It is Earth Day 2022 and I’ll be honest, between the news and climate change I’m feeling a tiny bit discouraged, but! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the climate news is not all bad.
Should we be concerned? Of course. Is there hope? Of course!
We know individual actions can only get us so far, and solving the astronomical issue of climate change is the job of governments and policies. But we also know that our decisions matter.
Let’s make them count.
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Bee on a purple Allium, or onion flower, recommended for attracting pollinators. Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash
What’s this, what’s this? I have just discovered that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has a video interview series with interesting authors like Ann Leckie, Ken Liu, Karen Lord and more. It’s called Narrative Worlds and is hosted by author Kate Elliott.
I now know this because I follow Martha Wells (Murderbot and much more), and she is heading for the interview chair this Sunday the 24th.
Busy on Sunday? Me too, probably, but good news, SFWA archives the series.
Have I listened to these yet? I just discovered they existed five minutes ago so no, I have not. The list of authors is impressive, however, and I expect good things.
Here’s the funny thing about posting every day: I feel I should also be making something amazing every day.
I’m not, I mean, sometimes I am but mostly I’m living life as a regular run-of-the-mill yet awesome human, like the rest of you. Work, not work, the usual. That doesn’t always result in a finished product.
That, as I remind myself, is ok.
And it makes the productive days even more special.
It’s Monday and it’s Spring and (despite the fact that we are expecting snow tonight) what better time to direct you to this helpful video about asparagus?
America’s Test Kitchen reviews the basics and useful methods of preparation, but also busts several asparagus myths wide open.
One day a little country girl bunny with a brown skin and a little cotton-ball of a tail said, “Some day I shall grow up to be the Easter Bunny: you wait and see!” Then all of the big white bunnies who lived in fine houses, and the Jack Rabbits with long legs who can run fast, laughed at the little Cottontail and told her to go back to the country and eat a carrot. But she said, “Wait and see!”
A brief excerpt from a work in progress (and no, this isn’t about the Whippersnapper):
“As I’ve stated, Miss Winter, your grandmother’s will is quite specific.” He cleared his throat and straightened his back with an ostentatious thrust of the shoulders. “She made you her primary heir. Except for cash distributions to your relatives and a few minor items like your father’s bronzed baby shoes and so on, you are to receive all of her possessions. This includes the house on Willow Lane and all of its contents, the car, as well as a bank account that will allow you to maintain the house in good order.” He smiled smugly, as bearers of news they expect to be well-received tend to do. Little did he know.
My grandmother lived through the Great Depression, seven children, her husband’s early death, a (rumored, but still) alien abduction, and a long line of vicious Siamese guard cats named Fido. She was as hard-nosed as they come. And she didn’t give anything away, ever.
I could feel the walls of her trap closing in on me, but couldn’t see them yet. I just hoped that it wasn’t too late to escape.
“Ok,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “And I get all of this for the low, low price of…?”
“The stipulations are quite clear, Miss Winter. If you follow the letter of the will all rights and responsibilities to her things will become yours, but for that to happen you must officially take possession.”
Ah. Here it was, the sticking point.
He shuffled the papers around a bit, looking for the relevant section of text. “If you do not move into the house and reside there on a permanent basis for a period of at least one full year from today, the day after her death, all goods and monies will revert to my protectorship and be liquidated, funds to go to the largest right-wing fascist group in the state.” He looked up at me with a wry expression. “The final amount would be… considerable.”
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