Looking forward to another year @Substack!

Welcome to our birthday party! Pull up your chairs, get out your forks, and let’s have a piece of cake—virtual, that is.

It’s hard to believe that Thyme, Place, & Story is a full twelve months old, but it is—and I’m sending this today to thank all of you for trekking through this year with me. Whether you’ve been reading and clicking on the ❤️ to register your likes or joining the conversation or contributing as a paid subscriber—you’re all totally wonderful and I’m grateful for each of you. All of you.

Okay, full disclosure. When I began this Substack as an experiment a year ago, I was hesitant and—yes—scared. With the books, I didn’t have to face you. Unless I met you at a bookstore or a library book talk, I could hide behind the printed page.

But not online. Was anybody out there? Did I have anything to say? Was anybody listening? Would we have anything to share with one another? At 84 and on my own, would I be able to manage the intricacies of this new-to-me platform?

Now, ninety-plus posts, over a million views, and a gazillion conversations later, you’ve made your presence felt. I know you’re there, and I’m grateful. Deeply, profoundly, enduringly grateful. Sharing this Substack learning journey with you has made this an extraordinary year for me.

So what about Year Two? Drum roll, please!

Photo by petr sidorov on Unsplash

For our second year, I’m announcing a new feature, an outgrowth of my earlier teaching and decades of interest in the ancient practice of astrology and in the cosmic coherences that many cultures have understood between plants, people, and planets. Each month, Growing Green with the Zodiac will drop into your in-box each month on the opening of the new zodiacal season. The posts will contain astrological alignments (from a Jungian perspective), gardening lore and plant wisdom, suggested readings, and premium extras for supporting subscribers (including some fun stuff—tarot, for instance—from Ruby’s Crystal Cave).

And yes, I confess: there’s an agenda behind this new project. I want to learn more—and share what I learn—about the ways plants have been perceived as part of a unified, symmetrical cosmos. I also want to encourage us all to become more deeply aware of and involved with the plant world on which we depend for the food we eat and the air we breathe. So look for the first issue—Growing Green with Virgo—which will appear on Aug 22.

As for the rest of it, I’d like to continue what we’ve been doing, with one tweak and another addition. Here’s how it looks from where I sit.

• All About Thyme (first Monday) and BookScapes (third) will continue as usual, for all subscribers.

• Because LifeScapes and Senior Chronicle have so often overlapped, I’ve merged the two under LifeScapes. (I’ve merged the archives, too). LifeScapes will appear on the second Monday, for supporting subscribers (because our conversations there often get into personal detail).

• The Short Reads serials for all subscribers will continue on Wednesdays, whenever I have stories to share with you.

• And (because many of you have asked) I’ll be posting recipes from the mysteries. You’ll find them in a new section called Cooking the Books, also for all subscribers.

So that’s it: a preview of Year Two of Thyme, Place & Story. As always, if there’s too much coming into your in-box, you can pick and choose here. As always, I welcome your comments, suggestions, and (of course) your subscriptions.

Thanks for reading, friends, and for being here with me to celebrate our first year. Please rinse your cake plates and forks and leave them in the sink on your way out. Oh, and if you’re still hungry for cake, there’s an interesting ginger cake recipe in The Tale of Holly How, which I’ve posted here, just for you.

I’ll see you again on Monday, Aug. 5, with the with the latest issue of All About Thyme.