The There There Letter: Krakatoa, Kindling, and Kindness
Three things from DAH. Free every Friday! Except today is Wednesday. I had to send early because Friday just won't work for me this week. My apologies. Snooze this until Friday if you like. It won't get stale.
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DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. Still at it.
First up this week, Krakatoa …
This thought has been waiting since the end of August to have its moment in a TTT message. I think we should all celebrate half-birthdays. The date halfway through the year before your annual birth date. My half-birthday is either August 24 or 25 (Leap Year dependent). I remembered Krakatoa. "One of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history occurs on Krakatoa (also called Krakatau), a small, uninhabited volcanic island east of Sumatra and west of Java, on August 27, 1883. Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw five cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people" (History.com). I fixed on August 27, imagining a blow-out celebration. Then life got in the way, and we'll have to wait for next year. Mark your calendars. Model volcanoes welcome.
Second up this week, Kindling …
A way to start a fire. Small bits of wood to ignite larger. I keep an eye out for mental kindling. Small notions or ideas that could get some greater ideas burning. Once I remember to look, I see mental kindling everywhere. Indeed, there's far too much mental kindling for me to make full use of. I'd be on fire all the time, which would be exhausting, frankly. But is sure nice to know that there's really no shortage of little fuel to inspire me to big fires.
Third up this week, Kindness …
The most important thing I can be: Kind. It's taken me rather a long time to properly take on kindness. That time was worth it, however, because I feel so much better being kind. Kind to others and kind to myself, too. Living brings challenges. Upset and outrage have never helped me deal with those challenges. Kindness has. Please, be kind.
A book I'm delighted to reread:
Fadeout, by Joseph Hansen
It's probably 30 years since I read through the entire Dave Brandstetter series by Joseph Hansen. Fadeout is the first of the series. John Powers, on NPR's Fresh Air recalled them from the 1970s as "something daring and new: featuring a tough guy detective who was also gay. Now in 2022, Soho Syndicate Books has just begun republishing the entire series, beginning with the first three – Fadeout, Death Claims and Troublemaker. Having just read them, I'm a bit embarrassed it took me so long to discover him." I think the books are splendid.
And a bit more:
The Krakatoa Volcano, by Ravi Panamanna
Every mind is a volcano-
The depth, the lava, the pressure
And the time of eruption only differ.
Some minds are more eruptive,
Some are less destructive.
Yet, within human behavior,
A Krakatoa is always possible.
And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver’s poem Sometimes …
You can subscribe and browse past issues HERE
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. Still at it.
First up this week, Krakatoa …
This thought has been waiting since the end of August to have its moment in a TTT message. I think we should all celebrate half-birthdays. The date halfway through the year before your annual birth date. My half-birthday is either August 24 or 25 (Leap Year dependent). I remembered Krakatoa. "One of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history occurs on Krakatoa (also called Krakatau), a small, uninhabited volcanic island east of Sumatra and west of Java, on August 27, 1883. Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw five cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people" (History.com). I fixed on August 27, imagining a blow-out celebration. Then life got in the way, and we'll have to wait for next year. Mark your calendars. Model volcanoes welcome.
Second up this week, Kindling …
A way to start a fire. Small bits of wood to ignite larger. I keep an eye out for mental kindling. Small notions or ideas that could get some greater ideas burning. Once I remember to look, I see mental kindling everywhere. Indeed, there's far too much mental kindling for me to make full use of. I'd be on fire all the time, which would be exhausting, frankly. But is sure nice to know that there's really no shortage of little fuel to inspire me to big fires.
Third up this week, Kindness …
The most important thing I can be: Kind. It's taken me rather a long time to properly take on kindness. That time was worth it, however, because I feel so much better being kind. Kind to others and kind to myself, too. Living brings challenges. Upset and outrage have never helped me deal with those challenges. Kindness has. Please, be kind.
A book I'm delighted to reread:
Fadeout, by Joseph Hansen
It's probably 30 years since I read through the entire Dave Brandstetter series by Joseph Hansen. Fadeout is the first of the series. John Powers, on NPR's Fresh Air recalled them from the 1970s as "something daring and new: featuring a tough guy detective who was also gay. Now in 2022, Soho Syndicate Books has just begun republishing the entire series, beginning with the first three – Fadeout, Death Claims and Troublemaker. Having just read them, I'm a bit embarrassed it took me so long to discover him." I think the books are splendid.
And a bit more:
The Krakatoa Volcano, by Ravi Panamanna
Every mind is a volcano-
The depth, the lava, the pressure
And the time of eruption only differ.
Some minds are more eruptive,
Some are less destructive.
Yet, within human behavior,
A Krakatoa is always possible.
And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver’s poem Sometimes …
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
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