Wednesday Hodgepodge


1. Hey, it's October...what's one fun thing on your October calendar? 

My October is very full! I'm looking forward to our North Carolina School Library Association conference later this week and our Lake Street Dive concert this weekend. Next week I get to see Kendra Adachi for a stop on her book tour for her latest title, The Plan, and celebrate our anniversary. We have a fun reading event at our school later this month and our fall book fair. My in-laws are coming at the end of the month and we have Halloween. 

2. Thursday is National Poetry Day (first Thursday in October)...do you like to read poetry? If so, what's a favorite poem, or whose poetry do you especially enjoy? 

I do enjoy poetry! It is an art I appreciate more the older I grow. I particularly enjoy Mary Oliver and the way she describes various aspects of nature; its so resonant to how I see the world.

3. Tell us about something you've seen recently that could be described as 'poetry in motion'. 

The way the state of North Carolina, and especially our Appalachian communities, have come together in this time of natural disaster. The way that community is pulling together and serving with open hands and hearts is true poetry in motion. I love witnessing how special this place is - even in the darkest times.

4. What's one song on your autumn playlist? Do you have an autumn playlist? If not, pretend you do. If yes, then feel free to share more than one. 

Honestly, I listen to more instrumental and orchestral music in the autumn as background sounds at school. Personally, I tend to lean hard into artists like Leon Bridges, Jason Isbell, and Chris Stapleton. I like these artists, and others like them, year-round. However, that bluesy soul calls to me this time of year in a different way.

5. Share a quote that inspires you this time of year especially. 

Who doesn't love the classic Anne Shirley attribution, "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers"?

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

This last week has been emotionally draining in a way that is challenging to articulate. I have unfortunately been adjacent to multiple natural disasters in places I've lived. 

When I lived in Colorado Springs, we had two massive wildfires back-to-back that we recovered from as a community, but I wasn't directly affected by. Those fires, The Waldo Canyon Fire and Black Forest Fire, created so much turmoil and chaos in the community, but we were thankfully spared any direct involvement. 

This summer we moved away from Boone in July and down the mountain to Winston-Salem. It has been devastating seeing the mountain town we love so dearly and the community that is home to our family impacted in this way. The High Country will always be home to us; especially as my husband still commutes to work there. Having so many friends and loved ones impacted by this storm is so many ways has made me simultaneously grateful and guilty - and driven to serve and care for them as best we can. It's been hard to do "normal" life knowing so many are unable to live "normally". 

Comments

  1. Wendy2 October 2024 at 08:43

    Sounds like you have a lot to look forward to in October :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. ellen b.2 October 2024 at 10:33

    I can only imagine the pain and suffering of the communities close to you. We stayed the night in Boone 3 years ago traveling from Kentucky to Hickory N.C. We enjoyed our time there and are so sad to see the devastation. We are grateful to see the groups and individuals chipping in to help wherever they can. So heart warming. Just looking at the videos we've seen it will be a long recovery process. I'm glad you have some events to look forward to in October.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Allstarme792 October 2024 at 11:06

    I really am blown away by the destruction in those states. I'm a life-long Floridian and used to this here (and sometimes mystified as to why I even stay in Florida!) but the flooding I saw up there was also nuts. I think it hurt my husband more because he desperately wants to leave Florida but wanted to go to NC or Tennessee!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Joyce2 October 2024 at 11:35

    Oh Boone is sad. As are so very many of the mountain towns in this part of the country. I'm on the other side of the mountain from Asheville, on the SC side, and I too struggle to put into words just how truly awful things are. I don't feel like the media has done a good job covering this absolute tragedy.

    ReplyDelete

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