Simple Pleasures || October 2018

Grandview Drive this autumn

At the funeral of Dan's grandmother, Delores Karpiak, pictured here on her wedding day with Alexander.

My gift shipped to Boulder for sweet Eva

My little Halloween Raccoon

Yes please

Eureka Lake Road

September’s fields of tall, crisp stalks
are like dry soldiers martyred by harvest—
Their innards, tender and warm produce
reveal robust kernels or rot—
the industry of cutworms, beetles, borers.
Tassels are fingered by hurried youth
unloaded from yellow, sticky buses
their bundled glands pumping sweat
into drenched long sleeves and socks.

At the lake, the basin is scorched,
undressed by drought.
Groups of family geese with black necks
and white cheeks stagger across the
cracks in the mud bed and huddle as they honk.
Their chests and bellies protrude,
hovering over the dried membranes of their feet.
They will decide to go—take flight
in their groups. Yet it is one single thought.

Creeks have withdrawn unto themselves.
The industry of mice and rabbits becomes
precarious as the hawks glide above,
dropping wide black shadows
across tan trimmed lawns
and hot pavement—a road with death,
where the skunk and squirrel corpses
have already been pillaged.
The throats of the hawks are ready,
their feathers tickled by the air.

Monarchs have lived among the milkweed
in the warmth of the summer.
Now those of the last brood dash over the road;
they dart, flutter, whisper, shout.
Their sunset wings become daring
with thick lines of black warning.
An ancient pulse within them bellows—
It is time for migration.

I am reminded of a Black Swallowtail
I found clinging to pebbles at the cemetery—
her white-dotted body
leaning under the weight of her
large and delicate arms of darkness.
I touched her blue band on her hind wings
and she stayed with me until her final fright
and she leapt away.

It is said that butterflies are a resurrection,
hope, the soul.

I yield unto what I do not know.

-Leah Herzing

Autumn Recap || My Birthday, Halloween, + Scan Results

(This is a long overdue post that sat in my draft folder for over a month! Yikes!) For me, October was a blur of changing leaves and trying medications. I am really proud to say that I worked hard at getting healthier and by now, December, I am stable on some fantastic drugs (the dissolve tab Lamichtal is pretty rad!) and feeling very stable, with a greater clarity of mind and ability to experience joy again. Just in time for the magical holiday season, so I truly could not feel more grateful. I am a busy worker bee with 4 jobs (more about that later!) and Raine continues to thrive in Pre-K. Dan is passing his CT scans and MRI’s with flying colors, showing the cancer remains stable. We are aiming for over a year on maintenance chemo before the cancer activates again, just to prove Dan is totally amazing! He has already outlasted the average 5-8 months. We are at 10 MONTHS this Friday!

Without sounding obnoxiously editorial, please note regular posting will resume this week. Now that I have my new work schedule under my belt, I can schedule in the time to write and share. I sure do miss it! For now, I have to sign off because Raine came in my office and is insisting on sitting on my lap and “helping.” I’ll have him click the “publish” button.  Oh, but first he wants to try typing for the first time:

RAINE

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