Spring is here in New England

Hi friends,

I’m back in MA after visiting a friend in Asheville, NC who had a baby, and spring finally arrived on the farm. The river ice melted, and the snow melted. Green grass is growing, which means we need to hurry up and prep the flower gardens so we can spread the tarps to kill the weeds before planting time. Spring is one of our favorite seasons, but it is super busy and there is a sprint that happens after the snow melts.

We planted the first round of flower seeds in potting soil in trays and soon it will be time to plant the second round. We planted zinnias, eucalyptus, artemisia, celosia, statice, gomphrena, snapdragons, etc.

The shearer is coming at the end of April to shear the sheep. The NH Sheep and Wool Festival is the second weekend in May.

No Kings was a huge success last weekend. According to organizers, over 8 million people showed up, and I’m thrilled that so many participated in the third No Kings protest.

An article in Mother Jones writes:

“Given the immense outpouring, what could these demonstrations mean for future organizing?

According to Payday Report, an outlet that covers labor and union news, Indivisible, one of the lead organizers of the No Kings protests, is backing the May Day Strong coalition, which is calling for “No Work, No School, No Shopping” on May 1.

Leah Greenberg, the co-founder of Indivisible, said, “On May 1, Indivisibles will be joining people across the country with a clear message: we demand a government that invests in our communities, not one that enriches billionaires, fuels endless war, or deploys masked agents to intimidate our neighbors.”

According to the NAACP,

“250 years ago, promises were made to visualize this nation as a more perfect union. We, the People, dreamed of democracy, marched across Selma’s bridge, and carried the vision that the American flag represented long before it represented us. And now, bigots, racists, and criminals want to rewrite our history.

These are not just policy disagreements. These are attacks on who we are, who we’ve always been, and who our children will become. Now is the time to hold every elected official accountable, especially those who abandoned their oath to represent all of us. Leaders are meant to serve We, the People, all of the people. Not a party. Not a donor. Not a king.

Today we march. Tomorrow we organize. In November, we vote.”

It was the largest single day of protests in US history. (source)

Protesting, when done carefully with preparation, snacks, bathroom breaks, etc. can be joyful and fun. It’s empowering and reassuring to see so many people who care about democracy, human rights, and basic human decency together in one place. It’s a reminder that most Americans are good, and that the bad ones are the minority. The maga people are not popular and they do not represent who we are as a country.

America is a diverse coalition of immigrants, First Nations, working class people, scientists, engineers, women, mothers, Americans with disabilities, etc.

Let’s see what the action will be on May Day.

The rough draft of book three in the Queenslander series will be done tomorrow, April 1st!!! Woo hoo!!!! It’s very rough, but it’s a draft. It turns out that launching a debut novel and writing a different novel at the same time is sub-optimal, which I could have predicted, but it happened, and it worked more or less. I’ll fix the problems with it in editing and revising. A lot of the sparkly little details come in re-writing.

Book three is the climax of the first trilogy in what might be a longer series. I love the Master and Commander series, with the story of Jack and Stephen’s ‘particular friendship’ told across twenty novels (that’s right, 20 Jack/Stephen novels published over 30 years) taking place on tall ships during the Napoleonic Wars.

Book two is coming in the fall and book three sometime next year. Dates TBD.

On an unrelated note, I love NetGalley, the Advance Review Copy (ARC) website. I will recommend it to all of my author friends.

The long dark winter of the soul is over, at least here in New England, and things are looking up. Yesterday the kids and I went on a hike at the park for the first time since last fall, and it was glorious. We talked with a stranger, tossed a ball for a dog, and made a new friend.

Everything is possible in the spring—days are longer, brighter, windows may or may not be open, car windows might be down, and its easier to be hopeful and optimistic about the future when nature is becoming more pleasant and conducive to life.

Yes, it’s wildly busy and we are always behind schedule in the spring, but that’s all right.

I’m trying a new month-long resolution of not using my phone or computer in front of the children. So far it is going remarkably well and quality time is better. Trying to be more present for them while they are in this delightfully little and tender stage, before they become teens glued to their own phones and devices (hopefully not).

Now is the time to cultivate mutual interests and find things we enjoy doing together so that we can continue doing those things together when they are older.