In order to have a compelling structure to get me off my behind, I have pledged to walk 100 miles in June to raise funds for expanding pediatric cancer treatments. I tend to walk roughly 50 miles a month, so it'll be an experiment to see if I can double the mileage without cramming 75 miles into the final week (egads!). Here is my fundraising link which will run through the end of June: 

A Mile For a Child

I have been knitting a lot, with very little to show from a mystery knit-a-long until it's complete, as well as a top secret test knit. 

Completed a course on expanding my intuition which was a blast and put me in touch with an amazing virtual community, and now am beginning an 8-week course on intuitive plant medicine with Asia Suler, whose programs are pure magic. Soon I will restart volunteering with Whidbey Institute in their medicinal herb garden, and after a lifetime conversing with and observing the plant world, I love being a student expanding this exploration further and filling my cup to create deeper offerings after ANFT certification. 

Images from last few weeks include a drenching rain walk through 7 miles of a land trust trail, glimpses of plants surrounding my abode, and two beaches within 20 minutes drive. I truly feel blessed to live surrounded by all this abundance of the non-human world. 

Yes!! We with #KnitforFood collectively raised $270,660 for Meals on Wheels, Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, and No Kid Hungry. As someone who raised a child with help of a food bank, I am amazed by the generosity and accomplishment. 

It was one amazing day, and now as I return without injury to my full day of typing, I think the stretches I learned during the Knit-a-Thon from an athletic trainer Mara Smith (mara_knits_on in Instagram) who teaches knitters how to avoid injury, and the talk by Carson Demers on ergonomics really helped and will help me going forward in my work and knit life. Below are pics I took during the event, including walking on a beach at glorious low tide, chilly in the 40-degree range, which allowed me to master slow walk-knitting. I will be walk-knitting my yarn with backpack in the future for sure to keep the blood flowing. 

The Math: Over 12 hours, I completed 11, 520 stitches on my Pi Shawl, an inch on my linen stitch cowl, a thumb gusset on a fingerless mitt. I will be participating next year with a lot more lead time to fundraise. 

An amazing thing happened when a knitter offered to help another knitter in need. A group of us Fruity Knitting Patreon patrons from around the world gathered to help publish a beautiful pattern designed by a woman who has no desire to receive accolades or be a designer, only wanting to do what she could to thank the people who have given us so much incredible content over the years. If you are looking for a fingerless mitt design complete with video tutorials, charts, and written pattern, please take a look by clicking on the image above to access the pattern on Ravelry. 

It is inspired by Andrew and Andrea of the Fruity Knitting Podcast, and the Black Forest. Andrew was diagnosed with an inoperable tumor a few months ago and sadly recently we learned passed. He will be sorely missed by all whose lives he touched. Since the podcast was their only source of income, and we – patrons – have already received a goldmine’s-worth of knitting content carefully created by them, we want to support the family during these challenging times. Therefore, 100% of the revenues from this pattern will go to the family. Please do check out their podcast, consider becoming a Patreon patron or making a one-off donation.

For me personally, I am honored to be a store conduit for the pattern due to the synergy of healing provided by the Black Forest with my future intention to become a Nature and Forest Therapy guide, and my prior history as a cancer caregiver. May this pattern go far and wide in gratitude to Andrea and Andrew and may the forest be with them. 

This week I applied to a new beginning, which is really a continuation for me of a decade of visioning and work toward a goal of serving people in ways most natural to me. I receive nourishment from the natural world daily and have long wanted to find a way to guide others to do the same. 

I have been accepted into the guide program of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, which is a global guide certifying body that lists their mission as: To nurture heart-centered relationships between all peoples and the more-than-human world of nature. If you click on the book image above, you can see a directory of guides, many of whom offer virtual walks during shelter in place times for reasonable cost.  ​

I can't imagine a better job description for what is in my heart. My goal with this certification which includes completing basic Wilderness First Aid and immersion experience is to be able to completely revamp my former vision for HealingOutdoors.org into a project separate from the context of hospital caregiving and medical trauma and instead focus on guiding small groups from any background to direct experiences in the natural world. 

Lack of funds and confidence in my leadership abilities have been obstacles (one external, one internal) in my way to applying to ANFT since it began nearly a decade ago. In this moment, I have decided if I don't try now to obtain further support and training to do the work of my heart, the purpose my life path has trended toward, I will only get older and stiffer resigning myself to full-time desk work. I replace keyboards every few months, but even then I type so much, I wear off the letters on the keyboard! This month marks my 26th year of transcribing human voice full-time at a computer when everything in my being wishes to be serving others more directly and connected to the outdoors in some way. My hope is to eventually spend weekends guiding walks, therapy for myself and others. 

