in supporting you
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