by Kat | 1 day ago | General, Words
Keep growing quietly and seriously throughout your whole development; you cannot disturb it more rudely than by looking outward and expecting from outside replies to questions that only your inmost feeling in your most hushed hour can perhaps answer. — Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
This month I decided to pair my focus to that of what was going on around me… growth. And this quote by my beloved Rilke was my guiding light.
Quiet growth.
Nature does quiet growth brilliantly… the dandelions do not shout as they one day appear strewn across the lawn. The trees do not sing a chorus as they begin the process of leafing out.
Quiet growth.
And so I turn inward to focus on quiet growth and I realized that sometime in mid-March I crossed the invisible barrier of insomnia. I have not had a sleepless night in some weeks… I am amazed at how simple little things can make dramatic differences! What are those things? No screen time for starters! If I read at all, it is from an actual book. It is far too tempting with the iPad to just check in on emails. Or Threads. Or Instagram. And suddenly an hour has passed and I am wide awake… so the scrolling continues. No iPad means better sleep because I am allowing my brain to do what it wants to… settle down for the day. That single thing has made the largest impact on the rest of the things… because if I am not tired all the other things seem to fall into place easier.
Now, that does not mean I am oblivious to the chaos that overwhelms daily life… nor that I am not concerned about that chaos… but it means I am attempting to control how it impacts me versus allowing it to take over. Am I perfect in not falling down the rabbit hole of “news alert” scrolling? No, but I am more aware of it now and that is a big step forward!
And I continue to amble along with Adrian Bell… I love reading his thoughts on spring. His struggles with compost success, his delight in small things, his thoughts on farming… are just brilliant (and yes, at times hilarious!) And his writing encourages me to slow down and pay attention to the small changes happening every day.
I have discovered that reading “seasonal” books read slowly over the course of the season really helps me stay in the season… and that might be the best self-growth of all. I continue making my way through Poetry is not a Luxury: Poems for All Seasons and have just finished Angela Harding’s Spring Unfurled: A printmaker’s view. It was delightful and the artwork so beautiful. And I have added James Crews latest book, Breathing Room: Poems of Rest & Retreat… I am just a few poems in and already I am loving them so much. His poem, Dandelion is one of my current favorites. I have returned to it several times this month… each time I read it I notice something new. It is nice to sit in quiet contemplation of the poem as I look out over the “lucky pennies” scattered across my back yard!
Quiet growth… is never loud, but it is impactful. I also continue to make my way through Emergence Magazine’s Seasons volume. It has so many good things in it. It introduced me to Ron C. Moss, a Tasmanian poet… he is a master of the haiku. I have been trying to “grow” my skills at writing and have started with the not so simple haiku. (I’m not sure this will be the last frost of the season, but I sure am hoping it was! ha!)
Last Frost: 3.28.26
Was this weekend it?
Last gasp of winter dying
Spring keeps on swelling.
And then Bonny introduced me to the challenging Zip Ode… quiet brain growth is a very good thing. I begin by writing my zip code down the side of a scrap of paper and then begin to play with words. It is an evolving process from the start to what I feel like might be the finish. And it occurs to me that preserving the process might be an interesting thing to look back on, so I pulled out an empty journal to house my attempts. It is a good thing to see growth… I don’t always notice it. Yesterday mornings attempt… and a reminder my zip code is 15243:
Wind
blows the rain on windows
I wake
and listen until the
patter becomes lullaby.
The final quiet growth this season… I have begun a correspondence with a friend… yes, letter writing back and forth. It is more fun than I ever imagined! I love getting her letters and I love sending a missive back to her. Quiet conversation… slow, unhurried, simple.
And with that my friends, I am going to continue my quiet growth journey this month… I will be back. I am not sure when, but I expect it will be sometime in early May!
by Kat | 2 days ago | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers!
Another Wednesday and the familiar rhythm of sharing making a reading is a good thing!
Since last week, I made the decision to put away the Waffle Pullover until the fall. I made some very good notes and pinned them to the Waffle Pullover (along with the annotated pattern) and put it away for the season. I will resume banging knitting in September. I even reminded myself with a notation on the calendar on Labor Day to get it out to finish!
My knitting has mostly been focused on getting through the LONG stretch of the Great Long Middle of the Floating Squares Wrap. It’s a LOT of knitting and I am almost back to the “shorter” end segments! Maybe I will have this done this month!
Although there is no picture, the morning beading continues and I am so so so close to the finish! I just have one final rectangle to go! This seriously has been an insane amount of fun! I have never stitched with beads before and, gentle readers, it is a wonder! I would never have described myself as a “bling person” but I think I might have been wrong! Hahaha! If you all remember, I took a stitching class last year with Natalie Chanin through MDK and have a scarf kit. I stitched the sampler quickly but the scarf kit has seen no love. Well… that scarf now has a plan… and it includes a bit of beading. So… the morning stitching/beading will continue!
The finished sampler, I will begin some practice beading soon!
The reading… oh my… the reading! I finished Theo of Golden and, dear friends, this is the best book… and will likely remain the best book I read all year! Quite seriously… beautiful writing… stunning characters… and a story that will embed itself in your heart and mind. It is a story about kindness… truly, just the simplicity of kindness and how being kind can change the world around you. I cried for most of the last 2 hours (I listened to David Morse read it… and I am stunned he was not dissolved in tears!) The afterward by the author was also so moving… an idea that came to being found a 70-ish year old man becoming a writer. Don’t think life is over when you turn 65!! Allen Levi proves that theory entirely wrong! I am eagerly awaiting the sequel to Theo… Ellen of Golden. Friends, if you think this book is “religious” it is not… I would rather say this is a book of the power of kindness and how that can make a difference. Levi plants several Easter Eggs in the book as well… which added to the richness and depth of how perfectly the story is woven together! I am telling everyone I meet to read Theo of Golden. I highly recommend it!
