The bad news is Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds  I  have been in touch with a Kurd femininst in their army who was using my poems with other feminists  I could relate to theKurds far more easily than most Middle Eastern groups.  I know they are fierce fighters and well organized but far less well armed and also outnumbered by the Turkish army, that has advanced artillery and war planes. All for Putin and Assad and Turkey.

Isis will resurge and we can’t expect the Kurds to do the brunt of the fighting again.

The good news is that my editor Ann Close at Knopf has accepted my new book of poetry ON THE WAY OUT, TURN OFF THE LIGHT even though it is very long for a poetry book – around 175 pp of manuscript.  I am very happy about that.  It will come out next fall, either in September or October.

This has been a quiet week. We observed Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur on our own since I can’t stand for very long.  Usually we go to the KolNidre service.  It always moves me.  The trouble with the High Holiday services in the Yom haYam havurah that Woody and I helped found decades ago is that the rabbi they like and use every  year doesn’t challenge the congregation at all and keeps things simple and bland.  I need more from services.  I can do Rosh haShonah very well with a small group but Yom Kippur we have to do on our own, which is not the Jewish way. I miss the Yom Kippur rituals.

It has been raining for two days now and seems as if it will continue till tomorrow afternoon.  We haven’t [yet?] experienced the high winds they predicted, although we lost power for about 8 hours.  We lose power if it sprinkles.  The wind is strong enough but not the way the TV weather people said it would be. Mice think the weather is unpleasant enough so that it’s worth the risk of coming in the house with four cats.  Only three of them hunt mice.  Both girls hunt very efficiently and dispatch the mice at once when caught by breaking their necks.  No playing. Scwartzie, our gorgeous longhaired black can is very protective of mice.  He catches them but then plays with them gently, keeping the girls at bay, until every time they escape him unless he puts them in the bathtub.  Then in the morning we find one very tired mouse in the tub and put it outside, where its campers away into the woods.

The cold burns on my already damaged ankle are slowly, slowly healing.  It’s taking forever.  I can’t go out much as it’s painful after awhile to wear shoes. At least the angry ankle is finally letting me do some exercise.  It finally got cool here andI’ve been slowly putting away summer clothes and bringing out fall clothes –not the winter stuff yet.  I do a little every day.  We’re eating lots of Brussels sprouts, leeks, Swiss chard and of course salad greens. The lettuce in my garden is abundant now and we have arugula very healthy and lush and radishes.  Woody planted garlic Tuesday, to get it in before the rain started. We’re waiting till the storm passes to begin planting bulbs.  I hope we can get clear weather on Sunday. We still have a few tomatoes, peppers and eggplants but the end is nigh, as sidewalk prophets used to proclaim.

We had friends over last weekend and I made a truly delicious lamb lemon dish with lamb from our friend Jean Noon in Maine.  Bulghur with it and avocado tomato salad.  I finished drying some tomatoes this week.  I’ve written two poems this week.  Revised some I wrote recently and set aside to look at and tighten.  I’m very happy about the new poetry book being accepted—it means a lot to me.