Lake Annecy, April 2026
Sunset from balcony bedroom. xo
I stumbled into this cemetery while biking around the lake.
View of the lake from Les Cascades.
Just another sunset…. how many of these photos have I taken over the years?
Time, a few centuries here are there,
means very little in the world of poems. - Mary Oliver
Zermatt, Switzerland
Míša not appreciating the view.
Sophia on the train from Tasch to Zermatt.
The girls, in Zermatt.
Daniel and Soph - cocktails before dinner.
Thoughts on Thoreau’s cabin in the woods.
Thoughts on Thoreau’s cabin in the woods.
Chiswick House and Gardens
Dearest writing friend,
I learned something new today, do you have a minute?
It’s about this (romanticized) notion of a cabin in the woods (i.e. Henry David Thoreau). An isolated, quiet place where one can do creative work, uninterrupted. A place to simplify, to strip back and, above all else, be alone long enough to hear ourselves think and write.
Thoreau’s cabin in the woods was indeed a rich source of inspiration for him. He spent many hours contemplating nature and enjoying his solitude. And.
He walked into town nearly every day, often to have dinner at his mother's house and to pick up his laundry (which she did for him, so he could simplify, simplify).
He entertained frequently at the cabin — friends, neighbors, and admirers dropped by regularly. At one point he mentions having 25 or 30 visitors at once. But more often, his mother and sisters would stop by to bring him pies, doughnuts and meals.
He was never truly alone in the woods. The railroad ran nearby, he could hear the sounds of Concord, and the pond itself was a popular swimming spot.
Hilariously, Thoreau’s opus, Walden is, at its core, a manifesto about stripping life down to essentials and depending on no one but yourself. But it’s worth noting that the man urging you to simplify, simplify had women preparing his meals and doing his laundry.
I say all this, not to remind you of the unpaid work of women, but to remind myself that I only need a few hours every day to come back to creative work.
And that it’s perfectly wonderful if my cabin is in fact, only a tiny desk in the corner and a pair of noise cancelling headphones. In fact, that’s more than enough. Who can write more than two hours a day anyway?
xo, L
Reims, France
Hello from Reims! I left London this morning for the lake house in France. The trip takes about 12 hours, including Le Shuttle. I can make the drive in one day, and I usually do. But lately I’ve been re-learning the lesson that just because something is physically possible, does not mean that it needs to be done. So I stopped in Reims for the night.
Every time I’m in France, I feel guilty for letting my French decline to such an appalling level. Given how much time I spend here, it’s a disgrace. I managed to check in to the hotel (in French) without incident, but my oura ring pinged me and asked me why I was so stressed! One of these days, I’ll come down for a few months and register for a French Intensive. But first, I need to get through yoga teacher training. My aging brain can only take one intensive course at a time!
Books of March
This book sounds bleak, I know! But it’s a super fast, interesting read.
Hello friend,
I only managed to finish one book this month. For some reason I’ve had a hard time concentrating lately. I wasn’t even particularly busy, just restless.
That said, I finished one book and I loved it. It’s called I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. Here’s the Amazon blurb because I’m too lazy to say anything different:
Deep underground, thirty-nine women are kept in isolation in a cage. Above ground, a world awaits. Has it been abandoned? Devastated by a virus?
Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before. But, as the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone an outcast in the corner.
Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. The woman who will never know men.
It sounds bleak, I know! But it’s a super fast, interesting read.
Here are the books that I started but did not finish:
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi - too sweet
Moderation by Elaine Castillo - too grim
The Brain at Rest: How the Art and Science of Doing Nothing Can Improve Your Life by Joseph Jebelli - message received by chapter three. I decided to rest instead of finishing the book.
Bhagavad Gita - I was supposed to read this for Yoga Teacher Training - I found it insufferable and could not finish. I watched some youtube videos on the topic instead.
The Indiana girl in me wants the above authors to know that my inability to get through your books says nothing about their worthiness. I was just in a mood.
OH! I forgot to mention. I’m also about halfway through 11.22.63 by Stephen King. It’s roughly five million pages long so if I manage to finish it, I’ll let you know.
xo, L
How to do anything
In order to fall asleep, you must first pretend to be asleep. That’s how everything works.
View from my apartment in London
Turnham Green, Chiswick, London
Turnham Green, Chiswick, London
A Grandpa Tour of Florida
Papaw Jack in Okeechobee, - Grandpa Frank in Naples.
Not the image of Florida you might have been picturing!
Sasha and Papaw Jack at the Okeechobee County Fair.
And Aunt Kelly too! :) xoxo
A very windy day at the beach - Fort Pierce Inlet State Park.
Then we drove down to Naples to visit Grandpa Frank. xo
Imagine watching this sunset every night during dinner!
Ram Dass, again.
You can do it like it’s a great weight on you. Or you can do it like it’s part of the dance.
David Lynch
Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. If you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper.
Indie Author Lab, London
Key Takeaways from Jo Penn’s talk at the Indie Author Lab, London.
Jo Penn at the Indie Author Lab, London
I have no good reason to go to literary events, except that I just love them!
I love meeting other writers and buying their books. I love learning about emerging technologies and literary trends… And I love listening to how the most profitable writers run their business.
Joanna Penn is one of my favourites. I’ve never read her fiction books, but her podcast is super interesting. Here are some key takeaways from her talk this week:
1. What do you really, actually want [from your writing]?
2. What do you need to do to get that?
3. What are you doing instead?
4. Stop doing that!
In other words, (talking to myself here), are you SURE you want to run an author business? Because if so, you’ll need to do a million things you don’t really want to do. Namely, build an email list, grow social media, implement a marketing and promotions strategy and on and on and on until the end of time.
Or, you could just write books for the love of it. Because it’s fun.
xo, L
Keats House, London.
Yoga and Writing Workshop at Keats House, London.
just a little journaling
A Yoga and Writing Workshop
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Aboriginal Art
My Grandmother's Country VI (2024) by Artist Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi.png