Wrapped in the Months of the Year
Looking back and moving forward
I almost changed the name of this Substack.
Almost.
I can’t quite let go of Daughter Dear, specifically the dear part. It’s an homage to my first newsletter, nearly eight years old (and retired I should add). I titled the newsletter The Dear Newsletter, in which I wrote letters to people, strangers, feelings, bad days, good days, and really anything else.
One of my favorite letters explored the idea of time, and how we each visualize time differently. I wrote to my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. King1 It was a simple thank you letter for showing me the months of the year. She had posted the months of the year in a circle around the room, dodging windows, support beams, and the giant clock. In seeing the months of the year wrap around me (even to this day), it encouraged an optimistic relationship with time, a sense of slow rather than hurry. I can easily see the months, the seasons, and I didn’t need to hurry to get to the next one.
I also thanked Bryan’s teacher; she used flash cards for her months; time stacked on top of time. And this prompted an urgency, an efficiency in Bryan that aids his problem solving process — maybe, probably.
Perhaps it was a stretch to give them all the credit, but they certainly played a part in how the two of us interact with time. And I’m grateful.
Anyway, The Dear Newsletter2 no longer runs, but I think of it from time to time. It was a clumsy start (most of my starts are clumsy) into the writing realm, and I’m so glad that I did it.
And now we’re here, at Daughter Dear (there has been many others in between the two dears, some ongoing, some on pause, and some archived). Or perhaps I’ll name it something else. All weekend I prodded and twice nearly made the change:
Petals + Pages
My garden prep weekend inspired me, I suppose. While my hands squeezed water from our seed starting soil, I had an idea of crafting floral bouquets from our home grown flowers while talking to you about the stories in my head, or the ones I’m writing, or the ones I’m reading. I might still do it (oh who am I kidding, I definitely will). I’ll just call it Daughter Dear’s Petal + Pages.
Truthfully, this name better understands what this newsletter is all about: a lover of words, books, pretty flowers, the outdoors (small and great) and the intersection of the two.
Now that our seeds are in their cozy, dirty beds, Ive been doing a lot of dreaming and a lot of connecting those dreamy dots to forge a plan, a path. And oddly, I found that looking back, all the way to The Dear Newsketter, was my way forward. I suppose seeing those months wrapped around me reminded me that forwards can also mean looking back.
I hope today as you continue to dream and coax and twist and plan that you are safe and comforted and encouraged in the process.
Thank you for being here and reading this long breath out. It was certainly a jumble and messy thought, but I hope it encourages.
I made my way into chapters four and six of Charlie in the Clouds and falling so deeply in love with this family. I’m really looking forward to sharing this story with you. Until then, I’ll keep writing and editing and writing some more.
All the lovely things,
JH
Ps. Next time, I’ll share some exciting news with you!
what a name - now grown I often think of her name and love the gentle feminism, but also doesn’t this perfectly describe how a kindergartener would name a king’s wife? Instead of queen, she’s Mrs. King, obviously. I love it so much that I’m using her name in Charlie’s story
some of you might remember - and thank you to those who were there then and here now. You’re encouragement and support has made all the difference, truly