Snippets: Spring In My Step Edition

My morning wake up call these days is the gorgeous, otherworldly warble of the Sandhill cranes who like to wade in our pond at dawn. Their songs echo off the hillside and I wake up smiling because the way they talk is one of my favorite sounds.

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I’m really proud of how I’ve dealt with this broken foot situation. I’ve only had two minor pity party meltdowns, and I’ve adapted very creatively through each stage of weather and healing.

When there was snow on the ground, I stuck my boot cast in a garbage bag and strapped my snowshoe to the boot. When the snow melted and my world became mud, I rented crutches so I could travel freely while keeping my boot cast safe and dry in the air (crutching through mud and hay piles and cow pies is serious cardio!). And now the mud has dried, and grass is just beginning to grow, and yesterday I went hiking for the first time in five weeks – a very slow, very Frankensteiney mile on a mild trail – and it felt divine.

My boot cast is filthy at this point, and I’m very proud of that fact, too.

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If you’re on the Star Brand Beef mailing list: the second newsletter of the season is going out later today ~ if you didn’t see the first one, check your folders! It’s there, it’s time!

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A HUGE shop update went live this morning. I know it’s been sparse – I have hopefully made up for the wait with gorgeous new jewelry from my silversmith neighbor, Fred, plus a fresh batch of elk antler chew toys in every size. See it all HERE.

With the book demanding so much of me, I plan to do shop updates the first Tuesday of each month for the rest of this year. If I stay on top of things, I’ll have previews up the weekend preceding those Tuesdays. And if you have special, specific wishes, feel free to email me – I have a stash of unphotographed treasures and may have just what you’re waiting for…..

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Speaking of the book, some pen porn: I have determined that the very best red ink is Colorado Pen’s Ruby. It is dark enough to read easily by the light of a monitor, yet bright enough to be obvious and distinguishable from black type, so I don’t miss any edits when transcribing them into the computer.

I use it in a Lamy Vista, which is, in my opinion, more pleasurable to write with than most pricey fountain pens I’ve tried. No one should be intimidated by a refillable fountain pen; using one saves so much plastic from the trash cycle (disposable pens), and LOOK AT ALL THESE COLORS!!!!!!! So fun.

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I’m off to kiss a calf……….

Daisy Got A Book Deal!

OK, I got a book deal. And Daisy stars in it!

The book came to me while I was driving last August, I started the book proposal in September, freaked out and ignored it in October, finished it in November, and sent it to my agent the week after Thanksgiving. She loved it and wanted to wait until after the holidays to send it to editors, so that happened the first week of January, an imprint of Penguin RandomHouse won the rights in a sealed-bid auction the first week of February, and we signed the contract last week, which means I finally get to share the news…. insert one-footed cartwheel here!

The working title (which means it could change) is MEDITATIONS WITH COWS and it will be out Fall 2020. Here’s the blurb:

MEDITATIONS WITH COWS traverses Stockton’s deeply intimate relationships with cattle via raw and visceral stories of the work and wonder of ranch life in modern America. MEDITATIONS WITH COWS is an immersive journey into understanding and honoring these strong, intuitive, and generous animals. Throughout the book, Stockton critiques the inhumane and environmentally destructive factory farm and feedlot system, and shares sustainable alternatives for ethical omnivores that prioritize the humane treatment of animals and responsible stewardship of the Earth. Stockton is the author of the bestselling The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming along with two popular blogs.

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This book is the culmination of the last ten years of my life and all I’ve learned from Daisy, et al.; all the beloved bovines with whom I’ve shared my life. I pray (on an hourly, tear-stained, stress-hunched basis while clutching Bird by Bird like a bible) that I will do them justice with this book.

And I’m sending another all-encompassing, from-the-bottom-of-my-heart thank you to everyone who supported The Daily Coyote: Ten Years in Photographs in 2017. Creating that book was a transformative experience for me; I exorcised some demons and remembered how deeply in love I am with books. It made me want to create another one. And here we go…….

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If you want to be sure to get updates on the new book, you can sign up for THIS mailing list. You’ll get very few emails from me over the course of this year, but I have some special secret stuff planned as we get closer to publication. Might as well sign up now so you don’t have to remember to do it later! Just click HERE.

Farcical Metatarsal

I broke my foot last week. I broke my foot in the most absurd possible way: I was barefoot, having recently gotten out of the bath, sitting at my computer, working. Upstairs, Mike was cooking a pork chop that smelled so good I wanted to smell it up close. My right foot was kind of asleep but I thought when I stood up it would re-activate. I took one step out of my chair and my foot didn’t realize it existed and just smooshed under me into the cement floor and down I went. I fell on top of my foot and the torque of my fall fractured the fifth metatarsal bone. (I asked the ER doc if this is a sign of osteoporosis and he said, nope, purely physics and quite common.)

So now I’m hobbling around in a boot splint. I should be mostly fine by the time calving season starts. In the meantime, I’m working on a huge new project that does not require the use of my feet, which I am so excited to share with you SOON!

Into The Void

This year has been intense….. beginning with Daisy’s miscarriage on January 2 and plowing full steam ahead from then on. I am officially burned out. A silver lining to my burnout: I am finally capable of recognizing and acknowledging it! On a hike earlier this month, I couldn’t stop crying and I was like, “OK, Shreve, where is this coming from?” And the answer that came is that I feel like I’ve become the secretary of my life…… and not living it anymore.

So. I’m giving my secretarial self the month of January off. I’m so excited, I’m freakin’ giddy. I’m excited for time and space and to work on some new projects I’ve not been able to germinate as a secretary. What this means:

The Shop will close January 1. In the meantime, all jewelry (with the exception of Fred’s) is 18% off for the remainder of 2018 ~ use code 18for18 during checkout to get the discount.

During the month of January, my email auto-responder will explain how any issues with previous orders or Daily Coyote subscriptions will be addressed (and they will be addressed), so if you have issues, don’t hesitate to email – next steps will appear. I will attend to all other email and re-open the shop in February.

Daily Coyote subscriptions will continue to go out as always, because the continuity is important to all of us, and it honestly doesn’t feel like work, and my web guru has automated all the tedious parts. Charlie’s blog will also be updated as usual throughout January.

I have a rabbit hole for you, before I go.

Last week, I came upon this Kickstarter: Pistachio Wars: Killing California for a Snack Food. I watched the trailer, my jaw hit my desk, I watched it again, I backed the Kickstarter, I showed it to Mike, I tweeted about it, and I swore off pistachios (which I love) FOREVER.

And then I wanted to learn more, and I found this podcast, which, warning to the tender-eared, has two obstreperous hosts and includes a fair amount of swearing, but, once you fast-forward eleven minutes to get past the ads, it is jam-packed with info, including (but not limited to) a billionaire threatening to sue bees for trespassing, that same billionaire nabbing a multi-million-dollar taxpayer-funded aquifer for his own private use for zero dollars, and, guess who! same guy! irrigating his commercial crops with fracking waste water (and those very crops are waiting for you in your local grocery store). If you are eating anything that comes from California, you might want to listen to this. The podcast notes link to lots of articles, HERE, (Ep. 356…Water Monsters) if you prefer to read.

Moral of the story: KNOW YOUR FARMER! Whenever and wherever possible.

See you in the Year of the Pig!

2019 Charlie Calendars!

The 2019 Charlie Calendar is here!
This is the 12th annual (WOW!!) Charlie calendar and my favorite one yet.
Click HERE to see bigger pictures and to order yours (after you vote, of course)!