A Decidedly Interior April Update
Postcard From Owls Head is back! And better, I promise, I think.
This post is long and will get cut off by most email services. You may want to try reading it in your browser or—better yet, I promise, not a plug, just a recommendation—on the Substack App.
Well over a year ago, I wrote the first—and so far, the only—installment of “Postcard,” which was supposed to be an ongoing, more personal, behind the scenes update from me. I wrote the original post, sent it out, and immediately realized, well, this isn’t particularly personal at all! Even so, that slim lil sliver of vulnerability1 was hard to eke out, and I haven’t written another Postcard From Owls Head since.
Until now!
Why? Not because it’s gotten any easier or more comfortable to talk about myself—terrifying—but because one of my goals in this space, my little piece of internet, is to nurture more community. And guess what the first ingredient to that’s got to be? Most likely, even just an ounce more sharing than I’d normally find comfortable.
The first installment was a nice little piece of writing, which I think also tripped me up. Too measured! So: here’s what’s been going on around here, in no particular order, with no particular metaphorical through-line other than, Snapshots of A Lived Experience.
If you have spoken to or looked at a person’s social media presence/s in New England, particularly farther up north, over the past month, you know things have been frustrating and, frankly, we’re feeling done. (Maybe that’s why many of us are feeling done in a broader sense?)
This mostly has to do with an abrupt and extremely early thaw in mid-February, which was a bummer at first (winter, particularly February, here in Maine is generally clear and blue, crystalline and extremely beautiful—and fun if you like standing on skis). After the bummer feelings wore off, it was exciting—OK, I guess spring is starting early—and yet, here we are mid-April off of yet another slushy, late snow storm.
Look at those poor little thawed out branches trying to hold up the snow! The photos above were taken on April 9th, incidentally, the day after I had my snow tires switched out for the season…! Spring is slow to unfurl here, but this has been a particularly scattered and suspenseful time, weather-wise. I’m totally only talking about weather.
Lots going on indoors, then. Starting seeds (mostly just flowers and some colder-weather lettuces), getting them sorted and organized (below), figuring out a garden plan (video is here). I like to draw out a full garden plan almost entirely because it is fun and looks pretty, but it’s also pretty helpful, even if all the plans end up changing along the way. A first draft.
I also decided, impulsively and after at least two years of staring at paint swatches, to paint my bedroom. Jesse was gone for the week, so I decided to try to wrap up the whole thing while he was gone and I’m glad to say I actually did it! Both colors are Farrow & Ball: the walls are Settling Plaster and the trim is Dead Salmon.
One thing about a slow thaw and lots of cold temperatures is that it’s been a very good maple syrup year. My kids’ school taps the trees and boils down the syrup in grades 3 and 4; I happen to have a fourth grader (James, The Elder) and offered to be a parent volunteer for the afternoon. As mandated, I was careful not to take photos of the kids (besides mine…), but I did manage to get their setup at school, which is super cute and all wood-powered.
Things are HUMMING around here, at least indoors. For reasons we don’t know (maybe pity?), amaryllises bloomed again? We wrapped up this extremely epic, ongoing bathroom project downstairs. And I have been chipping away at an adjacent play room project, which has involved a lot of toy sorting and purging, but is paying dividends because the kids are actually daring to play with the toys they already own (imagine!). Truly, when it comes to toys—as probably most other things—less is very much more. Below you can see the little toy cabinets that are still as-yet in progress. They are the classic IKEA IVAR line, painted F&B India Yellow, “wallpapered” with a wrapping paper I found at Urban Outfitters, and then be-knobbed (I added knobs, that’s what that means) with insanely cute brass snail pulls from Block Shop. It’s going to be a really good space eventually.
Slow thaw, yes, but it feels good to get things at least partially in order before all the attention gets completely sapped (sorry) by the outdoors for the next few months. Not wanting to jinx anything, but I do think we might be getting there, actually.
Cancer Sun, Gemini Rising, Aquarius Moon, for those who keep track 🔮
Can’t wait for frog season 🐸
comforting to see other places with snow still on the ground as well, where gardening is currently limited to sorting seeds and dreaming of warmer days