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Projects, progress and inspiration.
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Slow and partial progress is still progress
(FYI: Links in this newsletter now route to my own blog instead of Medium, in case you were annoyed by Medium's paywall.)

I finally got up the nerve to start a real pruning job on my red laceleaf Japanese maple trees, a task that intimidated me for years. Japanese maples need to be trimmed carefully to keep the tree healthy and maximize their beauty. I learned the principles, then sat under the first tree for a very long time just looking up at the branches. This time I saw how they would grow in the future, not just how they'd grown in the past. Then I started.

It took three hours to do two trees, and it was time well spent. I'm not done; I'll have to do more pruning in winter, but I feel good about getting over my fear, the choices I made and the results so far. They look more like trees and less like mushrooms!

I might not have attempted this if I hadn't already successfully removed one tree and pruned another. Those small achievements buoyed my confidence and willingness to clear even more old to make way for the new. This is the process that fall begins. It is my favorite season.

The Tarot of Michelle

Eighty-odd cards are now illustrated in this personal cartoon "oracle" deck featuring illustrations of values, lessons and priorities. Here's the backstory behind this art project. Recent backstories for individual cards include The Shit Shack, Respect, Biennials, and You can only catch a unicorn with virgin dental floss.  See the developmental art on Patreon.

Stump and Lamb

This blog post series has slowed down for the moment but some new posts are coming soon. Last month I was able to fulfill some requests for photos of the memorials of family members, which felt good.
Stump and Lamb on michellerau.com and on Medium.com

Dead man's watch

(Now this link does go to Medium) Recently I did something I haven't done in decades: entered a (sort of) writing contest. It seemed like the right opportunity to write about something from my dad's passing. It's not my best writing, but at least I took one step toward getting it out a little further.

Past my bedtime: Emmet Hardy series by Chris Kelsey

I like to mix up the geographic locations in my fiction and this time I picked a good series set in Oklahoma in the 1960s. An alcoholic police chief tries to push fairness and justice forward in a rural area resistant to social progress. Aside from the good stories, this was also a timely reminder of how far we've come since the 60s and how hard it can be to do the right thing—but how necessary it is for us to do it.

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