Loose Leaf Notes

1. Believe it or not, these are the alpha hens in our flock.

2. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but hens take dirt baths. They roll around and get their feathers dusted in dirt and then shake it off.

3. I call the below picture: My sister loves Chantal coffee.

4. Parkway Pink – By the time the rhododendrons bloom pink along the Parkway, by the time the orange day-lilies line the dirt road to town, it feels more like midsummer than summer’s beginning. The fireflies are already here. The tomatoes are not far from red. I’m already in flip flops and my sundress with palm trees floating on magenta islands in Caribbean blue rayon. -This time three years ago

5. “I love rhymes; I love to write a poem about New York and rhyme ‘oysters’ with ‘The Cloisters.’ And ‘The lady from Knoxville who bought her brassieres by the boxful.’ I just feel a sort of small triumph. The reason to retire is to try to avoid embarrassment; you ought to do it before people are dropping big hints. You want to be the first to come up with the idea. You don’t want to wait until you trip and fall off the stage.” Garrison Keillor

6. From The Invisibility of Older Women, The Atlantic …As they age, women experience less public scrutiny—and entertain a wider set of choices about when and how they are seen. A reduced sense of visibility does not necessarily constrain experience. Associated with greater empathy and compassion, invisibility directs us toward a more humanitarian view of the larger world. This diminished status can, in fact, sustain and inform—rather than limit—our lives. Going unrecognized can, paradoxically, help us recognize our place in the larger scheme of things.

7. Captioning 4th of July pictures for The Floyd Press, I had to rewrite “the tail end of a hotdog.” It just didn’t sound right.

8. Joe named THIS one Lime Ricky, followed by Liam’s “Oh my God we’re being nuked.”

9. My handwriting really is like chicken scratch.

10. My strawberry shortcake dreams came true. See HERE. 

11. My favorite haunt is HERE.

12. Coming Soon to Floyd: Dead Lady.

13. I did a lot of puzzles at the pool that summer / in a lounge chair while drying off / I’m weightless in water / I know the words without looking / at the answers in the back of the book / What’s 5 letters that starts with a V / and means that your immune system / has been attacked? / Some puzzles will make you tired / and others have no clues… Read The Summer I Did a Whole Book of Crossword Puzzles in its entirety HERE.

_________Thirteen Thursday