Thyme & Again: A Note on Year Three
Hello, friends—
It’s hard to believe, but Thyme, Place & Story is about to enter its third year here on Substack. What began as a little newsletter has grown into a six-column personal magazine that allows me to explore a wide range of reading and writing interests and is read in all 50 U.S. states and 79 (gulp!) countries. I have treasured your interest and support over these years—especially those of you who join the conversation in the comments—and I always look forward to hearing from you. Now that I’m in my mid-eighties and no longer travel, this little magazine challenges me to keep learning, reading widely, and engaging regularly with you.
Looking ahead, I see several things I want to do in this third year of TP&S.
Writing about place is still high on my list. I plan to continue LifeScapes, which began as a freestanding blog back in 1998. In this column, I reflect on life here in the Texas Hill Country, where Bill and I defend our small scrap of wildness against the encroaching urgencies of suburbia and adapt, as best we can, to the hard truths of climate change.
I’ll also continue All About Thyme, the popular monthly almanac I’ve been compiling since the early 2000s. This year, I’ll begin weaving in a few threads from the Zodiac series I created in 2024-25.
For this year’s “something new,” I’ll publish Thyme of Death, the first book in the China Bayles series as a weekly digital serial. The story has been restored to its original manuscript title (A Bitter Taste of Garlic) and reshaped from 19 chapters into 34 email-sized episodes (a big job, believe me!). I’m currently working on the author’s notes, which I hope will be of interest to those curious about the writing process. Naturally, there will be bonus extras: recipes, garden tips, and herbal lore.
Occasionally, I’ll host Guerrilla Read-alongs featuring recent books on compelling social/political, environmental, or media-related topics. And since I’m still experimenting with a collaborative AI (yes, really!), I’ll continue posting to the AI Working Notes column whenever something curious or useful comes up.
All in all, I’m excited about the year ahead. There’s so much to read, write, and think about, especially in this era of political and environmental upheaval. Thank you for being a part of the ongoing story here on Substack.
And now feels like a good time for a little break. I know many of you will be traveling over the next couple of months, so I’m planning a brief two-month sabbatical myself. It’ll give me a chance to catch up on projects, dive into some seriously deep reading, work on personal writing—and get a head start on those extras for A Bitter Taste of Garlic.
Look for me back in your inboxes and online on September 1, ready to launch another year of Thyme, Place & Story. And thanks again, to each of you, to all of you, for being part of this amazing adventure.
Hugs around our circle,
Susan
P.S. To those who’ve been reading Collision of Power with me: I’ve just learned (H/T to my brother, John Webber) that the Baltimore Sun has fired its award-winning cartoonist, Kevin KAL Kallaugher, noted for his barbed political cartoons. The Sun was sold 18 months ago to a conservative media mogul who is pushing it steadily to the right, according to the independent news site, Baltimore Brew. But you don’t have to miss any of KAL’s cartoons. He has joined us here on Substack, where nobody pushes anybody in either direction. I hope you’ll subscribe.
Enjoy your time and the opportunity to reflect and rest as well. We all need that.
Without writing an entire book here (but it is long), I want to share that my daughter in Arizona was affected by this citizenship mess. Arizona sent out a letter to many people about proving their citizenship. Nothing to do with race. In addition, the agencies aren't working together. Her driver's license with the star saying they listed her as a citizen was verified when she called DMV. That wasn't accepted.
She called me in a panic because she's recently been laid off and needs to receive unemployment and state medical help for severe heart disease. If she couldn't prove her citizenship, she could be without benefits and unable to get a new job. She was terrified of being arrested because of her pacemaker. A push or shove could kill her. AZ has already arrested older adults and held them for weeks in horrible conditions.
She was adopted by my second husband, and the birth certificate was changed. It wasn't a closed adoption or family secret, but AZ locks all adoption records. I have to pay to find the record, even though I'm a birth parent, and he's deceased. She's also over 50. I'm sure after twenty or thirty years, the paper had deteriorated, and I saw no reason to keep it. However, my name has also changed, and no longer matches either of her birth certificates. In addition, my birth certificate didn't list any parental information, not even my parents' names.
Do you see where I'm going here? Unless I could find everything, she might not have been able to prove her citizenship and would be held in custody until I ordered and received certified documents. Fortunately, they accepted her birth certificate this time. She also sent everything to Channel 3 investigative reporting to bring this to their attention and create a trail.
If Texas goes off the rails in the same direction, I may lose my citizenship status and my right to vote because I'm still not sure I can get copies of records that are too old to be online when I no longer remember exact dates. I have a passport that requires verifying my ID and name changes over the years, as does Social Security, which requires proof of every change.
My daughter has also provided proof to Social Security and other agencies for jobs, fingerprint clearance for state employment, and more. My advice is to be proactive. Don't assume that being white and/or not being foreign makes you safe, especially if you've married and changed names.
I could say a lot more, but this is my experience this week. Stay safe and be aware.
Everyone needs to sit back and enjoy just being, every so often. Summer and its heat are the perfect time to do so. We will watch for your return and your new adventures. Thanks for sharing so much with us.