Someone said “Joy is a form of Resistance” and I for one cannot act against climate chaos (or any of the other ills our privilege has created) without making room for a measure of Joy. Bravo to you for clearing a space in which Joy can flow. ❤️
Code Red has been a wonderful part of my Sunday mornings! Thank you for all you’ve given of yourself! May your garden wanderings be as nourishing to you as your writing has been to your readers.
"The owl of Minerva flies only at dusk". Thank you for allowing your readers to join you in thinking through what we have wrought. It is "at the end of the day/one's life/an era" that we come to comprehend the processes we've been involved in and partially shaped. May that hard won wisdom (one hopes) enable us to engage in some course corrections. Cletis
Thanks, Kathleen. I admire your blog and look forward to you resuming it later this year. it is cathartic in a way as, even if I don't post a comment, I think along with you and sort some thoughts and feelings out for myself. A+! Cletis
That friend speaks my mind. What we have wrought... I don' think we humans have long on this planet, but, as a non-theist Jungian Medicine Wheel SoulCollage Quaker, I invest in my neighbors as if loving them were my own personal commandment. I'm a retired art therapist living in a small nursing home. My neighbors include a nuclear physicist, members of Christian sects that alone will get to heaven, a silent Koran war bride, a tatooed convict of 30 years incarceration; a huge man who was shot through the head by an arrow in a fight over a woman; a janitor who supported himself 30 years in a work-program for the mentally limiated; a machinist who shot cats with a 22 when he learned he was alergic to them, and an old woman who cared for her dying parents and is over-filling her rooms with all new furniture. I am a retired art therapist who completed a five year post-doctoral Masters at age 66 and practiced until age 84. My "garden" is my computer for writing poems and connecting with friends. Thank you for your well-written, amazingly insightful column that has enlivened my Sunday morning..
OH Marybeth you are an inspiration! You sure didn't quit the field and go off quietly into "retirement." You have used age to learn more and speak your mind. It is exciting right up to the end, Isn't it!! Love your description of your neighbors!! Till next fall!!
We shall all surely miss you and your fierce strong love, your eloquent voice, moral leadership and clarity. You are like a lighthouse on a wind-swept stormy headland, a shading tree in a parched desert, a clear spring in a wasteland. The day and evening star of our conscience. A reliable guide, a Compass Rose. From across the continent I will shade my eyes to look for you from afar.
You surely have a great Shakesperean capacity for flattery and exuberant speech which I think comes from your ebullient spirit! But every girl should be so lucky to receive such praise!! It leaves me with a great big grin! Thank you for your kindness and your wild mind!! k
Well, when one is wedded to Kathleen and thee and she both toil in the same writing group, it’s important to find a way to distinguish these two powerful and lovely women! 🥰
I will miss these Sunday morning reads, Kathleen! You’re a great preacher! As always, very powerful. While it wasn’t news to me, your citing the 1960s theft of children from Indian homes hit me like a ton of bricks. I was nine in 1960. One of the privileged. Your words are so convicting!
You are the garden, Kathleen, and we're all grateful for your blossoming. I'll miss your essays, but know you're doing good work and paying attention to the world as it was, as it is, and as it should be. Enjoy forming new relationships with all those native plants, keep your hands in the dirt, and we'll look for your voice in the fall.
Thank you, Jason. You are lyrical even in your comments! And kind and generous. Every garden, as you know from tending your own, needs the warm sun of its readers. As a reader of your important and invaluable blog on climate breakdown, I send you sun and water and worms!! Thank you for al you offer: your keen perceptions on science and your passion.
Kathleen, dear, I am a recent admirer of your work, and so delighted that you’re in the Substack universe… I hope you are dancing and delighting amongst your blooms and flying and crawling friends… But no plate breaking!
Kathleen, thank you so much for this important work you are doing. Your question about "Will it matter," and "Will it be enough," reminded me of a recent interview with Daniel Ellsberg. He is dying of pancreatic cancer, but he is encouraging his friends to work for peace and care for the planet. He states, "My work of the past 40 years to avert the prospects of nuclear war has little to show for it. But I wanted to say that I could think of no better way to use my time and that as I face the end of my life, I feel joy and gratitude." I loved that he could feel a sense of accomplishment about doing the right thing, even though the results haven't always been obvious.
Though I have not been an active responder to your posts, I read them every week, and every week I become more deeply aware of the many ways we delude ourselves about the harm we cause - from cut flowers at the grocery store to the jet fuel spent flying us around the globe. Thank you for your literary and indomitable efforts. You are a role model for us all. Look forward to rejoining you in the fall.
I will miss your Sunday morning rethinks, Kathleen, and look forward to their return in the fall. In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the summer. I'll be in touch to see if the stars align and we can meet on my return to New Hampshire from Monhegan.
Someone said “Joy is a form of Resistance” and I for one cannot act against climate chaos (or any of the other ills our privilege has created) without making room for a measure of Joy. Bravo to you for clearing a space in which Joy can flow. ❤️
Code Red has been a wonderful part of my Sunday mornings! Thank you for all you’ve given of yourself! May your garden wanderings be as nourishing to you as your writing has been to your readers.
Thank you for your kindness and your companionship Diane!! Your own gifts of compassion are such gifts to me and others.