Now for a bit of housekeeping… after tomorrow when I will post my April Word update, I am taking a bit of a blogging break. I won’t be posting here for the remainder of April and that will likely flow well into May. I am hopeful that a bit of a prolonged break will be just the thing I need to reset myself.
How is April’s making and reading going for you all?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | 4 days ago | General, In My Backyard, In This Moment
It was an amazing weekend for landings!
There was a successful splashdown for the Artemis II… and yes, I watched the entire thing until I saw all four astronauts exit the capsule. The images of the final parachute deployment was stunning… those three billowy parachutes slowly the capsule and gently placing them into the ocean. It is a very good thing to be back in space in this unique way… back to the moon where it all began. And then on Saturday, I wholeheartedly committed to get on the Joy Train!
NASA’s Orion spacecraft with Artemis II crewmembers NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist aboard is seen as it lands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, Friday, April 10, 2026. NASA’s Artemis II mission took Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back to Earth. Following a splashdown at , NASA, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force teams are working to bring the crewmembers and Orion spacecraft aboard USS John P. Murtha. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
AND!!!
The Pileated has landed!!
Friday morning, I got the massive suet feeder up and on Saturday morning while I was in the kitchen puttering… I heard that distinctive call and looked up and there was the Pileated Woodpecker back on the telephone pole and within seconds it was soaring in to land on the suet!! I was so awestruck, I did not even think of trying to snap a photo! I have remained vigilant to watching for them… and was rewarded with multiple visits! A brave female is the visitor thus far… she has no red patches on her cheeks.
I have named her Christina… of course! Huzzah to brave females everywhere!
Dear friends, I love birdwatching so much and my absolute favorite of all the birds are the Picidae (woodpecker,) and especially those in the Dryocopus (Pileated Woodpecker) family. To say I am elated is an understatement… and couple this with the splashdown… well, it was A Weekend for the ages!!
Oh… and my seat on the Joy Train is quite comfortable! Happy Monday everyone!
Header photo by Chris F
by Kat | Apr 9, 2026 | General, Poetry
On Monday, Bonny shared a new-to-me form of poetry… the Zip Ode and with the sharing she also invited those reading to give it a try.
Well, almost instantly an idea began germinating in my brain. Now, I live in the South Hills of Pittsburgh and though my is easy to remember (15243… I mean it is perfect especially if you type it out… the perfect back and forth of a line of numbers… ) However, no “free-spot” zero’s to help at all.
So over the course of Monday… Tuesday… and Wednesday… I played with the awkward word number combinations. A puzzler’s puzzle to be sure!
Is this great poetry? Oh, heavens no! But it was fun and my brain got a most excellent word work out!
Frost!
Winter is battling to win
but Spring
has never been defeated.
Weather games continue.
I thought it might be delightful fun to challenge my brain to do a Zip Ode a week for a bit… let me tell you, it was an excellent distraction from the Shite Show that is life. I may or may not share my future Zip Ode attempts, but I call on all of you to accept Bonny’s invitation and give a Zip Ode a try!
Happy Thursday everyone! See you all back here next week!
Header photo by Ginny-Marie Richter
by Kat | Apr 8, 2026 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unraveler’s!
Who else was glued to the YouTube feed of the Artemis II as they headed around the dark side of the moon on Monday? I unleashed my inner eight year old as I could not turn it off and was glued to every moment of it! It was just as spectacular as the first time I watched All Things Lunar way back in 1968. Anyways, Artemis II has been an unbelievable bright spot in the exploding dumpster fire that describes how I feel about all the other shite that is everything else. (NASA has some pretty amazing images here, if you are interested)
The beading continues each morning… it is a ritual that is perfect for early morning. Unrushed, slow, thoughtful. One length of thread and some beads and my thoughts… I am not certain anything can be better than this! I am nearing completion of this fancy little bandana and I am going to wear the hell out of it! It’s so Bling-y that I bet they would be able to see it from the Artemis II! Ha!
Waffle Pullover-ing has not been happening. That’s right, I have not picked it up once… sigh. However, I am still mosaic knitting… just on a lighter fabric. Yes, I pulled out the floatiest scarf on the planet and have been trying to get a full repeat done whilst watching some television each night. I am so close to the half way point… so, so close!
There was a bit of wild excitement in my backyard late last week… we recently changed the suet cakes (or rather the place we get suet cakes changed what they have) and the birds have liked the change. Last Thursday morning, I was just beading away and I heard the distinctive call of a Pileated Woodpecker!! In my yard!!! I looked out the window by my desk and I could see it clearly on the telephone pole in the back corner of our yard! He tried valiantly, but not successfully, to sample the suet that all the birds were so excited about! IN MY YARD!! So yes, I instantly headed to the Google™ to find a Pileated Woodpecker sized suet feeder! I found one and it arrived on Monday! However… I have been trying to figure out where the heck I can hang it… I mean this is a BIG suet feeder! Big and heavy… so I might need to get a reinforced something to hang it on! Hang in there, my dear Pileated friends… I am working on getting you some Suet Access! Really! I am working on it!
No book finishes this week, but the reading has been so good… I am listening to David Morse read Allen Levi’s Theo of Golden and I am loving it so much… I don’t want to rush through it at all. I have been stitching while listening to it … the perfect pairing!
At night, in the few moments before I turn off the lights, I have been reading the latest and final book in the Cal Hooper Trilogy. It is as good, if not better than the previous two novels! I am just over halfway through and will be sad to see the Cal Hooper story come to an end!
I hope that April is off to a good start for you all!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
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