Photo by the author
As August draws to a close, Summer closes with it. There are only three weeks left in this Season of potential and accomplishment, and honestly I’m glad for it. Summer has always been a difficult time in our family, no matter where we are or what we’re doing. It’s the Season of toil, but the thing to remember about such work is that there’s always a reward to reap at the end. This is the ZMT Dispatch for September, your monthly recap of everything that’s been going on for this crazy self-publishing journey of ours. This post is only visible on the web if you’re logged in, but don’t worry, it’s free.
So it turns out that when you replace the engine on a car (see last month’s issue), they don’t reset the odometer, but they do tell you to consider it as having zero miles. It also allows other systems in the car to work through their long-standing issues and realize their true capacity for failure, like the catalytic converter that warned us of failure only five days after getting it back. So now it’s in the shop for a second time, and we’re back to waiting. It seems like a lot, but really it isn’t so bad. We’ve gone for many years with little to no car trouble of any kind, even with only having one vehicle, so having it all saved up and dished out at once isn’t too surprising. Annoying, yes, but unsurprising. It’s definitely been an exercise in trust and acceptance.
Photo by the author
Outside- Gardening, nature, life
Every year on my birthday, my family takes me berry picking, and because the agri-tourism facility that we visit also has other fruits available in this Season, we end up getting some of those, too! This year the blackberries, apples, grapes, and peaches were all ripe and ready.
Photo by the author
I’m not going to mask the name of the orchards to avoid doxxing myself, in fact please go there if you’re in the area. Places like it are a critical avenue for people to connect back to nature and the methods of producing and harvesting the foods that they eat. If you’ve never had a ripe blackberry right off the vine that’s practically wine already, you’ve got to try it.
When we go out, we suit up in boots and overalls and such, for the sun, the bugs, and the inevitable juice stains. This time I saw a young glamorous couple, dressed for a light lunch at a fancy restaurant, and one had their phone up and recording the whole time. I might be on an Instagram reel somewhere, how about that? At first I was a little disdainful, but then I was grateful. They may have been trying to influence, but at least they were outside, seeing and feeling and smelling what nature has to offer. That gives me hope that people won’t forget.
Inside- Writing, reading, other stuff
So the yearly berry-picking-on-my-birthday event meant that this last month contained my birthday. It also happened to be my 40th, which is something that’s never happened before! It’s still something that I haven’t quite processed through yet. Looking around at my life, my family, my career, my side career, it all seems so strange sometimes. I think back to all the things that I could have done; I wanted to be a chef, a AAA published author, an actual farmer, or at least serious homesteader. But God had different plans for me through many steps of the way, and here I am now, writing the sixtieth newsletter for my loyal subscribers. Who would’ve thought?
After that dry spell in July, the Frontier has been more fruitful lately. This month saw the reveal of the extremely specific Scorpizonera, the strongly compact Cocobra, and the mixed-metaphor Collard Lizard. And the announcement of a new short story, for which more will be revealed over the next month. Thanks for staying on the trail with us, partner!
What I’ve been reading
The Seeds series by Rachel Starr Thomson is a surprisingly fitting comp title for Frontier Flora. Both take place in the New World (though Seeds is before the Revolution), both have very strong Christian and gardening themes, and both portray people as tightly entwined with plants. On Kepos Gé, quite literally. Oh, and there’s also a lurking darkness threatening to destroy and devour everything. There are three books so far, and enough room in the story for more. If you like my work, you’ll definitely like hers.
What I’ve been listening to
My wife likes to listen to lo-fi jazz or classical while reading or drawing, and she found a channel with a lot of really great music on it. I wanted to find a way to buy it and support the creator, as can be done with Halidon music and others, but much to my dismay, I found out it was all AI-generated. The creators claim: “AI is only a tool, but every piece is completed with human emotion and curation.” That just means that they output hours of music and picked the best ones to release that didn’t sound awful. Given our stance on AI, it was disappointing, at best.
That was an elaborate introduction to this album! The Knightling is a cute adventure game that’s like Shovel Knight 3D, everyone wears helmets or masks and it seems a little goofy. The soundtrack is also fully orchestrated, all real instruments played by real people, and it’s beautiful. I’ve got nothing against soundfonts and all-digital music production, but this is music in it’s purest, highest form, and it’s worth sharing.
I’ve been including a sunset in every dispatch email for the past several years now, and since we no longer live at the house with the Best Views of the Sunset, my supply has been cut off. I could keep including all the other ones that didn’t get sent out in previous issues, or I could just embrace this change of Seasons and paradigms. I’m out early in the morning to take the kids to school, and around here the sunrises can be just as spectacular as the sunsets. So, here’s to new times and new traditions. Enjoy the remainder of your Summer, and remember, all is well.
Photo by Vivi, since the author was driving