this rough magic

my store

I've gotten used to Thursday being the day I would puzzle over what to take to the Catskills for the weekend, how much I could fit in the car, if I could get enough out of the garage to justify a visit to my favorite auction house. But I'm not going to the Catskills this weekend. Everything in the store is on sale as I want it empty by the end of August. Being there now a bittersweet experience. I've had great conversations with people I've made friends with through the store, who stop by to see what's going on, but it's also hard to see the undoing of the space I created.

our waterfall in the Catskills

I am thinking about what I'll do on my weekends there once the store is closed. Build a studio, or maybe a gazebo (out of reclaimed wood of course)? Join a hiking club? Learn to kayak? Work my way through the Great Books?

stone wall, Catskills

I always have a half dozen projects going, but they involve reading, writing, art, not much movement. I'd like to do something that involves my whole body, and the beauty of the Catskills. Build a stone wall? Create sculptures in the woods?

the waterfall

I am worrying about the droughts and climate change. Elizabeth Kolbert's piece in the New Yorker, here, is worth reading. Even if you aren't in the mood to read about global warming, read the first paragraph about corn sex. I never know the purpose of corn silks. Amazing!

Cape Cod

On a lighter note, my blogger friend Anne just opened an Etsy store, Henscratcher, as a venue for her hand-painted signs and vintage finds. She is giving away a charming customized chalkboard sign. Check it out on her blog, here. And, because so many of you are readers and I love recommending books, I'm going to start listing what I'm reading--borrowing this idea from Monica at Ink + Chai.

Jen
reading: The Last Best League, This Rough Magic, and A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm.