I am so lucky to live near Barton Springs. I have been going every morning for a little while now. It’s the most relaxing & nourishing morning routine I’ve ever had.

I’m so lucky to live near(ish) to Barton Springs. Starting the day with a swim is my favorite.

You Can't Catch Death: A Daughter's Memoir by Ianthe Brautigan 📚

After “Machines of Loving Grace,” a poem by Richard Brautigan, came up in conversation with @Manton recently, I got the itch to dip back into Brautigan’s work. I pulled what I had off the shelves (which is a fair amount - after discovering him long ago, I picked up any of his books that I could find & read them feverishly): Revenge of the Lawn, In Watermelon Sugar, So the Wind Won’t Blow It All Away… but none of it was calling to be read again. Not right now.

There is still plenty of his work I haven’t read, so I set out searching online to see what might come next. To my surprise, I ended up ordering a used copy of his daughter’s memoir. I didn’t know it existed, & finding it now feels like such a gift. I recently lost my own father, & reading through Ianthe’s experience & grief is a crushing relief. I feel Richard & his influence in her writing, & yet her voice is entirely her own. Reading through It feels like discovering a new star within a constellation.

I’ve been thinking about the many ways my own father’s influence has shaped me, & how grateful I am for that. I hope others can still feel him through me.

Before I even cracked the book, it had me tearing up & smiling. The photo of her & her dad echoes the visual aesthetic of so many of his book covers - even though those covers were often criticized for being sexist. Richard Brautigan was a complex & imperfect person.. maybe even stunningly so. He was an alcoholic, a misogynist & just troubled in many ways. Her choice to mirror that imagery landed with me as a gesture of acceptance & unconditional love.

And.. love is something this book has in spades. I highly recommend it. 📚

A few weeks back I went to the opening of Nectar, a collaborative show between Elizabeth Chaplin & Karen Hawkins. The studio was too packed & the line was too long.. so I came back later - with friends - for a private viewing. Seeing a show by appointment may be my new favorite thing.

I found this little treasure at thrift. It doesn’t seem to stay tuned for very long, but I believe the strings just need to stretch and settle in.. apologies to my neighbors during this adjustment period. 🤭

I love a zine.. so I put together a mini spring zine with rituals for renewal. I have been low energy lately & feeling easily overwhelmed so it was nice to have a small project. Finishing it felt like a renewal all its own.

these ponies had so many beautiful moments. they bloomed so slowly, I would even say reluctantly, & then… all at once. this is my favorite moment yet.

This past Sunday, I got to sit front row at the closing performance of Urinetown at the Mary Moody Northern Theater. It’s a tale of devastating droughts & draconian systems - which was more hilarious than it was troubling. The songs are catchy, the writing is very witty, & the fourth wall is broken a lot - in the most delightful way. As dystopian as it was, it really put some spring in my step, a song in my heart, & deepened my desire to take down “the man.”

Fun fact: Tulips will keep growing after you cut them. And I just love that. That is all.

This time last year I was in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. A man stopped our crew to take our picture & I mentioned it was my was first gras & he said it was his 50th! Before the parade swept us away he said that the real challenge of Mardi Gras was receiving all the beauty, recalling his words now makes me tear up. I couldn’t make it this year but it’s on the list for next✨

I have been away from home, helping my mother care for my father who has Parkinson’s. Caretaking is this ever shifting mixture of deeply fulfilling & totally exhausting. You’re constantly arriving for someone, in service of them, caring for them & it’s easy to look up at the end of the day & wonder where you have gone.. On my first trip out to see them I packed in a hurry, leaving all teas & tinctures at home. I missed them dearly. I’m packing them first this time.

A highlight from this week was sitting down to share dinner & my favorite documentary with @wiggitywhitney She brought over some NA bubbly & we oohed & awwed through Rivers & Tides - which follows Andy Goldsworthy through the fields, into the forest & down to the shore as he makes unspeakably beautiful things with the nature that surrounds him. As a film it has the ability to regulate & inspire your nervous system.. It may also make you want to run off into the woods & never return - for the joy of it.

I love a short story & this book has been floating around my apartment for years, deeply loved. I worked through it pretty slowly - not wanting it to end. Recently I had a dream that I gave it to a friend. So I delivered it to him in waking life. Funny enough he, thought it was a self help book😂

If you love women - if you are a history buff - if you feel like most stories have something monumental left out of them.. I have a podcast for you! They aim to put women back into history & I have been enjoying it so much! Check it out..

My friend Lynn opened a diner - Lynny’s, like Denny’s but with more love. It began as a trailer & there is now a brick & mortar too. Originally she only needed one percolator to manage the demand & now now these three beauties greet you when you walk in. It’s been such a joy to see see her dream grow.. & to enjoy the coffee.

The first & the last cards of my year ahead tarot spread

The Hanged Woman - being delayed or feeling stuck - receiving new perspective + The River - “You can only resist the river for so long. Eventually, it will pull you towards change so you may as well get in with style & grace.”

Heard.