August for teachers is like Sunday. (July is Saturday and June is Friday.) Annie and I are feeling the pull of the semester coming, and so we're doing our best to get the most out of the next few weeks. We've been hiking almost every day recently, and the other day we went kayaking in Elkhorn Slough. The amount of wildlife we saw eye-to-eye with was astonishing: harbor seals popping their heads out right near the boat; hundreds of pelicans clicking at their feathers as they cleaned them in a party on the shore, and other pelicans swooping low near us, their massive outstretched wings skimming the water's surface; huge transluscent jellyfish ballooning past in the clear water; and my favorite, a group of sea otters rolling around, playing, and breaking open shellfish on their tummies with rocks.
There's nothing like some generative, quiet time on the water to be okay with life as it is, whatever shape it's been taking.
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One of my favorite blogs these days is How To Like It by John Evans (no relation). He writes in such clear yet deep & complex ways about grief, relationships, living and writing . . . Recently This Writer's Life published a great essay John wrote called "Somthing Like Faith: The First Year of Elegy in One Writer's Life." You can read it by clicking here.
4 comments:
Hey Kate,
Wow, what a nice thing to say about the blog and essay--thanks so much!
Sincerely,
John
Hearing other people enjoy those last few days of true freedom reminds me I need to find the time to do it too--by this time I'm running out of steam, but although August is like Sunday for me too, Monday means I get the house to myself :-)
Thanks for the blog recommendation.
hi kate! what you said about being in water is so true -- i haven't had a dip in years and have been eying the filthy bathtub for days. i'm glad that you're enjoying the summer!
i've added may sarton's book to my wish list! i love it from the title alone.
congrats on the new novel (must've missed that!) and also on the wedding (i can't believe i missed that!) i love the wedding pictures.
cafepress books are really nice. it's only that the cover tends to curl and the price is quite exorbitant. our publisher finally relented (since we seem serious about selling the books) and we're doing it with non-print-on-demand press, on a print run of 200. very good quality at something like a fourth of the price.
a.
Hi Kate--I ended up clicking on that Blo you recommended: How To Like It, and, well, I ended up reading several entries and I am incredibly moved and humbled by this fellow. I posted a comment there; I hope he receives lots of support at his blog, and at that foundation for his wife, too....
I got caught up with you here, andreading about the otters made me smile, Ms. Evans!
You and your honey, Annie, are a delight!
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