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Fall Bike Ride, Day 1, Grand Rapids to outside Howard City

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Day 1, 40 miles There are so many ways to talk yourself out of adventure and beauty. I was anxious before the trip about weather and the number of miles. But in the end, it all turned out great! Better than sitting around home making excuses and wishing I could be out in the colors. These bright days won’t last forever. More than anything, I needed a retreat, a way to drop out of life for a bit and just fold into nature and the apex of the moment. This Fall Bike Ride did all that. Started in Okemos where I rode to the Indian Trails bus stop, where I attempted to cover the bike according to their rules, but the driver was impatient and hurriedly asked me just to load it in. The bus was full. Never had that before. We were late arriving in Grand Rapids—not because of me, hahaha—and I quickly strapped stuff onto bike and tried to sort myself out of the district. It was designated street riding until I crossed a bridge to get on trail, then another crossing that was confusing near 131 ...
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Nominated for Best of the Net

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“Circa 1984”, a flash that was at Switch in 2025 has been nominated for Best of the Net. Switch is available online—devoted to microfiction that strays from the beaten path and carries the reader forward. Submissions are capped at 300 words. “We started Switch in homage to the much beloved ¶, A Magazine of Paragraphs.  A hard copy literary magazine the size of a deck of cards, Paragraph was created by poet Karen Donovan and writer Walker Rumble at their Oat City Press, Holyoke, MA in 1985. Paragraph published just that: single paragraphs of 200 words or less, at a time when the beauty and literary quality of "flash" and "microfiction" were just beginning to become widely recognized. In 2005, Karen and Walker published #25, their final issue of ¶, A Magazine of Paragraphs. Switch is our tribute to this gem of microfiction history.” Thanks so much for the nod—also nominated “The Wall” by Rick Byrne.  
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Roving Across Fields: The work of William Stafford

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Roving Across Fields The work of William Stafford Edited by Thom Tammaro Barnyard Press,  1983 I recently picked up a slim volume from my local Friends of the Library book sale here in Okemos. Hahaha, I actually was confused. I was thinking of Wallace Stegner. So I ended up learning more about William Stafford and his place in the world of poetry. The book was published locally in Daleville, Indiana, I’m assuming by fellow pacifist poets and English profs. The book was signed by the editor Thom Tammaro who included a group interview with Stafford. The book begins by recalling meeting Stafford at a professional gathering in Chicago 1976. Tammaro’s observations seem almost naïve compared to today’s world of constant screens and algorithms. “Miraculous in the Common.” “Stafford’s poems draw together the seemingly disjointed experiences of life and transform them into a spiritual unity. His poems are important events which bear witness to a greater beauty which lives in the world....
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Love, Joe: The Selected Letters of Joe Brainard Edited by Daniel Kane Columbia University Press, 2024 I’ve really been looking forward to reading this book. I’m a member of the New York School Network (member, meaning I get their newsletter). There was mention of the book and a launch plus reading in NYC and I zoomed in. It has taken a while for my local library system to get the book. Truthfully, I forgot about it until when browsing the catalogue online, I was nudged: “you might like.” The letters are by no means complete, but the selection gives us such a wonderful window into the life/loves/passion/creative juices of Joe Brainard. It’s hard not to be impressed by such a shy, humble artist. He had an uneasy relationship with art, which doesn’t negate his contribution(s) to the New York School treasure chest of work. One cannot help feeling nostalgic for the simplicity of the times in which he wrote these letters. By the end AIDS and untimely deaths were complicating relationships...
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Dill Pickle Ranch Avocado Chipotle Chips

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 Dill Pickle Ranch Avocado Chipotle Chips   I’m at the grocery store, wandering the aisles. I come here because I know where everything is. It’s always the same—except the prices! They change every day. I am bombarded and in a constant state of hyper-alert. A fight or flight reaction—except I want to burrow into a hole. Sink beneath the sea. Until, I see: a front-facing shiny bag of Dill Pickle Ranch Avocado Chipotle Chips. What does this even mean?! I break down each word, the imagined flavor sensation, and am overwhelmed by the endless possibilities. Each one more fabulous than the next. This is inspirational, aspirational, a reach for the stars, a rocket to Mars! Then, I question: Is this layered or blended, a mishmash like swamp soup, a taboo mixing of all the Play-Doh colors? Or will I, with each flavor, begin an adventure? Travel to the Southwest, south of the border, taste the sweet and sour, the stinging salt and biting bitter. There is so much more to life than co...
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