A BRIEF STATEMENT
I’m not writing much about the Chauvin verdict or any thing to do with police murdering Black people or White Americans murdering BIPOC Americans. You’ll find plenty of that below. Instead, I want to briefly share with you a respite from all this pain because that’s what I got to experience last week.
Last week I was off the grid almost entirely as we shot the first episode of America Outdoors, the PBS show I’m hosting. I was in Death Valley, which is where the photo above comes from, and I got to reconnect with the land and the sky and the dust, so much dust.
As an extra bit of joy, I couldn’t listen to podcasts but I had downloaded a book which paired nicely with a desert environment: Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. So. Dang. Good! I’m mad at myself for taking so long to read them.
This was my farthest trip from home since COVID landed and I thought I might lose it a little bit, but I rather enjoyed the space. The show is going to be great, but don’t wait to see it on TV next Spring. Take yourself outside ASAP. Step away from the screen (not while reading this email). Inhale deeply and feel your connection to the world beyond your walls.
