Side quests

…and a much needed day off

(Ulysses by James Joyce…I haven’t read it in nearly 30 years…but…you’ll see)

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It’s Tuesdays and I’m sitting in the corner of a very busy seafood shop waiting on a chowder.

The table I got was occupied by a man who is a local and knows everything about town. He and I have been slowly building a friendship over the last two and a half years.

We share a birthday week. He’s born on June 11th and I’m June 12th. We are separated by decades…but I suspect we share a neurodivergent way of perceiving the world. So it’s easy between the two of us. We have a language of continuing a conversation where we left off. He’s my local weather guy. He knows exactly when it’s going to rain.

…I was just interrupted by a duo of women looking out the window admiring the village.

…and now I’m going to take them to the gallery.

The reason I shared the Ulysses cover is because on Sunday…a man called the bookstore when I was working. He was looking for a copy of the book, and a reader’s guide.

Ah my chowder has arrived!

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Sooo…it was supposed to be a day off. I told my friends I couldn’t make art this morning. I canceled my shift at the gallery.

Then this morning I got a message from a new friend to whom I was returning a cat trap and camera (the things that were part of helping my friend Audra Williams find her wonderful Trixie after the near disaster at The Rosefinch Post, you can read more about it in her own writings).

My new friend accommodated my request to not go anywhere, and made me coffee, and showed me their trees and I got to snuggle their dog. It was a perfect way to start a morning without any plans.

I slept…until I woke up. I snuggled my pup. I snuggled my partner.

…and after coffee with my friend I found myself driving downtown to the post office hoping my cheque from the town was in the mail.

It wasn’t.

…and then I had a craving for my friend’s chowder.

And there. We are back at the beginning of this story.

I am writing this part from the art gallery, where I brought the two women from the cafe. I got to be a part of the magic of their adventure. My favourite part about living in a town where tourists visit is being a magical side character in their story.

…and a few other people came in and I had some gentle conversations.

Not having to be anywhere or do anything today was what I needed to find the magic of my own day.

…and now I’m going to see if I can find a copy of Ulysses…because the words of the man who asked for it are haunting me. He said he was in hospice and that all he had was looking out the window. And it wasn’t enough. So I want to find Ulysses for him. The man has no idea that I’m now on a quest to find his books.

5:28pm

I’m writing this part from the dog park.

(Or I was going to buy a person came and we walked for 30 minutes)

I am now processing the day.

Which ended up being full of accidental magic.

…and intense moments, if I’m being honest.

But I got out, and now I’m home, and the laundry is being done…and I got a weird text from my mom that just said

Our godwits are back.

and a lovely series of texts from my friend Heather with her tiny book for NEXT week (she is what I was always accused of as a kid…a keener…and I LOVE this about her. For the definition of keener, go to the P.S. in this newsletter)

And in the next few minutes I’ll be eating carrots while writing my tiny book for the day. Aptly named.

24 Carrots

📚📚📚#132

(A picture of my carrot stack from early this week, in my fridge, because for a moment I thought they might have discontinued the Nantes that I eat…but gratefully I found them at another grocery store and…if you don’t know…carrots are my safe food. What is a safe food? Someone want to handle that definition in the comment section for me? I don’t have the energy to explain.)

24 Carrots

Heart,

Wake

P.S. my partner and I are currently discussing the definition of “keener”.

whoa. The way it was used “against” me in grade school was in this context.

“Stop being such a fucking keener.” In relationship to the fact that I loved learning and school.

Like I was keen, and it was not cool. Thankfully I did not care.

But apparently it also has to do with mourning! Wow. I could learn something new every day!

P.P.S.

Wanna see a cute picture of my dog post her towel wrestle-session (which she insists on doing if I make her take a bath)…

(She’s a little miffed because the towel stopped wrestling with her)

3 absurd selfies in my nudibranch outfit

K I’m done now. 🥰

See you tomorrow, if you drop by to see Heather’s book. (And Nell’s. I’ll ask if I can share it because it’s darling)