When a message to you begins to write itself in my head, I know it’s time for another Carrying Capacity newsletter.
In truth, I have been avoiding this for weeks. The shocking news about the brutal terrorist attack, murders, and hostage takings in Israel; the relentless bombings and senseless deaths in Gaza; and the extreme vitriol expressed around the globe led me to feel I had nothing useful to say. The situation was, and is, emotionally mammoth and politically paralyzing. The things I had been collecting to share in this space were trivial in comparison to this world crisis (layered on top of many others). So, I stayed away from my Substack. Instead of offering my opinions, I consumed other people’s clarifying work on these issues, taking in as wide a range of perspectives as possible. I found podcasts from Ezra Klein and from Sam Harris to be challenging and illuminating. I appreciated how Amy Goodman’s interviews on Democracy Now, Bari Weiss’s coverage in The Free Press, and reporting on Al Jazeera were balancing of one another and uniquely informative, even as they were heartbreaking. One thing I kept wishing for in the early weeks of this nightmare was for public space to make room for individuals to hold – and voice – two ideas at once: Jewish people deserve life; Palestinian people deserve life. (Since everyone starts the clock at a different point when historicizing this extremely sensitive crisis, I should note that the order of peoples in the previous sentence stems from the order of events as they have unfolded since the Hamas attack on Oct 7th). The violent desecration of precious life on any land is a travesty.
The horrors of terrorism and war in the Middle East have not abated, but we all need something to cling to – even those of us who are geographically and experientially far from the center of all that pain. Late last night, when I was (doom)scrolling (against all recommendations for combatting insomnia), I saw that the premature babies in a Gaza hospital stripped of power, whose survival have been tenuous for days, were being moved to a hospital in Egypt. At this news, I felt a spark of light in the deep and terrible darkness. That light, and a few other unexpected happenings, have inspired me to write today.
The Giving Thief
I was robbed a couple of nights ago. I discovered the crime scene yesterday. Here is the context. My spouse sent our youngest to collect groceries from the trunk in the early evening. Somehow the car was not relocked after that task was completed. The next day, when I got into my twelve-year-old Volkswagen Jetta (and yes, I am still mad at VW for lying about environmentally friendlier emissions on that model), I saw that someone had rifled through the contents of the car. The items from the glove compartment were strewn about the front passenger seat. My nail files, tissues, and little containers of lotion and hand sanitizer had been dug out of the door pockets. The emergency Luna bar that I kept stashed away was gone. The quarters that I stored for parking were missing, as was the emergency dollar that I had tucked aside (as if a dollar will buy anything anymore). This was an alarming scene to happen upon, not only because things were taken and the interior was left in a state of disorder, but also because overnight someone had been inside my private space very close to my family’s bedrooms.
But then I spotted it. A single quarter had been left behind in the storage cubby near the gear shift. This could not have been accidental. The person who stole from me had given something back. I told myself that the thief had imagined me reaching for my quarter stockpile and coming up empty at an inopportune time. They didn’t want to cost me a parking ticket. Being thoughtful and charitable, they left a coin. That discovery lifted my spirits. I felt bouncy as I cleaned up the car, repacked the glove compartment, and tore off to whichever appointment I was late for that day. There is nuance in every situation, and perhaps even hope.
Little Free Library Mood Lift
Have you peered inside a Little Free Library lately? It’s amazing to see how strangers are using public micro spaces to share knowledge, pleasures, and increasingly, necessities. These colorful capsules are full of interesting books. I got my copy of Bridgerton: The Viscount Who Loved Me (saved for a holiday read) from one, as well as a vintage guidebook to wildflowers of the Rocky Mountains.
Free Library cupboards also sometimes hold essential period products, as I discovered during a trip to Savannah, GA last month. In Duluth, MN, a woman started putting seeds and produce in Little Free Seed Libraries, and apparently, she is not the only Minnesotan up to this. Does anyone want to make a pledge with me for the Thanksgiving holiday week? Let’s pick a Little Free Library and put something needful or bountiful inside for someone else to find relief in or take delight in. (If you try this, please share in the comments!)
