(un)published

After procrastinating as long as I could, I finally sat down to begin writing Christmas cards.  I had mailed a few cards earlier, but on this afternoon I wanted to make the big push.  A neighbor stopped by to help with a small fix-it project and saw my cards, still to be written, on the dining room table.  "You're still writing Christmas cards?"  "I don't think they will arrive in time," he added.  What could I say?  I agreed with him.       I looked through my phone for addresses of friends who I have not seen in the past year.  I looked for addresses of friends that I have not seen in many years and where the thin thread of our association remains our annual Christmas card exchange.  For some, especially those friends who I have seen more recently, a small note rolls off the tip of my pen. Writing a note for the thin thread friends is more difficult. From my cousin, my favorite Christmas card this year. I thought about what sendin...

This is a book review I wrote for my other blog, Into the Woods and Elsewhere , to reach my birding readers.  I am adding the review to  (un)published for others who may happen upon it here.  True enough, there is a lot about birds and birding in this book, but there is also so much more.  I hope my review will convince you that you don't need to be a birder to enjoy.    Birding Under the Influence:  Cycling Across America in Search of Birds and Recovery, by Dorian Anderson, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2023. The last time I finished reading a good Christmas gift book for birders was Birding Without Borders by Noah Stryker , and right around this time of year, too.  For that book I was so busy I didn't get my review out until New Year's Eve.  I'm not nearly so busy now and will not make the same mistake with this book review. My reading comes from being a birder who followed Dorian Anderson's daily blog, Biking for Birds,  during his 201...

Short essay by Catherine Carroll Word count:  735 At the beginning of September, I began a part-time, temporary position with a regional nursing association to give influenza and Covid vaccines.  In this role I was primed to think of my own vaccine immunization, especially with an upcoming vacation that involved airline travel.  On September 25th I went to Walgreens for both my influenza and Covid vaccines.  My flight departed on September 30th and I didn’t want to invite a repeat of my March India trip Covid experience. Image copied from:   The Role of Failure in Learning:  How to Embrace a Growth Mindset. ETHRWorld , by Abid Hasan, April 28, 2023. After a 35 year career in health care, the last two years prior to retirement almost completely dominated by Covid, on October 2nd I was thrilled and to learn that Katalin Kariko, Ph.D and her research partner, Dr. Drew Weissman, had won the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine for their research on mRNA whil...

I am aware that this essay is in need of editing.  I have not had the chance or the energy to make these edits.  I have tried a couple of times, but two years out I am still too close to the events of the trip.  I have left it fully intact here because I don't want to forget important details.  Even edited it is likely to remain long because the story is in the details.  However, there are areas where things might be worded differently or where events could be a little clearer.  Also readers may not recognize the relevance of   Part 6:   A Social Dispute.   At the very end, the Afternote  containing  the  Ghosts on the Glacier essay   link may fall into the same category.  I included both because I found the events very compelling.          Longform personal essay  Word count: 12,000+ By Catherine Carroll Acronymns used throughout essay: ATC:  American trip organizer IFG:  Ind...