I intend to hand make items over the next few months to offer via my Etsy shop in order to fund my dream to enter the November 2021 cohort. I am not using copyrighted patterns and every item will be made with love. 

PHOTOS: Many of my well-loved items have been gifted without remembering to take photos, so I will update better quality item pics as I make a variety.

READY TO SHIP: If you want one of the 3 hats of my own designs pictured above the PayPal button made from one-off skeins of wool that cannot be identically ​duplicated, simply go to the More tab at the top of this website and choose from Wearable Items. If you would like me to make a slight divergence from the images of one of those three hat designs using what wool I have on hand, please specify which one: Fiddlehead, Gulls & Waves, or Fir. If the checkout process gives you any trouble on this site and you would rather use the contact form with your shipping info and want to Venmo or PayPal me the request, I can email you a link. 

WAIT TIME: Since my making time is evenings only, I anticipate making 2-3 items per week, so I will ship in order received slowly. Thank you for your patience in advance. If you receive in the summer months, you can have it for the Fall. : ) 

P.S. Once my funding needs are met for ANFT, I will resume my standard donating 10% of proceeds to three nonprofits involved with healing earth. 

In honor of National Women's History Month, I started reflecting upon all the women I've admired and learned from since my arrival on Earth. Here is a partial list, only because I can't possibly recall every single one. If you want to try this list to inspire yourself, you can bring it to a higher level by writing character traits and qualities of each of the women you list. Then read over those qualities, put a hand over your heart, and know that you contain a bit of each of them or you would not be drawn to them. 

• My sisters, mother, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, niece, daughter
• Leslie Marmon Silko
• Joy Harjo
• Naomi Shihab Nye
• Gwendolyn Brooks
• Harriet Tubman
• Sojourner Truth
• Ida B. Wells
• Michelle Obama
• Wangari Maathai
• Rachel Carson
• Friends Ingrid, Regina, Tana, Kathleen, three Leslies
• Sherry Richert Belul
• Pema Chodron
• Molly Hahn, aka Mollycules
• Transcription colleagues
• Fifth grade teacher, Barb Trujillo
• Epidemiology, Genetics, Botany, Microbiology high school teachers Ms. Russell and Ms. Cotton
• Any fellow single mom I've ever met
• Any mom of a child with a life-threatening illness
• Any woman who enjoys her own company 
• Any Tree Sister
• Countless fiber artists and knitwear designers whose work I admire, too many to name
• Cary and Mully, two foundational women in my community's social safety net
• Three piano teachers who brought me from beginning at age 7 to a music conservatory at 17
• Women volunteers and staff at Ronald McDonald House, food bank, domestic violence office, hospitals
• Peace Pilgrim

Striving toward feeling safe is my biggest lifelong achievement. I wonder how many men seek safety most of their lives? Probably quite a few, but feeling truly safe in my own body, my mind, and in the world has been the longest journey, and I've often wondered if that is primarily a woman's underlying condition or a human one. Times when I've felt safe, I find it hard to sink into that fully and trust it, so I am super grateful to be in a place where I am surrounded by natural environments during the pandemic. Not sure how long I can cling to remaining financially, but there goes the mind spinning off into the catastrophic future ... breathe, and I'm back here and now. 

A free retreat anyone may enjoy is Global Sisterhood from March 6-8. I'll be dipping in as obligations allow. 

The moment I saw Francoise Danoy of Aroha Knits' design called Te_Whenua, Maori te reo for "The Land," I knew I wanted to knit this up to support an incredible ecovillage project in Senegal focused on revitalizing and reclaiming indigenous ecosystems called REDES. Francoise graciously gave me permission to use her design in this manner.  
 
This shawl was a joy to knit, is soft and light as a feather, made from a Merino wool and black alpaca blend for the main color, and a few hand-dyed Merino wool samples I had in my stash. You can own this as an art piece for a wall or wear it draped around the neck for warmth on cool days. Wingspan: 80 in/203 cm, top to bottom 37 in/94 cm.
 
To enter drawing: 
Step 1) Go to Context.org to make a minimum $10 donation. 
 
Step 2) Email a copy of your receipt on behalf of REDES to waterwomanknits@gmail.com.  
 
Step 3) For every multiple of $10 you donate, I will enter you that many times into a drawing for the shawl, so one entry for $10, two entries for $20, etc. 
 
Step 4) On February 28th, last day of the month, I will randomly select a winner, contact you by email to request your mailing address, and pop it in the mail anywhere to your door!

Yay, I moved! (Again).

