Today the girlies and I are on the way out to California. Five of us are meeting in Fresno to drive out to an accommodation just between Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and the Giant Sequoias. We’re all super excited to experience these monuments together. It’s particularly special because these are some of our closest friends, and it’ll be one of the last big things we get to do together while we all live in Georgia. Joshua planned the whole thing, the way he does. I’m so grateful he’s headstrong about planning, because I am not. I want it all to just happen and enjoy the ride. He’s so excited for this trip; he’s bought binoculars, a harness, a new flashlight, new boots, jackets, the whole get-up. Of course, everything that can be is in the color green. I’ve packed a notebook I made especially for the month of May in addition to my regular sketchbook. I aim to take both out to the parks each day and have study time. I think I speak for most of us when I say we need time to sit and draw and write. A professor of ours always says, “Writing is thinking.” Like most, I didn’t quite get the advice until I had sat with it and experienced it for myself. Writing is thinking, but drawing is too. As visual artists, we all need the time to sketch ideas, jot notes, and study the world by translating it to paper. I’ll end with a poem I wrote for someone on the trip. Their birthday was yesterday.

    ardent instinct, namely sharp language, ensonorous yen.
    free as yon river, ever-nesting endeavors.
    so tend each edition, value eclipsed suns.