Author: Maria

Right now

First: let’s just pretend the winter of 2022/2023 didn’t happen, yeah? Excellent. Good riddance. Right now, I’m sitting in my apartment with the windows wide open. I can hear the ocean, and the myriad of birds that are as happy about spring as I am. It even smells good out there now. I have seen dry asphalt (the ultimate sign of spring up here), the seagulls are back, and even the local otter prefers to eat its lunch sprawled on the seaside rocks, bathing in the sun. I’m teaching myself how to knit socks (second time’s the charm, right?), and have chosen a soft yarn that looks exactly like rainbow sprinkles. It’s a refreshing change from my previous knit, which was a navy winter trapper hat. The overlock machine I bought last August has finally been tried out, and today I’m going to cut out my second attempt at a black jersey pencil skirt. The first version was hastily altered in a thoughtless moment, and created a weird fabric bump right down the middle of …

October 2022: bird friends, beauty grooming, and holding on to the light

Outside Cats fighting, waking me up. A floating log that looked just like a person. Two people in a small boat, fishing quietly at dusk. Snow on the mountaintops again. Snow on the ground again, and on my herbs and lavender, too. A tiny bird, sitting a meter away while I held my breath so I wouldn’t scare it. Three ducks following me home from the mailbox (they got some bread for their friendliness). The eagle is back. The sun, for what might have been the last time this year for me. The moon, spectacularly bright. The day I suddenly noticed it’s getting darker at five o’clock. Then four. Then three.