I have been busily editing a book for Llewellyn called “roots, Branches, and Spirits: the Folkways and Witchery of Appalachia” (which will be out in February 2021) and writing a book as yet untitled for Red Wheel/Weiser on animism and permaculture practices tied to the Wheel of the Year.

So I haven’t been here. You wouldn’t have wanted me to be, trust me. I’ve been both grumpy and absent-minded. But I am paying attention to Facebook and other social media platforms that I haunt. The corona virus is interesting as well as disconcerting, and I’ve decided to back out of a conference this weekend (which I suspect will be canceled) because the other two speakers on my anel are compromised in some way and aren’t attending.

Sometimes I go all mysterious on Facebook and today was one of those days. I had been up very late last night (yes, writing) and had one of those moments at about 3am when the thoughts in my head were disjointed.

Three phrases ran like squirrels through my brain–iodized salt, baking soda and Epsom salts. I posted that with the hashtag #afewofmyfavoritethings and left it at that.

The responses were quite interesting. But being mysterious beats the fury and grief of the Elizabeth Warren announcement last week. I’m still pretty broken up about that. And so near my birthday, too.