Lucy’s Here!!!

In a time of destruction, create something. A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. A moral principle. One peaceful moment. Maxine Hong Kingston

Lucy’s here!!! I still cannot believe that I hold in my hands the thoughts that swirled in my mind on a slow October day at Chik-Wauk after the umpteenth person asked me, “What do the animals up here do in winter?” as a pileated woodpecker screamed overhead landing at the top of a dead birch tree just steps from the museum. Thrilled with the display, cold hands shoved in my pockets, I turned to the startled guest, “Not sure, but he’s not going anywhere soon!”

It’s been a minute since I sat myself down to write a blog post. That’s the way it goes with creative work. The creative thoughts drift in and out of consciousness, and yet the work of ‘butt in chair’ tends to get neglected as the tasks of everyday living eclipse all others.

In this time of destruction, I’m taking a moment to reflect upon this journey of creating children’s books with my daughter, Sofia, to celebrate our beautiful wild lands here in the north country. We both agree, there are a lot of big problems that we alone certainly cannot conquer, but we can create this one thing to encourage young and old readers alike to cherish the natural world we do live in.

I’m reminded that the two things I loved to do with my children and then later, my students, was to explore the outdoors and read good children’s books. Upon further consideration, that still has not changed. This summer we had the opportunity of taking a little Boundary Waters trip with Sofia, her husband, and two of their friends who had never experienced our northern clime before. We wore ourselves out paddling, but were rewarded by the loons’ presence. In long conversations around the campfire while eating way too many s’mores, we acknowledged the need for all of us to spend more time disconnected to electronics and more connected with each other and to our natural world.

For the month of October, I have the incredible opportunity to do just that. Through the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, I will be traveling to the libraries in the Minnesota Arrowhead Library System to share in our love of the Northland, write haiku together, and introduce Lucy and her friends. I am so honored and humbled to be a part of this program and look forward to meeting all of the folks on the way! You can see where I’ll be here, if you’re in the area, please come join us!!

This is bound to be a month of many distractions and destructions. May you give yourself the space and time to create something, one peaceful moment at a time.