I’m pleased to let you know that you can now order copies of the Christmas 2014 issue of Dappled Things, an American literary journal that has published two of my poems.

“Book of Alternative Services” and “I’m suffering from depression and you” are both from my working manuscript and I am incredibly excited that they are now out in the world! I am especially proud that these specific poems—which explore ideas of spirituality, faith, death, fear, and love—found a home at Dappled Things, because the magazine does such a fine job of fostering a critical, artistic, and literary exploration of faith.

If you aren’t familiar with Dappled Things, I encourage you to check it out. The journal defines itself, in part, around a Catholic engagement of the world, but they do so in a very broad, un-stuffy—and, most importantly—loving way (or else this feminist, queer ally princess wouldn’t be reading it!). They regularly feature some truly gorgeous visual art, and the literature is frequently very moving. You can access sample content from each issue online, and to view the full content you can buy an issue individually or treat yourself to a digital and/or print subscription.

They also have a regularly-updated blog that features some provocative ideas about faith, culture, and how to be in the world. It is an interesting, well-curated blog. Among the blog’s many merits is that it has introduced me to “Hedgehog in the Fog,”a gorgeous, disconcerting, and adorable Russian cartoon short—via this post by one of their frequent blog contributors, Josh Nadeau.

(My other favourite hedgehog-themed thing on the Internet, if you’re interested, is this picture of a mama and baby hedgehog, in which the baby is flailing its limbs upwards as if it is on a rollercoaster and saying “Whee!”)

My gratitude to Natalie Morrill, who introduced me to Dappled Things. I encourage you all to check it out, too! Click on the (very pretty) banner image below to visit the Dappled Things website and see more very pretty images and discover some great literature. And, of course, to buy the issue and read my poems!

I hope that you are having a wonderful, wonderful 2015 so far, and that your winter holidays have left you feeling relaxed, ready, and more connected to your loved ones. As you know from my last post, I spent Christmas in my hometown of Prince George, BC, where I was delighted by snow. And then more snow. And then some more snow.

View of the Nechako River, featuring ice and snow and light and much prettiness.

Ducks in the Nechako River.

This blog: featuring gratuitous photographs of birds since October 2014 and that post with the robin in the garden.

I also have some great photos of this guy’s nest, but what kind of a blog would this be if I just posted a bunch of my holiday photos on it? (The answer you’re searching for: “The kind of really great blog that I am actually reading right now.”)

That last photo is a view of the old CN Rail Bridge over the Fraser River. I snapped it when I went for a walk along the Cottonwood Park trails on New Year’s Eve. It is gorgeous there.

I’m back in Vancouver now where there is, sadly, no snow, but there are lots of other good things. Someone needs to tell my tulips that it is only January, though, because they are trying to poke their green heads out of my garden already…