The Seasons, They Go Round and Round
Good evening, at least here in Edinburgh. Back to my Monday newsletter schedule. Next week will be for my paid subscribers. We’re getting back into the swing of things. Last week I moved to the city, and I’ve been taking the time to settle in and get used to my new surroundings. I’ve hung up my banner of patches made by the lovely Addie Best, a printmaker based in Maine. I’ve been getting to know the grocery shops in my area. One piece of super exciting news (to me, anyway) is that the whole meal loaf of bread from M&S tastes exactly like the Vermont whole wheat bread I grew up eating. Even the crust is the same. As a recovering (recovered?) picky eater, this was a huge discovery. I’ve unpacked everything. I tried a new stew-y bean recipe, that I think I’ll adapt a little next time. I’ve already been befriending one of the neighbourhood cats (there’s at least one other one to say hello to). Today I made an onion and white bean soup, as it’s getting colder this week.
Yesterday was “A Very Laufey Day,” a year since her second album Bewitched was released. I’ve listened to that album countless times, and while I can’t pick a favourite song, “Dreamer” is often stuck in my head. To celebrate, I took a walk down towards Leith to Argonaut Books, stopped at Hobz Bakery and bought one of the most delicious pain au chocolats I’ve ever had. It was huge and soft inside and had a great amount of chocolate. It’s definitely meant for two people though.
I’ve been walking so much these last few days, around the city and up Calton Hill and down to Leith and back. The list of coffeeshops I want to try is ever-expanding.
I posted a video on Instagram recapping my past year in Scotland. Exactly a year ago, I arrived at the airport, ready to start my masters degree. I’m now halfway through the course, with classes starting up again a week from today.
The books featured in the video are:
A Book of Luminous Things anthology edited by Czslaw Milosz (Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese”)
Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
Magma lit mag, volume 87 (Roshni Gallagher reading aloud)
Burying the Mountain by Shangyang Fang (“Foretaste of Disaster”)
On Art and Life by John Ruskin (Penguin Great Ideas)
Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen
Blue Horses by Mary Oliver
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Create Dangerously by Albert Camus (“Defence of Intelligence” lecture)
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
It was a year full of sunrises and sunsets, of good breakfasts and train rides and rainbows. Windows, tides, Christmas lights. Art and music and poetry. A couple trips to Glasgow and a few to London. My parents visited in September, and my cousin Sam visited in March. I watched the seasons change, leaves fall and buds sprout again. I visited castles and museums and saw Shakespeare plays and an adaptation of one of my favourite books (Bluets by Maggie Nelson). I read my poetry in front of audiences and workshopped new ideas with my cohort. I saw The Royal Ballet perform Swan Lake twice. Saw new films I loved, walked along the beach at sunset, and read so many books. I saw The National in Glasgow and in Edinburgh, once with my parents (The National super fans) and once by myself. I celebrated friends’ birthdays, and my own. Went to so many bookstores, heard bagpipes played, saw seals near Aberdour. I had a poem published. There were so many days that felt like “filler” episodes, but also so many where so much happened.
Mary Oliver and Joni Mitchell are two guiding lights for me, and “The Circle Game” felt like a perfect way to capture the feeling of the last year. Nothing I write will be as accurate as “the seasons, they go round and round,” and “there’ll be new dreams, maybe better dreams.”
Here’s to another year in Scotland. Here’s to new dreams.
Today’s poem is “Foretaste of Disaster” by Shangyang Fang. I first read his debut collection Burying the Mountain in early 2023, and then again at the beginning of this year. This one feels very appropriate to read in your early 20s, and it’s a beautiful example of Fang’s ability to weave together references to art, literature, music, and language.
What I’m Reading: I started Bunny by Mona Awad on audiobook, and still rereading Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman.
What I’m Listening To: Joni Mitchell, First Two Pages of Frankenstein by The National, Bewitched by Laufey, my autumn in scotland playlist
What I’m Loving: the morning sunlight, Tuc crackers, checking things off my to-do list, and wearing skirts without tights while I still can
the circle game!! 🤍