Happy Holidays 2024

President’s Letter

Happy Holidays to All!

I hope you all saw the moon halo a few nights ago. It was stunning! I share a poem at the end of this newsletter.

Around 25 of us had a great visit with Steve Hruza, our web designer, last Thursday as he guided us through the new web page. It’s a beauty!

Membership price remains at $60 for 2025. After Jan. 1, when you join/renew, you’ll receive a temporary password so you can set up your personal page with a picture, links to your books, social media, and other aspects of your world as a writer. An instructional video is posted to guide you (after we’ve received your membershi0P.

Remember that AotF is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization so your membership fee is deductible. We also appreciate any end-of-year donations (that we apply to scholarships and other special projects of the organization).

I hope to see many of you at the Authors of the Flathead Holiday Potluck this Thursday, December 19, 6:00, at A-1 Vacuum, 140 W Center St, Kalispell. We’ll have utensils but many are now bringing their own to take home and wash. Bring a dish to share and drinks you want. No alcohol, please. Bring a wrapped book for the white elephant git exchange.

January meetings are set back one week: Kathy Dunnehoff (Jan. 9); Sue Purvis’s guest (Jan. 16); Dixon Rice hosts Open Readings (Jan. 23).

Thanks again to the following who volunteered to serve another year on our board and who were reelected at the annual meeting. These folks serve without pay – please thank them as you can. President: Craig Naylor; Vice President: Susan Purvis; Treasurer: Heidi Wolf; Secretary: Fran Tabor; Membership: Melissa Kelly; At Large: Shira Marin; At Large: Carl Stevens

May your holidays be safe and filled with light.

Craig Naylor

Below is a recent poem of mine, inspired by the halo around the full moon a few days before the solstice. Enjoy.

Haloed Moon

a ring of red

then blueish green

another red rings clear

and aurum held

celestial ovum’s birthing shell

then inner argent orb

shimmering in this hoarfrosted night

enfolds our Mother Moon

her one eye sees

peers down upon our hallowed soul

her aureole bared

sustenance for all

to nurse this reawakening earth

her heart of light

an angel of repose

blessing us in haloed hope

a birth

rebirth

on this long, long

bone-chilling

night of light

embracing the eternal possibility of peace

in this broken-shelled

this red-rimmed

this bulls-eyed world

and still

and yet

our glimmering

shimmering

sacred silvering songs

sing of hope

on this long, long

night of mothering light