Friday, July 4, 2025

Welcome, I’m Mary Louisa Locke, the author of the USA Today best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series and the Caelestis Science Fiction series. In this daily newsletter, I reflect on my life as an indie author trying to age gracefully. Occasionally, I will also publish some of my shorter fiction in this newsletter to read for free.

Daily Diary, Day 1766:

First the good news:

Edgar and friends: While Edgar disappeared again yesterday, Miss Teeny was still hanging in high up in her little corner. But then, Edgar reappeared this morning, first re-spinning web where he’d been on the left of the magazine rack. But I think opening the door spooked him, because when I came back into the bathroom to clean, first of all I noticed a Daddy Long Legs on the other side of the magazine rack—definitely not as big as Edgar, nor as small as Miss Teeny. And when I looked for Edgar, I found him traveling across the ceiling towards the other side of the room…an hour later, still very slowly traveling. I wonder where he will end up, and if Miss Teeny is in danger?

On a more serious note:

I’ve never been one for celebrating special ritual occasions. I suspect that my parents’ early engagement in the Civil Rights movement and my early interest in the history of ordinary people meant I was always aware of the dissonance between the ideals of my nation and the reality. On the other hand, I also lived through seeing the passage of Civil Rights legislation—that benefited minorities, women, and the disabled, the legislation bundled together as the War on Poverty, the rise of the Peace Corp, the emergence of environmental protections that started to clean up our rivers, drinking water, and air, and on and on and on. And although since the 1980s, I also watched how often the attempts to sustain and expand the promise of our national ideals to all were fought, I also witnessed the hope engendered by the election of a Black American and the possible election of a woman.

And for a brief period of time, I did feel like celebrating…but not today. The dissonance between our national ideals and the reality has become so great, that I know that for many, including myself, today is not one for celebrating but mourning. There have been lots of posts about this, although this post by Robert Reich may have most succinctly reflected how I am feeling.

However, I also recognize that for many, July 4^th has always meant a lot of positive things. Some simply the relief of a day off from work, the chance to go to a park, a lake, a river, a beach, watch a parade, have picnics, and spend time with family. And for many, the flags and parades and fireworks are also a time for remembering and celebrating the aspirational ideals of our nation. And therefore, for those of you who don’t want the unpatriotic actions of those who are currently in power in Washington to ruin your day, do go out and celebrate, and have a safe and happy July 4^th.

And just for fun, and to show that I can celebrate—at least the beauty of nature—here are some red, white, and blue flowers!

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