These past few months have been filled with some emotional endings, exciting beginnings, and getting to know some absolutely wonderful people.

At the start of September, the fellows at the Playwrights’ Center all took a trip to Tofte Lake, where I enjoyed kayaking, eagle-watching, stargazing, karaoke, and make some amazing friends (human and canine). During one of our work shares with the group, I presented an excerpt of my play The Pretendians, which I will be workshopping later this year.

When I returned from the restful and rejuvenating retreat, we closed the fantastic run of The Unplugging at New Native Theatre. The end of September also meant the end of the five-month Black Creatives Revisions Workshop hosted by We Need Diverse Books and Penguin Random House. Participating in that workshop has been a fantastic experience, from wisdom to the faculty to the opportunity to get a taste of everyone else’s work. And who could forget Hazelnut?! I am so happy all the participants are staying in touch as we leap into the publishing world.

Jordan and I also celebrated five years as a couple.

But it hasn’t all been conclusions and anniversaries. I began working on a new theatrical project tentatively titled PIONEERS, which necessitated my taking an overnight trip to Chicago to do some archival research on a fascinating ancestor. My research wonderfully dovetailed with my current Toni Morrison read, the inimitable Beloved. But more on that later…

As summer slowly (very slowly) crisps into fall, I can’t help but feel how quickly the time has passed. It feels like I was just moving to Minneapolis, and the emerald ivy was totally obscuring my apartment window. Now, the sun bursts in without a second thought. I have been spending as much time outdoors as I can before the cold drives us all inside…

But that is a story for another time.