flowers on the roof

stickers, grief, and the only holiday in november

In this world
we walk on the roof of hell
gazing at flowers

Kobayashi Issa

Hi, friends. This past month has been full of great pain of all kinds—around the world, here in Maine, for many of my loved ones, and personally for me. We have lost, and are losing, so much. If you’ve been suffering, my heart is with you. 

And: the last few weeks have also been a time of milestones and miracles. I turned 40, something I never really expected to do, and so far I just love it. Being 40 feels so sensible, so sturdy, so certain. After some major setbacks, my heart-of-hearts creative project also took a big leap forward; I hope to be able to tell you more about that soon. And small magic turned 1 year old, just as it reached 100 subscribers. 

To many newsletter authors, 100 subscribers would be nothing. To me, it’s staggering. But far more magical than the quantity is your quality. The best part of sending out each issue is hearing how it landed for you, how my reflections swirled with your own thoughts, the memories a poem evoked, the tiny holidays you’re excited to celebrate. small magic readers are thoughtful, creative, honest, compassionate, and weird. You are curse-breakers and protectors of those who need it most. You are the exact luminous beings this broken world needs. 

The hell is real. So are the flowers.

Thank you.

---

things i’ve written

• Many thanks to everyone who took my sticker survey; your responses were insightful, funny, and surprisingly poignant. You can read about the results now at The Last Word on Nothing.

• I talked to Bold Journey Magazine about curiosity, accessibility, bad drawings, and when to turn off the news. You can read that interview here.

---

tenderness toward existence day

CW: food mentions in this section.

This month I’m bringing you just one holiday, because this one deserves the entire spotlight. As far as I’m concerned, there are no other holidays in November.

Wolfenoot (wolf-a-noot, November 23) was invented in 2018 by a 7-year-old boy in New Zealand. According to the holiday’s official website, 

“[Wolfenoot] is when the Spirit of the Wolf brings and hides small gifts around the house for everyone. People who have, have had, or are kind to dogs get better gifts than anyone else. You eat roast meat (because wolves eat meat) and cake decorated like a full moon.” 

The site’s FAQs note that vegetarians are also welcome to observe Wolfenoot; the menu is far less important than the kindness.

If you celebrate, please send photos. I, for one, will be petting other people’s dogs and howling at my full moon cake.

---

Thanks for reading all the way to the end. I know I say this all the time, but that’s because I really mean it:

I am so, so glad you’re here.

Flower photo and ghost sticker illustration by me; dog photo by Nancy Stapler via Unsplash.