You guys it is over 100 degrees.

And yet, it's not as bad as it could be. This past weekend the mister and I went to Death Valley, one of my favorite places ever.
It was 122 degrees there at some point. I have never been in weather that made my eyeballs feel like they were shriveling every time the breeze kicked up. My skin felt like it was a quarter-size too tight. I thought if I looked at myself I'd see bright red all over. The birds were walking around with their beaks wide open, trying to cool off. And this was at Furnace Creek, where there is water and foliage.
Out on the Badwater salt flat, the temperature was indeed a little cooler where the white of the salt and borax reflected some of the sun. But boy, it was crazy hot.
Why did we go there? Well, I got to visit a book club, at the Cow Creek/Death Valley library. I was very, very excited. You already know I love meeting readers, but being able to visit a place that is so close to my heart and talk to some readers there was really amazing.
Okay. Onto this month's newsletter.

Things What I Read This Month

This month's featured bookstore is a little place called Red Rock Books. It's in Ridgecrest, CA, and I dig it a lot, but they don't have a handy place where you can order books from them on the Internet, so the covers this month aren't linked to a buy option. Learn more by clicking on their link to visit them. I mean, just look at this reading area. Plus, they have a cat whose name is Oliver who is missing one foot and who is friendly as can be. <3!

The Washingtons Like You Never Knew Them

I picked this up after hearing the story of Ona Judge on an NPR station. As I get older, I marvel at the many people in our history who have done amazing things. This is definitely one of those books that opens up a whole new world of research I want to undertake. Who were the other slaves she served with? What became of them? What was she like as a woman? I closed this book feeling a little bit bereft, because so much of the book is told from a distant point of view, and I really wanted to hear from Ona herself, but she kept to herself and didn't tell her story until she was sure everyone who had helped her to escape would be safe. This was an interesting read on lots of different levels, though, especially as we get a view of America's first First Family that we don't usually see.

Yes, I read catalog copy

This is an entire book of catalog pages from Sears catalogs of the 1940s. People. You have not lived until you have read stuff like this: "Hear them murmur, 'Who is SHE?' as you make a dramatic entrace in this enchanting young gown...Rayon Net envelopes you like a cloud...Coquettish rayon bows nestle in the flounces..." I mean, come ON! *fans self*

An Alphabet Book for Terrible People

Like me. "G is for George smothered under a rug/H is for Hector done in by a thug." Really, it doesn't get much better.

What, does it all seem a bit short and trite to you this month? That's because I am wading my way through some very big books right now and haven't finished any of them. (Yes, yes, I tried doing like my friends and reading multiple books at once. This was a Mistake.) Next month, my pretties, I will be back on track.

Quotidien Object I Love
(A replacement for your normal ArtFail.)

So this is a little embarrassing. I had it set in my brain to write to you about a ball of twine I have had since 1998. Yes, seriously. When I was getting the newspaper regularly I would stack two weeks' worth of newspaper and bind them all up and drop them neatly into a the recycling bin in front of my apartment building. I used this ball of twine for various odds and ends over the years and it just moved with me, from Queens to Manhattan to Croton Falls to Chicago to White Plains to California, where I am now.
When I went to mail some pretty things to some friends (more on that later) and needed something to bind them with, the twine was there. I thought, oh, this will be a perfect Object I Love.
And then I went away for two weeks and some and when I came back I couldn't find it. I am sure it is around somewhere, but it isn't here now. I feel a little bereft. Anyway, here is a representation for your benefit.

Why? Why do I love a lowly ball of twine so? It is simple. It does its job. It makes me feel competent, both for the fact that I have had it so long and for the fact that it does whatever job I need it to do so well.
Alas, ball of twine, where are you? Sigh.

Where to find me this month

No live appearances this month, but I have some cool things to share with you:

I am a semi-finalist for the Thurber Prize in American literature. This is a huge honor and I still don't quite know how to process it. It is just the semi-finals, but I mean, look at my compatriots. In August I'll have more news.
My new project is called The "Hi" Project. It's a set of happy postcards that were created with the express intent of allowing you to say "Hi" to someone you're thinking of. I mean, any postcard will do that, so I encourage you to do that if you want. Just..say hello. And if you want a set of postcards, let me know and I'll mail you some. $5 per pack of five, plus $2.67 shipping and handling. So far Bunt has been sent to five different countries. Read more about the project here.
I did my first Facebook Live video, a tour through ShelterBox's aid. Today is World Refugee Day, and I think this is an apt time to share what our kit looks like. The video is about fifteen minutes long, and it helps you to understand what ShelterBox provides to families in need due to natural disaster or conflict. Watch it here.

The Last Word
So I'm participating in something called the Runner's World #RunStreak. The point is, get out and run at least a mile every day. (I think you can walk, too.) I've tried things like this before--they almost never go well. For instance, I said I'd run every single day for a month. Then it became "Just do something physical every day for a month." Then it became, "Ugh. That counts, right? I walked the dog."
Those of you who know me well, or a long time, know that this is a constant struggle, which is weird, given some of the things I've done in my athletic career. (I am potentially one of those who needs a goal.) But this time around, something had shifted. The first week of the streak went really well. I have stickers on every day that tell me I did my mile. But then I had a lot of grueling travel, and although I could have said that what I did (mucking around in the woods with some ShelterBox candidates; walking like a madwoman around Atlanta looking for things for our exhibit space; trying to get from our exhibit space to lunch) was a fine substitute for the mile run, I found I wasn't tempted to call the substitute the actual activity.
The difference, you see, is intent, and I think that's the secret of this thing: approach your exercise with intent. (I didn't log the days I didn't exercise with intent, by the way, but I'm back in the streak now, having skipped two or three days while away.)
Anyway, that's just a long lead-in to introduce you to this woman:

This is Patricia Biggs. She is a park ranger at Manzanar National Historic Site, a National Parks Site of Conscience. (It's where the Japanese were interned during WWII; I write about it here.) When I left Manzanar the last time I was there, in February, I left my pocket notebook behind, which is testament to how rattled I was visiting the place. I rarely lose the thing, since it contains the workings of my daily life.) Patricia returned it to me, and I got the sense I should know this person, so I wrote to her and asked if we could have lunch next time I was in town.
Guys. Ranger Biggs approaches everything with intent. I have never met anyone so quietly driven in my life. This is a woman who, when she got her bachelor's degree after a long career in newspaper journalism, decided she'd go for her PhD. This is a woman you will want to keep your eye on, because some of the projects she was telling me about were so interesting, and this only over an hour or so lunch together.
I think, every once in awhile, you meet people by chance to whom you will want to pay attention, if only so you can look at them every once in awhile and think, Hm. There is something to be learned here.
In Ranger Biggs, I see intent. I see the reason little initiatives like the Runner's World #RWRunSttreak work for people like me, admittedly lazy clods.
There's a lot to be unpacked here. But I think this is a good start.

That's it for this month, friends. See you next month. And thanks for tuning in.