#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

. . . The desert is an act of the imagination, so much still to be filled in,

So little ready-made. We have worked to fill spaces like this with cities.

But that model is old. Let us build instead a boulevard of better selves.

We know we can conjure energy from the world around us. . . .

~ Excerpt from “Copper and Oranges,” by Alberto Rios

Awake at 5:00 a.m. to do a bit of preparation for the retreat. And Frank and I are packing up First, to our favorite French Bakery, Clafoutis, and then back to the hotel for my Zoom call. Exciting to meet with my publisher at Lily Poetry Review Press, Eileen Cleary, and my designer, Martha McCollough, as my book makes its way into the world––soon, by March! Then, we are off on our daylong drive to Scottsdale, through the gorgeous scenery, and the mountains and desert and forests, snow and sunshine, alternatively. Then greenness and cacti. So many surprises! It’s a very long and visually satisfying ride. Now, to the lovely Camelback, and the new step of this journey begins. And a wonderful part of the day: Facetime brings a face I adore into the car. I get to tell a story from the highway in the mountains: Once upon a time, there were three bears. . .