Atmospheric Shift

All around me, people are hurting. And surviving. Coping and healing. Grieving. It's happening in the world and in my town. My son visited this weekend, and we went to hear Grandma read poems at a McLean County Barn Quilt Heritage Trail event. Wonderful. But I didn't realize there'd be a barn quilt and a poem for Michael Collins, and that his family would be there, too. So I wept through that poem. (MC Strong) The weather turned hot and humid, just in time for the start of school, making it really August and somehow stirring the air thick with woe. Troubles poured down like the sudden rain that cleared the air last night. And now here's this magnolia in an enamel cup in case you need a cup of beauty. (Jonathan Koch)