Despite everything, there is much to be thankful for these days, not the least of which was eating a smoked turkey with my son (who smoked the turkey), daughter-in-law (who made everything else), and grandkids (who, like me, just ate). I wish I had a pic of seven-year-old Lacey with a huge drumstick in her fist as she chomped down with all the verve of a true paleo, the meat part of the drumstick overshadowing her face, nothing else on her plate.

(I’ll note here that we all work together on the ranch and live near each other and did not have to travel far to see each other and did not wear masks while eating turkey or anything else. We do, however, wear masks when in public.)

We ate enough, and for long enough–and it was turkey, after all, with its long-lasting narcotic effect–that I didn’t finish the intended post about gratitude (who says that can only be posted on Thanksgiving day?).

Today, however, I don’t want to not-post about this: High Desert Journal, a superb online literary magazine of the West, and sometimes beyond, recently published an essay, “Lunar Red” (https://highdesertjournal.squarespace.com/kathryn-wilder-lunar-red/), which comes from a chapter in Desert Chrome: Water, a Woman, and Wild Horses in the West. Desert Chrome will be published in May by Torrey House Press (https://www.torreyhouse.org/desert-chrome). The new-news part is that I learned today that “Lunar Red” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by High Desert Journal. I mean, yahoooo! I mean, thank you so very much Charles Finn, CMarie Fuhrman, Laura Pritchett, all those behind the scenes at HDJ, and Joe Wilkins, former nonfiction editor who selected “Grounded,” for a previous issue: https://www.highdesertjournal.com/issue-28. “Grounded” is also from Desert Chrome, so if you want sneak peaks of the forthcoming book, click a link!

And, if you have any spare change after supporting your favorite candidate(s), please consider donating to High Desert Journal at https://www.highdesertjournal.com/donate, and Torrey House Press at https://www.torreyhouse.org/give. Every little bit helps. And tell them I sent you!

Mahalo HDJ, THP, and YOU!