For the love of snow, romantic pencils, Chinese takeout
Snapshots and reflections from the past month.
Though the past few days have been unseasonably warm in South Dakota, we had a blisteringly cold and snowy start to the year, with wind-chill temperatures below –45º. That is very cold, indeed.
I ran the garbage out—intrepidly!—one of those days, wearing a flannel shirt and jeans. When I got back inside my ears felt like they were on fire for thirty minutes.
Cold notwithstanding, I love winter for the snow—the levity with which it falls, its purity on the housetops and evergreen boughs. I even love shoveling the stuff. Inhaling the clean, icy air, exhaling prayers.
I’m curious how many books you all tend to be reading at any given time. I like to have three in constant rotation—usually fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
For fiction I’m currently working through The Lord of the Rings again, mostly because I received this magnificent new box set edition for my birthday.
My first month working for Blackwing is complete, and I’m loving it. If you’re interested in trying out our pencils or notebooks, we just launched a couple new gift sets ;)
On the poetry front, I’m getting closer to completing my first book-length manuscript! This chimera has been nearly four years in the making. I plan to submit a portion of the poems for my MFA thesis this August. Then I’ll begin shopping around the full manuscript for publication. Pray for me.
Here’s an embarrassing story. We grabbed Golden Bowl takeout for my father-in-law’s birthday. I ordered Spicy & Sour soup as an appetizer. But since I had not eaten Chinese in so long—like a decade—or perhaps because I was tired or famished or whatever, I mistook a dish of sweet and sour sauce for my side.
“This doesn’t taste how I remember it” I said, ten spoonfuls in, “almost like corn syrup with red food coloring.” It was.
Finally, our son Rudy turned six months, and his adoption finalization is taking place tomorrow, February 2. It’s mostly a formality, but it will mean that we are legal parents—for good!
That’s all for January. I have some new poems and essays coming soon. In the meantime, keep warm.
CB
Ah! A perfect “official” adoption day: Feast of the Presentation! Congratulations.
I’ve been wanting tell you my Blackwing story.
You introduced me to these pencils for the very first in your earlier post, and I immediately became obsessed. I was actually reading Stienbeck’s East of Eden that very week, of all things! But being a poor writer, post-holidays, I could not justify an order for myself. After pouring over the website, I tucked it away for another day.
Three night later my husband and I went to an improv show and a member of the troupe was a long lost friend we’d worked with 15 years ago. As we hugged and caught up after the show, our friend pulled out a small sketch book and showed us his visual journaling, page after page of deep, slow attention to his life. As he closed the cover, I saw the Blackwing logo on the journal and let out an “Oh, my!”
He bubbled over how much he loved the pencils and asked if I gotten any. Learning I had not, he said, “Stay right here!” and ran backstage.
He returned with an unused Blackwing Matte. “For some reason tonight, I brought a new one with me,” he said. “I just felt like maybe someone would need it.” Then, with a small touch of ceremony, he presented it to me saying, “I believe there is something a little sacred about pencils, that in their graphite they already contain the words and images released by the person who holds them. So, I believe this pencil, somehow, was meant for you.”
Magic.
Turns out the Matte is a little soft for my handwriting and the drafting I always do long hand. Since then, I have ordered an audition set and sharpener for my husband’s birthday next week, so I’ll eventually get to try the rest and see. But regardless, this gifted pencil feels ever-so-slightly like a sacrament.
I thought you’d like to know.
Prayers and cheers on your poetry collection, the completion of your MFA, and ongoing writing~
(Nicole Parsons, SPU MFA, Aug 2022)
Love the Chinese takeout story ... very funny and heartwarming.