This morning (Friday, as I write the first draft of this post), for the first time since early May, I had to put on a sweater in order to practice on the porch. It didn’t last long; tai chi and chi kung, though they are slow and gentle, heat up a body almost as well as a hard kung fu workout.

In any other year I would be happily sunburned and exhausted after a summer of hitting the lake at least once a week. This year (and last year) I managed to dip my toes in Lake Michigan maybe four times. And that’s in the entire year. Disruptions in my schedule (and also my partner’s schedule) due to the ongoing COVID pandemic meant that leisure time, once available in small amounts, is now a precious commodity to be hoarded for special occasions.

But as we all need to re-learn every day, time is not fungible. A little saved here can’t therefore be used there.

But enough of this navel-gazing nonsense!

This week two books arrived at the Library of Winkelman Abbey.

On the left, newly published by PM Press, via their recent Kickstarter, is The Day the Klan Came to Town, written by Bill Campbell (of Rosarium Publishing fame) and illustrated by Bizhan Khodabandeh.

On the right is The Sunflower, by Simon Wiesenthal, which I picked up after it popped up in a Metafilter thread discussing the odd circumstance that some GamerGaters have approached Brianna Wu, asking for forgiveness. The conversation therein was, as always, interesting and nuanced, and I imagine this little book will hit the top of my to-read stack well before the end of the year.

In reading news, I am still immersed in short stories. I finished Worlds of Light and Darkness and am now on Derelict, another anthology published by the talented folks at Zombies Need Brains.

In writing news, still not a lot to report. Recent family events have sapped most of my energy, and even now I have my doubts about being able to rally myself in time for NaNoWriMo. Time will tell.