I look forward to all the conference presentations that are going to evolve out of their work here over the next few months...
Wednesday, December 07, 2022
a "class" picture
Tuesday, December 06, 2022
Hope as a draft
I have a lot of stuff about hope saved in an email draft--everyone from Mariame Kaba to Audre Lorde is on it. And also this solid article of how to deal with "hope fatigue" by Lesley Alderman.
It's nice to read this draft as it never fails to cheer me up.
(I suppose that's a good thing as I'm feeling a bit shaky currently. I teared up when I dropped Big A off at the train station and then cried in the car on hearing this fairly standard radio story because they talked about the 25th anniversary of Purple Rain. Something is going on with me, and I'm not sure what it is yet. Yes, I wish Prince were still in this world, but surely, it wasn't just that?)
Pic: Book Club over the weekend. Being with them gives me hope.
Monday, December 05, 2022
from a distance
her mouth is pulled out of shape
with worry
bruises are the sharp edge of love
in skin's own ink
Sunday, December 04, 2022
simply
Walks with some of my favorite people: L, Big A, me...
Pic: An icy Red Cedar River
Saturday, December 03, 2022
uff... life
Friday, December 02, 2022
wildest dreams: Taylor, Judy, Betty, Nu
But one of Nu's other dreams came true today--he was able to spend some time with Judy and Betty--MB's brindled mice. Nu has always loved mice--until today only in theory and as stuffed animals--and was amazingly gentle and confident playing with them. Judy and Betty--named for the sisters in White Christmas will retire from their work as lures for the kestrels MB is banding--so their job is to act cute and tasty--at the end of Jan. At which point, MB would like to offer them to Nu as a present. It'll be an uphill battle convincing Big A, but Nu and I together can be pretty formidable. (I'm terrified and ick-ed by mice, frankly; but Nu enjoys them so much.)
Pic: Nu with Judy.
Thursday, December 01, 2022
imagine: rice, flour, oil, sugar, and beans
So I've been good about cash contributions.
But when The Refugee Development Center in town started taking up in-kind donations for Welcome Boxes, I signed right up to bring rice, flour, oil, sugar, and beans. If I were displaced and in a new place, I imagine I could make something my family might recognize from those supplies. I would want to.
There is a passage in Robert J.C. Young* that always resonates with students--where we're asked to imagine ourselves as refugees, to imagine the break in the daily routines of living... like discussing the day's menu with a neighbor. I think about that passage often.
Anyway, Nu and I dropped off lots of supplies this evening. I could have easily done it before I picked Nu up from their remedial (whole other story!) class at school. But I kind of liked the idea of doing something together that would get Nu out of their own thoughts and social loops for a while.
* Also, that book is the ONLY time ever where I'm listed right next to Homi Bhabha (in the "Acknowledgements").
Reentry
I think that was a solid vacation--it didn't feel "fake" to me at all. I had a lovely time, meeting people Big A works with wa...
-
Friends and old neighbors shutting it down in honor of John Crawford. _
-
I have the feeling that I’m going to succumb to the season and put out a list of resolutions soon. Just wanted to establish this heads up th...
-
At had us pose for this pic up at Aunt R's place on Lake Huron so he could put it up in his dorm. "Don't tur...