The Liminal — Flower Moon Cycle — April 2026

1. City Vs. Country Jonathan Richman
   You Must Ask The Heart — 2:34 
2. All The Lilacs In Ohio John Hiatt, Jerry Douglas
   Leftover Feelings — 3:29 
3. Ciao Bella Romane, Stochelo Rosenberg
   Tribulations — 5:20 
4. El Coyote Guy Clark
   My Favorite Picture Of You — 3:52 
5. Tomorrow Gon' Be Too Late C.W. Stoneking
   Gon' Boogaloo — 3:06 
6. Down In The Willow Garden The Everly Brothers
   Songs Our Daddy Taught Us — 3:05 
7. Bell Witch Jimbo Mathus, Andrew Bird
   These 13 — 3:11 
8. Dancing on the Wing The Felice Brothers
   Life in the Dark — 4:28 
9. Stones Start Spinning David Darling
   Prayer For Compassion — 4:16 
10. Hands on the Wheel Harry Dean Stanton
    Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction — 3:21 
11. Kiss the Children - 2002 Remaster Gram Parsons
    GP — 3:00 
12. Lullaby Dori Freeman
    Dori Freeman — 3:25 
13. Sweet Louise Pete Molinari
    A Virtual Landslide (Bonus Ve...) — 4:04 
14. Dead Flowers Townes Van Zandt
    The Big Lebowski (Original M...) — 4:47 
15. The Real Deal The Deslondes
    The Deslondes — 2:43 
16. Just The Other Side Of Nowhere Kris Kristofferson
    The Essential Kris Kristofferson — 3:37 
17. Just Walking In the Rain The Prisonaires
    Sun Records - 60 Years, 60 Si... — 2:45 
18. Rainbow Connection Zee Avi
    Zee Avi's Nightlight — 3:15 
    
    
    

APRIL 17, 2026 · THE FLOWER MOON · TWELFTH ISSUE · WWW.FOXANDTHISTLE.STUDIO RSS

THE FOX & THISTLE LIMINAL A MONTHLY CREATIVE ALMANAC WEAVING TOGETHER ART, EXPRESSION, AND REFLECTIONS

Look Out For :

Fresh blooms opening, dogwoods and redbuds, lilacs, azaleas, bluebells, leafing trees, drifting cottonwood, bees humming, early butterflies, nesting birds, warblers passing through, robins and wrens, goslings and ducklings, frogs calling, turtles basking, deer at the edges, fox kits, raccoons foraging, trout rising, herons wading, rippling streams, warm breezes, lengthening days, & the hungry first mosquitoes!

Look Up For :

The Lyrid meteor shower peaks around April 22, bringing brief spring fireballs in the dark hours before dawn. The Flower Moon arrives on May 1st. Venus shifts her appearances through the month, while Jupiter remains a steady presence. The Eta Aquariid meteor shower builds toward its peak around May 5, with fast meteors appearing just before dawn.

THE FLOWER MOON CYCLE → New Moon 4/17 1st quarter 4/23 Full Flower Moon 5/01 Last quarter 5/09 New Moon 5/16 · · · NEXT: A BLUE MOON

THE LIMINAL is published in concert with our 2026 FORTNIGHT CALENDAR, a free download is available for subscribers.

Inside this Issue: Flower Moon Playlist, the Agency of a Ballon Animal, Coffee Pod Mandalas, Independent Search Engines, the Conundrums, more Monograms, & Avocado Pesto

Listen along with us!

Flower Moon Cycle 2026   Fox & Thistle Studio · 18 songs, 1 hr 4 min

Timeless FLOWER MOON Favorites like: Ciao Bella, El Coyote, Dead Flowers, City Vs. Country, Dancing on the Wing, Bell Witch, Lullaby, Just Walking in the Rain, Stones Start Spinning, Down in the Willow Garden, Rainbow Connection, & More!

FESTINA LENTE — MAKE HASTE SLOWLY

Part Four: AGENCY — the Turtle & the Sail

Agency: the condition of being in action; operation.

