No Space for Rumination

Happy Birthday, Hank Meloy!

Hank turns nineteen today. Time flies, everyone. Here he is on his way to our local GSA summit on Saturday in his rad Pace Taylor shirt.

And here I am playing piano and singing at the same time.

I’ve been practicing piano when I’m angry or overwhelmed, which is a lot lately. It takes all my concentration and there is no space for rumination, which is good.

Frogs

In other news, my pond is full of mating tree frogs. It’s so loud. One of my neighbors once told me she could hear my February pond from a mile away. And there are frogs everywhere. They sneak into my studio through the gap under the door where they hide and eventually become dusty little mummies if I don’t find them and rescue them in time.

Animals I saw on my doorstep this week

• 2 tree frogs - they seemed to be together

• 1 possum - it gave me a long look, turned around, and ambled into the bushes

• 1 dead mole

• 1 rough skinned newt

Things I found in my studio while cleaning it out

My first edition of Little Fur Family, infamously bound in real rabbit fur.

These postcards I made in a letterpress workshop. They’re related to Rumpelstiltskin. I thought Mac and I could slip them into books for special people, but I made them so long ago that I had forgotten all about them. I definitely would have forgotten about them by next spring when Rumpelstiltskin comes out. My memory sucks and books take forever to make. Good thing I cleaned out my studio.

This guy.

This ghost story about a cursed amulet, letterpressed by Stumptown Printers about 20 years ago; our first book.

This book that Colin stole from a coffee shop in Ireland in 2005. We were on vacation and I urgently wanted to use it for painting reference so I asked the barista if I could buy it. She said no, it wasn’t for sale, so Colin slipped it into his bag and surprised me with it in the parking lot. Yes, it was wrong, but it was also romantic. As a side note, I was pregnant with Hank at the time.

Which brings me back to Hank Meloy

Here he is protesting with his grandma Claudia on President’s Day. He made this sign years ago, and added “AGAIN” before the march last week.

Raise a glass to this fine person today. Time flies.

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Coad Cottage, County Kerry, 2005. After we took this we headed to the airport, and it was very stressful when I realized I’d left my purse on that picnic table.