I live and write on Lingít Aaní, and gratefully acknowledge the past, present and future caretakers of this beautiful place, the Jilkaat Kwaan and Jilkoot Kwaan.

You may not know how much good you have done for Haines by ordering my books from The Bookstore here, but you have, and I want to thank you very, very much.This story by Claire Stremple was aired on KHNS here in Haines this morning, and I didn’t even realize what an impact you’ve had until she called me to talk about it. All I can say is wow. Wow. You are the best.If I could figure out how to do it here or virtually (or whatever),  I’d Zoom you a song and some flowers. We’ve been doing a lot of singing with school opening, half virtually, half in person, and at least part of the time at my dining table. (I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.)

We’ve also been walking a lot on the beach,  and tracking the bears who walk here in the dark, and sometimes the daytime,

and looking for bears at low tide in the evening when they fish for supper,

And waving prayers because we all need them,

And (this is sort of real news, actually) Find the Good is the Alaska Reads book for this year and that means this fall and winter  libraries and schools all over Alaska will be reading it (or listening to it, I read the audiobook) and Alaskans will be talking with each other and with me (I’ll post the whole Zoom event schedule soon) about the book, but mostly I hope, about how to find goodness right now, in all of this mess, and that is even more important in these times because so much is a disaster — storms, fires, illness, mean people, social injustices, lunatics in leadership, worried parents, hungry children, economic ruin (the news just plain hurts), – that in a 24 hour day if we can take a few moments, or even one hour to notice the good, make some good– a poem, a painting, a quilt, a bench, a cake — and especially to do some good for one another, our land and our animals, and our souls — well, that’s doing something real, in response to the suffering, isn’t it? Some things do make the world a little bit better, for just a litte while, and some even give us a respite from it all, too.

Tomorrow night, 9/11 from  7-8pm AKDT I give a little talk at the Egan Library at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau via Zoom, and you are invited, if you’d like to join us. Register here. (It’s free.)

And thanks again, for reading what I write, sharing my books, and especially for giving one very small bookstore in a very small town a really nice boost by ordering my books from Amy Kane, who owns the store.