"The owl of Minerva flies only at dusk". Thank you for allowing your readers to join you in thinking through what we have wrought. It is "at the end of the day/one's life/an era" that we come to comprehend the processes we've been involved in and partially shaped. May that hard won wisdom (one hopes) enable us to engage in some course corrections. Cletis
Great quote, Cletis!! Ha!! The owl of Minerva flies only at dusk!!.. Will go look that up!
Keep up all your great work!!
Thanks, Kathleen. I admire your blog and look forward to you resuming it later this year. it is cathartic in a way as, even if I don't post a comment, I think along with you and sort some thoughts and feelings out for myself. A+! Cletis
That friend speaks my mind. What we have wrought... I don' think we humans have long on this planet, but, as a non-theist Jungian Medicine Wheel SoulCollage Quaker, I invest in my neighbors as if loving them were my own personal commandment. I'm a retired art therapist living in a small nursing home. My neighbors include a nuclear physicist, members of Christian sects that alone will get to heaven, a silent Koran war bride, a tatooed convict of 30 years incarceration; a huge man who was shot through the head by an arrow in a fight over a woman; a janitor who supported himself 30 years in a work-program for the mentally limiated; a machinist who shot cats with a 22 when he learned he was alergic to them, and an old woman who cared for her dying parents and is over-filling her rooms with all new furniture. I am a retired art therapist who completed a five year post-doctoral Masters at age 66 and practiced until age 84. My "garden" is my computer for writing poems and connecting with friends. Thank you for your well-written, amazingly insightful column that has enlivened my Sunday morning..
OH Marybeth you are an inspiration! You sure didn't quit the field and go off quietly into "retirement." You have used age to learn more and speak your mind. It is exciting right up to the end, Isn't it!! Love your description of your neighbors!! Till next fall!!
Applauding you for taking a hiatus (so you can be outdoors)--but I will miss these missives!
We shall all surely miss you and your fierce strong love, your eloquent voice, moral leadership and clarity. You are like a lighthouse on a wind-swept stormy headland, a shading tree in a parched desert, a clear spring in a wasteland. The day and evening star of our conscience. A reliable guide, a Compass Rose. From across the continent I will shade my eyes to look for you from afar.
You surely have a great Shakesperean capacity for flattery and exuberant speech which I think comes from your ebullient spirit! But every girl should be so lucky to receive such praise!! It leaves me with a great big grin! Thank you for your kindness and your wild mind!! k
See you in the Fall, dear Kitty!
OH there's Kitty. Love it. Do tell me: how do you know my childhood name??
Well, when one is wedded to Kathleen and thee and she both toil in the same writing group, it’s important to find a way to distinguish these two powerful and lovely women! 🥰
OH it's YOU!! And YOU and Katheen!! What a treat!!
I will miss these Sunday morning reads, Kathleen! You’re a great preacher! As always, very powerful. While it wasn’t news to me, your citing the 1960s theft of children from Indian homes hit me like a ton of bricks. I was nine in 1960. One of the privileged. Your words are so convicting!
Oh golly, I do sound like a preacher, don't I!! Yes,, 1960's! and even into the 70's . I remember reading about it and not being at all horrified.
You are the garden, Kathleen, and we're all grateful for your blossoming. I'll miss your essays, but know you're doing good work and paying attention to the world as it was, as it is, and as it should be. Enjoy forming new relationships with all those native plants, keep your hands in the dirt, and we'll look for your voice in the fall.
Thank you, Jason. You are lyrical even in your comments! And kind and generous. Every garden, as you know from tending your own, needs the warm sun of its readers. As a reader of your important and invaluable blog on climate breakdown, I send you sun and water and worms!! Thank you for al you offer: your keen perceptions on science and your passion.
IMHO, Jason and you are the two most lyrical and powerful writers charting these turbulent times. And Sam's a beacon of hope in the Anthropocene.
"So long as beings suffer and are in darkness, we shall remain to give ease to their suffering, and light in the darkness"
- I say that every morning at 3am.
Kathleen, dear, I am a recent admirer of your work, and so delighted that you’re in the Substack universe… I hope you are dancing and delighting amongst your blooms and flying and crawling friends… But no plate breaking!
OH! Hello Dear Leslie! Thank you for reading this and I send the same wishes back to you! May you dance among the the blossoms!!
Kathleen, thank you so much for this important work you are doing. Your question about "Will it matter," and "Will it be enough," reminded me of a recent interview with Daniel Ellsberg. He is dying of pancreatic cancer, but he is encouraging his friends to work for peace and care for the planet. He states, "My work of the past 40 years to avert the prospects of nuclear war has little to show for it. But I wanted to say that I could think of no better way to use my time and that as I face the end of my life, I feel joy and gratitude." I loved that he could feel a sense of accomplishment about doing the right thing, even though the results haven't always been obvious.
Though I have not been an active responder to your posts, I read them every week, and every week I become more deeply aware of the many ways we delude ourselves about the harm we cause - from cut flowers at the grocery store to the jet fuel spent flying us around the globe. Thank you for your literary and indomitable efforts. You are a role model for us all. Look forward to rejoining you in the fall.
Are you a "retiree" too? I'd love to hear mor from a potential kindred soul!
I will miss your Sunday morning rethinks, Kathleen, and look forward to their return in the fall. In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the summer. I'll be in touch to see if the stars align and we can meet on my return to New Hampshire from Monhegan.