The Wild Honey Buzz: How to Survive 2025, August Edition: Summer Delights in a Time of Crisis
- Wild Honey Blogger
- Aug 1
- 4 min read
The first week of August is one of the best weeks in the Pacific Northwest for those of us who love warm weather and blue skies. In the midst of global wars and the atrocities here in the states, I treasure these days for all of the joy they contain in spite of the collective grief and suffering that is occurring. I confess that enjoying the delights of summer in a time of crisis can be a challenge. Of course, flowers remain one of my chief delights as are trips to the beach, time spent with family and friends, picking blackberries and making wild blackberry pies, swimming, road trips, touring local gardens, baseball and many more summer delights.
On the resistance front I participated in the "Make Good Trouble" protest on July 17. John Lewis was there in the form of a card board cutout. We enjoyed posing for photos with him, and of course, he was with us in spirit too. His courage and resistance continues to be a source of inspiration for many in this fight against authoritarianism. This protest was the sixth one I've participated in!
I also sent letters to my representatives asking them to do all in their power to stop the genocide and starvation taking place in Gaza, and I attended a webinar called One Million Rising: Stragegic Non-Cooperation to Fight Authoritarianism conducted by Indivisible.org and mobilize.us. One of the suggestions in the webinar that I found helpful is to write thank you notes to people who are demonstrating courage in their non-cooperative actions. If you are reading this and you've taken any action large or small to speak out against or resist the current fascist regime, please accept my sincere gratitude. For anyone who has written or said to me, "This sucks" using any phrasing,, I appreciate you too for making me feel less lonely and also validating my anger and sadness. To anyone in Scotland who might by chance read this, a HUGE thank you for your hilarious and powerful protesting when our wanna-be dictator visited your country in July.
In writing and poetry news, I was excited to hear my poem, "Saipan's Suicide Cliff" read on the radio by Wendy Winn, an editor at The Vincent Brother's Review, who published the poem in Issue #25. You can hear it read at minute 25:30 in this broadcast. Also, many thanks to Nina Chambers, librarian at Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church in Seattle for including copies of my books in their catalog of books available for checkout. I am excited that Palestinian-American poet Lena Khalaf Tuffaha will be reading from her book, "Something About Living" at Saint Andrew's on Sunday, August 24 at 11:30 as part of the church's series, "Summer of Palestinian Visibility." I met Lena at the AWP writers conference in Los Angeles in March and had her autograph a copy of the book which I donated to the Saint Andrew's Library.
I currently have three poems being critiqued by a visiting poet at Black Lawrence Press. I hope to revise and submit them after I receive feedback and look forward to sharing when they've found homes. I am excited about some travel plans this fall which I hope will inspire more poems!
Garden tours have been a highlight this summer. My neighbor has a stunning cottage style garden that has been featured in newspapers and local garden tours and she has graciously invited me over for strolls several times. We have also ventured together to the lovely Dunn Gardens in Seattle and to the Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden located at the famous Ballard Locks in Seattle. This photo of a black-eyed Susan was taken in the Ballard garden. I love this flower as it grew wild in the meadows on the farm where I grew up, and my father enjoyed picking bouquets of them for my mother. My poem, "At Twilight" from "In the Grip of Grace" was inspired by these bouquets:
A summer tradition in our family is picking wild blackberries that grow abundantly in all the parks and along the roadsides. Although they are invasive Himalayan blackberries, they are tasty and make the best pies!
I claim the guide dog puppies that my daughter helps sit as my "foster granddogs" and enjoy playing with them and accompanying them on excursions. Bobby was especially delightful - so intelligent and sweet! When the puppies are about 18 months old, they leave the raisers and go to "college" where they complete their training to be Guide Dogs for the Blind. Here are photos of me with Bobby during his recent visits:
What a joy it is to live near the Salish Sea and in the shadow of the volcano, Mt. Tahoma (aka Mt. Rainier). Thank you to my friend, Jenna, for inviting me to her birthday party which included a ride on her boat (a bit smaller than a ferry, lol) and a gorgeous view of the volcano! Jenna and I have known each other for 25 years!
And to wrap up this summery blog post, here is a photo of the pretty pot on my porch that I planted in the spring and is now in all of its summer glory:
Wishing you a wonderful last full month of summer,
Marianne (aka Wild Honey)
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