Seasonality

(A quick note that there are no affiliate links in this post, or any other posts so far. All links are garden variety :) If I will use affiliate links at any point in the future, I will clearly mark that).

I’ve talked extensively elsewhere about being an immigrant, multiple times in my life. I’ve lived on three continents, and in very diverse climates as well. I was born in L’viv, Ukraine, where I spent most of my childhood. L’viv is a beautiful city with four seasons, and even though I have since lived in many different climates, I am glad to be living again in a place with four seasons.

Summer is my least favorite - I do not do well with brightness and heat. In late August-early September, I am eagerly watching for the first sign of the turning leaves, for the cooler breeze to sway the branches of the pin oak outside my window.

During yesterday’s walk in the Lawrence arboretum, we spotted a single yellow leaf on this maple.

I often wonder if fall and winter tend to be stationery lovers’ favorites. Stationery is cozy, and rewards those who enjoy a slower season. The weather is cooler, at least it is here; it’s easier to go for walks. Soon, migratory birds will begin crossing my state, but not quite yet. About 3500 birds are in flight in my county right now; that number will go up to hundreds of thousands in a few weeks, when bird migration traffic will be at its peak.

I’m speeding the arrival of fall via a small pumpkin candle sourced from Waxman candles here in town. I found the antique camel at the River Market Antiques in KCMO.

My stationery usage tends to be seasonal. I discovered this about a year into the hobby - cerulean blue inks see most use in the summer, burgundies enter the ink palette in autumn, and shimmers are mostly a winter affair for me. I like to keep a shimmer ink in a pen through the year, but around November and December shimmer inks tend to be in multiple pens. In February, I like to ink Ferris Wheel Press Moonlit Jade, and separately my jade-colored Sailor Après Ski pen, usually with some sort of non-shimmer green - the delicate color of jade in the middle of February dreariness promises renewal. Dark purples are a year-round situation at my desk, and I always love an emerald green.

I often think that my choice to keep my pen collection smaller helps me see these patterns more clearly, and enjoy them more intentionally, but perhaps that’s just wishful thinking about an ideal stationery habit which does not exist. I do have a lot of ink.

Orange is definitely an autumn color for me. This new Anderillium bottle (sample size) contains 15ml of Viceroy Butterfly Orange. I am enjoying the new Lepidopteran series, sourced via the Gentleman Stationer. The pen is a Montegrappa Miya with a Franklin Christoph BB SIG nib. There is no material which is as alluring to me as celluloid, but I am mostly resisting it due to the expenditure and danger potential of the material (celluloid is flammable, and I love my candles). Still, the yellow Mazzucchelli celluloid was the first on my Celluloids to Consider list, followed by Burkina (I wish), Arco Bronze (I wish), Beige (still dreaming), and the Tibaldi Rosso Verde.

Fall tends to be a healing season for me, and I very much need it now. Last year, both fall and winter were scrambled. That semester I overexerted myself with a launch of two fiction books, big classes, university leadership, sixteen book talks, three conference presentations, caregiving… the list goes on, and at the end of it all I had a major surgery (planned). I was beyond burned out by the time I got to surgery, and recovery had been uneven. I fell ill with COVID in early 2023, which morphed into long COVID. This semester I am not teaching or doing leadership, thanks to a research grant, and this is fortunate. I would need to consider a medical leave otherwise. This is my time to relearn how to rest, and also how to reinvent my method given uncertain and variable health.

For now, I’m anchoring myself in the turning season. And keeping my pens inked.