recent observations, week 10.

crossing guard poetry, rising rivers, and ways to help.

Tangles of asters offering up one last feast.

New neighbors, two ways:

a stoopful of terracotta planters packed up and carried away.

a pile driver’s relentless reverberations.

Book fair catalog titles circled and starred.

Desire, triumph, and ruin: one child’s whoopee cushion journey.

Golden drops of vitamin D, suspended like honey in translucent seed pods.

Pants pulled, a punch thrown.

Not the best way to solve problems like this,

although I understand why she did.

Roiling rivers far away. Right next door. Overhead.

A crossing guard poem:

All clear

Good to cross,

my loves.

//

In case anyone has anything extra to offer this week:

No doubt by now many of you have seen footage and heard news of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States. One of my sisters lives in Asheville, North Carolina, a mountain town more than six hours from the coast, that’s endured catastrophic flooding and damage. If you have extra dollars to spare, here are a few ways to directly support on-the-ground recovery efforts. I’ve focused on local Asheville and North Carolina, because that’s where my little sister calls home, but feel free to add local resources for other places if you’d like.

Beloved Asheville: An Asheville-based nonprofit currently getting food, water, diapers, and other supplies to folks in Asheville who need them.
Updates via Instagram; Donations through website and venmo.

Poder Emma & La milpa: Community organizers in Asheville focused on community development efforts that combat displacement in mobile home communities.
Updates via Instagram; Donations through La Milpa website.

Pansy Collective: A trans-led collective in Asheville organizing supplies and resources; working in conjunction with MADR (below).
Updates via Instagram; Donations through venmo.

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: A national network of grassroots, liberatory disaster relief, currently operating in areas across the southeast that have been affected by Hurricane Helene.
Donations through venmo.

Western North Carolina Helene Resource Guide: A living document of resources for folks living in WNC—includes information on where to find food and supplies, up-to-date communications, monetary relief from lost income, and more.

Tea Notes Giving Circle: The cause of extreme weather like what we’ve seen with Hurricane Helene is climate change and the cause of climate change is the fossil fuel industry. Getting officials into public office who understand the urgency and cause of climate change is imperative if we want to see the fossil fuel industries held to account and the climate disaster mitigated. As you might remember, this fall the Tea Notes Giving Circle is working to raise $10,000 for North Carolina’s state legislature races. So far we’ve raised $7,690. If you haven’t given yet, or if you have anything more to spare, contributions are currently being matched so now is a great time to give whatever you can. This match doubles the impact of your investments. As a reminder, these small races for state legislatures matter a whole lot and can have massive impact on everything from the climate change to abortion access, not just for North Carolinians, but for all of us.
Donations via The States Project.