letter from the editor

Before We Begin

By the end of August, I could look back at the summer and make a list of everything I’d planned but never got around to doing. The flowers that died in their plastic containers while the potting soil sat unopened beside them. The grill I barely used. The big vacation I didn’t take. The household projects I was sure I would finally finish.

It wasn’t the summer I’d expected back in June.

But that list was the wrong way to measure it. I’d been so busy tracking what didn’t happen that I almost missed what did: a beach day with my husband, music playing through the house with the windows open, rides along back roads with the kids, snowballs on hot afternoons, and a get-together at my brother and sister-in-law’s, grilled food and crabs on the table.

I wasn’t paying attention to my own summer.

Each issue of Satchel Lane begins with a question. For September, that question is:

What have we stopped noticing?

The lead essay, It Was There the Whole Time, is about why the world comes into focus when we travel, and what we stop seeing at home.

The issue also includes a late-summer dinner for the grill, a waterfront town worth the drive, and a few things I think are worth your attention.

That’s what this first issue is about. Not a lesson, not an answer. Just a question worth considering.

I hope it gives you something to think about before September gets busy.

If you are new to Satchel Lane, Our Story explains what we are making and why.

Welcome,

Kelly