The turtle and the sail. The conundrums are blowing again. Doing. When spring arrives, there’s hardly any thinking at all. Just go. Just notice. Just act. Make a few changes. See what happens. I built my Fortnight Calendar out of an overwhelming amount of gardening that landed on my lap one year. Two weeks is just short enough to notice the incremental changes, and just long enough to see around the bend. Making moves that can only pay off in time (or not). Clearing space. Filling holes. Stewarding the tremendous amount of swelling that happens on this tiny bit of earth I scratch around on. It is more than hope, but less than control. It’s active passivity. It’s preparing for luck to drop. It is catching wind when you can. Direction over directions. Orientation over agenda. Agency is positioning.

Each month, this six part series explores an aspect of FESTINA LENTE with a monotone illustration:

January: Constraint
Dolphin & Anchor 

February: Time
Snail & Rabbit

March: Transformation
Crab & Butterfly

Still to come:

May: Commitment
Diamond Ring & Foliage

June: Adaptation
Dolphin & Chameleon

No praise is finer than that which is passed along by our readers, please pass the LIMINAL along!

Intersections are interesting. There’s a tendency to think of them as places to go somewhere else, but they also act as something adjacent to destination. They are places of possibility. Places for energy, ideas, values... and their meetings need not be related. Take history, something from another time that still shows up in the world carrying meaning. Or byproducts, things that exist because of something else entirely. These convergences are immensely powerful places. Bring some awareness, or vision, or sometimes just a willingness to play... That is what children do. That is where magic hides.

We recently came across the coffee pod art of Carolyn Keesh. She keeps a daily practice of producing mandalas from recycled Nespresso pods. The ancient geometry of the mandala form paired with the metallic sheen of aluminum in an endless variety of colors and industrial finishes. Arriving here through the waste stream of a morning ritual, as a neatly arranged sustainability ritual.

See more of her work and follow along on Substack: Carolyn Keesh | Creativity Notes

Fox & Thistle Studio has been added to Marginalia Search—a small independent search engine that focuses on thoughtful, human-made websites rather than the busy, ad-heavy engines most people are used to. This small but meaningful addition is in step with the spirit of what I am trying to create: something calm, personal, and with care for the time and attention of those who visit. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be cleaning up some of the background noise and remnants from earlier versions of the site.

See what this search engine is trying to fix

Here are a few of the monograms I played around with and sent out this month:

Last year’s tomatoes in straw bales. I’ll start putting these together next week.

THE CONUNDRUMS

There are them’s that is
and them’s that ain’t
and them’s that do & don’t

There are them’s that try
and them’s that cain’t
and them’s that will or won’t

There are them’s that argue
and them’s that shout
and them’s that forever complain

But the thems
that always take the most
are the thems who never change

More poems in the Verses section of our blog, IMPETUS INACTION

KETTLE & CRUMB Simple, seasonal recipes—tried & true, from Fox & Thistle’s kitchen.

PREPARATIONS FOR LENGTHENING DAYLIGHT

AVOCADO PESTO PREP 10 min COOK 10 min TOTAL 20 min SERVES 3

Fresh citrusy basil pesto made creamy with mashed avocado. Quick and easy restaurant quality meal at home.

• 9 ozs pasta • 1 or 2 cloves of garlic • 1/4 c. fresh basil leaves • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice • 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil • 1 ripe medium avocado, pitted • 1/2 tsp sea salt, fine • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese • lemon zest, for serving • fresh ground pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta 2. Combine garlic and basil in food processor, pulse to mince 3. Add lemon juice, olive oil, avocado, salt, and parmesan. Add water by the tsp if too thick. 4. Combine pasta with sauce.
2. Top with lemon zest, pepper, and fresh basil leaves.

*Serve with olives, crusty bread, and garden salad.

This recipe was adapted years ago from ohsheglows.com

If anyone else would like a free monogram, just send me a note with your initials.

Sign up to receive this newsletter, THE LIMINAL to your email inbox on the NEW MOON of each month. Go to www.foxandthistle.studio to stay tuned!

WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK! Did a part of the Liminal resonate? Or do you have an idea to contribute? Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit—splat, boing, zing! We’re on a journey, and your ideas can help shape it!

Thank you for reading. If it moved you, please pass it along.

If you’d like to support the studio, visit the shop or drop something in the tip jar. https://ko-fi.com/griefNgravy

Richard W. Saunders

THE FOX & THISTLE LIMINAL — is a production of griefNgravy press

liminal@foxandthistle.studio THE LIMINAL · FLOWER MOON CYCLE · APRIL 17, 2026