Deep gratitude to my parents who took me in and allowed me to continue working during two months of nowhere to live despite pandemic, because my isolated lifestyle pays sometimes. ; )

Meet my new beautiful neighbors. Their owner saw the rental ad I placed and said she was about to post an ad that looked identical to mine. Perfect fit! Not only have I landed adjacent to an established organic farm, but my child can have stability of remote school for a semester. In summer I can contribute labor to a garden to grow my own veggies (or walk next door to the farm's CSA (community-supported agriculture). 

Learnings:

• Family is immeasurable, however you define family in your universe.
• Sitting at the base of a tree is the fastest way to heal my body and mind.
• Now I know I can endure half a year of income loss, thousands in medical bills not paid by insurance, and work hard enough to make up much of the difference by year's end.
• Working from home 15 years has been the best blessing for these times. 
• Listening to and retelling a stranger's story in first person is a powerful way to see life reflected in others.
  Thanks Narrative 4!
• Ending the year homeless through no fault of your own is not the end of the world when you have caring people to take you in while you search for a third place to live in 15 months. My dream is to provide a space adult daughter can complete her college year remotely.
• You're never too old to go back to school. 2021 may be the year you start that biology degree online.
• Spirit is everywhere to call upon and ask for guidance and abundance. 
• Knitting copper wire LED lights is a fun challenge to bring light into dark days. 

The Woolly Bear caterpillar in the first image below becomes an Isabella tiger moth in spring. But first it can freeze solid up to -90 degrees Fahrenheit if need be. Now that's resilience! (And metabolic anti-freeze). 

Today, a wonderful article on calm from knitting. Once we can sit side by side without restrictions, this article is inspiration to resume my intention to teach beginning knitters offline. 

October was full, albeit without a blog post. I threw myself into several volunteer endeavors that led to heart-opening connections with people from around the globe, like Conservation Conversations at my alma mater and Narrative 4 facilitator training. Story exchanges were such a powerful experience both as participant and facilitator, I found myself regretting not finishing my teaching degree way back when so that I could have a pool of folks to work with for future exchanges. I continued meeting with a small group in support of REDES and will soon have "The Land" (Te Whēnua) shawl ready to auction on their behalf. I ended the week of Halloween or Samhain in a small group discussion about Spirit with the author of Sand Talk, my favorite book still in process. (I have partially finished reading quite a few books since my English major days - something about great intentions and speed reading?). 

It dawns on me, along with distance walking and knitting, connecting with folks across cultural boundaries is what really makes my heart hum, especially when people discover in one another's stories some common feeling more than thinking, some common aspiration for what life on planet Earth can be. It's as if a part of me has always resisted the powerful cultural indoctrination of my culture as viewing oneself as primarily a consumer inside status stratification or money, and a compassionate human being connected to the whole web of life secondarily or as afterthought. 

I also finished up 6 months volunteering with Organic Farm School, to which I am endlessly grateful for feeding me luscious produce through most of the pandemic thus far and allowed me to connect with my community off screen. ​ Consider contacting them if you wish to be trained in small-scale sustainable practice farming for a first or second career.  

Starting off September with a physical move to a lovely rental that can house my adult child if needed, the month has involved a tremendous amount of change and patience in equal measure. My favorite thing about the new space is it came with built-in bookshelves and trees outside, and its skylights function as a sundial (when a person can see the sun, which has been blotted out by smoke for days). I can watch stars on cloudless nights from inside!
​
My least favorite thing is an initiation of sorts that seems to occur in almost any place I've ever moved. First my rent check never arrived via USPS to my landlord and upended my finances when my bank put a seven-day hold on a refund. Next, it turned out a giant community of wasps liked the house too and was building a nest in the ceiling. After spending ten days hoping they didn't spread beyond the one room they were in, that is now taken care of and peace of mind has returned. 

Heartbroken over wildfires in beloved Oregon, a place of a sort of pilgrimage and sanctuary since age 11 when I saw its coast for the first time on a family roadtrip, went to college there and solo hiked much of the OC, I would like to do anything I can to support those who are uprooted. Up North in Washington, every breath I take, I envision inhaling the loss of animals, plants, humans, belongings and exhaling hope and healing. The wildfires cover the entire coast, but if anyone would like to help Oregon specifically, here is the best collection of support networks I've seen in a single link:  Ways to Help During Oregon Wildfires.

In photos are some of the projects I'm working on or have finished over the past month. Patience is required in great measure these days, and I am wishing for all who need support to receive it, and all our collective grief join us in some way larger than our divisive politics.

Two books I can't recommend enough for these times. One for adults, one for children of any age. ​