In June
Am I turning into a prepper?
New subscriber giveaway box over on The Clearing, my full Substack newsletter - see below! - and all annual subscribers receive my free ebook, ‘Notes & Fragments’ • My latest podcast episode: Joycelyn Longdon
I enter June with a teetering stack of water bottles in the hall, a gallon of hand sanitiser under the sink, and a newly purchased camping shower in the wardrobe, just in case.
May was the month when the climate crisis came to my door. The water ran dry in Whitstable, and we were confronted with the eerie experience of turning on the tap for nothing to come out. It’s happened before due to burst water mains or planned engineering, but this time it was scarcity pure and simple, a case of supply outstripping demand. It’s happening everywhere, and while there are clear issues of mismanagement and profiteering in our local water company, this is probably the direction of travel for many of us as the planet heats.
I’ve been thankful for the enormous water butt in my back garden, full of precious rainwater. I felt like sacrilege to use it to flush the loo, but then again, it was necessary. I hear that even this is an amateur move: those in the know resort to cat litter, a water-free solution that I hope to never explore. I have it stowed away in the back of my mind though, like the many other things I’m now stowing in the garden shed.
Yes, friends, I have discovered my inner prepper, a weird, haunted part of myself that does not trust the outside world to keep me alive. Instead, I must stockpile rations for an unknown future moment when the world tumbles down. This has not exactly been latent in me until now. A friend of mine gazed into my kitchen cupboards recently and said, ‘We’d do well in an apocalypse, you and I,’ and I knew exactly what she meant. Each of us keeps enough tins and jars in stock to see us through six months of famine at least. It’s not a conscious choice, but then again, it’s always on my mind just a little, the thought that I must create safety, just in case.The problem is, it is impossible to attain enough safety to truly rest easy. I am not really comforted by the bottles stacked in the hall. I’m unsettled by them, constantly reminded of my own vulnerability.
It’s a strange thing, really, to hoard water, this life force, this essence. It feels like a travesty to trap it in plastic, to stopper its flow, to keep it for myself. We used to worship river goddesses and the genius loci of springs and wells. Now they’re just branding to us, genies in bottles, their wild fluidity tamed and contained.
I wonder what would happen if we began to remember them again, these old, subtle gods? I wonder what would happen if we let life feel fluid rather than safe?
What I’ve been up to
Not very much, to be honest. I’m spending a lot of time visiting my mum in hospital - please hold her in your thoughts this week as she undergoes her surgery.
But I have got started on an exciting new writing project, for this this is the preliminary reading list. You’ll hear more about it soon 🤫.
Recent offerings
I wrote about Soil Practice and People Practice, and shared good things to read on birdsong, communication, and doing things for the sake of it.
We got started on our MFK Fisher book club, launching with a discussion about the questionable truth and undeniable beauty of The Gastronomical Me. There’s still time to join the chat about the themes of love and learning in the book.
The new season of my podcast, The Clearing, launched with episodes featuring Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane, Jeffrey Boakye, Kate Bowler, Yasmin Khan and Joycelyn Longdon (these links are to the ad-free versions - you can listen with ads in your favourite podcast app or on YouTube).
Alongside the podcast interviews, I’m now also recording special subscriber bonus episodes called The Mini-Break, and they’ve been an absolute joy. Each week I share an idea for a little break in your day, feature a listener’s dream retreat, and highlight the issues you’ve all been talking about. More about how to receive them here (or just upgrade your subscription to The Clearing newsletter on Substack!)
New Subscriber giveaway
Congratulations to Kim, who won May’s new subscriber draw!
And this means a new box is ready to give away to one lucky person who starts or renews a year’s subscription in June. This one contains a signed copy of Enchantment, a refillable ink pen, Writer’s Blood ink, Blackwing pencils, a notebook and wildflower tape, plus exclusive Clearing postcards, bookmarks and stickers. We’ll pick a winner at random at the end of the month!
Coming up
On Saturday 20th June, 4pm-6pm UK time, I’ll be hosting an online retreat for our sister newsletter, The Retreat. We’ll be exploring the meaning of the summer solstice, and feeling our way into the feelings it produces in us, good and bad, urgent and abundant. Do join us! More info here.
June notions
Watermelon, watermelon, watermelon. It’s hot out there.
Growing a trough of rocket because I don’t have the time or space for a whole vegetable patch. A little is better than nothing.
Eating every possible meal outdoors.
Lusting over these Vibae fisherman’s sandals.
Sneaking off to swim in the sea, because I’ve been signed off after my surgery 🎉.
Cursing mosquitos.
Dry shampoo spray, a summer essential for those of us with fringes/bangs.
Wearing a sleep mask to avoid waking up at 4am with the sun.
Until next month, take care,
Katherine
