Grief Is Not a Four-Letter Word

I'd never heard of Isy Suttie before finding this essay by her in The Observer Magazine last month. And I'm so glad I didn't flip past her right-on piece that uses Prince Harry's recent quotes on grief to remind us it's all a process. We tend to forget that fact when we're in the thick of it, or when we're tapping a foot, waiting for someone to hurry up and snap out of it so we can talk about something else for a change. I'm all for snapping out of it in one's own time, if that ever truly occurs. For four years I contributed to Obit magazine, which was a stupendous site bearing some fine, fine writing about all things death-related, and in that way was about so much of life. I loved the opportunity to write about topics many of us don't want to think of, and that are such common denominators for all beings on the planet. I thank my editor Avery Rome for giving me that opportunity at Obit. How I wish the magazine weren't dead itself. It really was home to some stunning work. And Isy and Avery would have gotten along.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/aug/07/prince-harry-is-right-hard-to-talk-about-grief

Reviving with one of my favorite pix - and forms of precipitation

Greetings from Bondsville, where The Bondsville Literary Society is back in action. As this long-awaited moment coincides with the long-awaited (at least by yours truly) first real snow of the season, I'm posting one of my favorite winter photos, taken last March right here in Bondsville, on a trek with the ever-up-for-adventure-in-any-and-all-seasons Susan Tilton Pecora, who checks on Eggemoggin while Archie races on. May you enjoy Archie's level of joy in the new year, on whatever trail you choose.