I thing I saw that I wanted to share.

This was in a blog by an author I follow. I think it's a useful set of reminders to contemplate when re-visiting many fictions I loved as a young adult.

Here are the things I once thought were funny.
Here are the things I once thought were acceptable.
Here are the things I didn’t realize were rooted in cruelty. 
Here are the things I once believed without question.

Sarah Gailey

I like it, but...but the last one made me sit down with myself for a bit. The fit was uncomfortable. So I wondered, why?

Then I realized. It's because I can't think of a single thing I believe without question.

Questioning things is kinda what I AM. If I know I believe a thing, I immediately, regularly, and deeply question it. A story I probably share too often is one about being nicknamed Socrates by the first out-group of peers I joined as a young adult. I got saddled with that moniker because I answered questions with questions as a knee-jerk level reflex (and also because I was willing to die on the hill of principle over any principle you could name, but that came down to challenging/questioning norms, so...same-same?)

Identifying my own beliefs is the trickier part for me. I have blind spots. HUGE ones. Don't we all? (Yes. If you said no, that's a huge fucking blind spot you should have someone help you examine. But I digress.) So my version of the above would go something like this:

These things were never funny
These things were never acceptable
These things were always rooted in cruelty
These things did not change. I did.
I know better.
I will keep learning.
I must.

Suburban wildlife count for the week

1 fox, 2 hawks, many woodpeckers, countless sparrows, owls heard but not seen, 1 raccoon, 1 skunk, and 3 nuthatches.

The last nuthatch was a feisty little thing who had zero fucks to give. When I came to fill the feeders, she sat on the fence upside down and glared at me until I finished, then scolded me for being in her way the whole time I was I changing out the birdbath water.

And today I learned that the sparrows absolutely recognize individual people and understand what we're doing when we're outside. The yard has been full of workers for 10 day now. The birds go about their business, unconcerned. I come outside to take pictures. They do not care. They lurk in the spruces, they hang in the bushes, they dust themselves in the lawn, they mutter birdy gossip to one another from their various hidey spots/

Unless I walk into the garage where the birdseed lives, that is.

OUTBURSTS OF CHEEPING!!!

FLUTTERING FLIGHTS OF EXCITEMENT!!!

ALL THE BIRDS APPEAR & LINE UP ON THE WIRES AND THE FENCE!!!

Followed shortly by every squirrel in the neighborhood.

It's entertaining, that's all I'm saying.

Sundry updates

1 Sharp Edge of Yesterday revisions and additions are complete through Book 3, which is about 2/3 of the total expected length. I'll be contacting my wonderful alpha readers to give the latest bits a read through soon, to see if it's all still working or if I should burn it all with fire.

2. I added ebook distribution to my Ingramspark account, so now you should be able to buy Rough Passages and all the Restoration series books in paperback or ebook, whichever you like, from any retailer who orders from Ingram Distribution. Support your trusty local independent bookstore AND get my wonderful stories in the format you prefer. Win-win.

3. I have achieved an unplanned Author Goal! I attracted a review troll. Someone one-starred both Controlled Descent and Flight Plan (so far) on Goodreads, but a check on the account indicates the individual ONLY one-stars books and doesn't leave reviews, only ratings. No idea why or how they decided my books needed attention, but there it is. Achievement unlocked!

And here is a random cat from the internet, with attribution, because cats.