That is too kind. And they couldn't come together without all the friends, teachers, and guidance through this life of mine -- especially yours! Helping me learn the difference between a raven and a crow call was just one of the most recent of many years of learning :)
By the way, we slow-smoked elk roast for Christmas! It was amazing.
I was wondering where you were and missing you and then my inbox showed you'd arrived, and I really enjoyed this post! I've a long "relationship" with crows. I both admire and despise them -- have written about them many times and believe, deeply, that they have some sort of "thing" with me that I haven't yet figured out. The book you copy-edited sounds fascinating -- when do you think it'll be published?
I will look for more of your crow writing! Reading so much about how they remember people, I wonder if there might be something to your feeling? The question is -- what? And why?
I wasn't quite clear in the way I wrote about it. I only work for textbook publishers for the most part, and most of my projects are teachers' manuals. What happens is that I get the manuscript, and then a PDF of the trade book that the students are studying along with it. So I have to read the trade books (not always the whole thing, but with something like this there are a lot of thematic lessons, so I need to make sure the lesson matches the text, overarching themes, page numbers, quotes, etc.), which is never something I regret, but I don't do any editing on them. The unit I just copy edited was on fiction, and the fifth-graders were studying fiction through reading The Night Diary.
You were right! I listened to it this afternoon while writing all my late Christmas cards (which is all my Christmas cards). The friendship was so unexpected and lovely, though it was heartbreaking to think of that magpie dying of loneliness. In the hardest of places, there are birds.
Something about reading this made me very sentimental. Perhaps it was the description of walking alone in snowy woods or the meditation on cycles of uplift in the midst of harsh realities, or maybe just of all of it seeping through to my soft parts. These times which have left me both fragile and resilient mess with my feelings on the regular. Your writing invites me to be with the mess and also see what else is there. That's a unique gift for which I am extremely grateful.
Happy holidays to you and yours, Antonia! So glad I can spend a little time with you as the hours pass.
Your writing invites me to the same. I feel a little "yay" when I see one of your posts in my inbox, and know it'll take me somewhere unexpected and needed.
I've been thinking of you a lot recently, probably because Austria and Covid keep showing up in my news. Hope you are doing well, and weathering each day as well as can be 💕
Here's to that, Chris -- me, too. Thank you again for the Mutual Aid sticker that remains my mobile office, a constant reminder of where to ground myself.
I love crows and ravens. I miss seeing them as often where I live now - I don't think I've seen (or heard) a single raven here in almost three years. There was an elementary school near where I lived before that was next to a small forest, and I often saw them while walking the dog there. A family of crows returned to our yard every year, and we often spotted the young ones learning to fly - a bit awkward at first! I've always wanted a crow friend. My cousins had a crow befriend them somehow when we were young. It would follow them to school and back.
Happy holidays, Anne! To you and that poor maligned swimming pool.
That sounds like a fun thing to see in the yard every year. I'm tempted to try making a crow friend, but am wary after reading a story last year of someone who'd befriended crows in front of his house only to have them start attacking visitors in defense of him! I guess it could be useful?
Last late spring I watched a couple crows chasing off a raven down the road. Endlessly interesting dynamics.
I love to watch crows and ravens especially. Something in their mannerisms and in their intelligence that intrigues and fascinates me. Thanks for another lovely and informative column, I have learned so much from you and your writings this year! And Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Best, Paul
I have spent too much of my life paying little attention to birds! Feel like I should be making up for it now, and crows and ravens do have so much society going on, it's fascinating. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, too!
"I’ve been trying to pay more attention to crows and magpies, much maligned birds (along with ravens) who’ve always shown up in some of my favorite fantasy novels as signs of ill or evil."
People are goofy. It's just a bird. The bad sign is the &(*^*) vultures. (Yeah, they're needed, but it's usually something bad if you see a boodle of them over some place you rarely see them).
It's almost Christmas so my fake crows are going up on the tree next to the white led lights.
elm
gotta go break out my fake ugly dead wire tree to sit next to the real thing
The fake crows sound fun! I had little plastic cows to go over my lights on the tree for a long time but they eventually fell apart.
People are goofy. We look for signs in so many places.
I hadn't known much about vultures until some years ago when Chelsea Biondolillo was working on a book about them. (This isn't that book, but I do like her bird writing: http://www.kernpunktpress.com/store/p16/theskinnedbird.html) They're so fascinating. I had no idea how dependent our ecosystems are on them (though yes, if there's a whole bunch somewhere it portends ill for someone/thing).
Thank you so much for your Walking Compositions. They are rich with feeling and insight into our society and, I might add, your own life.
That is too kind. And they couldn't come together without all the friends, teachers, and guidance through this life of mine -- especially yours! Helping me learn the difference between a raven and a crow call was just one of the most recent of many years of learning :)
By the way, we slow-smoked elk roast for Christmas! It was amazing.
