The biggest thing about this year for me has been the process of continuing to put my writing front and center in my life. I started my MFA at the Rainier Writing Workshop at PLU. I met some wonderful people there with whom I hope to be friends for life, and am working with a great mentor. I went to the Writers' Conference here in town again and met Rita Dove, Nickole Brown and other wonderful poets.
That link also tells the story of my participating in a poetry reading, starting out with the inadvertent slapstick of falling down the stairs!
Five of us here in town formed a poetry group. We meet twice a month, once to critique one another's poems, once to discuss a book we've read. It's an absolute lifeline.
I've written poems and cut them up into strips and put them back together in funky orders.
I acquired a tiny netbook on which to write and work wherever I go, and covered a notebook with inspirational quotations from teabag tags (that notebook is now long filled up).
I remind myself to ask the important questions...
...and I use my writing to make my gifts seem more familiar.
I've also repeatedly used my blog as a sounding board and a refuge to help me be a better version of myself. It provides accountability, feedback and visibility, as well as an impressive sweep of freedom.
Two very recent writerly things: I'm starting to submit my work! Which means I can start the process of receiving slews of rejections that will finally lead to acceptances!
And second, I mentioned yesterday this idea for a book that I've been obsessed with recently but too busy to implement, and I received more negative, skeptical or concerned comments than I ever have before for a creative endeavor. My sincerest thanks to you all for your care and consideration: I hear you. I don't quite know what to do with it yet, since I have so much energy behind the idea and have practically half written it already in my head, but the unanimity of the response makes me sit up and take notice.
A year ago, Phil had his eye surgery and we drove up to Anchorage every week for a month or two. We're not sorry to be skipping that this year, but we sure enjoyed the beauty of the drives.
We continue to hike in all weathers, and to appreciate the beauty both on the beach nearby...
...and right outside our cabin.
We disturbed wildlife in remote places not far from where we live. The sea otters seemed like they were 'in church' when we showed up.
And whereas last year, a gray whale washed up on our beach, this year we found a salmon shark.
We grew a big garden again. More than my weight in potatoes...
Some other beautiful roots...
And I added a dehydrator to my toolset and made lots of homegrown kale chips, although we agreed eventually that chard and beet green chips are much more delicious!
Our horseradish came back gigantic from last year, and I made some amazing condiments with it.
The dandelion wine I made two years ago matured to be smooth enough for prime time. Oh, and I had my first ever night as a blonde!
I continued my "witchly" ways, making tinctures and syrups...
...putting nettles in my smoothies...
Another thing I made during this gifting season was hops pillows. Hand-sewn (I don't even know how to use a sewing machine) and filled with hops blossoms and buckwheat groats.
I made eight of them for eight lovely ladies. I was surprised by how many of these recipients immediately reacted that it was a 'microwavable neck pillow,' when I thought of it as an eye pillow and think microwaves are the devil's work! I think that microwaving would volatilize the hops and take away their goodness, but people should enjoy their gifts however they would like.
We went to Arizona and helped David and Heather paint their ceilings, and enjoyed some gorgeous cactus hikes.
We went to Oregon for Phil's niece's wedding...
...hosted Phil's son and grandkids up here...
...and saw Phil's daughter Amy get married!
We got a decent-sized refrigerator...
...which precipitated our transformation of our little side room into a kitchen.
This was also the miraculous year that saw running--or at least walking--water come out of a faucet in our cabin! The pipe's only frozen twice so far, and we're impressed with how well our thousand-gallon tank is lasting us.
I'm so happy that I traveled all the way to Israel, renewed connections with all my lovely relatives, played in the kitchen with my grandmother...
...and hung out with my sweet mum!
...the coconut-lime (commissioned twice)...
...although my reduced-fat crustless version replacing cashews with cooked parsnip might have seemed strange to some!
My carrot-cardamom cookies are probably my personal favorite from this year.
And the holidays were a great opportunity to make some delightful experiments.
Healthwise, this has been an interesting year.
After a lifetime of shying away from any kind of medical oversight, I've continued to work with a Naturopath and a Therapist, working on supporting my deranged endocrine system and other things using mostly bioidentical hormones and herbs.
Although there have been definite improvements, several dosages have had to be increased this year. I don't know how much of that is just fluctuation and how much is a result of my continuing fluctuations in diet and stress levels.
Another thing that came to light this year was a diagnosis, or a label, for the rollercoaster experience of which I've so often described my life as consisting, and the challenge of accepting/rejecting/coming to terms with the label and the lifestyle behaviors and medications recommended to control it. It might even explain why I had an eating disorder for so long and why full recovery continues to be elusive.
Overall, these must all be good things: opportunities for growth, certainly.
I'm so grateful to this guy for being my anchor on the wild ride!
Happy New Year to everyone! I'll be back either tomorrow or the next day with some thoughts and intentions for 2012.
