I don’t know why I chose that title, except that it made me giggle. I wanted to write and post this piece a few days ago, after a Friday night spent listening to my friends in Avolition play one of their best sets ever at a local wine shop, Gard Vintners. (It might have been the big bottle of Gard Syrah I shared that made them sound so good, but I don’t think so. I think they just rocked it.) But as usual life’s busy-ness intervened, and here it is almost a week later, already. Life hasn’t exactly handed me lemons, though, unless you consider lemons to be delicious treats. In that case, life seems to be shoveling them to me hand-over-fist the last couple of weeks.

I had a beautiful and inspiring time at the PNWA writing conference in Seattle at the end of July. That trip also included wonderful time with old friends; it was so magical, in fact, one of my favorite experiences was the three hours I spent in a ginormous shopping mall with a thirteen year old girl. Yes, I know, but it was! The niece of one of my best pals, this girl is awesome, to the point of offering to buy me a super salty mall soft pretzel with some of her birthday money.

Coming home to Ellensburg felt like truly coming home. Time with my love, with family, and with new friends all fell into place. And my new writing routine, a result of Bill Kenower’s workshop at PNWA, is clicking right along.

As always, moments of sadness visit, too. We’ve had two unexpected losses in our extended family, and very dear people are struggling to make sense of how these losses occurred. We send them loving energy, prayers of healing and peace, and they let us know they can feel our hugs from far away.

And in the middle of it all, the cowbell. We all know the power of “more cowbell.” It’s a mantra to seize the day, enjoy the moment, own the room, even if the gorgeous cacophony we make is, ahem, slightly annoying to others. At that Avolition gig last Friday night, a beautiful woman (and sweet person) jumped at the chance to add a little cowbell to the music and to our evening. What a joyful noise.

Life, if these are lemons, keep ’em coming. I love lemonade, too.

Julieann adds more cowbell to our evening – beautiful!