Speaking of public exchanges in Minnesota, the state recently committed to transferring land back to Indigenous jurisdiction. By 2033, the Upper Sioux Agency State Park will be returned to the control of Dakota people, whose ancestors suffered, died, and were buried on the grounds due to federal negligence and the cruel withholding of food. Concrete examples like this in Dakota territory, and like this in Salish and Kootenai territory, Montana, help with translation and demystification of the Land Back movement.
Bird Babies
I am excited to share that I have now won two baby bird naming contests! This might be a world record, since I doubt there are many such contests. Around ten years ago, I entered a contest in an artsy, vintage-vibe shop in downtown Ann Arbor called Red Shoes. I loved that place, and I still have a multi-colored, hand-felted pillow from there in one of my favorite writing seats. The shop owner invited patrons to enter a name for their new parakeet. After visiting with the bright yellow bird, I wrote “Tulip,” on my entry form. The shop staff posted a sign with Tulip’s new name, giving me lasting glory. (Sadly, the shop closed a couple of years ago.)
This year, I had the chance to throw my hat in the bird naming ring again, and I couldn’t resist. During a professional visit to The Mercantile Library in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio (my hometown), I learned that the library staff had built a nesting box for Peregrine Falcons. (In truth, my kind host, seeing how nervous I was before giving a lecture that many of my relatives and even elementary school friends had turned out for, took me to the stacks and showed me the nest through a window before the event.) When I heard that the library was having a contest for naming three falcons hatched from four eggs, I entered. My approach this time was to choose a theme: women intellectuals with ties to the city and the library’s collections. Here is the text of the email I submitted:
I propose that the library name the falcon babies Beecher, Potter, and Taft! They would be named after Cincinnati women writers from the 19th century whose works are surely in the collection! Bonus: using the women’s surnames makes the appellations gender neutral. Double bonus: Beecher and Taft are known Cincinnati names. Plus, I think these three names together have a nice ring.
Beecher (for Harriet Beecher Stowe and Catharine Beecher, novelist and education/social issues writer(s); sisters, of course, which has the subtle suggestion of remembering the egg that did not hatch)
Potter (for Eliza Potter, memoirist)
Taft (for Helen Herron Taft Manning, historian)
Thanks for throwing my suggestions into the pool!
The winning names: Beecher, Potter, and Taft, were written up in a local news story. My inspiration for one of the names somehow got garbled along the way; the original Taft I had put forward – a woman historian – got confused with William Howard Taft, the U.S. president, which the staff then shifted to honor a different Taft who helped found the library. Still, it’s pretty cool!
Alexander Hamilton Reviews My New Book
I mentioned back in September that my new book would be out soon, and it is here! Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation, appeared that month. I have been heart-warmed by the reception. Readers who have reached out to me and interviewers who have spoken with me reflect that they understand and embrace the book’s spirit. I am finding that there is nothing quite like truly connecting with people through the words you share as writers and readers (and listeners; audiobooks rock!). I won’t go into detail about the book’s release here. You can visit my website for reviews (including one that made my day in the NYT) and event videos if you’d like to. I’ll just share the latest news, which comes from the New York Public Library (one of my faves, given that they house The Schomburg Collection for Research in Black Culture). Wild Girls is on the NYPL's Best Books List for 2023! This is what they said about it: “This beautiful, meditative work of history puts women of all races—and the landscapes they loved—at center stage and reveals the impact of the outdoors (both nature and sports) on women's independence, resourcefulness, resistance, and vision.”
I am leaving you with a photo taken by a friend, the environmental writer Sara St. Antoine (author of the adventurous YA novel about coming of age during climate change: Front Country). This is her family’s cat, Alexander Hamilton AKA “Alex,” with Wild Girls. Caption from her text: “My cat says your book is soooooo good!”
Thanks, Alex! And thank you, too, for being in conversation and community with me and everyone else who stops by here on their journey.
I love this, Tiya!! Thank you so much. I'm so sorry your car was burgled! But seeing you finding hope, in this and in Gaza, helps me to find hope too. Congratulations on your deservedly rave reviews, including from Alexander Hamilton! I will gladly join you in your lovely Little Free Library quest this week, and will look for some needful or bountiful things to put in. I hope you and your family are doing well, and I'm so grateful to you, truly, for being the light that you are as always.
I’m helped by this. The Israel-Gaza situation has been paralyzing for me. LOVE the bird names. (I’m in Cincinnati and attended your wonderful program).