I was wondering where you were and missing you and then my inbox showed you'd arrived, and I really enjoyed this post! I've a long "relationship" with crows. I both admire and despise them -- have written about them many times and believe, deeply, that they have some sort of "thing" with me that I haven't yet figured out. The book you copy-edited sounds fascinating -- when do you think it'll be published?
I will look for more of your crow writing! Reading so much about how they remember people, I wonder if there might be something to your feeling? The question is -- what? And why?
My writing really falls off when I'm in a copy editing crunch, unfortunately. I try to balance things better, but never quite manage to. But the book is so good! It came out in 2018: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/549250/the-night-diary-by-veera-hiranandani/
I wasn't quite clear in the way I wrote about it. I only work for textbook publishers for the most part, and most of my projects are teachers' manuals. What happens is that I get the manuscript, and then a PDF of the trade book that the students are studying along with it. So I have to read the trade books (not always the whole thing, but with something like this there are a lot of thematic lessons, so I need to make sure the lesson matches the text, overarching themes, page numbers, quotes, etc.), which is never something I regret, but I don't do any editing on them. The unit I just copy edited was on fiction, and the fifth-graders were studying fiction through reading The Night Diary.
This is your podcast recommendation: https://thisislovepodcast.com/episode-36-the-magpie-of-heart-mountain/
You were right! I listened to it this afternoon while writing all my late Christmas cards (which is all my Christmas cards). The friendship was so unexpected and lovely, though it was heartbreaking to think of that magpie dying of loneliness. In the hardest of places, there are birds.
Something about reading this made me very sentimental. Perhaps it was the description of walking alone in snowy woods or the meditation on cycles of uplift in the midst of harsh realities, or maybe just of all of it seeping through to my soft parts. These times which have left me both fragile and resilient mess with my feelings on the regular. Your writing invites me to be with the mess and also see what else is there. That's a unique gift for which I am extremely grateful.
Happy holidays to you and yours, Antonia! So glad I can spend a little time with you as the hours pass.
Happy holidays, Sherri!
Your writing invites me to the same. I feel a little "yay" when I see one of your posts in my inbox, and know it'll take me somewhere unexpected and needed.
I've been thinking of you a lot recently, probably because Austria and Covid keep showing up in my news. Hope you are doing well, and weathering each day as well as can be 💕
I love All Of It. And I'll walk through anywhere with you, Nia.
Here's to that, Chris -- me, too. Thank you again for the Mutual Aid sticker that remains my mobile office, a constant reminder of where to ground myself.
I love crows and ravens. I miss seeing them as often where I live now - I don't think I've seen (or heard) a single raven here in almost three years. There was an elementary school near where I lived before that was next to a small forest, and I often saw them while walking the dog there. A family of crows returned to our yard every year, and we often spotted the young ones learning to fly - a bit awkward at first! I've always wanted a crow friend. My cousins had a crow befriend them somehow when we were young. It would follow them to school and back.
Happy holidays Antonia!
Happy holidays, Anne! To you and that poor maligned swimming pool.
That sounds like a fun thing to see in the yard every year. I'm tempted to try making a crow friend, but am wary after reading a story last year of someone who'd befriended crows in front of his house only to have them start attacking visitors in defense of him! I guess it could be useful?
Last late spring I watched a couple crows chasing off a raven down the road. Endlessly interesting dynamics.
I love to watch crows and ravens especially. Something in their mannerisms and in their intelligence that intrigues and fascinates me. Thanks for another lovely and informative column, I have learned so much from you and your writings this year! And Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Best, Paul
I have spent too much of my life paying little attention to birds! Feel like I should be making up for it now, and crows and ravens do have so much society going on, it's fascinating. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, too!
"I’ve been trying to pay more attention to crows and magpies, much maligned birds (along with ravens) who’ve always shown up in some of my favorite fantasy novels as signs of ill or evil."
People are goofy. It's just a bird. The bad sign is the &(*^*) vultures. (Yeah, they're needed, but it's usually something bad if you see a boodle of them over some place you rarely see them).
It's almost Christmas so my fake crows are going up on the tree next to the white led lights.
elm
gotta go break out my fake ugly dead wire tree to sit next to the real thing
The fake crows sound fun! I had little plastic cows to go over my lights on the tree for a long time but they eventually fell apart.
People are goofy. We look for signs in so many places.
I hadn't known much about vultures until some years ago when Chelsea Biondolillo was working on a book about them. (This isn't that book, but I do like her bird writing: http://www.kernpunktpress.com/store/p16/theskinnedbird.html) They're so fascinating. I had no idea how dependent our ecosystems are on them (though yes, if there's a whole bunch somewhere it portends ill for someone/thing).