Volume 4 • No. 20 • Full Moon • November 5, 2025
Baker ("No One Cries When You Give Them Bread") • 11" x 19" • 2018
Fox in the Brambles • 8" x 5.5" • 2024
Indwelling • 15" x 22" • 2024
Linocut Prints • Alynn Guerra - Red Hydrant Press
An Introduction from Transom: It’s every producer’s worst nightmare. You’ve been interviewing someone for 45 minutes when you realize — you never hit the ‘record’ button. We’ve all been there, but for Austin Rowlader, this was a new and surprising part of becoming a ‘radio person’. For this Interlochen workshop piece, Rowlader decided to explore this problem, and a story about lost tape became a story about lost faith and a found calling.
The Warp — Ideas and Inspiration
|| 1 || I love Austin's sonic encapsulation for a few reasons. Chiefly, though, it's so darn relatable. Once, in the middle of winter, I recorded an entire farm tour, only to find upon finishing that I had failed to plug the mic receiver into the camera. This left me with hours of footage from a completely silent talking tour. We made do. Thank you, Greg and Libby Hiser, for being such good sports.
Austin's bigger quandaries also connect: those of vocation, skill, and purpose. I pick Brad'sbrain from time to time on those subjects. Last week, as we had one of those conversations, George Saunders' What Writers Really Do When They Write came up.
The interesting thing, in my experience, is that the result of this laborious and slightly obsessive process is a story that is better than I am in "real life" – funnier, kinder, less full of crap, more empathetic, with a clearer sense of virtue, both wiser and more entertaining.
And what a pleasure that is; to be, on the page, less of a dope than usual.
|| 2 || Saunders' writing touches briefly on the Bardo, a transitional ghost realm in Tibetan Buddhism. This brought to mind Elias Crim's recent missive, "In The Bardo of Grief," which explores the concept of the Bardo while considering contemporary American society and our seemingly stunted ability to grapple with brokenness collectively.
What then does it mean to live in a society which has allowed its social practices to degrade into merely instrumental and economic relations?
Simply that we now lack the grief communities and the rituals of lament which could bring us social healing in the form of forgiveness and reconciliation.
If that's too heady, Laurel Premo might have a fitting offering that connects more internally. Just released last week, here's another compelling sonic landscape: her new album, Laments.
The Weft — News and Events
We’re heartened by a wide-range of expressions of resilient communities and gatherings. Here’s a smattering of regional events and happenings that reflect that diversity, collected for your consideration. Choose your own adventure!
|| 1 || Upcoming Events at Crosshatch Meeting Place + Mercantile—There's plenty to be done before we’re fully open, but we have a few opportunities coming up for you to visit the space at 221 N. Bridge Street in Bellaire. Click through for more details.
December 6th, 4- 7pm: Artisan Pop-Up & Holiday Card Making at Light Up the Night
December 10th, 9-11 am: Drop-in Coffee Hour with Taylor
|| 2 || Scholarships available to attend the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo. If you're a first-time attendee, check out this page for more information on scholarships to GLEXPO (Grand Rapids, Tuesday, December 9th.) Applications are due by November 9th.
|| 3 || Wagbo Farm & Education Center's Full Moon Feasts and Creative Projects. There's still time to stop in for a gathering at Wagbo. Options range from potlucks and discussions to handmade book-making (tonight!), small-farm story sharing and more. Find the full program schedule here.
|| 4 || Grand Traverse Beekeeping Club—Monthly Meeting. Thursday, November 6th, 6:30-8:30pm. "Honeybee Immunity: How To Get Healthy Bees, by Rick Dimanin." Check in here for further details on the 206 S. Oak St. (Traverse City) gathering.
|| 5 || The World We Want Book Club. Monthly Thursday gatherings, 6:30-8pm at the Upper Carnegie Building in Petoskey. Upcoming discussions include Palestine 1492: A Report Back by Linda Quiquivux (November 20th) and Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (December 18th.) Find more details here.
|| 6 || "Are you taking care of yourself and those you care about? At Michigan State University Extension, we know farming can be tough. Whether you or a farmer you work with needs support, Michigan State University Extension is committed to helping. All services are free. Teletherapy • Educational Presentations • Farm Financial Analysis • Business Management Strategies • Other Farm Stress Resources • Free Online Courses • Mental Health First Aid. For more information, visit: extension.msu.edu/legacygrants or contact Remington Rice at riceremi@msu.edu."
|| 7 || The Tip of the Mitt New Hunters Guild—If you are interested in self-reliance skills, sourcing your own meat, and/or gaining a better connection to nature, consider checking out this flyer for information on gatherings, events, and how to get involved with the guild.
|| 8 || Happenings at The Alluvion Between Now and the Next Whole Field include: The Jeff Haas Sextet featuring Laurie Sears, Chris Glassman, Rob Smith + Lisa Flahive, Charlie Hunter Trio, Funky Uncle, Hail Your Highness, Antighost, & Drama Team, Don Julin's Trio 25, and Big Fun.
Find more information at thealluvion.org.
sponsored by:
Desmond Liggett Wealth Advisors is a mission-driven, fee-only wealth management company with a simple purpose: to generate exceptional value for the individuals, families, small business owners, and non-profit organizations they serve. Desmond Liggett Wealth Advisors believe in and adhere to triple-bottom-line analysis for portfolio investments, ensuring that they review how a company’s environmental and social values impact its long-term resilience and, consequently, value.
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