Yeah Righ
December was a doozy of birthdays (75% of my household’s birthdays fall within three days of one another), Norovirus, and COVID, among other things. Historically, I wait until the thoughts I’m carrying around cohere enough for me to create a letter relaying them but I keep waiting for that cohesion and it keeps not appearing, hence me writing December’s letter now, in January, as a list. It’s not 2024 in review. It’s not a best-of or year-end roundup. It is just a numbered list. Thank you for reading it.
I met four silver eels in 2024. Did you know that 17 years is the average age at which female silver eels living in Maine/Wabanakik decide it’s time to leave their freshwater homes and head back to the Sargasso (Oliveira and McCleave 2000) whereas males tend to head back after much less time has passed? One day I will get around to writing about this particular eel and the convenience store food offering that made it clear he was ready to return to the Caribbean rather than stick around in the freshwater for another winter…until then, here is Elton, the penultimate eel to pass through the State of Maine’s life cycle study site before the trap was pulled for the season.
Elton does not like beef jerky. Right place, right time. This is as the tide was going out. Listen.
I don’t want a new laptop. I need a new laptop. Digital obsolescence is at fault here. It all started because my “t” key stopped working (try complaining about that. Sounds like you have a “tiki” problem. You do!) and one does not repair a key alone (we tried), you have to replace the whole keyboard. This procedure is expensive enough for a car repair person to tell you it’s time to think about the cost of a new car vs. how much you’d need to spend to keep your old one going (they say my laptop will only hold out another few months, due to its age and security certificate limitations). So, a 13-inch MacBook Air or 14-inch MacBook Pro is what I’m looking for.1
I know “Yeah righ” is the answer but click here if you have some bones to contribute toward the purchase of a new laptop with a working “t” key. I’m reading What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. I just finished Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange and Fen by Daisy Johnson. I recommend them all.
Eli introduced me to Year Compass. I did it. Do you do it? Very nice.
I haven’t looked at Instagram for the past four days. It’s hard. It’s good. I don’t know how long it will last.
I embroidered a T-shirt for my sister. It was enjoyable therefore I will embroider a T-shirt2 for the next person who becomes a paid subscriber, with whatever you want on there, friend. Think fast.
UPDATE: This offer has been claimed. Looking forward to stitching for you, JF! ♡
“Warming up my vocal chords to go record the prologue for the audiobook of RHODODENDRONS in the shirt my sister embroidered for me 👻” - happy recipient of my embroidery (she did not ask for this) Chimney fires are terrifying. We think we keep our chimney clean yet creosote keeps building up before it should. (We had ten emergency vehicles at our house on Thanksgiving morning and three firefighters standing on our icy roof.) Do you have a wood stove? How often do you clean your chimney?3 How do you rebuild trust in your woodstove after a chimney fire?
My piece about elver conservation was among Down East Magazine’s top ten most-read stories of 2024.
Category: people you only ever hear from on holidays. For me, it’s the guy in the middle here—Larry G. I can count on receiving a text from him on every significant holiday. Larry was one of the Able-Bodied Seamen (AB) on the voyage I took across the Pacific over a decade ago. Larry was good company and an incredible guide to life at sea. Here I am following Larry and a few of the other crewmembers around Okinawa shortly after a typhoon.
Best Day Ever (Bangor Daily News’ Midcoast Newsletter) Emily Burnham asked me to write about my best day ever in this area for the BDN’s weekly midcoast update newsletter. Because it came out a few weeks ago, unless you’re a subscriber, you would never be able to see it so I’m putting two highlights from it here that I still stand by.
12 p.m. Pizza at Alexia’s in Belfast — where else can you get lunch for $3?
Sunset: Watch the sun go down at the park on Mt. Ephraim Rd. in Searsport, known in our household as “The Beauty Spot.” My 8-year-old recommends blasting4 saxophone music as you do this.
Support Niweskok! Niweskok has raised 82% of their December 30 benchmark to help make their January closing of a 245-acre farm in Swanville a reality. Donate now to support this Wabanaki foodhub in the Penobscot Bay Region! Give at https://www.niweskok.org/donate or contact alivia@niweskok.org for ACH payments, donations by check, pledges, stock transfers, and to explore endowments.
Would anyone like to turn my website into a Google Site for trade/barter?
New work in the world: An Invitation to be Vulnerable and Honest with a Stranger (StoryCorps’ Blog) Working on the One Small Step project with WERU over the past few years afforded me a lot of praise, bestowing of laurels, and that sort of thing. My experience actually doing this work was complicated and I’m grateful that StoryCorps allowed me to share my experience and critiques on their blog.
New work in the world: From a Timely Seed to a Timeless Structure (for Maine Audubon’s Habitat Magazine)
for Maine Audubon When I first started working on this set of stories for Maine Audubon there was snow on the ground. Then I was swatting away black flies in the forest of Hidden Valley in Jefferson alongside Tim Libby, learning about low-impact forestry. One of these stories just came out in Maine Audubon’s magazine. I have two thoughts about so much time passing between the initial assignment and publishing—one is that I loved having the opportunity to go back to the land I was writing about several times in different seasons and that I was given the time and trust to allow the story to unfold. In addition, Melissa Kim, from Maine Audubon, was really thinking ahead about their content needs.
Subtext: if you’re thinking of hiring a writer, lock them in now. (Lock me in now. Q1 is already getting booked up.)
Bodkin - I finally watched it. Mostly for the elvers, which are raining down from the sky in this shot and that one scene where Seamus dances with Gilbert to “Time After Time”.
Who’s “Dave?” I am the one who penned this name on my hand. I am the one who does not know who Dave is. We had a great day together.
Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights - Take action here.
Jewish Voice for Peace - Take action here.
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights - Take action here.
Thank you for reading all the way to the end.
xo
Michele
If your “t” key doesn’t work anymore, how are you making all those “t’s,” Michele? Great question. Chris loaned me an external Bluetooth keyboard a few months ago that has successfully extended the life of my computer, though TBH because this situation no longer sits on my lap it is no longer a laptop, nor can I write in the dark because the external keyboard doesn’t light up. This brings great temporary sadness because most of my words come from my lap in the dark. Alas. ↩
I never said I was a professional embroiderer but I can hold my own. I’ll reach out to you after confirmation of your paid subscription comes in and you can tell me what you would like me to embroider. Already have a paid subscription? You can give a gift subscription, if you like, and choose to keep the embroidery for yourself or give it along with the subscription. ↩
Not all woodstoves are built the same. We think we know why creosote is building up so quickly and are working on a multi-pronged approach to increase our stove’s safety and efficiency. Promise. ↩
“I didn’t say ‘blast,’ I said ‘play,’” corrected said child after the fact. I didn’t get a chance to correct it there so I’m correcting it here, instead. ↩
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