Raspberry Picking at Summer's End

View of Quabbin Reservoir from Hamilton Farms

Our little family picked up and moved across the country over the summer--from our beloved Nebraska to my wife's home state of Massachusetts, where I was lucky enough to find a teaching job. The drive? Long and monotonous, as to be expected. The heatwave crushing the country didn't help much, and neither did our summer colds, but, miraculously, our little guy (who turned two on the trip) managed to endure it all with a surfeit of grace.

We've been in our new place three weeks now. I've started teaching and life is again settling into a rhythm. Last weekend we even managed to sneak off and do some raspberry picking in New Salem at Hamilton Orchards. It was quite a treat to watch our little guy meander down the long rows of raspberry canes, picking and eating, and making a glorious mess of himself.

I'm looking forward to more days like this.

I'm also looking forward--now that the move is behind us--to returning to my writing life with all the energy I can muster. I've had two or three publication successes over the summer, a brief column in the Sept/Oct Orion Magazine excerpted from my new project, and a short story in Electric Literature No. 6, ("Daily Bread") which comes out in a few days. I also somehow won a short-short story contest over at Silk Road Review  and have continued to get nice notes on Breaking into the Backcountry. So I'm feeling primed and ready to keep after it, and really grateful to have good work (the teaching and writing and family) to give shape to my days. Wish you the best, fellow travelers.