A Bumper Crop of Joy
August is one of my favorite months. The long, slow dog days of summer seem to stretch forever. Our garden yields a bountiful harvest, and the vendors at our local farmers market have tables overflowing with a variety of produce. I can spend my entire morning wandering the stalls of a good farmers’ market, coffee in hand, tote filled with all manner of fresh vegetables.
Late Summer in the Midwest is that time of year that neighbors might leave anonymous zucchini on your front porch. If you know who left it, it’s common courtesy to turn that gourd into bread and share a loaf with them.
There used to be an older gentleman in our neighborhood with whom I had an unspoken agreement. He grew the zucchini, I baked the bread, and we were both happy. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us, and I am forced to grow my own. More accurately, my husband grows it as he is gardener. I’m merely the chef who prepares what he produces.
During this slow and languid month, I have taken on some writing assignments, some for payment and some for passion.
One assignment was a paid piece for Insider Magazine about saving money while shopping at Costco. You can read the brief article here: “With my Costco Executive Membership . . .” You may need a subscription to access it.
My short poem, “Sleep Intertia” was published by Poetry Catalog. The story behind the title is longer than the poem itself. Originally, I had named it “Interstitial Space” because the poem is about that liminal space between sleeping and awakening. Right before I submitted it, I played around with the title and decided on “Sleep Inertia,” inserting the word “Sleep” at the beginning and deleting “Space” from the end. I failed to correctly edit the second word, and so it is now immortalized as the made-up word “Intertia.” But Thor reminds us that all words are made up.
Most recently I’ve been working on an interview for Bonus Days Magazine. If you haven’t heard of it, Bonus Days is a new publication, having released their first issue this summer. It is owned and operated by transplant recipients, and the focus of the magazine is to highlight the extra days of living, actual “bonus days,” that we get to live when we receive a life-saving organ transplant. It is patient initiated, peer supported, and women led.
Because of my two heart transplants, I get to enjoy these sweet summer days and savor every nuance, both the pleasant and the inconvenient. Good and bad weave the plaid that makes up a life well-lived.
You can learn more about this inspirational journal here: Bonus Days Magazine
Order your copy of Bonus Days Magazine today!
I’ve finally written the query letter for my memoir, but I’m still workshopping it with other writers. My goal is to pull the trigger and send my query package out at the beginning of the month. Conventional wisdom tells me that agents are out of the office until Labor Day, so I’m hoping that my procrastination aligns with their reading schedule.
Until next time. Remember, “Be Excellent to Each Other.”
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