Farewell summer: on wood asters and the wilderness
In the more open places are little lavender asters, and the even smaller-flowered white ones that some people call bee weed or farewell summer. From “An Entrance to the Woods," by poet, essayist, and farmer Wendell Berry. Farewell summer Only when we bid...
Nature might be spontaneous, mostly I am not.
Spontaneous insects A spontaneous reaction: hundreds of angry hornets, acting on instinct to protect their nest. But it was the landscape crew that needed protection. They had cut down a dead tree along the walking trail above the driveway and discovered the tree...
Generous: when the giver becomes the gift
My husband Keith is “tit-for-tat” generous, that is, he tries to give at least as much as he receives. That and the Five-Minute Friday prompt, got me thinking about what generous really means. Here are some examples from Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary: The...
The root of the matter in my eighth decade
A week ago, I celebrated a landmark birthday plus one, entering my eighth decade, time to question the root of the matter: aging. The root problem I noticed it two decades ago, the pull of gravity on my face, my breasts, and now my derriere. Once I was like a young...
Top Ten Myths about Book Publishing
Lawrence Knorr is President and CEO of Sunbury Press, based in Mechanicsburg, PA—his home; everyone else employed by his publishing company works from home. With 15 imprints and over one hundred titles published per year, Sunbury is a medium-sized press. Knorr has...
The road to publication is long and winding
Three years ago, at HippoCamp 2019, I encountered Randon Billings Noble as a debut author, reading from her brilliant essay collection Be With Me Always, and as a presenter for her inspirational breakout session, “Crafting the Lyric Essay.” When I read that she was...