It's an odd time of year, gentle readers, and an odd mood I find myself in. While the calendar in no way suggests it, the air seems set for turning from one year to the next-- a book closing, another opening. I feel like I'm reviewing the reference list of last year, paging through the index to see what, after all, warranted a listing.
Issue 26, containing: An Ode to Sappho, Commonplaces, &c.
At the time of writing this note, it was May, it was 77 degrees outside, there was a breeze, and I smelled budding lilac. It was so... much, in such a huge and beautiful way.
Issue 25, containing: Syllabub, a Slight Confession, Commonplaces, &c.
So as to take advantage of my own natural inclinations when it comes to composition, and to deter the dreaded destruction of my drafts by Patreon's whims, I will be starting to mirror the Minor Hours issues over on Tumblr, where they will come out at some point later than what appears here or in subscribers' emails.
Issue 24, containing: Some (Lengthier) Editorial Notes, A Day of Hours, Commonplaces, &c.
I have come to a realization, which is as follows: I have not been writing this magazine, because with every issue I feel compelled to both maintain the previous issue's style and also, somehow, expand, nautilus-like, into further whimsy. Having done this maintenance, this expansion, I am then confronted with starting the next issue-- and I look down the issue's long dark hall, where every door is one I must open and examine and write out before I can shuffle on to the next. The exit sign will not turn on until every last room has been described in some way that gets closer and closer to the Platonic ideal of parodic microzine excellence, which is rather a lot to expect from basic electrical wiring.
Issue 23, containing: Commonplaces, &c.
Strangely, it turns out that my capacity for original words does eventually reach a limit. I've been working on a (very late) chapter for my editor, and the whole of my thought has been turning toward it, even while the weather improves, new people are met, and the housing market turns weird. Things I'd like to spend time noodling out here are instead being transmuted into fiction.
Issue 22, containing: Odd Housemates, Syllabub, Letters, Commonplaces, &c.
April is a cruellish month, forgoing lilacs in this dead land and therefore being not much fun.
Issue 21, containing: Syllabub, Entertaining for the Uncertain, Remembrances, Commonplaces, &c.
Spring is finally coming, though not as fast as I'd like. It's taken almost forty years for me to finally decide it, but I think my favorite season is the one we're coming up on: the smell of wet ground, bright shoots of things peeking out, the colored fuzz on trees making everything look slightly out of focus. The sunlight. I'm a night owl by habit, if not by nature, but I'm happiest when I can actually manage to wander the world in the morning. The air feels different. I love it.
Issue 20, containing: Syllabub, The Return of a Recommendation, Letters, Commonplaces, &c.
Is there more to the world than cooking? Only maybe. This week's issue returns us to the ongoing saga of perfecting various recipes that possibly only I care about, as well as the new exciting topic of More Things Maybe Only I Care About.
Issue 19, containing: Letters, Syllabub, Community Calendar, Commonplaces, &c.
I'm going to move around the sections of this issue! Why? Because it's my magazine. And I want to. Which is reason enough for anything.
Issue 18, containing: The Things that I Have Learned about Plants, Small, Nice Things, The Realizations of Adulthood, Letters, Commonplaces, &c.
For me this month has been strangely harder than any in many years. Harder, because of numerous things of which we are all aware, but also because there is a chance at a better life ahead -- but only, perhaps, a chance.