So glad you have signed up to receive the For Random Learning Comes Newsletter! This is the eighty-third edition. Previous editions can be found on the blog's Newsletter page. I send it out weekly, so if you don't get my email on Saturday morning, please let me know! (Check your junk and spam folders too.) *** I have two selections for you today on this Memorial Day weekend. Hope you enjoy any time off you may have! The first is an personal essay, Fourth Grade, reflecting back on my childhood years in Minnesota. I focus on my fourth grade year, a year of many changes, and wonder, at my own innocence and naivete. It does seem astounding, compared with what fourth graders are like these days! Warning, this was written to commemorate the one year anniversary of the shooting in Uvalde,Texas, where many of the victims and survivors were fourth graders. It should come as no surprise, that I, like anyone else who identifies as a human being, am decidedly against such shootings. The second selection is a poem, called Poetry Reading. One of my very most meta poems, it talks about why we should read poetry and what benefits we might receive, by having it read to us. If you enjoy it, check out my other meta poems about writing, in the end notes of the poem. I'm sorry this missive is several hours late this week, ending up in your inbox midafternoon. I had a very busy week, or at least a week filled with nervous anticipation for the event that happened on Thursday. A poetry reading and book unveiling of a collection of NE Florida poetry called "Moss Gossamer" happened Thursday at a local black box theater. I got to read one of my poems, "August," which was included in the collection, out loud in front of a crowd. This is something I have never done before. Many other splendid poems were shared by their authors. It really felt like a community was beginning to gel, here, in a place some have regarded in the past as a cultural wasteland. Of course, what do they know? Art is alive and well in Jacksonville, if one is to judge from last Thursday's festivities. And it sure is fun to be a part of it! To hear all about it and find where you can snag yourself a copy of "Moss Gossamer," follow the poem's "Read More" link below. That's all for this week. See you next time around! Oh and I have added a pop up to the site to encourage people to subscribe to the newsletter. If you are perusing, just click the "x" to get rid of it. I know it's annoying but it's worth a try, to enlarge the reader base for my work. Andrea

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